The Braves Blog: Post-Winter Meetings Update

The Hot Stove league is well underway. It’s only early December, but the Braves are most likely finished making significant additions and changes to the roster. This is disappointing in a way, because once again the Braves have made no attempt to be any kind of a player on the free agency market, and it likely means that the Braves will again go into spring training with some major question marks. There are plenty of areas in which the Braves could improve, but aside from tying up some loose ends, there probably won’t be much change to the roster between now and the day that pitchers and catchers report next spring.

While it is disappointing that the Braves are obviously still being run like a smaller market franchise, I think Frank Wren has done an excellent job working under those conditions so far this offseason. The Braves aren’t going to be favorites, but they are going to have a chance to contend next season. If they get some good luck health wise and have a few other things go in their favor, they should be in the hunt for the postseason again.

Additions and Subtractions

The Braves ended up using a lot of different players last season, and perhaps this is why it seems like they have both lost a lot of players, and will be coming back next year with the team mostly intact.

Players not Retained

Derek Lee (1B)
Troy Glaus (1B)
Melkey Cabrera (OF)
Matt Diaz (OF)
Rick Ankiel (OF)
Kyle Farnsworth (RP)
Takashi Saito (RP)
Billy Wagner (RP)

Players Traded

Omar Infante (2B)
Mike Dunn (RP)

Free Agents/Waiver Additions

Joe Mather (UTL)
George Sherrill (RP)

Players Acquired through Trades

Dan Uggla (2B)
Scott Linebrink (RP)

While we will certainly miss a number of the departing players, the additions of Sherrill, Linebrink, and Uggla are all very solid in my opinion. I would still like to see Wren add another middle infielder in case of injuries, and also another outfielder who can play center. He may indeed pull both of these things off. But the reality is that the chances are just as good that we’ll just have to try to make it work with what we’ve got.

Very Early Projection of Next Spring’s Roster

Rotation

Tim Hudson
Derek Lowe
Tommy Hanson
Jair Jurrgens
Brandon Beachy/Mike Minor

Bullpen

Peter Moylan (RH)
Scott Linebrink (RH)
George Sherrill (LH)
Eric O’Flaherty (LH)
Johnny Venters (Setup)
Craig Kimbrel (Closer)

Starting Lineup

Brian McCann (C)
Freddie Freeman (1B)
Dan Uggla (2B)
Alex Gonzalez (SS)
Chipper Jones (3B)
Martin Prado (LF)
Nate McLouth (CF)
Jayson Heyward (RF)

Reserve Position Players

David Ross (C)
Erik Hinske (OF/1B)
Joe Mather (UTL)
Diory Hernandez (MI)
Jordan Schafer (OF)
Brooks Conrad (UTL)

Other Possibilities

As always, the Braves will have a number of guys on their 40-man roster, as well as non-roster invitees, coming to spring training to compete for a spot on the opening day roster. There are some interesting players coming this season, and there are usually a couple of guys who make serious runs at making the club. The Braves also have a number of budding prospects (mostly pitchers) who could prove to be too valuable to leave in the minors. You never know who might end up having a major impact.

Kris Medlen is recovering well from Tommy John surgery, but if he pitches for us this season it won’t be until August at the very earliest. It might be best for him to play it safe and come back in spring training of 2012 ready to claim a spot in the rotation.

The Kenshin Kawakami situation is still a bit of a mess. The Braves would like to pass KK off on another club who could help pay part of the salary still owed him this year. Several Japanese clubs have expressed interest, but KK has said he is not interested in leaving the states. The interest among MLB clubs has been tepid to say the least. If the Braves are unable to move Kawakami he would go to spring training with everyone else.

I suppose it’s possible that KK could for some reason have an absolutely lights out spring and end up making the team as either the 5th starter or maybe as a reliever. However, it’s far more likely that he’ll go to AAA when camp breaks, where the Braves can showcase him and continue to look for teams to pass him off onto. If he struggles and draws no interest from MLB teams, he may realize that the Braves are not going to bring him up just because they’re paying him $7 million, and this may lead him to view returning to Japan in a different light.

What to Look For

Frank Wren has been very aggressive so far this offseason, and there’s a chance he’s not done trying to improve the team. The Braves are suddenly very thin at the middle infield positions and in center field. They could use some security at those spots. It’s possible that a major move could be coming, but I highly doubt it.

When spring training arrives there will be a number of interesting situations to follow. The 5th spot in the rotation will be up for grabs (Mike Minor and Brandon Beachy are the clear favorites to win that job but you never know). The backup middle infield spot will also be interesting. Diory Hernandez is really the only guy the Braves have at the moment who can back up Alex Gonzalez at short. But Hernandez is not much of an offensive player, and it’s obviously not ideal to have a bench spot taken up by a guy who isn’t going to help much as a pinch hitter. At the same time, Brooks Conrad—for those who have forgotten—has proven to be a legitimate force at the plate coming off the bench. However, as we all found out last fall, it’s not ideal to have a guy on the bench who can’t play defense at the Major League level.

It will be interesting to see if McLouth can rebound next season. If he continues to struggle, perhaps Schafer will finally be ready to challenge for the spot. At the very least it would be nice to see Schafer play well enough this spring to win a spot as the backup center fielder. Right now Schafer is really the only likely candidate for that job.

Obviously, Chipper’s attempt to come back from knee surgery at age 39 will be the biggest and most important story of the spring. If Chipper is simply unable to make it back, the Braves are going to be in a bit of a jam because that would more than likely leave them with either a big hole at 3rd or a big hole in left, depending on whether they would move Prado back to 3rd or keep him in left. I’ll be interested to see how Prado does in left field, where he has played less than 30 innings during his MLB career.

Spring training is still a ways off and who knows what might change between now and then. It figures to be an interesting year. We should go into the 2011 season with a lot of confidence, knowing that we made the playoffs last season, and if it were not for injuries we might very well have defeated the eventual world champions in the first round.

We Shall Miss His Presence

Oh yeah. I have to say. It’s going to be different without #6 running things next spring. I didn’t always agree with Mr. Cox, and at times he could infuriate me. But I will miss him. He didn’t always get it right in my opinion, but he loved this team, and the players loved him. May we all root for our boys with the passion and loyalty of Mr. Cox. I know I always do.