Gomes It Is

Another typical Murphy family Wednesday on the go. Ceil ran errands while M studied with a friend near North Point Mall. When they got home C fixed BBQ and cole slaw. Then both C and A went to art. I worked til six and got home at seven, and really didn't do much except clean the kitchen and play on the computer. Watched a good episode of Duck Dynasty episode that I hadn't seen before and researched baseball stats.  

Sounds like the SPdL Chapel Choir Reunion is set for February 21. Kelly Vonefeld and Gayle Suggs seem to be organizing the thing. Fred O has a wedding and can't attend.

Matthew's small group is going to the Hawks game next weekend. They usually go to one or two a year. Both he and Anna had sleepovers last weekend – but Will had come home from Athens for the holiday. He is graduating in December. Wants to work in a hospital this summer and after graduation to get experience for PA school. Monday I checked out the UGA calendar and plotted the August dates Anna would be moving to Athens…as well as December 18 – the date of Will's graduation ceremony. I'm writing Anna's senior biography that will be in her graduation program on May 15. In addition to the impending graduations, etc Anna gets her braces off next month (why she's been waiting to take senior pictures) and all three kids need their wisdom teeth removed. Anna needs glasses. I'm that dad on the riding lawnmower again: "someone help me."

No big plans for the weekend. Lots of laundry piled up. My eBay business has slowed to a trickle, and I need to ramp that up. Honestly eBay has slowed due to the crappy things I'm selling – nobody wants a Terry Bowden autographed Clemson football. I do have more inventory to post that should sell quicker but I haven't devoted the time I should. I've fallen into a routine of working 7-6. Things are busy and picking up. I get home at seven and after the dishes done get done its after eight I'm kind of bushed. In general nothing is going on except housework so I have time available. I need to exercise either before work or at night but haven't started.

Someone pointed out that the pitcher the Nats threw millions at had the same 2014 record as the guy he's replacing. I still say the Yunel Escobar signing can't be an overall plus. Zimmerman may move to first, but the loss of Adam LaRoche is just one more hurdle they'll have to overcome. Perhaps Miami will swoop in and take the division. I was disappointed that Todd Cunningham had a lackluster 2014 season. Funny how people think Minor is some Rocker-like troublemaker for rejecting the Braves offer and going to arbitration. Shows you how valuable lefthanded pitchers are. Will used to play with a little lefty who finally "grew up" to 5'10". As a freshman last year he pitched for a college in their final year of existence. This year he's down at a small school in Florida. His dad says he's hoping to be drafted, so we'll see.  

The Giants, Cardinals, and A's seem to be good at only asking a player to do things he's good at, with good results. I have no problem with platoons. While I remember the Ortiz/Obama selfie, I was not aware of Gomes' red, white, and blue jacket until I looked him up on Google images. Gomes would be a great bobblehead candidate. After Will's longtime teammate Tanner expressed his love for Gomes I checked out his career, which resulted in my blog post / Facebook post. Tanner is a sucker for any bearded / tattooed / outlandish "slugger". Of course I was wanting the old over the hill Ichiro. If we're gonna lose 110 games like everyone says we might as well have a little fun.

ROB (last week): I would have already signed Ichiro.  That would allow you to bat Markakis cleanup and give Freddie a little protection in the 3rd spot.  However, I think they are high on Zolio Almonte, the AAA outfielder they signed out of the Yankee organization and Toscano the Cuban they signed.  It is interesting that Almonte and Joey Terdoslavich have similar minor league numbers. I hate to disappoint the "fans" on social media, but we will not lose 110 games (or 100 or even 90).  I know people want to compare this team to the bad teams in the 70's and 80's, but (barring injuries) this team's pitching will be too strong.

(today) It seems like the Braves brass believes they have something in Almonte and want to give him +/- 400 PA's in a platoon with him batting left handed (he is a switch hitter, but it sounds like they think LH is his strong side).  If you sign Ichiro for a platoon, that scenario with Almonte does not work. I like the idea of platoons in positions where you do not have an above average everyday player.  I believe a platoon does 3 things:  1)  it puts a limited player in a better position to succeed (i.e. Chris Johnson has a better chance to be successful only hitting against LHP, 2)  if forces management to build a stronger bench, since essentially your bench are part time players and 3) it keeps the bench players sharper since they are part time players with more AB's.

I think the non-pitchers part of the roster will look like this:

C - Bethancourt and AJ

1B - Freddie

SS - Simba

2B/3B - Callaspo, C Johnson, K Johnson, & Peterson (acquired from the Padres)

RF - Markakis

CF - BJ and Opie Cunningham

LF - Gomes and Almonte

It sounds like they will give Cunningham a chance if BJ continues to struggle.  The only chance Terdo has is if Almonte has a horrible spring and he (Terdo) has a great spring.

I agree that the last thing the Hawks need to do is to make a major trade to disrupt team chemistry.  At most, they need to pick up another C/PF type to come off the bench and bang and foul the other teams bigs.  Right now Elton Brand is the only one who can do that, however he can only do that in limited minutes.  In a 7 game series against the Bulls, with a healthy Noah and Gasol, we could use someone else to come in the game and foul them.