Quiet Offseason: To fill a hole?

[Kingdom]

The only splash Atlanta has made, has been putting Martin Prado and Jair Jurrjens on the trade block. Their biggest free agent haul so far is...Josh Wilson.

Most of the core team is back, for now. Well, pretty much the core team is back. For now. Even though they were not part of the central nucleus, Alex Gonzalez and Jack Wilson, they were the team's options at shortstop. Brooks Conrad, another utility infielder, had his option declined. So basically what that means, at this current time, the competition for the starting shortstop position is:

Josh Wilson
Brandon Hicks
Tyler Pastornicky

Wilson is your typical journeyman who never makes much of an impact, ever. Hicks is still a young guy having cups of coffee in the majors the last two seasons. And Pastornicky is a 22 year old prospect that is believed to be close to being ready for the bigs. Color me not enthused.


I don't mind the idea of trading Jurrjens. He was a steal of an acquisition in the first place. It would be simply selling high on a guy. And Atlanta needs offense. Especially if they're bent on trading Prado. That part, I do mind. Especially since Chipper is 39. The infield has no depth. The lineup has no depth. Sure, Atlanta has a great farm that tends to crank out guys every year but a versatile player of Prado's nature is valuable. Probably more valuable to Atlanta than other teams.

I believe they will deal pitching, even if it's not Jurrjens. That's what they possess. That's what is rich in the farm. They didn't even phase it an ounce when they dealt for Michael Bourn. Tommy Hanson will be back. Kris Medlen will also be back. Eventually it's going to be time to address the holes in the lineup again, but can they really afford to wait much longer? Philadelphia is still Philadelphia, sure Ryan Howard will be out for awhile, but they have the great pitching. Washington is hot on the trails of Prince Fielder, but even if they do not land him, that's an improved team that got stronger in the rotation. And the Mets, they added talent, they've changed the complexion of their team, they have a potential scary trio of young stars (Ramirez-Morrison-Stanton) that if they put together, at the same time this season, I don't want to face that team. And the mets... They still suck.

Point is, the division is getting better. Has gotten better. At least on paper. Atlanta has stayed in neutral thus far. Is that a good thing for a team that blew a wild card lead? And finished 20th or worse in most offensive-based categories? I would suspect no.

[love_that_reefer]

I also think the Braves need a another reliever. The Braves bullpen was overworked last season and I can see that carrying over to this season.

[realmofotalk]

If I'm another team, I'm avoiding Jurrjens in trade talks.

Yikes.
Jair Jurrjens » PitchFx » Velocity Graphs » FA | FanGraphs Baseball

[love_that_reefer]

Offseason In Review: Atlanta Braves: MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com

It's not pretty but maybe they can trade Minor for a bat.