Andruw Jones slides even further toward irrelevancy

Latest news on Andruw Jones I found is this nugget that he quit the winter ball team he was playing for. Believe it or not, he was apparently hitting only a woeful .148 during his time there. Of course, this comes after the recent announcement from the Dodgers that they had agreed to release him in exchange for Andruw agreeing to defer a portion of his salary. Now, I don't have the time nor energy to do a lot of digging into this, but it seems to me that was basically the Dodgers cutting a player for poor performance. Where is the benefit to Andruw? He still had (I think) around $12 million left on his contract. He's not going to that anywhere else next year for sure. The only reason I could see is that he really didn't want to be playing in Los Angeles. I don't believe that either though, because there is no way he'd give up $10 million dollars just to try to sign with another team.

Of course, one option for Andruw may be re-signing with the Braves. Not really sure what to think of this one. On one hand, Andruw has just shown nothing over the past two years to even resemble a major league player. Two years ago for the Braves he was automatic out in the middle of the lineup, which of course was impossible to get around. On the other hand, the drop in his production has been so precipitous it makes you wonder if there's any fix out there. I mean, we all know he was productive at one point. What's to say he can't be productive again? He's only 31 yrs old at this point and hit 51 HR's in 2005. Was it just the pressure of the free agent year in 2007 that led to the dropoff? Was it just poor conditioning? Those are things that can be fixed if he puts his mind to it. My guess, which I haven't read anywhere else, is that maybe Andruw has some serious mental issues going on, like depression or related illness. There doesn't appear to be any physical reason, and I can't believe that he's not a competitive enough person to put 100% effort into his career at this point.

I tend to agree with Dave O'Brien writing for the AJC who believes re-signing Andruw to a small deal with incentives would be a good idea. Give him another chance and let's see how it works out. If he truly wants to keep playing of course. It wouldn't surprise me at this point if he considered early retirement.

Furcal back with the Braves?

As reported nearly everywhere else, Rafael Furcal is close to signing with the Braves as a free agent. The offer is reportedly lower than one made by the A's and perhaps other teams. Assuming it happens, I definitely think it's a good move by the Braves. Of course, only if there are other moves coming as I assume there must be. It seems to me they must now move Yunel Escobar, who would likely have more trade value but who never really seemed to fit in with the Braves. Maybe I 'm wrong, but my guess is Escobar wasn't quite the same teammate that Furcal was. He always appeared to be a little aloof and maybe too flashy. That doesn't fit with the Braves style under Bobby Cox. There's really not much evidence to support this, other than the Braves not making the playoffs the last two years.

In any event, I can't see Furcal and Escobar both remaining on the team. They still need another starting pitcher and more power in the outfield. Maybe there's a deal for Grienke from KC, Ryan Ludwick from the Cardinals, or some surprise deal no one has thought about. Escobar would probably be the centerpiece of either one of those deals. Plus, the contemplated trade with San Diego probably gave Escobar the impression the Braves wanted to move him. He's definitely talented, and will probably have a long career, but I think right now he's most valuable to the Braves as trade bait.

light servings

Just a few notes I wanted to get down before I forgot...

1. Okay, after that last Braves post, things have gotten even worse. The series against the Cubs was very discouraging. But, to read other blogs, especially on AJC, it appears many fans are blaming Bobby Cox. Have these people forgotten about the 14 division titles in a row? Did Cox have nothing to do with those. Has he all of a sudden forgot how to manage. Of course he hasn't, so lay off of the team for now and give them time to figure it out. Or go be a Mets fan and whine about every single bad break your team gets. This is why they play the games people, wins aren't automatic, as much as we've been spoiled into believing they are. I'm going to try and remain patient for the time being and not call for drastic changes on the team yet. Besides, I wasn't too optimistic going into the season anyway.

2. I'm going out on a limb and predicting Stuart Appleby will win the U.S. Open. I think he's due to win a big tournament and he's proven in the past he can get on a hot streak and play out of his mind. This is the perfect week to do it. Tiger's injured, and Phil, well let's just say Phil can never play by the book. Yeah, the book says Phil is due this week but things with him just never make sense.

Are the Braves toast?

It's now June 11, and the Braves are struggling pretty bad. They got swept by the Phillies in a 3 game series and just lost in another ugly game to the Cubs yesterday. They've lost 4 in a row, are the proud owners of a 7-22 road record, and are currently 6.5 games out of first.

But, on the other hand, things aren't as bad as they seem. They have some key players injured and/or underperforming who hopefully will come around soon. Injuries to Mark Kotsay and Matt Diaz in the outfield are obviously hurting the team. Kotsay is nursing a recurring back injury and Diaz has a torn knee ligament but both are expected to be back before too much longer barring any setbacks. Obviously, Chipper has been out a few games with a strained quadricep. That's a lot of productive players who are out of the lineup right now.

One key player for the remainder of the year will be Jeff Francoeur. He's hitting around .250 right now, which is well below his career average of .276. So, he should gradually be able to get his average back to where it should be. In my opinion, his performance will have a big impact on whether or not the Braves are able to compete for the division title. There are no guarantees, but I find it very likely that Francoeur will come around and the players I mentioned will get healthy soon. When this happens, there's no reason they shouldn't get back on track.

Braves fans in music video form

Check out the new video from "Tito and the Gun Show," the two Braves fans who last year became known for performing a song in tribute to Mark Teixeira. Pretty entertaining guys, keep up the good work. Always to see the Mets get knocked down a notch or two.



H/T: http://thebaseballbeat.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/mets-v-braves-on-youtube/

What happened Andruw?

When he was with the Braves, Andruw Jones without a doubt earned a reputation as one of the best centerfielders in the game. Then, he got to the end of his contract and seemingly lost his ability to make contact with the ball and even some of his range in the outfield. Now that he's with the Dodgers, he doesn't exactly have the patience of the fans and media as he did in Atlanta whenever he had a slow start. That is, if you consider the following article by T.J. Simers as an good reflection of the feelings of the rest of LA:

"As for his play on the field, the Tubbo has one home run, and so far it looks as if he has only warning-track power, which suggests he has lost something.
"If you think that's what I've got, warning-track power, then write it down," Jones said, and it always helps when I have a player's permission to criticize him. "I lost my power, I suck, I should retire."
"I hope you're not waiting for me to disagree with you," I said.
Then Jones went out, and struck out on three pitches in his first appearance at the plate. I wonder if he cared.

Hard to disagree with Simers, but as a former Andruw fan, I fear the negative press may hinder his chances of breaking out of his slump. I don't think any writer in Atlanta ever wrote such a negative article about any athlete. Not sure why Simers felt the need to make it personal between he and Andruw. Just an ugly situation that may get uglier soon.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/la-sp-simers11-2008may11,0,7611597,full.column

Braves acquire Norton. Who?

So yesterday, the Braves picked up another utility player in a trade with Seattle. They acquired Greg Norton, who by all appearances had been having good results this year with limited playing time. His average so far this year is .438, but just 16 plate appearances. His career average is .253, while playing for 5 different teams, notably the Mariners, Rays, and Rockies.

I have to ask, do the Braves really need another guy like this? The move was apparently made because of an injury to Martin Prado, who will miss up to six weeks with a sprained thumb. The injury left Ruben Gotay as the only backup infielder, until Omar Infante makes his introduction as a Brave, after suffering a broken hand in winter ball, within a week or so. I get that they were short a player for now, but what about a call-up from the minors? What about Brent Lillibridge? I know he didn't do that well when he was last up but have they given up on him? Is there no one else at Richmond?

My concern in this is one I've had before, that Frank Wren is too eager to make moves based on how it should work out on paper. Every Braves fan knows that over the years they've been successful because the players are able to mesh together and most players fit in. The few players who haven't fit in, Lofton and Deion Sanders notably didn't stay around that long. Correct or not, I give credit to John Schuerholz for always keeping these factors in mind when making, or not making, trades. I just wonder if Frank Wren is thinking the same way. Hopefully this move will work out and Norton will fit in, as will all the other players new to the team this year. I just hope Wren remembers you can't just bring any player in and expect his numbers alone to fill a hole, his personality has to fit in as well in order to benefit the team.