Section 435 An Atlanta Braves blog. From the upper deck at Turner Field.

Most Popular Manager: Bobby Cox

SI polled 300 Major League players about which manager they would most like to play for. Bobby Cox came out on top with 25 percent.

If you want to know why Bobby Cox has a job for as long as he wants one, it’s not just because of 14 consecutive division titles, it’s also because players aren’t bullshitting when they say they’re excited to come to Atlanta to play for Bobby Cox. Even with the team languishing for the last couple of years. That’s especially a big deal for signing free agents.

Back at .500

Coming home from one game or another during our late April recover from our mid April swoon, I remarked to Maura that we were back at .500. I remember because I said I hoped I wouldn’t be saying that much more this season, that we’d pick up some inertia towards the positive side.

In fact, our win at Arizona on 5/31 was the 14th time we’ve been back at .500 this year. It’s become a running joke. And it’s beginning to look more and more like it should be our motto for the season. No longer 90 game losers! Atlanta Braves Baseball: Back at .500!

Of course this is due in large part to the heart of mediocrity that cuts across our outfield on a daily basis. I thought at the beginning of the season that the biggest factor determining our success this year would be whether Jeff Francoeur could turn around from his miserable 2008. Jordan Schafer hasn’t adjusted to major league pitching since his hot first week when major league pitching adjusted to him. And Garrett Anderson has shown about as much pop in his bat as he’s shown life in the outfield - or, you know, life period - which is about none.

So, we need some help. Here’s some hints:

• No, Mark DeRosa (as swell as DeRo is) is not the answer.
• Dear Jebus, No, trading Javier Vazquez is not a good idea.

Home Opener

Of course, it doesn’t do you much good when your new, big-money, hot-shot ace has to sit after 3.0 thanks to a two-hour rain delay.

It was great to see an almost–thanks surely to the forecast–full Turner Field with a crowd of folks (at least the 30% not stuck in ridiculous beer lines) ready to be excited about Braves baseball again. The best part of the evening was when the relievers involved in Thursday night’s 6-walk, 8-run, rollover-and-die inning were all booed when the roster was read as part of the opening night festivities.

It wasn’t as funny when the relievers tried to pull the same thing last night.

This was not the kind of win I want to see very often. (And I didn’t actually get to see the win part since we had to leave at 1am in order to make the last MARTA train.) But if this was last year, with the weird Nationals curse and the boring 1-run game thing, we’d surely have been in the loss column.

Here We Go

Is it just the AJC blogs, or are Braves’ fans obnoxiously pessimistic in general? I mean, seriously, it was a shitty, shitty way to lose a game. But it’s one game, and if you’re going to give up 13 runs to the Phillies in a series, isn’t it a lot better to give up 12 of them in one game?

Of course, I’m wondering what the locker room speech to the bullpen was after the game…

Notes From the Season Ticket Holder Town Hall

The Braves held another town hall for season ticket holders over lunch at the 755 Club on Thursday. Frank Wren spoke and took questions from fans (a brave [no pun intended] move just a week after letting Smoltz sign with the Red Sox). Wren addressed the things that have happened so far this offseason and talked about the upcoming season.

While he didn’t break any news, he did give some indication about a few rumors going around. Here are are my notes on the luncheon.

(To be clear, everything that follows is strictly my interpretation of what he said. Of course, he was just as politic with his answers as he would have been with the media. You know never know when someone you’re talking to is one of those pesky bloggers, after all.)

• John Smoltz. He made the same point that they couldn’t afford to pay Smoltz to not pitch, but he also talked about knowing how much money the Red Sox had coming off the books and how much they still have to spend ($50 million) made it pretty clear that they were going to have a hard time matching their offer.
• Chipper Jones. They intend to make an offer to Chipper to extend his contract. I wouldn’t expect it to happen until the season is underway.
• Andruw Jones. He didn’t rule it out, but didn’t seem enthused. He talked about Josh Anderson and Jordan Schafer as their main options for center field. He didn’t mention Gregor Blanco; make what you will of that.
• An outfield bat. He seemed pretty down on the available players on the free agent market, including Adam Dunn. I would pretty much count that out as an option. He said there are several trade opportunities available, but he thought their potential partners wanted to wait to see how things shaped up during spring training. He also mentioned the possibility of a Matt Diaz platoon with either Brandon Jones or Jordan Schafer.
• Tommy Hanson. To say he is high on Tommy Hanson would be the understatement of the year. He said they didn’t want to put too much pressure on him to be a successful major league pitcher this year (or whenever he debuts), but regarding a rotation position coming out of spring training this year, he said they would keep an open mind. The way he said it leads me to believe the fifth spot is his to lose.
• Jake Peavy. He says that they had an agreement with the Padres on players for a Peavy trade, but Peavy didn’t want to come to Atlanta.

Farewell, Bearded One

My emotional side certainly agrees with you. How could it not? Smoltz is an icon, one of the greatest players ever to don a tomahawk. And there’s certainly a good chance that he’ll put in productive innings again next year. I was mad and hurt, too, when i heard the news.

But take a step back, take a deep breath (hell, get mad and wait until tomorrow to do it) and think about it for a minute. We’re coming off a 2008 season that was doomed because 4 of 5 projected starters were lost for two or more months due to injury. Right off the bat we know Smoltz wouldn’t be ready until at least May. And he’s been a health risk the entire decade. Can we really afford to take that kind of risk in 2009? Wren said going in to the off season that we wouldn’t be counting on Smoltz or Glavine returning. Didn’t we all applaud that?

Sure, Smoltz was brilliant in the starts he was able to make, but he was playing hurt, as he has been for years. The Red Sox are in a position where they can take that chance. The Braves aren’t and made Smoltz an offer reflecting that. It’s a good move for the Red Sox and it’s a good move for the Braves. And it’s Smoltz’s right to decide that going to the Red Sox is in his best interest.

Seriously, people. He made five starts last year. Five. We should have guaranteed more than $5 million on the chance (CHANCE) that he would be healthy for two thirds of a baseball season?

But this sort of underscores something else. Braves fans (and players, apparently) need to get over this notion of “loyalty.” Teams don’t owe the players a single bit more than the dollars they agree to pay on the contract for the period of time they agreed to pay. Players don’t owe teams anything more than to play their hardest and represent their team for the period they are under contract. Major league baseball players have fought hard to make sure they have their free agent rights and their guaranteed, multi-year contracts, so it’s a little jarring to hear them asking for loyalty as well.

What about players taking less money to play with the Braves in the past? Is that loyalty? We heard a lot about “hometown discounts” during our 14 year run (over 3 years ago, by the way). But that was never about, “I’m going to take less because I love the Braves.” It wasn’t selflessness. It wasn’t loyalty. If you signed with the Braves, you knew you were going to play in October. It was Mark Teixeira taking less with the Yankees than with the Nationals. It’s a lot easier being loyal to a franchise when you know they’re going to win. That’s worth something.

Notice Smoltz didn’t sign with some bottom dwelling franchise.

As J.C. Bradbury pointed out, we’ve already paid him $130 million (including a value I’ll leave someone else to figure out for ample time he spent on the bench injured).

We let him go to the bullpen when he decided that was the best place for him to pitch. We let him come back to the starting rotation when he decided that was best. We signed him for $14 million dollars last year knowing that he was playing hurt and let him call the shots on his offseason program.

The Braves have done right by John Smoltz. Here’s what the Braves offered, by the way:

The Braves would have paid Smoltz incrementally based on his health up to a maximum of $5 million if he remained on the major league roster for 60 days, and the guarantee was for no more than $3 million. The offer also included another $5 million in performance bonuses and $2 million in additional incentives. So Smoltz could have earned up to $12 million by staying healthy and pitching extremely well.

Who’s to blame here? No one is to blame. Things worked out exactly how they should have.

I wish Smoltz all the best and hope he has a fabulous season in Boston. Now let’s go sign Derek Lowe and a bat and get ready for February 14.

Bye, Mark

Here’s the word on Luis Sumoza, the duder we get in return for the college player of the decade for the ’90s:

Shows the potential to be a five-tool player, but needs a lot of refinement. High power potential. Above average speed. Strikes out too much, still has some holes in his swing. Hits from a slightly open stance. Keeps his hands around his helmet. Swing tends to get a bit too long and he can jam himself. In the field, Sumoza has above average range, a decent glove, and a good arm. Overall, he has a ton of potential, but still a long way to go.

So, long, good luck, thanks for the memories. We’ll always have the cycle.

Redemption + Kotsay Watch 2009

Atlanta 10, Miami Marlins of Miami 9. The Marlins are never a big draw and with the remains of Tropical Storm Fay pushing through the metro area, there weren’t many folks motivated to make it out to the ballgame. The official attendance last night was around 17,000, but I’d be surprised if half that many were actually in the crowd. At one point before the rally, both Marlins fans started shouting “Let’s go Marlins” to each other across the stadium and you could actually hear them.

On the one hand, it was an ugly game. The Braves gave Jair an early 3-run lead which he pissed away. He’s obviously starting to wear down a bit. (And seriously, what does he have against Josh Willingham who he hit twice?) We kept trying to crawl back in, but the Marlins were answering. It looked like a hopeless case in the bottom of the 9th. Yet, with the help of a couple of walks and some clutch hitting, we managed to overcome a 9-6 lead in the bottom of the 9th.

I can’t help but think what the rest of the season would have been like if we’d played with this kind of drive.

Kotsay Watch

We at Section 435 have been watching the various Kotsay rumors closely throughout the the last month. There’s been dueling strains of “He’ll be gone in a week” and “We’ll bring him back next year since Jordan Schafer won’t be ready.” But now it looks like the former is more accurate. With J.D. “Mike Hampton” Drew going on the DL for the Red Sox, they need an outfielder. And, well, Kotsay is an outfielder.

A month of Mark Kotsay won’t get us much. At best a minor league pitcher (no, not Clay Bucholz), at worst Curt Schilling’s sock.

Francoeur, Hampton Enjoy San Francisco Treat

Atlanta 11, San Francisco 5. It was a beautiful night for baseball at the Ted last night, something you don’t expect this time of year. I’ll let you decide whether I’m talking about the weather or the 2008 Braves. It looked like we hanging this one up before it started with Bobby sitting the entire Kot* crew today. But Matt Palmer of the Giants was quite happy to let anyone hit and to walk anyone who didn’t want to swing. Some quick hits:

• Yes, Francoeur has 7 hits in his last 14 ABs over the last three games (including another far 0-fer on Friday), but only two of those are for extra bases, so it’s a step in the right direction but it doesn’t mean Francoeur’s back.
• Mike Hampton, however, continues to have a huge season at the plate. His RBI on Saturday put him at 4 in 9 ABs. That’s one more than the catcher formerly known as Corky Miller had all season.

Saturday Quick Hits

• Glavine is back on the DL. Here’s a question: how come nobody was heaping the same kind of shit on Glavine for thinking that he was miraculously cured of his torn flexor tendon that was being heaped on Hudson for thinking his elbow was going to miraculously heal?
• Is it just me, or did Kotsay get hot just after Jeff Francoeur shaved off his beard? This can’t be a coincidence. I think that, like me, Kotsay derives most of his powers from his beard and, when Francoeur grew a beard, his bad mojo was channeling to Kotsay through the hirsutosphere.