Friday Links and AFL Report

October 16, 2009 at 12:03 pm by Capitol Avenue Club under Atlanta Braves, Economic Analysis, Front Office, Links, Minor Leagues, Prospects, Tim Hudson

Updated: 10/16/2009 6:52 PM EST -  See first and last bullet points.

Some links and analysis for your viewing pleasure.

• The Braves have parted ways with Reid Gorecki Vladimir Nunez (Baseball America got it wrong and has since corrected it), Jorge Campillo, and Buddy Carlyle (Hat Tip: Chop-n-Change).  They were outrighted to AAA to make room on the 40-man roster for various off-season acquisitions and elected free agency over an outright AAA assignment.  Vladimir Nunez is rather old and probably doesn’t have any future in the organization. I’m not so sure Campillo and Carlyle wouldn’t have been useful in 2010, though.  Campillo, as most of you know, had season-ending shoulder surgery early in the season.  He’s a soft-tossing junk pitcher, but he throws strikes and doesn’t walk many hitters (2.2 BB/9 in 2008).  However, the Braves seem to have another similar guy at AAA in Todd Redmond, so maybe the free roster space is worth more than having Campillo on it.  Carlyle is perhaps the most intriguing one.  In 2008, he added a cutter to his repertoire and the results were very good.  He was diagnosed with Diabetes in 2009 and spent most of the year rehabbing.  Braves scouts know more than I do, but I figured he might be a useful piece in 2010.  Oh well, I’ll be pulling for him wherever he goes.  Vladimir Nunez Reid Gorecki was also outrighted and accepted his assignment to AAA .  While he remains with the organization, he no longer occupies a spot on the 40-man roster.

• As many of you know, now former Braves’ scouting director Roy Clark has accepted a position with the Washington Nationals to become their director of scouting and player development.  The Braves wasted no time finding a replacement, naming Tony DeMacio their new scouting director shortly after Clark’s departure.  As Jim Callis of Baseball America notes (subscription required), DeMacio doesn’t have an impressive track record from his days in Baltimore, but his drafts were sabotaged by a great deal of ownership interference.  Clark was very good at his job and will certainly be missed, but unlike Craig Calcaterra of NBCSports, I don’t consider this to be a significant blow to the organization.  My belief is that people generally overstate the impact of scouting directors.  Don’t get me wrong, they are important.  But I believe the that the organization’s philosophy, the scouts themselves, and the general manager are more important.  People considered losing Paul Snyder to be a huge blow but the organization soldiered on, largely un-phased.  I suspect people will consider losing DeMacio a huge blow after he comes and goes, but life goes on.

• Tim Hudson has gotten a lot of attention in the past few weeks.  There was some initial speculation, but a report by Ken Rosenthal that suggested Tim Hudson would likely void the $12 million club option if the Braves were to exercise it and, instead, elect free agency prompted much of the mental energy spent on the issue.  Dave Cameron at Fangraphs gives his take, Matthew Pouliot of NBCSports speculates Hudson could get $50 million over 4 years on the open market, and JC Bradbury of Sabernomics makes his case.  The report prompted the two Braves beat writers, Mark Bowman of MLB.com and David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, to publish articles with quotes from Tim Hudson himself, refuting Rosenthal’s report and suggesting Hudson’s primary desire is to remain in Atlanta.  My take: Hudson has never filed for free agency and this season probably represents his last opportunity to land a big contract on the open market.  Still, he makes his permanent home in Auburn, Alabama and I believe he is sincere when he states his desire to stay in Atlanta.  I believe he probably signs an extension with Atlanta.  Perhaps after testing free agency, but I believe he will, in the end, find Atlanta to be the most attractive option.

• Baseball America has released their list of top-20 prospects for each of the 6 leagues in which the minor league affiliates of the Braves participate.  I’ll link to them.  Gulf Coast League, Appalachian League, South Atlantic League, Carolina League, Southern League, and International League.  Several Braves are mentioned.  Speaking of prospects, I’ve finished my list and write-ups of the Braves’ top-40 prospects.  It was a rather large undertaking, consuming the majority of my baseball endeavors over the past month.  Though I’m glad to have finished, it was very fun to do.  The new list now appears on the Top Prospects page.  You’ll find links to all the goods there.

• Mac Thomason of Braves Journal provides some excellent insight and analysis in his latest post: Where Do We Go From Here? 2009: I. Do the Braves need offense? I generally agree with everything Mac writes.  Not only is this article no exception, but it’s particularly insightful.  There will undoubtedly be more installments to this series and I’ll most likely continue to link to them.

• Brian McCann underwent a second Lasik Surgery.  Fingers crossed is my only comment.

AFL Report

I’ve decided to do an AFL report every Friday in conjunction with my Friday Links segment.  I’ll recap the past week’s action.  I may add a Monday AFL report segment as the off-season grows and I begin running out of things to talk about.

The Peo Saguaros season kicked off on Tuesday night with Braves 2009 first rounder Mike Minor delivering the first pitch.  Minor exited after two innings (he was on a pitch count, standard procedure) having allowed 1 hit, 2 walks, and 1 unearned run.  Jason Heyward got the start in right for the season opener and went 2-4 with 2 doubles and a stolen base.  Wednesday night, every Braves representitive except Minor got in the game.  Heyward again got the start in right and went 1-4 with a double, Freddie Freeman got the start at 1B and went 0-3 with a walk, Brandon Hicks got the start at 3rd and went 0-3.  Jeff Lyman was the starting pitcher and allowed 3 hits, a walk, and 1 run in 2 innings.  Lee Hyde and Craig Kimbrel each pitched in a scoreless inning in relief, Hyde allowing a hit and a walk, and Kimbrel allowing 2 walks.  Hyde recorded a strikeout in the game and Lyman recorded two.  Thursday night Heyward got his third consecutive start in right and went 1-4 with a walk.  Brandon Hicks got the start at SS this time and went 2-5.