December 9, 200421 yr Hitting: Projected Line-Up 1. CF Juan Pierre 2. 2B Luis Castillo 3. C Paul Lo Duca 4. LF Miguel Cabrera 5. 3B Mike Lowell 6. 1B Jeff Conine 7. RF Juan Encarncion 8. SS Alex Gonzalez Projected Bench RF Dave Delluci or FA C Matt Treanor/Josh Willingham UT Joe Dillon or FA UT Damion Easley LF Lenny Harris Pitching: Projected Rotation 1. AJ Burnett 2. Al Leiter 3. Josh Beckett 4. Dontrelle Willis 5. Ismael Valdez Projected Bullpen LR Ben Howard or FA LR Nate Bump or Justin Wayne MR Mike Neu MR Matt Perisho SU Tim Spooneybarger SU Antonio Alfonseca CL Guillermo Mota
December 9, 200421 yr Looks similar. Looks like second place. Looks like for a long frustrating year. We'll be able to stay in games with pitching, but like last year, have a hard time putting teams away because the offense is a liability.
December 9, 200421 yr That bullpen does need serious work, but I still have some faith that Ben Howard could become useful at some point (although maybe as a starter?). We'll have to see in ST if he's improved.
December 9, 200421 yr I believe Beinfest was quoted in the last few days as saying they were going to be very "aggressive" at the winter meetings and elsewhere regarding the bullpen so if Admin can spin some of his magic perhaps help is on the way.
December 9, 200421 yr Neu,Howard,Bump= blown games,aweful bullpen 630659[/snapback] Neu and Bump are awful. Howard has potential but can blow up at anytime.
December 9, 200421 yr Neu and Bump are awful. Howard has potential but can blow up at anytime. 630670[/snapback] Yet Howard had an ERA a half a run higher than Nate. That's even better when you look at his numbers minus the starts (they are posted in another thread here). I think both can get the job done, but there needs to be some definitive role assigned to these guys. I think our bullpen situation last year left a lot of guys wondering where they fit in - Justin Wayne started out as a set-up man, started a few games, middle relieved. Nate did the same thing. If they had one role, they could grow into it a bit more and settle down.
December 9, 200421 yr Bump always seems to have that "I'm lost out here" look while Howard (at least to me) looks to have an intensity that you look for in a guy who's going to be perpetually thrown into pressure situations. Now if he can learn from last seasons mistakes and under Wiley use that intensity to be a better pitcher, I think the Marlins have something. If not he and the team go their separate ways.
December 9, 200421 yr The bench is awful and the bullpen is so-so, but have you looked at the NL East lately? Sad thing is, right now, this team would probably be the favorite for the division. The Phillies rotation is pretty much set at: Lieber, Wolf, Padilla, Lidle, Myers...that's awful, not an ace in the entire bunch, plus, they play in a bam-box, so they're going to have to score 5 runs a night to even think about winning. The Braves will start 2005 without their most productive bat (Drew) or their top-two pitchers from this year (Ortiz, Wright), and they'll likely do a Kevin Brown for Andruw Jones trade (if you believe the rumors). I'm still at a loss to understand exactly how this team won the division this year. The Nationals have the foundation for a good team, but still far too many offensive holes...not to mention their pitching is underwhelming at best. And the Mets...well, they're the Mets. They'll get Sexon (whose shoulder will give out by June) and over-pay for Pedro, but even with Pedro, they'd still have an overpriced fragile rotation (Zambrano, Pedro, Benson). I'm usually one of the most pessimistic posters, but barring Tim Hudson coming to a NL East team (other than the Marlins) I really like our chances. Are we the run away favorites? No, but we're certainly going into this coming season in the right direction. Even if we make no other moves and just keep Valdez, I'd say we had a better offseason than I was expecting.
December 9, 200421 yr The bench is awful and the bullpen is so-so, but have you looked at the NL East lately? Sad thing is, right now, this team would probably be the favorite for the division. The Phillies rotation is pretty much set at: Lieber, Wolf, Padilla, Lidle, Myers...that's awful, not an ace in the entire bunch, plus, they play in a bam-box, so they're going to have to score 5 runs a night to even think about winning. The Braves will start 2005 without their most productive bat (Drew) or their top-two pitchers from this year (Ortiz, Wright), and they'll likely do a Kevin Brown for Andruw Jones trade (if you believe the rumors). I'm still at a loss to understand exactly how this team won the division this year. The Nationals have the foundation for a good team, but still far too many offensive holes...not to mention their pitching is underwhelming at best. And the Mets...well, they're the Mets. They'll get Sexon (whose shoulder will give out by June) and over-pay for Pedro, but even with Pedro, they'd still have an overpriced fragile rotation (Zambrano, Pedro, Benson). I'm usually one of the most pessimistic posters, but barring Tim Hudson coming to a NL East team (other than the Marlins) I really like our chances. Are we the run away favorites? No, but we're certainly going into this coming season in the right direction. Even if we make no other moves and just keep Valdez, I'd say we had a better offseason than I was expecting. 630707[/snapback] With Wright, Ortiz, and Drew leaving you can rest assure that the Braves aren't going to be the team to beat next season but they'll still be competitive. They just don't want to spend the money now. I don't think Drew gets the credit he deserves, he had an over 1.000 OPS last season, losing him is going to hurt big time. If Chipper rebounds, and Giles remains healthy they'll have a solid but nothing more than that offense. They are losing two of their 3 best starting pitchers. Thomson had an incredible season for them last year, counting on more of the same is being kinda of optimistic. I think the Braves think they can replace Wright and Ortiz with Smoltz and Ramirez (since he missed almost all of last season) and not miss a beat. Also very optimistic. Could Smoltz make the transition back? What exactly was wrong with Ramirez? Is he ok now? He didn't exactly have great stuff before he went down...the bullpen is going to have a big hole in AA and a bigger one in Smoltz. The reason they did so well last season was in part because they had the best bullpen in the league. Some of these guys are no names though like Gryboski, and some are iffy like Cruz who excelled last season but has been notorious for being very inconsistent. If they win the division again, I'd have to regard them as the best organization of the year without considering anyone else. So many pieces that need to fit just right, it's possible but incredibly unlikely...but they weren't suppose to compete this year either. I have to disagree on the Phillies though, their rotation is above average. Padillla, Wolf, Lieber are all above average. Padilla and Wolf both missed significant time last season, but Padilla is only 26 and the two seasons before last he was definitely Ace material even despite his age. Wolf has great stuff and has shown that he can be dominant but the last two seasons he was about average, he's only 27 though. He's a solid number 2 or number 3 guy. Leiber I think is above average as well, based on last year's performance he should have a good year this year. Myers still hasn't tapped into his potential and Lidle is a good guy to have as your 4th or 5th. Remember they did lose Millwood and Milton, but both svcked royally last year. Their rotation really disappointed last year, but to expect more of the same is a bit optimistic in my eyes. Their bullpen if they resign Cormier will probably be the best in the NL East even without him they might still have the best. Their offense is probably the best in the NL East next season as well. I still think they are the team to beat because their starting pitching just has to do better than they did last season...they can't do any worse with all that potential. With the expected roster and another added bullpen arm, I expect the Fish to win about 86 games, it might be a little more if some players like Enc and LoDuca do considerably better than expected and whoever the 5th starter is. I am seeing the division winner winning 90 - 92 games next season. Atleast we should be in competition to the end. Oh yeah a blurb on the Mets:...... (every injury-riddled player on their team is going to have to remain healthy....there is just no way: Benson, Floyd, Piazza, Reyes, Cameron, or even Glavine are all going to stay healthy.) The Nationals have a solid team, that might compete for third but they're still not all that close to challenging.
December 9, 200421 yr are you all still remembering that ATL lost Sheffield, Javy Lopez and Greg Maddux and still won the division by a landslide understimate the braves yet again and see them take the division
December 9, 200421 yr are you all still remembering that ATL lost Sheffield, Javy Lopez and Greg Maddux and still won the division by a landslide understimate the braves yet again and see them take the division 630801[/snapback] Yeah, but Estrada was ready to take over for JLo anyway, and they got Drew to replace Sheff. This is a different situation. Not to mention, that this suddenly fiscally restrained franchise will have to start paying Mike Hampton serious money in 2006.
December 9, 200421 yr are you all still remembering that ATL lost Sheffield, Javy Lopez and Greg Maddux and still won the division by a landslide understimate the braves yet again and see them take the division 630801[/snapback] Yeah, but Estrada was ready to take over for JLo anyway, and they got Drew to replace Sheff. This is a different situation. Not to mention, that this suddenly fiscally restrained franchise will have to start paying Mike Hampton serious money in 2006. 630810[/snapback] ummm im sorry but that is not the same Javy had just come from one of the sickest offensive years by a catcher and the sheff is the sheff ... c'mon now everyone and their mothers wrote them off
December 9, 200421 yr an unproven catcher and a DL ridden player replacing two of the best offensive players that year yeah it's the same :plain
December 9, 200421 yr Bobby Cox and Mazzone are awesome coaches. They somehow get the best out of their guys. They will still have a pretty good team next year: C Estrada 1b LaRoche 2b Giles SS Furcal 3b Chipper RF (whoever they pick up) CF Jones LF Charles Thomas Rotation: Ramirez, Thomson, Hampton, Smoltz, and whoever they pick up Yeah this team is definately destined for last place :plain Their offense is better than the Marlins', and Mazzone somehow gets what he needs out of his guys.
December 9, 200421 yr are you all still remembering that ATL lost Sheffield, Javy Lopez and Greg Maddux and still won the division by a landslide understimate the braves yet again and see them take the division 630801[/snapback] Yeah, but Estrada was ready to take over for JLo anyway, and they got Drew to replace Sheff. This is a different situation. Not to mention, that this suddenly fiscally restrained franchise will have to start paying Mike Hampton serious money in 2006. 630810[/snapback] ummm im sorry but that is not the same Javy had just come from one of the sickest offensive years by a catcher and the sheff is the sheff ... c'mon now everyone and their mothers wrote them off 630813[/snapback] But they were widely picked to finish second ahead of the Marlins. The Phillies have been the pick since 2003 and have yet to deliver. I don't know what they're going to do, but the Braves really have some serious things to consider. Bear in mind, they will be on the hook with Hampton for about $40 million for 2006-2008, so they're in an unenviable position when it comes to signing any free agent. I mean, they're rumored to be going after Hudson, but if you're telling me that a team that has been ordered to slash payroll is going to be able to give Hudson the money he wants, while paying Hampton and the Joneses, I'd like to see your economic model. Remember, Chipper, Andruw Jones and John Smoltz (if he's a starter and stay healthy) will all be making at or around $15 million next season, and in 2006 you can add Mike Hampton to that list. With those numbers in mind, and the mandate from AOL to be at a payroll around $75 million for 2005, and I'm at a loss to see how they can possibly add any serious free agents to help.
December 9, 200421 yr I think the Marlins will have a good season, they need to get some what of a better offense, and definitely a better bullpen, so my predictions will be that they win the NL East by at least 5-7 games. The Braves have lost a lot, the Nationals are still the Expos (Crappy), the Mets may have a decent season, and the Phillies can just kiss my :censored .
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