Thoughts on the Braves Offseason

Tonight I'm going to get into a more specific topic, the Atlanta Braves. There has been a lot of criticsm from fans this offseason over some of the moves Frank Wren (GM) has and hasn't made. I think the team that we ended up with is going to be better than the one many of the fans wanted. Garrett Anderson is and will be much better than Ken Griffey Jr. this year. Take these stats over the last 3 years.

Anderson- 2006: .280, 17 HR, 28 2bs, 85 RBIs, .756 OPS in 141 gms
2007: .297, 16 HR, 31 2bs, 80 RBIs, .828 OPS in 108 gms
2008: .293, 15 HR, 27 2bs, 84 RBIs, .758 OPS in 145 gms

Griffey Jr.- 2006: .252, 27 HR, 19 2Bs, 72 RBIs, .802 OPS in 109 gms
2007: .277, 30 HR, 24 2Bs, 93 RBIs, .868 OPS in 144 gms
2008: .249, 18 HR, 30 2bs, 71 RBIs, .778 OPS in 143 gms

If you look at some of the numbers they appear to be fairly even on the surface. But Anderson has a few advantages one is that hes 3 years younger than Griffey 36 to 39. Anderson is more consistent offensively, you dont know how long Griffey's body will hold up and it hasn't really ever since he left Seattle 10 years ago, I believe all those years he spent crashing into walls and playing on the hard surface in the old Seattle Kingdome have torn up his body. I think this is the smart move and a player who can hit lefties (.290 last year compared to Griffey's .209). Plus at 2 million this guy is a great value. Not quite in the category of Bobby Abreau, whom the Braves also pursued but a great value nonetheless.

The other big move was the signing of Derek Lowe over A.J. Burnett. First off the Braves actually saved money on this deal getting Lowe for 4 yrs- 60mil compared to the 5yr- 80mil deal Burnett wanted. Although Lowe is about 3 yrs older than Burnett, 35 to 32, Lowe has shown no signs of breaking down and has thrown nearly 200 innings more than Burnett has over the last 5 years, when both were full time starters for their respective clubs. Lowe has had postseason success with the Red Sox, pitching the clinching game in the 2004 World Series. The thing is that you can count on Lowe to be there when it matters, you don't know what Burnett you are getting. He could be on, when hes nearly unhittable, or he could be off a be out by the 3rd inning and on the Disabled List. Now that hes got his money we'll see how he performs. We will definitely be crunching the numbers on all of these guys this year. I'm optimistic that things will turn out just fine. The depth is finally there for this squad.

Well I hope you enjoyed this latest installment from "the stache." I'll be back soon with some more riveting knowledge for you to digest. Hugs and handpounds.

Mb