GM for a Day: Atlanta Braves

Atlanta needs some help immediately in order to salvage 2009 (FLC/Flickr).

Originally I had another team in mind for the second installment (here’s our first) of “GM for a Day,” but with how much suffering the fans in Atlanta are experiencing this winter, I figured it was my duty to help Frank Wren out and give him some tips.

The Braves were in great position at the beginning of the winter with two main goals (big outfield bat and ace/front line starter) and a lot of cap space to accomplish it. Thus far Wren has failed miserably causing me to question if he was awake or even knew he could add players during the winter months. This is especially true considering the blunders he’s had already (Burnett, the Furcal flop, not signing anyone to help plug holes and disrespecting a legend in Smoltz). So Frank, here’s what you need to do to salvage your team and your fan’s hopes over the next month:

Atlanta needs Lowe at the top of their rotation (oneidaprincess/Flickr).

1.) Sign free agent starting pitchers Derek Lowe and Randy Wolf to a contract immediately.

I know he’s not AJ Burnett like Atlanta wanted, but Wren missed the boat on him. But then again, Derek Lowe is actually a much more reliable pitcher and a good fit for Atlanta.

As you can see by the stats below, you know what you will get from Lowe (around 14 wins, ERA in the mid-3’s and a great ground ball percentage). The ground ball percentage is especially nice to have in Atlanta when it starts to heat up and the ball begins to carry more in the humidity. Plus you have to remember that Lowe has had very little run support during his tenure with the Dodgers. They have had an offense that has been very weak at times which is why it is important for the Braves to bolster it a bit. Here’s a look at Lowe’s stats the past three years:

+------+-----+----------+-------+-------+------+-----+------+-----+
| YEAR | AGE | TEAM     | IP    |  W-L  | ERA  | SO  | WHIP | GB% |
+------+-----+----------+-------+-------+------+-----+------+-----+
| 2006 |  33 | Dodgers  | 218.0 | 16-8  | 3.63 | 123 | 1.27 | 69% |
| 2007 |  34 | Dodgers  | 199.3 | 12-14 | 3.88 | 147 | 1.27 | 65% |
| 2008 |  35 | Dodgers  | 211.0 | 14-11 | 3.24 | 147 | 1.13 | 60% |
+------+-----+----------+-------+-------+------+-----+------+-----+

In addition signing Randy Wolf (12-12, 4.30 ERA, 162 SO in the 2008 season) would not only bring more stability to the rotation but it would bring a lefty to help break up the string of righties the Braves have/would have. Wolf would be a nice pick-up for them and you could sign him to a 1-year $5.5-$6 million contract with a second year option. This would be a smart signing for the club.

2.) Trade prospects Gorkys Hernandez and Kris Medlen to the Yankees for Nick Swisher.

Some of you may think I came out of nowhere with this one, but it has been reported that the Yankees are shopping Nick Swisher around now that they have signed Mark Teixeira. With Teix taking over first base and an already crowded outfield, Swisher is going to struggle to find playing time and the Yankees would like to bring in some young prospects. Here’s a look at how Swisher has produced the past three seasons:

+------+-----+-----------+-----+-----------+----+-----+-----+----+
| YEAR | AGE | TEAM      | AB  |  AVG/OBP  | HR | RBI |  R  | 2B |
+------+-----+-----------+-----+-----------+----+-----+-----+----+
| 2006 |  25 | Athletics | 556 | .254/.372 | 35 |  95 | 106 | 24 |
| 2007 |  26 | Athletics | 539 | .262/.381 | 22 |  78 |  84 | 36 |
| 2008 |  27 | White Sox | 497 | .219/.332 | 24 |  69 |  86 | 21 |
+------+-----+-----------+-----+-----------+----+-----+-----+----+

Swisher would bring flexibility to their lineup (Kimberly*/Flickr).

As you can see he’s never been a big average guy, but I do believe last year was a fluke season for him in large part due to the White Sox’s inability to use Swisher properly. He wasn’t given a full opportunity to play especially at the end of the season after acquiring Ken Griffey Jr. Given the chance to play in Atlanta, I see Swisher giving a line of .260/.380/.495 with 28 homers and 98 RBI. This is pretty much what they were expecting from Jeff Francoeur but with a higher OBP.

3.) Sign free agent Bobby Abreu to a contract.

I know I used this one on the Cubs GM plan already but they made a mistake and signed Milton Bradley instead. My main choices were between Bobby Abreu and Adam Dunn. On one hand the Braves could use Dunn’s power in the clean-up spot, but they already have quite a few high strikeout hitters in the lineup with Swisher and Francoeur. With that in mind I figured another OBP guy who is also a nice three hitter would be a better fit.

+------+-----+----------+-----+-----------+----+-----+-----+----+
| YEAR | AGE | TEAM     | AB  |  AVG/OBP  | HR | RBI |  R  | SB |
+------+-----+----------+-----+-----------+----+-----+-----+----+
| 2005 |  31 | Phillies | 588 | .286/.405 | 24 | 102 | 104 | 31 |
| 2006 |  32 | PHI/NYY  | 548 | .297/.424 | 15 | 107 |  98 | 30 |
| 2007 |  33 | Yankees  | 605 | .283/.369 | 16 | 101 | 123 | 25 |
| 2008 |  34 | Yankees  | 609 | .296/.371 | 20 | 100 | 100 | 22 |
+------+-----+----------+-----+-----------+----+-----+-----+----+

As you can see, Abreu’s presence in the lineup would be very beneficial for the Braves who need an outfielder to help them on offense. With these additions, here’s how the lineup and rotation would now look:

Escobar will help Atlanta with his bat and glove (artolog/Flickr)

1.) Yunel Escobar, SS
2.) Kelly Johnson, 2B
3.) Bobby Abreu, LF
4.) Chipper Jones, 3B
5.) Brian McCann, C
6.) Nick Swisher, CF
7.) Casey Kotchman, 1B
8.) Jeff Francoeur, RF

Derek Lowe, RHP
Jair Jurrjens, RHP
Javier Vasquez, RHP
Randy Wolf, LHP
Jorge Campillo, RHP

(Also the Braves may sign Japanese pitcher Kenshin Kawakami who could slide into the five spot in the rotation as could Tom Glavine depending on what they do with him).

I really believe that these additions will help make the Braves a contender in 2009. As they stand now with Wren’s inactivity, the Braves will not be in contention in the NL East. They will finish a distant fourth which will not make Atlanta’s dedicated fan base happy especially with them being accustomed to their organization’s long standing tradition.

Wren must make some moves because as of now he is doing nothing but hurting the Atlanta Braves as well as their chances for 2009.

By Matthew Whipps
“The Diamond Cutter“
Major & Minor League Baseball Columnist
mlbdiamondcutter@gmail.com | Facebook

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News and Notes: “Is Wren Home?”

Apparently GM Frank Wren hasn't tuned into a Braves game over the past 20 years (Mori Claudia/Flickr).

After quite an array of articles over the past week here on “The Diamond Cutter” which have generated a lot of great discussion, I figured we had better address some of the items that have happened since our last “News and Notes” segment. Today’s will be a very signings intensive News and Notes as that is where all the MLB action has been taking place…

• In an unfortunate turn of events, the Atlanta Braves let the face of their franchise and future Hall of Famer John Smoltz leave town for the Boston Red Sox who now have a 17 man rotation. At this rate each starter will have a solid two week break in between starts in order to better rest them for the post season.

But in all seriousness, someone in Atlanta had better nudge Braves’ GM Frank Wren to see if he’s awake or even has a pulse at this rate. He has had two goals this winter: get an outfielder with a big bat and an ace/front line starter. Thus far he has acquired Javier Vasquez who is at best a number three starter. Not only has Wren already lost out on AJ Burnett (who the Yankees out bid him for), Rafael Furcal (who along with his agents screwed the Braves over even though as we go I’m thinking more and more that Wren was just as much to blame as he shows his lack of effort) and Jake Peavy (who San Diego was asking a lot for). Plus he’s pretty much out of options for impact pitchers and is losing the big outfield bats by the day.

Braves fans everywhere are in an uproar over this and calling for Wren’s head saying he is “singlehandedly destroying the organization.” While I’m not ready to go that far, I am ready to say that he needs to move with a little more sense of urgency. Now to compound the situation he has lost Smoltz, a front line starter and your franchise player, over only $3 million.

I just don’t get it and it makes me mad that they essentially disrespected Smoltz and his legacy (I’m ready for them to do the same thing with Tom Glavine and Chipper Jones next).

Are Chipper Jones and Tom Glavine next on the diss list in Atlanta? (since1968/Flickr)

• Speaking of disrespecting a future Hall of Famer and the face of an organization, Trevor Hoffman has officially signed a one-year contract with the Milwaukee Brewers for a reported $6 million. He will now close out games for the Brewers after the self-destructing Padres basically told him to get out. Free agency is good for the sport, but many of these teams have to understand what they are telling their fan base when they kick their favorite players to the curb over small amounts of money (small in terms of baseball salaries).

Giambi comes home (keithallisonphoto.com).

• The Mets are on the verge of signing free agent pitcher Tim Redding to a one-year contract for a reported $2 million. This would be a fantastic signing by the Mets as Redding is about as solid of a number five starter as you’ll find in baseball. He is durable as a starter and will give them around 10 wins with an ERA around 4.50-5.00. I’m actually very surprised more teams weren’t in the running for him.

• The other signings that have happened recently: Rocco Baldelli joins Smoltz in Boston (great signing for Boston), Milton Bradley is introduced in Chicago which we discussed in comments this week (stupid signing by the Cubs as Bradley’s fragile body needs protection in the AL with the DH) and of course Jason Giambi comes home where he belongs back to Oakland (fantastic signing as he’s still got pop and the fans love him there).

• The ESPN Prediction Questions article I put up the other day received a lot of great discussions in the comments section and via email. It was good seeing what everyone else thought was going to happen with players this upcoming season. I’m planning on doing more interactive posts like this in the future and will definitely see more before the season starts. Thanks again to everyone who participated and if you haven’t yet, go write yours in or email me at mlbdiamondcutter@gmail.com.

By Matthew Whipps
“The Diamond Cutter“
Major & Minor League Baseball Columnist
mlbdiamondcutter@gmail.com | Facebook

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