Front Office Decisions

[ChapelHillMatt]

Some of you just haven't gotten over Coxitis. Freddi is fine as manager. Excution is much more the problem. Thats on the players. That and the fact the rotation is full of number 3s and 4s. Medlen is overrated, Hudson is old, Maholm is a great number 4 and JT and Minor are still wet behind the ears. Should have sold high on Meds.

Funny thing is he's almost exactly like Bobby in everything that he does. I don't see much difference honestly other than the fact that Fredi isn't as patient with players as Bobby was and he doesn't have as bad a temper. Bobby made a lot of moves that made you scratch your head (all managers do because it's a hard job) but at the end of the day players respected him and played hard. Being a good manager is more about being a leader of men then it is being a good x and o guy.

[VirginiaBrave]

I just think he caught lightning in a bottle last year, hes nothing special imo.

[Carp]

Well he's obviously not going to repeat a sub 2.00 ERA performance. But he is every bit a top of the rotation caliber starter, imo. Between Minor, Beachy, Meds, and Julio our rotation looks pretty stacked (and cheap) for the foreseeable future.

[ChapelHillMatt]

We have the 2nd best ERA in the majors FWIW

I do think we lack a true ace but I think we make up for it in depth. Maholm is the weak link I'd love to see replaced.

[Carp]

We have the 2nd best ERA in the majors FWIW

I do think we lack a true ace but I think we make up for it in depth. Maholm is the weak link I'd love to see replaced.

Even Maholm has been better than I thought he would be. 3.81 ERA with lots of innings. Honestly the weak link is Huddy, but he's old, been here a long time, and simply not going anywhere. I think with the marktet for pitching, we could get a couple of decent prospects for Paul. At least 1 top 10 prospect you'd think. He's every bit as good as Ricky Nolasco and cheaper as well.

[VirginiaBrave]

All thats true and the numbers look good but I think they lie a bit. I mean we can cut out a 20 of 21 stretch and this team is way under .500. That said I still think we'll win this division. Get JS and EG back we'll take off.

[zitothebrave]

Maholm will be gone to make way for Beachy. Beachy will hopefully pitch like he did before TJ and it will be like trading for an ace.

[VirginiaBrave]

I'd be surprised if Beachy makes a significant contribution. Maybe a spot start here and there, but Malhom's going nowhere until offseason.

[ChapelHillMatt]

I think Hudson problem has been injury related, Maholm just isn't a good pitcher. He should be the one replaced. He started off well and pitched well last year but he's come crashing back down to earth.

[stpeteirish]

I doubt we bench BJ. Nor should we, IMO. You have to let players play through their slumps. As frustrating as Uggla and BJ have been, it's pretty much guaranteed that they are going to turn it on eventually. In Uggla's case, he already has started turning it around. BJ won't hit under .200 all season. He'l get hot just like Uggla did back 2011 and we'll be praising his name again.

"pretty much guarenteed that they will turn it around" are you serious? If you mean will they hit .200 than, yeah but .250 looks lofty for both of those guys, certainly not guarenteed.

[elmonthc]

This isnt bjs 2nd or 3rd year with the braves. You cant bench hin a couple months in. Especially considering the second half he had last year. He still plays great d. His ceiling is also much higher than js. Not to mention 75 million other reasons. The largest contract ever given out by the braves isnt being benched.

[ChapelHillMatt]

This isnt bjs 2nd or 3rd year with the braves. You cant bench hin a couple months in. Especially considering the second half he had last year. He still plays great d. His ceiling is also much higher than js. Not to mention 75 million other reasons. The largest contract ever given out by the braves isnt being benched.

How is his ceiling higher? People have to stop talking about his potential. He is who he is, he's in the prime of his career and is the same player he's always been. In fact this year he's worse. You have to hope he hits 300 the rest of the way to get to his career numbers and that's not likely. I agree he won't be benched because of his salary but that's a mistake and the team will suffer because of it.

[nsacpi]

I think if you want to predict future performance you have to look at past performance over a 3 year period rather than 3 month period. That's a better predictor. Nothing is a 100% sure thing, but most likely BJ will be a better player than Schafer in the second half and over the next few years. But the longer the slump goes on, the more you want to even out playing time between that two. And that's what Fredi was doing before Schafer got hurt.

[Hulavol]

I know it's impossible- and we couldn't afford it- but I'd love to see Wren back up the Brinks truck for David Wright...or Tulo...

[Dunit24]

Yeah BJ sucks right now, but he WILL go on a tear. Both Upton brothers have been quiet all year long besides Justins hot streak in April, yet we are still 4 games up. Ive been a negative nancy lately and im getting tired of myself. Positives are that we are still 4 games up and this team has a ton of room to grow.

[Julio3000]

Yeah BJ sucks right now, but he WILL go on a tear. Both Upton brothers have been quiet all year long besides Justins hot streak in April, yet we are still 4 games up. Ive been a negative nancy lately and im getting tired of myself. Positives are that we are still 4 games up and this team has a ton of room to grow.

That is true in every area except maybe Gerald Laird's compression layers.

[Carp]

"pretty much guarenteed that they will turn it around" are you serious? If you mean will they hit .200 than, yeah but .250 looks lofty for both of those guys, certainly not guarenteed.

I don't mean get back to career levels. Just that at some point, they will come out of their funk (again, seems to happening with Uggla) and they will start hitting again.

[Carp]

That is true in every area except maybe Gerald Laird's compression layers.

Even as well as Posey and Molina have been, I've pretty sure our catchers combined are having a legendary season for a catcher. Combines 25 homers and 78 RBI before the break.

[Bj1133]

Even as well as Posey and Molina have been, I've pretty sure our catchers combined are having a legendary season for a catcher. Combines 25 homers and 78 RBI before the break.

Braves have gotten an .835 OPS from the catcher position this year - 2nd best in baseball

[nsacpi]

Maholm will be gone to make way for Beachy. Beachy will hopefully pitch like he did before TJ and it will be like trading for an ace.

I don't see this scenario playing out. Beachy is going to make two or three rehab starts. He probably won't pitch a major league game until after the All-Star break. There will be little time to evaluate him before the trade deadline. We have little starting pitching depth in AAA. So most likely we will send the odd man out to the bullpen and keep him there in case a starter gets hurt or starts to under-perform.

I'd hate to trade Maholm and then have one of our starters go down after the trade deadline.