Braves zeroing in on Burnett

If sign Burnett to 5 years at $20 mil a season you better put in some kind of injury clause, we can't afford Mike Hampton 2.0. We can't argue paying for a stinker but we better get our 32-35 starts.

One thing that the Braves lacked during their 14 year dynasty stretch was power pitching, with the exception of Smoltz. The idea of having A.J. Burnett and Javier Vasquez in the rotation is exciting. Although both of their ERAs were over 4 this season, you have to look at their strikeouts. I just realized Vasquez was quietly the 2nd best strikeout pitcher in the American League. I expect both of their ERAs to be lower considering Turner Field is a pitcher friendly park (I'm already talking as if Atlanta already has A.J.). If the Braves don't get A.J., who is the Ace? Smoltz, if they resign him? Jurrjens won 13 games, but is he ready to carry the load? It seems like Jake Peavy talks are all but dead, but what if San Diego comes crawling back once they realize the Braves package was acceptable. I honestly hope the Braves do not get him. I would hate to give up Escobar. I like Kelly Johnson's bat, but I'd shop him. I would stay away from Derek Lowe. He's not the pitcher the Braves need and somebody will end up overpaying for him....I promise. I think the Big Unit will likely head to the Cubs, but would it hurt if the Braves reached out to him on a 1 year deal? He is a professional and would fit in perfect with the other veterans. He may be old, but he doesn't throw beach balls up there. I love Tom Glavine, but I am concerned about his age/health. There are still many questions surrounding the pitching staff and left field. Intially, I heard JoJo Reyes went to the Sox in the deal, but now it looks like he is staying. Am I wrong? I would have liked to keep the young catcher Flowers and send Reyes away instead.

I like the new pick up, and to me we did not have to give up to much. If Hanson is as good as everything I have read, then we all ready have the horse we need. Once Huddy gets back and if Smoltz gets healthy we have all we need but another power hitting outfielder. I like the idea of R. Johnson for one year just incase Huddy or Smoltz take a little longer to come back.

I have to admit that the '10 rotation would be very sick.
Possible '13 lineup
C- McCann
1st- Freeman/Kotchman
2nd- Prado or Maybe Kelly
3rd? Maybe Van Pope
SS- Escobar?
OF Frenchy, Schafer, Heyman
Anderson will be a backup

Therefore there is no reason to rebuild. We already have all the pieces. We just need to keep them.
http://darion.mlblogs.com/

darionbaby who is heyman? lol

And Eric Campbell would be the more likely to start over Van Pope....Heyward isnt gonna be anywhere near ready to start in 2010 neither will Freeman...this is my thoughts on the 2010 lineup

C - Brian McCann
1B - Casey Kotchman
2B - Kelly Johnson
3B - Chipper Jones (Yes he wont retire till at least 2011)
SS - Yunel Escobar
LF - Jordan Schafer or whatever power hitting OF we sign
CF - Gorkys Hernandez or Cody Johnson
RF - Jeff Francouer

I like the line up every one is talking about. The rotation if we get Burnette would be stout. This is what I would like to see.

Pitching
1. Vaquez
2. Burnette
3. Glavine ??? injury woes
4. Smoltz ???? if healthy
5. Jo Jo R.

1st - Trade Kotchman bad pick up need a power hitter he isn't
2nd kelly J.
ss- escobar
3rd- Chipper ?? hurt to much trade him

LF- need a power hitter
CF- Shafer
RF- Im sorry I like francoure but we could do better,,What do you think

fantasyman....dude...do you even look at the splits to make informed opinions, or do you just assume right handed pitchers can't get left handers out? You do realize that Jurjjens, Vazquez and Burnett all held lefties to a .260 average right? Vazquez was actually closer to .250...he is better against lefties than righties...you know why...cause Jurjjens and Vazquez both have excellent change ups. Do some research.....i don't care what hand you pitch with if you hold lefties to a .260 clip as a starter...works for me.

The Braves are prepared to out bid The Redsox and Yankees and overpay for a guy who is not a #1 starter, who is injury prone, and has motivation issues. This is a terrible deal. Give The Padres whatever they want for Peavy and sign Furcal to fill the whole at Shortstop when they trade Escobar for Peavy. Burnett is not a #1 starter!!!!!! All this talk about the Braves needing a Power hitting outfielder is moot. They need a real lead off hitter with speed one they have lacked for the last few years.

i would like to see the braves go after B sheets or oliver perez and adam dunn.my predictions for the 2010 roster is :

C McCann
1Flowers/ freeman or maybe McCann
2 M. Derosa
3 Chipper jones he will always be a brave
ss rafael furcal
lf A Dunn
cf Jordan Schaefer
rf Jeff francouer

Sp.
hudson
Vasquez
Peavy
jair jurjjens
campillo

cp.
John smoltz

I don't understand why the Braves keep trying to get all right handed starters. Can't they see that all the best hitters and best lineups in the NL East are left handed hitters. The Phillies have J-Rol and Victorino who are switch but prefer the left side, Utley and Howard in the middle, and pat burrell is gone, there only right handed threat. The Mets have Reyes and Beltran who prefer the left side, and then Delgado. How are 3 straight right handers going to take on those lineups, there not....

wow, some of these things written, i can not even begin to comprehend. what kind of braves fan would want to get rid of chipper, regardless of injury, he is still one of the most productive players in all of baseball. and ow do you put reyes in over jurrijens, it just doesn't make sense. plus flowers is gone now. and burnett is most definitly a #1 pitcher, his stuff is straight up nasty. but i do agree with trading escobar still and bring peavy to ATL, that rotation would be ridiculous, especially with burnett too.

-Peavy
-Burnett
-Vasquez
-Jurrijens
-Glavine/Smoltz switch it up to rest the arms, possibly a 6 man rotation?
-then hudson when he comes back in august. straight up dirty.

lineup could look like this...

1.furcal
2.blanco
3.jones
4.mccann
5.kotchman
6.franceour
7.johnson
8.rf? i'm a fan of raul ibanez from seattle, then we could move him to the 4 or 5 spot and push everybody else back.

how's that sound.
9.pitcher

I love braves talk. I'm only 25 but I have followed the graves since their last losing season before theire amazing run. I have come to learn what hurts the braves and what helps the braves. Kotchman hurts the braves because he doesn't walk much, or strikeout much either, or hit for power. That can be made up for in left field. Chipper is not a 35 hr guy anymore and we need that. But, we have been losing the last couple of seasons because of our pitching. The bullpen in particular. Vasquez is nothing special, except he'll eat 2oo innings and can make strikeouts happen. So can Burnett, pitching in the American league where teams best hitters are Dh's. Pending on how much burnetts contract would cost the first couple of seasons, i would get him and not rule out still getting peavy. we have 45 plus to spend. vasquez 11.5, peavy 10, burnett, lets says 13 the first year. that's 34.5. get a good left fielder for 5-8. Burnett may not even get 13 the first year. smo;tz should not command much with injury concerns,
peavy
burnett
vasquez
jurjeins
campillo/hanson/hudson when he comes back.trade one.
moylan
soriano
smoltz
gonzales
ohman
boone
this is a rotation and bullpen that is built on winning a world series. If peavy doesn't happen, we're still good. Then,
mccann
kotchman/diaz
johnson/prado
escobar/furcal if we get peavy/prado/
jones/prado/infante
heyward/diaz/schafer/ordonez if we get him/dye is available
schafer/hernandez cause he can still bases
frenchy
the braves are not far and now that hamptons crappy contract is over, we can spend some money. let me know what you think

most of ya'll r high on dope or someting lol
Line Up
1st.Blanco CF
2nd.Yunel SS
3rd.Jones 3B
4th.???
5th.McCann C
6th.Frenchy RF
7th.Casey
8th.Johnson/Prado, i wouldn't mind putting prado at 2nd for 90 games atleast,he impressed me alot .
9th.pitcher

o yeah and another thing why would u include Hudson in the starting rotationj jdelagarza@ollusa.edu ? he's gonna be out until June or July .

Starting rotation
A.J Burnett
Vasquez
Jurjjens
Campillo
Hanson ,maybe idk for sure just a prediction,and then they get Hudson back later on and then put him in the rotation and have Smoltz as a closer and there's your line up and rotation
any other predictions ?

We just traded away flowers and Jo Jo is a joke. We're not going to get Peavy, so Burnett is more likely. Chipper will probally be moved to first, and were not going to sign Dunn. Glavine will retire by 2010, maybe smoltz also. Our bullpen will have Moylan, Soriano, and Gonzales. Derosa is not coming back, and Furcal will only come back if we trade Escobar away. Kelly is dispensable if needed, his defence is spotty. Prado is solid both in offence and defence. Acquiring Vazquez makes Atlanta look more hospitable to other pitchers, so it might be easier to trade or sign another pitcher.

Just because we (braves fans) want all these name being thrown around, doesn't mean we are going to sign/trade for them. Burnett would be nice, but I'm hesitant to get excited about him when the braves will be paying him upwards of 18-19 million per year at 36 and 37 years old. Also, I can still see the Braves trading for peavy, but I agree with a previous comment that it needs to happen while furcal and even renteria are still available to fill the hole at SS. Tommy Hanson is doing well in the AFL, but he is not going to be big league starter ready until at least 2010 and while he is a great prospect, he is just that at this point, a prospect. Also, Chipper has said that he does not want to move to 1B. He is still a gold glove caliber 3B and until his range is completely shot, he will remain at 3B.
1B Kotchman
2b K-Jo
3b Chipper
SS Escobar
LF ???
CF Blanco
RF Francouer

SP Burnett
SP Vasquez
SP JJ
SP Campillo
SP Smoltz/Glavine/if neither healthy enough/signed then Jo Jo reyes (sigh)

You have it all wrong.
The trend nowadays is to have speed. We do not even need a left fielder with power. Think about the possibility of a team like the Cardinals of the 80's
Ozzie Smith, Willie McGee, Tommy Herr, Vince Coleman, all contact hitters
1. Blanco (Showed a lot last year)
2. Schaefer or Anderson
3. Chipper
4. McCann
5. Frenchy
6. Kelly, or Prado
7. Esdcobar
8. Kotchman (Contact hitter, wasn't used to the league
after the trade

Burnett
Vasquez
Jurjens
Campillo
Morton

Closer Gonzalez, Smoltz, Soriano,
Morlan, Ohman, etc

PS: If we get Peavy, we can get Renteria cheap
Besides trust me there will be more changes coming

If the braves do every thing they did next year but with vazquez they could win 13 games plus if they get burnette/peavy they could get more.

The Vazquez thing has grown on me a bit since they first announced it. I mean, if Wren's plan at any time included landing Burnett and Lowe, then gettting Vazquez relatively cheaply was a good move. Vazquez is several years younger than Lowe, has a cheaper contract than Lowe will command, and has pretty solid upside. Bobby Cox has liked Vazquez for a long time, so it really wasn't that shocking a move. For those that have talked about Peavy....that's D-E-A-D. The Braves have no intention of resuming talks, Towers seems willing to make a more uncomfortable deal with the Cubs rather than swallowing his pride, and now that we did make a deal for Vazquez, it's much harder to imagine the Braves dealing Flowers, Lillibridge, Escobar, Shaffer, Morton all in one offseason. AJ Burnett's certainly got #1 stuff. Consistency and health have often been the concerns (not that those are small by any means). However, I have a feeling the Braves will make a deal in the 5 year $75 million range. That would likely be enough to get it done if he wants to come here. I doubt anyone else will offer more than that (though they might match). A couple other things. I find it unlikely that Smoltz will be a starter ever again. Hudson's gone til AT LEAST July/August, and unless the Braves are really in the middle of a pennant race they will not push him to return at all next year unless he's 100%. My instinct is that the outfield bat the Braves are looking for will still come via trade. Dunn and Ibanez don't really fit the mold that the Braves want as they want a power righty bat. Furthermore, Dunn's not really an outfielder and is much more suited for the A.L. at DH or an N.L. team in need of a firstbaseman. My predictions based off this would go as follows:

Starters:


1. Burnett


2. Vazquez


3. Jurrjens


4. Glavine/Morton


5. Hanson (I just get this suspicion that based off his fall numbers and his meteoric rise through the system that come spring it's gonna be tough to keep him off the major league roster).


Closer:


Gonzalez/Smoltz (at times)


Lineup:


1. Hernandez/Blanco (I think that Hernandez has a chance to turn some heads and the Braves aren't sold with Blanco as an everyday guy).


2. Escobar


3. Jones


4. McCann


5. Ludwick (He's made the most sense sense so far, and the asking price of Johnson seems realtively reasonable if the Cards will throw in an extra prospect).


6. Kotchman


7. Francoeur


8. Johnson/Prado

flowers is gone... And with the Vazquez deal done, i dont think the braves will acquire peavy... unless Burnett signs with another team, they should! so wren is going all or nothing with Burnett! thats not really good... I hope the braves will present this lineup and pitching rotation

lineup:
1. Josh Anderson (I really think braves should give him an opportunity)
2. yunel escobar (if he doesnt get traded), Martin Prado
3. Chipper Jones
4. Brian Mccann
5. kelly jhonson, ryan ludwick
6. Casey Kotchman
7. jeff francoeur
8. matt diaz

Pitching rotation:

1. Burnett or peavy (stop dreaming that we are going to get both)
2. jair jurjjens
3. javier Vazquez
4. Hanson (Ill Give him the opportunity to start the season in the majors)
5. Campillo, Hudson (when he gets back)

The Braves need Peavy and Burnett.Chipper should retire as a Brave- he moved to left field and let the Braves restructure his contract-He is one of the best hitters in the game an all-star third baseman-a future hall of famer. We need to trade K.Johnson-Prado to second.Kotchman needs to hit for a high average-he has very little power for a first-baseman.We need a power hitting outfielder-some more speed would be nice.If we have to trade Escobar then we sign Furcal and we get more speed.I hope both Smoltz and Glavine come back healthy for one more world championship.Go Braves

man the thought of burnett coming 2 atlanta, makes me salvate.. but we really need peavy would luv 2have both of them... Padres are worthless bums who seems 2 think that the Cubs want or needs Peavy... as far as Chipper, and Smoltz they will remain Braves as long as they can play.. ever thought of Abreau playing for the braves??? or maybe Burrel??? Garret Anderson maybe!! trad yunell escobar for who besides Peavy what other #1 starters are out there???

as far as line ups go lets get a few things straight in the future and possible for 2010 several prospects will make an impact on Atlanta:

Jason Heyward, Tommy Hanson, Kris Medlen, Gorkys Hernandez, Jordan Schafer, Todd Redmond, Jon Owings.

Our Lineup could feasibly be:

1. CF Jordan Schafer/ Josh Anderson/ Or Gorky's (One of these guys will be traded this off season)
2. SS Yunel Escobar
3. 3B Chipper Jones
4. C Brian McCann
5. RF Jeff Francouer (If He rebounds this year)
6. LF Jason Heyward
7. 1B Freddie Freeman
8. 2B Johnson/ Prado

The thing is the braves have a ton of solid prospects and a few blue chip guys. this next year we could actually see Kelly johnson make a move back to Left field to get some room for prado to play.

But Keep in Mind while Tommy Hanson Has lit up the AFL and Double A Kris Medlen 120/27 k/bb had a solid season with huge strikeout numbers and todd redmond led the mississippi braves with 13 wins and 133/33 k/bb

so the future does look bright when you consider Jeff Locke, Steve Evarts, Edgar Osuna, Ezekiel Spruill, and Brett Devall. the future looks bright in atlanta

How stupid is this? Wren won't trade Flowers for Peavy(a legit ace), but he offers him to the Sox for a #3 starter whose better years are behind him. This is reminiscent of the Texiera deal. Yes I liked Texiera while he was with the Braves and I realize that he is a very good player. But we gave up 5 prospects for him, two of which had very high ceilings. And now we are going to offer Burnett a 5 year deal for 15 mill a season. Sheets has more raw talent than CC or Burnett. Yes he is hurt alot, but a short term incentive based deal would be good. And he will be MUCH cheaper than Burnett too. I don't know who was responsible for the Peavy deal falling through, be it Towers, Wren, or even Peavy. I wish Schuerholz was still the G.M. He wouldn't fool with this nonsense.

The Braves won't reiniate talks with the Padres because either Towers is to stupid to negotiate or Wren is trying to prove that he that he knows how to trade. I just don't see why he has to get us ripped off. To trade 5 prospects for Peavy is one thing. He is signed for 4 more years. But Vasquez is inked for just 2 and he is nowhere near the pitcher Peavy is. And his ERA ain't gonna drop much because if it was goin to then it would have when he was younger and pitching for the Dbacks. I just think that he will start his downhill descent this year with Atlanta. He is 32. Im not sold on him. And one other thing. If Hanson is half as good as they say he is, then we already have a #1 ace in our system. Its a shame that he might not reach that #1 status for about 3 or 4 more years though. We really need to winning again soon!

If the braves end up signing burnett that's a big coup but it's also a huge risk for 5 years at the same time.
I don't understand why you wouldn't reinitiate trade talks with the padres since their options are obviously limited at this point and see if you can get Peavy and Greene. This would switch out shorstops and leave the braves with a real ace and the rest of the rotation would fall in behind peavy. What's the big deal with Escobar, is he a superstar in the making, I really don't think so. A real ace is more difficult to aquire than a shortstop.
Yes you could still get peavy and sign burnett because vasquez only has a two year deal at a reasonable $11m, and Hudson's a free agent after 2010.
Imagine
1 Peavy
2 Burnett
3 Hudson
4 Vasquez
5 Hanson
You could still keap kelly johnson and move him back to LF or I would take a flier on Pat Burrell and do a three year deal for $36m. Bring back Smoltz as the set-up man or closer in July and you can easily overtake the mets, phillies

furcal in atlanta ???????? more like oakland

julie5983 ,that line up and rotation is the dumbest and suckiest line up i've ever seen ,i mean do u really think the Braves r gonna trade chipper or Kotchman ?no and no .andwhy would the braves put Kotchman leading off ? he doesn't have speed like others .u need speed and contac at the top of your line up .and do u really think the Braves r gonna put Smoltz in the starting rotation ? NO !! he already said if he comes back he'll be a relief pitcher for crying out loud ! and i wouldn't put Tom Glavin in the rotation ,he seems to get hit hard when pitching to the Mets and rest of the NL and another thing he is way !!!!! past his prime ,Braves need young talent like Burnett and Hanson.and who in the HELL ! would want that sucky Jo Jo Reyes to pitch for the braves except u ? Jesus Christ ,i would rather watch him swing at a baseball then to pitch to a batter.and why would they trade Francoer ? i mean yes he had a VERY BAD season but every 1 has a bad year except Albert Pujols lol Jeff is just too young right now and hasn't showed every thing yet ,i wouldn't mind the Braves trading him though but i just dont think he's leaving the Braves unless he has another bad year like he did then i would trade his sorry ***.if u done some research on the BRAVES u would know that Kelly Johnson hits better in the 7th or 8th batter order !CASE DISMISSED !

I personally think its too much of a risk to sign Burnett to a 5 year deal, especially if he is going to opt out of the 5th year like he did this year to the Blue Jays. I would really like to see Wern get the trade talks with the padres up and running again. If we could trade for Peavy, and send Escobar, Hernandaz, Johnson and a pitcher to the padres, then Prado could start at second, we could sign furcal, and another pitcher...maybe Jon Garland, he's only 29 and has proven to be a good number 2 pitcher. We could also trade for a power right handed bat. The rotation would then be Peavy, Garland, Vazquez, JJ, and Hanson until Hudson comes back. As for the line up I would put it like this
1. Furcal
2. Prado
3. Chipper
4. whoever the power hitter we get is
5. McCann
6. Kotchman
7. Frenchy
8. Shafer or Blanco
9. Pitcher

For some reason i really dont think the trade talks with the Padres are finished!

i agree with u kinda smmcguir about Peavy.I dont think the trade talk is over yet either .Ya never know the Braves might be just saying that so no 1 will have to worry about Atlanta getting Peavy .1st of all tho i dont understand that rip off Towers is trying to do .Padres r looking for a Major league Ready starter for this up coming season . i'm pretty sure the Padres were looking to be dealt Tommy Hanson but never was .i dont blame the Braves for not trading him though.Look at his stats in the minors and every thing else .he could be the next Cy Young winner in the Future lol But if the Braves doesn't bring up Peavy in the winter meetings .i would sign Burnett in a heart beat .

I have been a Braves fan for a long time and every time I hear somebody say we need to trade Chipper Jones, I think it is coming from a Mets fan. Chipper Jones is the best player the Braves ever had. It would be an embarrassment to be a fan of the Braves if we didn't sign John Smoltz. Okay, got that out of the way. I think we need to sign Burnett and Peavy to have a good season. Bring back Furcal and Dye as well. This is my lineup and rotation:

1. R. Furcal
2. K. Johnson
3. C. Jones
4. B. Mccann
5. J. Dye or B. Jones
6. O. Infante
7. J. Francoeur
8. C. Kotchman
9. pitcher

1. J. Peavy
2. A.J Burnett
3. Vazquez
4. J. Jurrjens
5. J. Campillo

When T. Hudson returns
1. J. Peavy
2. A.J Burnett
3. T. Hudson
4. Vazquez
5. J. Jurrjens

World Series Champs!!!!!!!

if you get burnett braves wont go for peavy to. its one or the other. braves have a starting rotation that looks like this.
1. Burnett or peavy
2. Vasquez
3. Jurrjens
4. Campillo or Hudson(hurt but will come back strong)
5. Hanson
( i played with tommy on the braves in little league guy was awesome then and he is even better now. He wins my 5th spot to show everyone what he has.)

also in the rotation you have the possibility of smoltz which smoltz is the man has been always will be. if he comes back in the rotation or bullpen it doesnt matter he makes an impact.

use johnson in a trade for a Dye(good to see in a braves uniform again. or for peavy. put escobar on second sign furcal or sign renteria put him on second and escobar on short.

1. Furcal ss or escobar ss
2. Escobar 2b or renteria 2b
3. Jones 3b
4. McCann c
5. Dye OF
6. Francoeur OF
7. Kotchman 1b
8. blanco or Diaz OF
9. Pitcher
put in prado where he is needed could switch off with kotchman chipper or escobar. hell even the OF.

This season will be a 20 Win season for Jurjjens! How he handled all the pressure last year...this kid has a 20 Win season in him this year!

lemke20braves ? please tell me u didn't put Diaz in your wanna be line up .he had a good year 2 yrs ago but this year he sucked !Every time he comes to the plate it looks like he is golfing.at the ball.this is MLB not Golf.he has a sick looking swing .i could sign a 10 yr old kid that swings better then him .I would say the braves need to go after Ludwick or some type of guy like him .

This has been driving me crazy, if you are going to make fantasy rosters, then please stay updated on the current roster. Flowers and Lillibridge are no longer around, they are gone in the Vasquez deal.

Now, I was interested in the fact that someone mentioned Kelly Johnson maybe moving back to LF, his "natural" position. If we cannot sign a power LF bat, then I say that is a great call. Put Kelly in LF and let Prado play 2B.

So, WITHOUT a trade for Peavy or Ludwick/power LF,

1B Casey
2B Prado
3B Chipper
SS Escobar
C McCann
LF K-J
CF Anderson (he deserves some more playing time at least at the start of the season)
RF Francouer

For the rotation, of course I'd love to see BOTH Peavy and Burnett, but this isn't MLB 2K8 guys. Let's be a bit more reasonable. So it does appear that if we can sign one of them, it will more than likely just be the one.
1. Burnett(more likely) / Peavy
2. Vasquez
3. Jair Jurrjens
4. Campillo
5. Jo-Jo Reyes (Up for grabs really with Morton, if he stays healthy, however I would like to have at least one Southpaw in the starting 5, so I know I'll get blasted for putting Jo-Jo down in the starting rotation.)

Many people have been talking about Smoltz coming back, while it is every Braves dream to watch Smoltzie blast away those dirty Mets and Phils, it seems more likely that he may not be able to do so. Health is a big issue for his age. If he comes back to the pen, then it is going to be quite crowded.
CL: Mike Gonzalez / Rafeal Soriano / John Smoltz
Set-up: Peter Moylan
Lefty arm: Ohman (if we re-sign him), Boone Logan, or Royce Ring
Righty arms: Bennett, Acosta, Parr(a kid who Bobby really likes and did a pretty good job at the end of last year. May find time as a spot starter if need be.)

Many things are up in the air, but have faith guys, and remember, we're all pulling for the same team, so how bout a little compassion for some of the other ideas...

Go Bravos,

Flintrock23

i did say hudson but but i guess you dint read well when i said 2010 lineup! so yeah read it again and yeah sorry bout flowers just didnt believe wren would trade him he is what been wanting at first all this time a power hitter