Jorge and Buddy are no longer Braves.
In more intriguing news, Jon Heyman thinks the Braves will be players for Matt Holliday. Nice idea, but it won’t happen unless FW finds a taker for Derek Lowe. Signing Holliday, repped by Scott Boras, would also make it difficult to keep Gonzo or LaRoche (I suspect Sori is gone regardless).
Heath Bell will probably be available via trade, and the Bravos could pick someone off the scrap heap to keep first base warm for Freddie Freeman. Ponder this line-up:
McLouth
Prado
Chipper
Holliday
McCann
Yesco
Delgado, Nick Johnson, Nady, Huff, Blalock (all free agents likely to come cheap)
Diaz/Heyward
–CB
I like this plan, although Bell would probably be overpriced. We only have a couple holes. How about Derek Lowe for Gary Matthews Jr. They don’t need him and we save 25 mill.
Lowe has three years left at $15 mil each. Matthews has two years left at an average of $10.5 per. That wouldn’t leave the money necessary to sign Holliday. Lowe would have to be a salary dump, pure and simple. The Yanks seem like our best option.
We’d probably get stuck with Posada. The way he’s played of late the Yankees look like they might have to take him out behind the barn and shoot him.
Despite our gripes, the bullpen this year was, overall, superior to anything we’ve had since Smoltz was the closer. We can add Holliday and anyone else, but if the bullpen can’t hold a lead we will be back to 70-92.
Am I the only one that thinks the Yankees are fixing umpires? The bad call that went the Angels’ way was a make up to keep things from looking too bad.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The umpires had another rough night in Game 4 of the AL championship series.
Two blown calls went against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night during a 10-1 loss to the New York Yankees.
In the fourth inning, Dale Scott called New York’s Nick Swisher safe at second base after Swisher was clearly tagged by shortstop Erick Aybar before he could get back to the bag on a pickoff throw by Scott Kazmir.
In the fifth, Swisher hit a comebacker to Darren Oliver, who immediately threw to the plate and got Jorge Posada caught in a rundown. Mike Napoli ran Posada back to the bag while Robinson Cano coasted into third, and the Angels’ catcher ended up tagging both runners standing off the bag — first Cano, then Posada. But crew chief Tim McClelland ruled that only Posada was out.
“I thought Cano was on the base,” said McClelland, a longtime veteran and one of baseball’s most respected umpires.
He said the second replay showed that Cano was off the base when he was tagged.
“I did not see that for whatever reason,” he said. “I’m just out there trying to do my job and do it the best I can.”
The Angels did get a break in the fourth when Swisher was called out for leaving third base too soon on Johnny Damon’s fly to center field. Swisher was called out on an appeal, resulting in an inning-ending double play — though replays appeared to show Swisher did not leave early.
“In my heart, I thought he left too soon,” McClelland said. “But the replay showed that he didn’t.”
I don’t see the Braves signing Holliday. Wish they would, but don’t see it happening. And if they can’t bring back LaRoche, I’d prefer Blalock, Huff, then Nady, in that order. I’d be surprised if Delgado plays for any team again.
And MLB umps treat the Yanks like SEC refs treat Florida.
Or you could say that they treat the Yankees like NFL refs treat Tom Brady. I just can’t understand how both LA teams seem so impotent against the pitching that they are facing. I understand Cliff Lee and Sabathia dominating, but man, is it that hard to get a hit off any of the others? Looks like I’m going to have to root for the damned Phillies against the Yankees in the Series. Which is fine; I think the Phils lineup is too good for the Yankees to keep down, and the Yankees hitters aren’t anything special once you get past Texeira and A-Roid. And is it just me or is there no such thing as a close playoff series anymore???
Good lord, the source for that “Braves will be players for Holliday” story is a guy who thinks he’ll wind up with the Mets. What part of the Wilpons being broke does he fail to comprehend?
Did you catch that Boras describes Teshowmethemoney and Holliday as “blue collar superstars?” Yeah, that’s ole Tex. The idea that he’d come here instead of one of the NY teams or Boston is almost laughable. He’s after cash, just like any other blue collar superstar.
I’d take Blalock out of all the first base options, unles we can keep LaRoche. Trading Lowe looks like a smart thing to do at this time, but I still don’t count on any big FA signings at this point. I’ve been wrong before.
The only joy I’m getting in any of this is seeing Teixeira flop around like the Black Knight after Arthur cut off all his limbs in “Holy Grail.”
Seeing Boras stare at him from 10 feet away as he strikes out yet again is kind of fun.
The officiating in college football has also been deplorable. Like cops giving out more speeding tickets, is this just another symptom of our ailing economy? Can we expect this to get worse before it gets better?
That’s one big reason I never get too jacked up about college football: the refs aren’t “good” enough to make the NFL.