Addressing the needs: Left Fielder
November 9, 2010 at 6:13 am by Capitol Avenue Club under Atlanta Braves
In the 2009 preseason the Braves needed two top-of-the-rotation starters and a right-handed, power-hitting left fielder. After committing nearly $34 million and several prospects to Javier Vazquez, Kenshin Kawakami, and Derek Lowe the organization was financially handicapped and rather than acquiring that right-handed, power-hitting left fielder, they settled for a platoon of Garret Anderson and Matt Diaz. In the 2010 preseason the Braves needed two back-end-of-the-bullpen arms, a first baseman, and a right-handed, power-hitting left fielder. After committing over $12 million to Billy Wagner, Takashi Saito, and Troy Glaus the organization elected to go with left field rotation including Matt Diaz, Eric Hinske, and Melky Cabrera. You see the developing pattern, the team has needed a right-handed, power-hitting left fielder for two years, but the need gets addressed poorly because the available resources are committed to addressing other needs first.
Fortunately the pattern ends here. The Braves enter the 2011 preseason with seven viable starting pitchers (Lowe, Hanson, Hudson, Jurrjens, Minor, Beachy, Kawakami), five capable late-inning bullpen arms (Kimbrel, Venters, Dunn, O’Flaherty, Marek), the makings of a pretty good bench (Ross, Infante, Mather), and seven starting position players (McCann, Freeman, Prado, Gonzalez, Chipper, McLouth, Heyward). They won’t have to dedicate the majority of their resources to another need, making the acquisition of a legitimate right-handed, middle-of-the-order hitting left-fielder priority number one.
It’s no secret the Braves need more power production on their 2011 roster. The 2010 squad ranked 11th in the NL in home runs and 9th in isolated power. The ability to hit for power is an absolutely necessary trait for the team’s outfield acquisition to have. It’s equally important for the player to be a right-handed hitter. The team’s conceivable options to hit in the middle of the order currently include Brian McCann, Jason Heyward, Freddie Freeman, and Chipper Jones–three left-handed hitters and a switch hitter who has traditionally been better from the left side. The addition of another left-handed hitter would produce a line-up with an easily identifiable and exploitable weakness. Imagine being down 4-3 in the 8th inning and having a lefty-specialist chew through the middle of the line-up without a) the manager being even a little bit tempted to remove said lefty-specialist or b) any threats available to negate the relief pitcher selection. It’s a non-negligible concern and enough of a reason to limit the search for an outfielder exclusively to right-handed hitters, at least initially.
Now, imagine a line-up that includes the seven players in pocket plus a right-handed, power-hitting left fielder. It would look something like this:
1. Martin Prado – 2B
2. Jason Heyward* – RF
3. Chipper Jones# – 3B
4. Brian McCann* – C
5. RIGHT-HANDED LF’er – LF
6. Freddie Freeman* – 1B
7. Alex Gonzalez – SS
8. Nate McLouth* – CF
The line-up is not only potent and capable of scoring lots of runs, it’s beautifully balanced and gives opposing managers no opportunities to chew through it with match-up specialists. Sure, they can try to use a LOOGY to navigate the 2-3-4 spots, but–and ignoring Chipper’s right-handedness against a lefty-specialist–Heyward, Jones, and McCann represent one of the most patient trio of hitters in the game. If said LOOGY’s control isn’t outstanding, chances are at least one of them will be standing on base after three batters are faced, leaving the opposing manager with the option of either burning another reliever or letting a lefty specialist face a right-handed power hitter. Even if he opts for the former, a left-handed hitter in Freeman looms on deck. You get the idea, and constructing a roster that doesn’t allow opposing managers to identify multiple favorable match-ups in a row is the biggest step the Atlanta Braves can take towards winning the division during the 2011 preseason.
While the good news is the need has seemingly been identified and addressing other needs won’t get in the way, the bad news is right-handed, power-hitting outfielders are difficult to find. If they weren’t, the Braves would have acquired one two years ago. And though the majority of the resources at hand will be put towards acquiring this piece, said resources are limited. We would all love to see Jayson Werth hitting in the middle of the line-up, but it’s not going to happen. The rest of the free agent options (and most of the trade candidates) leave something to be desired in the field. While acquiring a defensive liability would potentially offset anything gained by replacing Troy Glaus with Freddie Freeman, mitigating the defensive deficiencies by coupling the move with the acquisition of an elite defensive 4th OF’er (detailed here) would render the team stronger than any other series of feasible moves could.
An incomplete list of candidates:
Pat Burrell — Burrell wrecked havoc on the NL East for nine years, posting a .257/.367/.485 line in 5388 PA’s for the Philadelphia Phillies before signing with the Tampa Bay Rays as a Free Agent during the 2009 preseason. His tenure in St. Petersburg was extremely disappointing, he posted a .218/.311/.361 line in 572 PA’s and was released after 24 games during the 2nd year of his 2-year deal. He latched on with the San Francisco Giants on a minor-league pact shortly thereafter and quickly returned to the majors. He proceeded to hit .266/.364/.509 in 341 PA’s for the Giants and was ultimately a very large part in the team’s 2010 postseason qualification. Burrell isn’t necessarily a three-true-outcomes hitter, but he does strike out a lot (career 23.8% K/PA), walk a lot (14.3% BB/PA), and hit a lot of extra-base hits (44% XBH/H). His career isolated power is .221 (.217 in 2010) and his career slugging average is .475 (.469 in 2010). He owns a career .901 OPS against left-handed pitching but holds his own against righties (career .814 OPS). Though he’s certainly not an asset in the field, his defensive limitations have been largely exaggerated (-4 +/- in ~7,500 defensive innings since the start of 2003; -6.4 UZR/150 since the start of 2002) and isn’t incapable of playing left field every day, especially with the presence of a defensive caddy. Burrell is a free agent and word is the Giants won’t retain him unless he’ll accept a part-time role. Ken Rosenthal has linked the Braves to Burrell and I can’t think of a more logical fit for both Burrell and the Atlanta Braves. I’d wager there’s a very good chance he’s the team’s opening day left fielder, provided the Braves determine his work with San Francisco is more indicative of his true talent level than his work with Tampa Bay.
Manny Ramirez — Manny Ramirez has rapidly declined the past three years, posting OPS’s of 1.031 in 2008, .949 in 2009, and .870 in 2010. If the truth is somewhere in the middle he could be a fit, but if it’s more of a trend than random variation (he’ll be 39 years old next season) he might not have much left to contribute. As both a butcher in the field and a player with a reputation for causing clubhouse drama, the Braves will likely stay away regardless of the true quality of his bat.
Jose Guillen — Pass.
Austin Kearns — Might as well keep Matt Diaz and play him every day.
Andruw Jones — I don’t believe Andruw has a lot left to contribute. The past four years he’s posted an 88 OPS+ in 1556 PA’s and his last year in Atlanta was far from pretty. Though he fits the profile, I’d stay away.
Xavier Nady — He has had exactly one good year in his 9-year career and didn’t hit much last year.
Vladimir Guerrero — I’m both skeptical of his offensive abilities going forward and completely convinced he’s incapable of playing the outfield every day.
Magglio Ordonez — As much as people like to talk about Magglio’s demise, he’s posted a 122 OPS+ the past three years (130 in 365 PA’s last year) and seems to have plenty to contribute offensively even though he’ll be 37 years old in 2011. Defensively he’s a liability, but not to the Vlad/Manny degree. He’s a better pure hitter than Burrell, having hit .311 in his career while striking out in only 11% of his PA’s, but walks less (8.5% BB/PA) and doesn’t hit for as much power (career .199 ISO, .155 2008-2010). Still, he’s an effective offensive player capable of hitting in the middle of the Braves’ line-up. He may cost more than Burrell, which is the only reason I think he’s less likely to be a Brave in 2011, but if the price is reasonable the Braves will probably have very serious interest.
Jeff Francoeur — HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Josh Willingham — He should have been a Brave for the past two years, but the Nationals probably won’t move him this offseason for some reason I don’t understand. He’s scheduled to hit free agency after the 2011 season, and Atlanta making him theirs then seems more likely.
Matt Kemp — Matt Kemp is under the Dodgers’ control in 2011, but they may look to move him and his $6.95 million salary. Their ownership situation is uncertain and they’ve had at least one public dispute with Kemp. He had an outstanding year in 2009, hitting .297/.352/.490 and playing gold-glove defense in center field, but he was horrible in the field and hit only .249/.310/.450 in 20010. Whether the Dodgers decide to let their financial position and frustration get the best of them and sell low on a young potential star is anyone’s guess, but if they do he won’t come cheap.
Carlos Quentin — Quentin had an MVP-type season in 2008, a miserable year in 2009, and a mediocre year in 2010. He provides no defensive value and has a history of injuries, but he’s a very powerful hitter capable of unleashing a monster season under the right circumstances. Frank Wren has a history of dealing with Kenny Williams, but it’s unlikely the White Sox would part with Quentin without receiving a significant MLB-ready piece in return.
Hunter Pence — There have been no indications he is available and he’s really not that great of a hitter, anyway. Still, he fits the profile and could take a step forward.
Michael Cuddyer — The Twins have an excess of outfielders and Cuddyer fits the profile of a right-handed, power-hitting left fielder, but he’s owed a bit more than the Braves would like to spend and, like the White Sox re: Quentin, the Twins would likely want something capable of contributing in 2011 for him.
B.J. Upton — Maybe he’s ready to re-discover his pre-2008 form, but for the past three years his production hasn’t been acceptable for a corner OF’er. Of course, he can play center field and play it well, but the Braves need a power bat and this is the wrong Upton brother in that regard.
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So this boils down to Burrell/Ordonez or disappointment.
Those are the two most likely scenarios I’d say.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Atlanta Braves Buzz, Peter Hjort. Peter Hjort said: New at CAC: Addressing the needs: Left Fielder — http://capitolavenueclub.com/?p=3240 [...]
New poll.
Fat Burrell wouldn’t be too bad, I just hadn’t ever liked him since he was always on the Phillies. Nothing more than irrational hate there.
Neither of the two likely scenarios give us a mid-to-long term threat in left field meaning we’d definitely need to get someone else in 2-3 years, wouldn’t we?
I had never thought that Vlad Guerrero would be a good fit in the ATL, but he’s been a career .300 hitter, regardless of his power, and that hasn’t differed over the last couple of years. While I think it’s true that he’d be rather terrible in the field, and he’s only played 17 games there in 2010, he could plausibly come cheaper than Burrell or Ordonez and give us some extra money to spend on an elite defending 4th OF’er to bring in late when Vlad needs to give his knees a rest.
Just a thought.
Thanks for the write-up CAC you have a lot of new fans down here in the Albany area (GA). This is what me and the guys having been stewing over the last few weeks, no true answer out there being the options are thin for outfield power. I’d say with the amount of arms down on the farm Frank & Co. go for a trade to land Kemp, but its probably more likely going to be Burrell or Ordonez……sigh*
As a side note to solving our power problems we ship ship in water from Toronto and have our guys drink only that, they did have 257 home runs this year 46 more that the next team.
It’s only 185 home runs if you convert them to U.S.
well that just shows you what a GA education I have, we never spent much time on the metric system
That Francoeur guy… he looks like a player! He may swing at some stuff outside at the zone every once in a while but… look at that swing! That arm! That beard! Sign him up. He’ll fix everything.
A comment I got on the offseason primer that I mercifully spared the rest of the readers from seeing suggested the Braves sign Andruw Jones and Jeff Francoeur, playing Andruw in center, Heyward in left, and Francoeur in right, batting Andruw 2nd, Francoeur 4th, and Heyward 5th.
My brain started to leak out of my nose.
Why didn’t you post that?I could have really used a good laugh this morning.
What if the Yankees lose out on Cliff Lee and we can send them Derek Lowe for maybe Nick Swisher? Hes got power, a switch hitter, and isn’t injury prone. Plus he can even play 1st base so that’s even more depth if needed.
I really enjoyed this feature. Thanks Peter.
I agree with the entire posting–and agree that Burrell or Ordonez are the most likely options. Burrell would also fit into the scheme Peter laid out in a previous post: substitute him for an above-average center fielder late in the game, move McLouth to Left, and enjoy the workings of a good defensive outfield (which is what the Giants did all postseason). Of course, this necessitates that the Braves also sign a 6th outfielder who can field, and I’m less than confident they recognize the extent of their defensive weaknesses.
@ 11 / Daniel Sain
There is also the notion if the Yankees pursue either Worth or Crawford, the ball club will likely dump one of its three outfielders – Granderson, Gardner, or Swisher. Either Gardner or Swisher would be amazing. Gardner obviously filling a CF role.
I’d put real thought into a Jurrjens for Gardner trade.
CAC,
He obviously looks like a 1 year fluke, but how would you rate Bautista compared to these guys?
I have seen a lot of pretty good SABR / enhanced metrics stuff to the effect that the power surge may be sustainable (not 52 homers sustainable, but 260 / 330 / 500 sustainable). My gut is that everybody is wary of him. Defensively, he is probably a slight plus and has the ability to move around (say, to 3rd next year?) while most of these are either centerfielders or are bad left fielders.
As to the fluke thing, my feeling is that the 2 lengthy down years in Tampa scare me a bunch and his postseason problems also bother me. I think he may be incapable of dealing with good pitching.
On last comment, with Tampa mentioned, I was meaning to apply that to Burrell.
Good run down. My thoughts:
I like the idea of Burrell, especially if we can trade for a CF that allows McLouth to play CF, LF, or come off the bench. And in that scenario, we’d have the depth to allow Burrell to be the Freeman insurance backing up 1B should the kid struggle or get hurt.
Magglio seems to fit in the exact same mold as Burrell, especially if the Tigers make a move for Crawford or Werth with all their money to spend.
The others that intrigue me off there are Andruw, obviously. I don’t think of him as a potential 140 game starter, but as the combo 4th OF/McLouth platoon partner should we make a trade for a 150 game caliber LF or CF. (If you can’t tell, a trade makes the most sense to me and seems too obvious to ignore, sending some of our excess starting to a team like the Brewers with plenty of bats to spare.)
Cuddyer also is one I think makes a good fit. We could match up a trade with the Twins (I’d love to make a move for Revere or Spann), plus he has the versatility to play 3rd or 1st should we need him in the IF. He doesn’t put up huge numbers, but he’s a solid hitter. And he’s not a Gold Glove type, but he can work admirably in the field all over. He’d have plenty of detractors saying he’s too high priced and not the answer we need as a hitter, but he has enough value between his position versatility and bat that I’d be more than happy to add him (like a better, bigger, less mobile Infante).
I think Bautista is a 25-30 homer guy. Toronto is an exceptionally easy place for right-handed hitters–especially ones with pull tendencies–to hit home runs. 51 of Bautista’s 52 homers were pulled. He hit a homer every 12.6 AB’s at home, hit a homer every 6.8 AB’s on the road. Clearly the park had something to do with his power surge. Also some good ole fashioned luck. But he didn’t park/luck himself into 52, his power is legit. I think he’ll hit 35+ next year if he stays in Toronto.
@Trevor
I can’t imagine the Yankees letting Gardner go, but it’s been a wet dream of mine to see him in a Braves uniform for a while now. He is from South Carolina, after all!
The Bill James projections are out and as long as we don’t go full retard with that LF acquisition, our lineup should really put up some runs with another strong pitching effort from the staff.
Martin Prado – .351 oba
Jason Heyward – .395
Chipper Jones – .389
Brian McCann – .372
Freddie Freeman – .343
Alex Gonzalez – .300
Nate McLouth – .332
Tommy Hanson – 3.42 FIP
Tim Hudson – 3.89
Derek Lowe – 3.87
Jair Jurrjens – 3.82
I don’t like either one of those options, I am not a stat geek but feel that the home run is over rated. After watching Burrell stike out it seems everytime up in the world series no thank you.
Much rather have a Cody Ross.
CAC,
And if Bautista is legit to a 40 double, 30 hr guy in ATL, and if he can obp 340 or so, then isn’t he almost as good of a fit OFFENSIVELY as anybody other than Werth?
And, he is better defensively. And he can play at least a good enough 3B that at that offense he would be a plus player there (and if Chipper goes down in year 1 and if Schaffer or Young is showing something, you might avoid having ot either make a move or expose Omar).
My thought is Bautista will either have to go for 1 year at 8 or so or might get a 3 year at 18 or so. To have back cover in 2 places where we don’t have a clue who in the organization could play (LF and 3B), he gets a problem to go away for 3 years pretty cheaply.
Russell/20,
Keep in mind Bill James projections are very optimistic, usually unrealistically so.
Peric/21,
It’s not and the Braves can’t have him.
cliff/22,
When/if he hits the FA market the Braves should seriously consider.
It really is a shame that the Braves can’t pursue Werth. With Wagner and others coming off the books, and rumors that the Braves can save up to 3 mil by sending Kawakami to Japan, I would think they could scrape together 10 mil or so for the next two years. The payments could go up significantly after 2 years when Chipper’s money comes off the books. A 4-5 year, 50-65 million dollar contract might not land Werth but it would probably be competitive.
Sigh… but if that isn’t going to happen, Burrell is clearly the best option. He provides more power than Ordonez which is what the Braves were most lacking last year outside of Glaus in May.
Andruw is an intriguing idea– he would certainly be a cheap upgrade over McClouth. He still hits for power, in fact his .486 slugging % last year was higher than McCann’s, Heyward’s, or Chipper’s. His .230/.381/.486 simply eclipses Nate’s .190/.298/.322. He could at least platoon out there with McClouth, although the Braves wouldn’t be able to carry a solid defensive replacement in the outfield that way. Too bad Andruw can’t play center field the way he used to.
He also played in Arlington.
I’ve been lurking for a while, but I feel compelled to express my displeasure at reading comment number 10. Even though I know it will never happen, I had the overwhelming urge to jump out of my 14th story window to get away from the awful scenario I was reading. It’s a good thing the windows are tempered glass.
I agree with the assessment but in light of the dismal options in RH power bats. Certainly 5 lefties is no great idea but…
Carl Crawford*
Martin Prado
Brian McCann*
Chipper Jones#
Jason Heyward*
Alex Gonzalez
Freddy Freeman*
Nate McClouth*
Pitcher
Keep in that David Ross who will play 1 in 5-6 games is a Righty. Also keep in mind that Crawford saves a LOT of runs with his defense in left and add a lot of bases and torment after getting on base.
I absolutely love Bautista. He set a career high in BB% (14.6), posted the second-lowest K% (20.4) of his career and hit .260/.378/.617 while posting a career-low .233 babip. Yes, he’s an extreme flyball hitter, but that is bound to regress to around .270 (his career avg), which should help sustain his triple slash when the power inevitably returns to human levels. He should be in his last year of arb and will get a hefty raise from his 2010 salary of $2.4mil.
What about options that only could come in a trade? Any possibilities there?
DICE/29,
The final six players listed–starting with Willingham–are exclusively trade candidates.
25/CAC, Andruw was with the White Sox last year, so not quite as bad.
Scott/27
The Braves absolutely could never afford Carl Crawford. I love him as a player but it’s never gonna happen so let’s stop torturing ourselves hoping we could get him and look at the more realistic options.
The Braves will probably give Burrell a 1 yr deal and see what happens with him, then probably find another guy like him in the next offseason.
No mention of Colby Rasmus? Is this because you don’t think he will be available or that you don’t want him? Or just forgot to put him in?
Like all of us I would love for the Braves to make a big splash via trade for a Kemp or Rasmus type but if we have to settle for Ordonez or Burrell It will still be a massive upgrade over the garbage we have been sending out to left field the last couple of years.
Question CAC, if the Braves had there choice of Rasmus or Kemp for the exact trade package, who would you prefer?
Great write up as usual.
I would absolutely love to acquire Michael Cuddyer, but with their lefties in place, I think it’s more likely they would shop Kubel than Cuddyer, and at that point, we’re no longer interested.
I agree that Willingham will be a Brave in 2012, and see Burrell as the most likely guy to fill the gap in the meantime.
We won’t have a feared LF until someone comes through our system (not much current hope there).
33/Brian,
At the outset of the offseason, I really wanted us to pursue Rasmus. But the more I thought about it, I think I would prefer Kemp for these reasons:
1) Rasmus will cost everything and the kitchen sink. Not saying Kemp will be cheap, but it should be significantly less considering his contract situation and that he is coming off a pretty big down year.
2) Kemp is right handed. And he’s an impact bat (not sure where he would bat in the lineup though).
3) His defense was bad last year but I think he just had an overall bad year and should rebound on both sides of the ball.
When it comes down to it, I would prefer Kemp, but only to a certain extent. He had a down year, so the dodger’s price should be lower, but if it’s not, don’t pay the higher price. And Kemp has averaged like 160 K’s over the last 3 years…so I’d be wary about that too. The Cardinals would have to really be selling low for me to want the Braves to get Rasmus. After the Wainwright debacle…we don’t need to be giving them any more stud pitchers.
Also, 33/Brian
I think he left out Rasmus because he was specifically identifying right handed OF options.
Tough to say, Brian. They both have make-up issues. Kemp bats right-handed but had a lousy year and Rasmus had an outstanding year. Rasmus is under team control longer and won’t cost as much in 2011, so I’d lean towards him, though I don’t see either player being moved.
I didn’t include Rasmus for reasons mentioned by you and Todd, I don’t think he’s actually available and he bats left-handed.
NickC/31,
Ah. My bad. Though the point is much the same.
No to Burrell. Terrible defensively, didn’t hit until he got to SF. You take a big chance if you waste money on Burrell.
It does not have to be a right handed left fielder. What side of the plate a player hits on is over rated. The Braves should go after Carl Crawford. Go for the best player. He may not hit a lot of home runs, but he makes up for it because is always on the base pathes. And he puts him self in scoring position better than aqny other player in baseball today.
Retch/38,
The Braves are not stupid and know what they’re doing–much more so than me or anyone else discussing the matter in this space. If Pat Burrell has nothing left to contribute they’ll know this and stay away.
What do you think about Josh Fields?
Right handed, good power, league average BB%, and can play the infield corners (though not well). Could be had cheap, maybe even on an MiLB contract.
Dude, I don’t always agree with you but your blogs are the best.
Ben/39,
They simply can’t afford him. I wish they could (though I’d prefer to allocate the money to Jayson Werth if they had it).
thebravestway/41,
I don’t know about his health status, and he has a career .303 OBP.
Ben/42,
Thank you. You’re certainly entitled to disagree!
Peter, if you were Frank Wren, what would you do?
Hitoshi Tamura is a international free agent this year and has expressed desire to play in the MLB, he is coming off a nice season with the Softbank Hawks where he hit .324 27 hr and posted a .924 ops. I’m not saying he’d be the best solution because his numbers probably wont directly translate and he does have an injury history, but he’d reportedly take a one year 1-3 million dollar contract.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5629980
What about the Kawakami-for-Matt Murton talk that’s out there? Murton’s a younger, cheaper, better version of Matt Diaz. And he could potentially be far and away better than Diaz was in his very best seasons. The only problem is defense, but again, it’s probably no worse than Diaz’s defense was during his tenure with the Braves.
Look man, I like Burrell. as soon as I found out he was available I was hoping we could pick him up, but it would only really help us if we got a real centerfielder who can run and catch. That is a real need for us. Nate is in the last year of his deal (thank God) and he might not .200. He also has a terrible arm. I think he is a great clubhouse guy but he could be a very expensive 2010 Hinske for us that can fill in at all 3 outfield positions. We are stuck with him for another year as he likely untradeable. Burell makes sense only if we get one of these guys.
Jacoby Ellsbury-would be a nice fit even though he is a lefty. He may be available if the Sox sign Werth. He can hit for average and he can really run although not a lot of power. We really need some solid defense (see Cabrera, Melky) and some speed that we did not have last year. Jacoby doesn’t strike out much either. If healthy he would probably hit .280-.290 with 40-50 stolen bases. His defense is also pretty good (.997 career fielding pct in center). He would play center.
Colby Rasmus would be the ideal centerfielder for us. He is from Columbus, GA and is a five tool player. He waould cost an arm and leg (texiera style) but he would be ours for a while and have some younger players on the team he can relate too which he said he didn’t have in St. Louis.
Another perfect fit in center would be Brett Gardner who is super fast and takes a ton of walks. He is a lefty and has no power at all. But he has a rocket for an arm and would easily hit .275 to .285 with around 40-50 stolen bases. He would play center, be really cheap and ours for at least 3 years. He has a career .358 obj and has only been caught stealing 8 times in 54 attempts. The Yankees would definitely trade him for pitching as long as the pitcher they are getting would be ready to pitch all of 2011. Think Jurijens for Gardner and Aramis Ramirez (ok i only wish we could get Ramirez too)
Omar Infante in center. That is actually his original position (if he has one). Yes, he has earned the right to play everyday at one position. We would then need to sign Ty Wiggington or Jorge Cantu for infield depth. Neither one of those guys are really good fielders but could fill in with decent sticks any day.
Imagine our line up with Burrell and any of those above guys in it everyday. With our pitching, we can really be set for years of great baseball again in Atlanta.
I would be ok with either Burrell or Ordonez. Another name I’d like to throw out there is Lance Berkman.
While he has traditionally been better batting lefty, he holds his own from the right side and he is an excellent hitter from the left side. Despite his modest decline in 2010, he has been one of the best hitters in baseball for a long, long time. He has played LF (and even CF) in the past, can help spell Freeman at 1B if he struggles and gives the Braves a very strong middle of the order with both power and patience.
My crazy “If I were Frank Wren” plan is coming in a post.
Shaun/46,
That was purely speculation.
Rasmus is pretty rad but wouldn’t it take something like Jurjjens, Prado, Kimbrel, and Vizcaino to get him? Of course it would be an amazing upgrade and definitely nicer than old ass Burrell.
I never even thought Andruw was even close to being an option, but saw that his numbers were much better than I thought they were–poor Andruw. But do we really need an Andruw and a Nate McLouth on the team? Just sucks that we can’t allocate an extra $4mil to the Jason Werth fund. Perfect fit and best bet. Come on, Chipper.. you’re my favorite Brave, but you’ve lowered your salary before and you know you aren’t a $13 million dollar man anymore.