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Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Braves: Who to Trade?

At the start of every baseball season when I get a Braves pocket schedule I always send one to a co-worker in Birmingham. I've been doing it for almost 15 years, so it's kind of a ritual.

Meant to mention how sick I was when Terdo was thrown out trying to take second on the fly to CF. Then he made another bummer play in the next game. Hopefully he's not like so many players we had in the 70's and 80's that would fail to make the correct play. In Gwinnett he was usually one of the guys making the plays needed to win games. Maybin had been thrown out aggressively trying to score from third on a short fly, but he had earlier made several good plays to help the team.

Friday is a work holiday. I have to go to the Congress Center to pick up Peachtree Road Race numbers on the way to the Ted. I don't have to go early but probably will out of habit. Also there's the pre-game Star Wars parade. Not sure if I'll join in. All I can figure out is to wear all black to be Luke during his all black Return of the Jedi phase. With the race on Saturday (the doctor said I can only walk) I'm not sure how long I'll stay at the game.

I liked DOB's response to the Twitter novice who said this Nats series is a must-win.

ROB: A lot of people have been talking about the Braves "selling" since opening day.  The Braves remaining trade-able assets are not going to get the return people think they will.  I don't think 2 months of Jim Johnson, Kelly Johnson, Pierzynski and Juan Uribe will bring back much more than a C level prospect.  The other names mentioned - Grilli and Maybin are under contract for next year, but there is no certainty what value they will provide in '16 that would make them attractive pieces.

The true upside to "selling" would be clearing playing time in the second half for younger players.  If this team is going to finish around 70-75 wins, I would rather them find out in August and September what they have in players like Bethancourt, Peraza, Terdo and Cunningham.  Also, give Chris Johnson 2 more months to play everyday at 3B to determine if there is any value left, or if his contract is a complete washout.  I think it would be a shame to have another non-playoff season AND then go to spring training with question marks around young players and positions.

It is a rant for another day, but I think spring training is a completely inefficient way to attempt to evaluate which players should be on your club.

ME: Susan touched base with Ceil recently. I think Susan is hosting a group of women who want to get organized. C went twice but didn't go last night. We had all three kids for dinner, a rare occurrence these days. Ceil grilled beef and chicken kabob, hot potato salad, and green beans with homemade peach cobbler and ice cream for dessert. Then we all watched American Ninja Warrior together. After painting the living room we are trying to de-clutter a little. We have positioned the sofa right where Staci suggested so many years ago.     

With my customer closed for two weeks I am finally able to get caught up a little. My scrapbook calendar has been ignored for months, and I'm adding a little to that as well.

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