Heyward or Inciarte?

The Braves traded Jason Heyward to the Cardinals for Shelby Miller. Shelby was an All-Star for the Braves last year, the team’s best pitcher. Then the Braves traded Miller to Arizona for Ender Inciarte. Heyward left St. Louis and signed a $70 million contract with the Cubs, where he has been the weakest link in their run to the playoffs. Both Jason and Ender are excellent fielders, but this year Inciarte has outperformed Heyward in every offensive category (stats from late August). Even the woeful BJ Upton has outperformed Heyward, but not to the degree Inciarte has.

 

..G….AB..R...H..2B.3B.HR.BI.BB.K.SB

111 422 47 095 20   1   6   34 42 80 08 JH

097 381 55 106 17   4   3   23 32 47 11 EI

 

AVG.SLG.OBP.OPS

225  302  320  622 JHeyward

278  337  367  705 EInciarte

 

If that wasn’t enough, Miller floundered in the desert and was sent to the minors. In addition to Inciarte, the Braves also received in the Arizona trade a top pitching prospect AND the number one pick in the 2015 amateur draft – shortstop Dansby Swanson.

 

Next time someone brings up a Braves trade that looked bad, remind them of this. Not to mention that the good hit/good field Swanson allowed Atlanta to trade high-priced good field/no hit shortstop Andrelton Simmons (who’s spent time on the disabled list this year) for even more prospects.  

 

The Braves offered Tebow a contract, but he chose to sign with the Mets. Guess Tebow figured the reality TV show ratings would be higher if he was playing for a team in NYC. This is just another publicity stunt. Had he really wanted to play baseball he would’ve switched a year or two ago. Will saw a clip of Tebow and said that he was a better high school baseball player. Tebow is big and strong, but hitting 85 MPH curveballs and 95 MPH fastballs (that also move) is the hardest thing to do in sports – especially after not playing for a decade. Tebow MIGHT be a minor league sideshow – at best. Not the publicity the Braves need. The local and national media are all in agreement on this one, and you know they are never wrong.

 

Did you see the photo of Turner Field on the front page of yesterday’s AJC, with the proposed plans for the area? I don’t see a single parking space. Supposedly backed by financing from the city of Atlanta. All the parking lots developed and completely filled in. I guess the parking is underneath. No outcry by naysayers about where all the tax money will come from – or from the AJC. Exactly what the Braves had repeatedly proposed, but the city refused to lift a finger. Don’t hold your breath, Georgia State.

 

ARod: since his retirement I’ve been reading some of the farewell articles (many favorable). They’re saying he can no longer get lift on his balls. In BP he hits grounders.

 

Bought my grandfather’s house in Morningside back in 1987, and there’s certain junk mail that has followed me ever since. One is from a hearing aid company.

 

I’m not a Serena fan. At least she comes off as more human than Venus. Neither shows much joy while they’re playing, but after they win seem to throw a switch and appear all happy. Like they’d rather be doing anything than playing tennis.  

 

Guess you heard that Ron Watts and Julianne Acuff are getting married. Good for them. Two very nice people. Back in the late 1970’s I think Ron and David Hurt and Steve Giles were all living in the Giles’ house in Smyrna. Who was roommate number four? Julianne hung out there a lot, so they’ve known each other for almost 40 years. Hurt always tells the story of walking into Ron’s room to ask him a question. Ron was laying on his bed reading, and quickly scrambled to cover up his reading material with another book. Hurt grabbed the magazine Ron had covered up – Popular Science.

 

After working leaving for work before 6:30 am and not getting home until after 7 pm, it’s hard to want to do much after that. I sure need to. I just want to crash. Wheel and Jeopardy again Wednesday night. Grilled chicken and salad. Not much on TV – actually watched Matt Lauer interview first Hillary, then the Donald on the deck of the carrier Intrepid.   

 

Friday morning wasn’t too bad. Was getting a lot done. Then things have been crazy this afternoon. Then computer problems. Just now got my email working again.