This is an actual email from an actual reader:
Was SportsByFletch the vehicle that banished Tex? If so, whenever the next guy is banished… try and get a little more back. Thanks.
Anyways I would like to see an SBF opinion piece on the Braves everyday players and where you think they can improve to become the playoff team we think they could be in 2010 or 11 or 12.
Thanks!
Well, how can our baseball correspondent turn down a request from one of our VIRs?
With no further ado...............
While it is far too early to write off the Braves 2009 season (Atlanta isn't as good as what we saw at first and the team is not as bad as dropping the first two to Washington) we can ALWAYS look to the future of this team. As I said last season during Extra Innings on Sports Radio 790 The Zone, this team is going to tread water until 2010,2011 and 2012. THAT is when the next two waves of prospects will hit the ATL and THAT is when Braves fans should be really expecting postseason play.
Since our reader doesn't want me to discuss the pitching staff (which by 2011 should have Tom Hanson as at least the #3 starter behind Lowe and Jurrjens, yet ahead of Medlin and Kawakami), I will discuss what the players on the current roster can do.
Let's start behind the plate. Brian McCann cannot really improve much more than he has already. This guy should be locked in by the Braves brass to be a Brave for life if they can do it. He has made three straight all-star teams. He is pretty much the ONLY clutch hitter the team has. He can go 24 hr with a .300+ average all while CATCHING! Best hitting catcher in the bigs and perhaps the best catcher the Braves have EVER had (Sorry Javy and Charlie). Not sure how he can improve, we just need him to stay healthy, get this eye problem fixed and stay in the lineup for 145 games a season. BMac, just give me 22HR/96RBI/.296/much higher ops/fairly high slugging in 145 per season. Mac also told me recently (sorry to drop that in there, but HEY, ALL of the beat writers do that stuff, right?) that he believes he will be playing catcher throughout his career. He didn't anticipate a move. Good work, Mac. Way to show up a little leaner this year. Shows you are committed. I like it!
Over at first base, Casey Kotchman is a seat warmer and not much more. I originally thought he'd be the future of the position at first base, but then he struggled so much, and while he CAN pick it at first, it was exciting watching, hearing and reading about Freddie Freeman in spring training. Matt Diaz spoke highly of him when I talked to him last week and we need to remember this: Freeman is 19 and this good. Cannot wait until he is 21 and gets called up in 2011 to take over. He looks like he will never be Adam Dunn, but if he turns out to be Fred McGriff part two, aka, doubles and about 28 HR a season, I'll be happy. Dunn strikes out too much anyways. But what can Casey Kotchman do to improve? Play great defense, hit well from the 6 hole and get out of the way after 2010.
Kelly Johnson at second base is a guy that really leaves me in a funk. I LOVE his swing (and so does former MLBer HT Crawley. We agree: ONE PRETTY SWING), and I think that he might be the best athlete on the team. But is he a second baseman? No. Not really sure of his position but I like him in the lineup. If I have to have him at second, then so be it. Would I rather have him in leftfield right now with Furcal at second or Yunel Escobar at second with Elvis Andrus at short? You bet your sweet bippy. But what are you going to do? You keep KJ there with his sweet swing until a second baseman is ready. I've checked into the minor league system and one isn't ready too soon. Diory Hernandez? Sorry, no. KJ is it for a while. Not that that is bad. He is getting better defensively all the time. (I keep telling myself this at least...)
As far as shortstop, I am probably the most excited about this position. Yunel Escobar reminds me of A-Rod's days with Seattle: before the juice when he was a young player about to blossom into something really special. I don't believe I am out of line when I predicted Yunel to approach 20 HR with 45 doubles and 115 runs. He can do that if he stays in the #2 spot, Chipper stays healthy and so does BMac. Yunel is on the cusp and he is getting better by the day. By 2012, we should be looking at the NL East as the new mecca of shortstops with Hanley (actually, he might be gone by then), Rollins, Reyes and Escobar. WOW. talk about talent, talent and more talent! Escobar should soon be mentioned in the same breath as those guys.
Over at third, we cannot expect Chipper to be a huge part of the future of this team. He is the team's present NO DOUBT, but as he gets older, with his recent injury history, he just isn't a guy we can honestly count on to be a part of the 2011 and 2012 race for the playoffs. And because of the contract the team just rewarded him with, and with Freeman the future at first base, third base will be a bit of a hole during that time. Will he still be manning the No3 spot? Will he accept a demotion in the lineup as his skillz fade? Who knows? Let's just hope he can give the team .315 with 18 HR and 65 RBI in 2012. Coming down the pipe, I would think that the team tries out Prado, Diory Hernandez and ??? at third before ...hmmm....no real options at third.
Out in leftfield we are simply playing a waiting game. No need tying up salary in a leftfielder (though I'd have loved to have had Bobby Abreau out there for 5M or Pat the Bat for 8M) when Jason Heyward is a future 2010 late-season callup and 2011 regular waiting to happen. Diaz, I love the guy, but he needs to be the DH for a team like KC or Seattle. Sorry Matty. Garrett Anderson, I have no problem with the signing because he was holding the seat for Heyward. The future is bright here, so fret not. Heyward is the future cleanup hitter for the next 8 years. Let's just hope he doesn't turn fat like Andruw did.
Centerfield is going to be a bit tricky however. Jordan Schafer came out on fire, but he has since cooled, leaving my mental door open to Gorkys Hernandez to take over in 2011. Schafer will likely bounce back and at worst will be a servicable CF but perhaps Hernandez will be the next Otis Nixon-minus all of the crack. Hernandez would make me feel a lot better because he would likely be the CF this team needs, one it hasn't had since Deion and Otis were out there. Schafer could find himself then traded or out in right.
Speaking of rightfield, has Frenchy turned his stuff around? Let's hope so. This team NEEDS Frenchy to get back to reaching his potential which is 28 HR, 85 RBI and 80+ runs. Dude, you want the superstar contract? Start giving me Grady Sizemore numbers. You don't HAVE to hit 300. Shoot, give me .278, but give me the 28 dingers if the average is going to be that low. Or if you only want to jack 23 per season, I'll need some more doubles and a .280 average. That isn't asking too much Jeff, and I KNOW you can do it.
That's a spin around the diamond. The future of the team will be in two waves: the 2009 wave of Hanson, Schafer, Sammons and Medlin....and the 2011 wave of Heyward, Freeman, Julio Tehan, Hernandez and Jon Gilmore. It sucks to say, "Just be patient," but that is the plan right now. And you know what? I like it when a team is on the verge. You get to watch the young kids out there: true they struggle a bit, but like a young horse learning how to walk, eventually you see the horse learn how to walk, then RUN. And I think that is the better way too. Grow the players yourself. Don't just run off and raid everyone else's team. This way you feel connected with the kids. And it makes the success THAT much sweeter.
Just my opinion though. This team isn't far away. A leftfielder-on the way(Heyward). A cleanup hitter-on the way(Heyward). A true leadoff hitter-on the way(GHernandez). A future new #3 hitter-already here(Escobar). Top flight pitching-on the way(Hanson,Jurrjens,Medlin,Tehan). We aren't far off. Let's enjoy the ride. And once the pieces are in place, a run of 10 straight postseason appearances isn't out of the question, especially with the rest of the NLEast getting older....just saying.
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