nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
Reading from Fredi's bullpen management manual.
World Series about to be won the Braves way.
- Thread starter weso1
- Start date
Reading from Fredi's bullpen management manual.
wheresmykayak
High School Draftee
The funny/sad thing is that Strickland is from the same county in Georgia where I grew up. Went to school with his older brothers.
For the record, they all have about the same amount of class he showed tonight after giving up the home run. Embarassing.
50PoundHead
Hessmania Forever
I don't think anyone in baseball thought Blanco had a higher ceiling than Schafer, especially after Schafer's 2007 split season in Rome and Myrtle Beach and his fast start (derailed by PEDs) in Mississippi in 2008. And Schafer's isoOBP was over .100 his rookie year. He just lost his ability to make consistent contact, which has been his problem ever since. Which again shows how development arcs sometimes don't end up where most think they will. If anyone has played at the level you have, you should know that.
And I think the impression that the Braves don't value OBP is a myth that is largely reliant on the fact Francoeur was in the line-up so long and the rest of the organization has been tagged by that. I think Shanks' reaction to Moneyball has created a false dichotomy that many fans now take for granted. Look at the Braves' teams through the successful run. They weren't solely built on OBP, but they had decent walk rates.
Wren built the current edition of the Braves and while he has constructed a team less OBP-driven, even he had it mind with a number of his acquisitions. But please stop confusing the "Braves' Way" with Frank Wren. He's the guy who abandoned many of the principles on which Cox, Snyder, and Schuerholz built the Braves.
I think the thing with Blanco is that he was viewed--perhaps incorrectly--as a below average CF defensively, which prompted the Braves to make the move to acquire McLouth in 2009 after Schafer fell flat on his face. That acquisition put both Schafer and Blanco at the bus station waiting for their ride out of town. Blanco pretty much split time between LF and CF in his stints with the Braves and he wouldn't be in CF now if Pagan were healthy. Statistics bear out that he's been an average-at-best CF defensively and that is why Cox probably didn't want him in CF. I don't know if that's the case or not. Lord knows neither Kotsay (at the stage of his career when the Braves got him), Ankiel (who the Braves acquired for Blanco after McLouth's injury), or McLouth (who was unbelievably overrated as a CF) were significantly better (if at all better) than Blanco out there. Only thing I've ever noticed about Blanco's defense is that he has a noodle-arm.
But I'm not going to rip on Blanco. He's developed into a nice player. Sometimes it takes a couple of stops for a guy to put it together and he's found himself a home for now in SF and it will be curious how he's viewed by other teams when he hits free agency, which won't happen until next season. Looks like a 3.5 OF who can give a team 400 quality ABs on an annual basis. Nice little skill set.
PS--I guess the Nats don't value OBP either, because they had Blanco rotting in Syracuse in 2011 while BB-machine Rick Ankiel (who oddly was the guy the Braves got when they traded Blanco to the Royals) patrolling CF that season.
Dalyn
Fredi Gonzalez Supporter
Stella! is useless for this team as long as Fredi is manager. Might as well trade him.