Kurt Ainsworth
Scot Shields
Tom Glavine
JD Durbin
Chin Hui Tsao
Projected Bullpen:
Closer - Brad Lidge
Setup 1 - Terry Adams
Setup 2 - Turk Wendell
Lefty - Jon Switzer
Middle 1 - Edgar Gonzalez
Middle 2 - Brandon Villafuerte
Mop up - Jesus Colome
Projected Lineup:
2B - Bernabel Castro
3B - Chad Tracy
LF - Luis Gonzalez
CF - Torii Hunter
1B - Adam LaRoche
RF - Raul Mondesi
SS - Alex S. Gonzalez
C - Bengie Molina
Bench:
Gabe Gross
Eric Karros
JD Closser
Kenny Lofton
Michael Ryan
R. Johnson
Kendall
Vazquez
C. Lee
J. Vidro
M. Anderson
T. Clark
E. Yan
T. Ritchie
T. Hollandsworth
M. Tucker
A.J. Pierzinski
A. Huff
S. Halter
C. Stynes
E. Dessens
A. Lopez
D. Nickel
B. Wells
R. Bell
N. Bierbrodt
J. Rauch
D. Reichert
C. Harville
V. Nunez
Mike Jones (AA - Mil)
Cha Baek (AA - Sea)
Todd Wellemeyer (AAA - CHC)
Brad Hawpe (AA - Colo)
Chris Shelton (AA - Pitt)
Franklyn Gracesqui(AA - Fla)
Pedro Astacio
Mike Gosling (AAA - Ariz)
Fernando Rodney(AAA - Det)
Scott Proctor (AAA - NYY)
Team Anlaysis
GM: Rich Bishop (formerly of NYY and Houston)
Team Page
*NOTE - This analysis is strictly the opinion of the Red Sox GM, and was done as objectively as possible and stricly for the fun of it
Atlanta has been run by several GM's. With Rich now running it the team has a moe established GM, but also one with a habit for running from one division to another, this is his third organization in just over 2 seasons.
Rotation
Ainsworth Shields and Glavine at the front... Ainsworth is a nice young pitcher who some believe has ace potential. He didn't flash a lot of that in AAA or in the Majors in 2003, but he's only 24 so there's time to develop. If shields can put up similar numbers all season as a starter as he did splitting between the pena nad rotation in 203 then he'd be the clear #1 on this team. He doesn't strike a ton of guys out so his command is going to be crucial. Glavine didn't go downhill so much as he fell off a cliff, posting the worst era and whip's of his career in 2003. Atlanta is hoping this was an aberration, but at age 36 it could just as likely bethe beginning of the end. Durbin and Tsao are both very promising young pitchers with very little or nothing proven at the MLB level. The sim is much less generous to inexperienced pitchers than it is to inexperienced hitters.
Bullpen
Certainly a strength of this team in my opinion. Lidge has great stuff, but struggled at the end of the season. Villafuerte also struggled in his second callup and could be a surprise for the team. Adams and Wendell were also excellent, but I'm not sure how many save opps, this team will have to protect.
Lineup
Torii Hunter topped 100RBI in 2003. How he did this with a .250avg and only 26 hr's is baffling. He hit 31 2b's, which is good, but not a stunning amount. Just a statistical anomaly... Gonzalez and Hunter make a decent 3-4 punch but the offense is honestly underwhelming
Bench
A decent bench with some good defenders, pinch runners. I hate talking about benches.
Fielding
Wonder why Tori's weak 2003 bat is 4th in the lineup? Must be that stunning defense! Rich is deservedly proud of much of the defense on his team. Hunter and Molina in paticular stand out (can we put a limit on how many brothers can play the same position in the MLb at the same time??) It's just a shame these guys can't hit better.
Minors
RSome promising players,pitching and hitting wise. Mike Gosling failed to manifest in 2003, lok for 2004 to be his (hopeful) big year to reach the majors.
Overall Grade
C+/B- I think the GM's hopes aren't quite realistic (3d place is a definite possibilty, 2d almost definitely isn't). For 2004 anything would be an improvement as he flirted with 120 losses.
Prescription
Hitting. Some stronger bats would be nice as would a more established ace (that isn't quite so close to the foot of a cliff). This is a young team though, so mostly it needs time to grow and prove itself.
From the mouth of Rich...
Braves have created some options for themselves in 2004 as all players on the roster will be in the database. Will wait to see the projections before determining starters at a few spots. Feel we have GG caliber defense at CF (Hunter), LF (Gonzalez), SS
(Gonzalez), 1B (LaRoche) and C (Molina). RF will go to Mondesi but Gross would win job depending on projections. Shelton(Class A MVP) and Hawpe could push LaRoche for playing time at 1B, but MLB Braves scouts say LaRoche is brilliant defensively. Bench is strong with Karros, Lofton, and Gross.
Bullpen should be rock solid strength of team.
Lidge(3.60 ERA), Adams(2.65) and Wendell(3.38) will nail down closer and setup roles. Edgar Gonzalez(3.69) and Jesus Colome(4.50) could compete for rotation spots. Jon Switzer(3.43) will start the year as the lefty but could start as well. Rodney(1.33 ERA), Villafuerte(1.84) and Gracesqui(2.48) all had outstanding minor league seasons and their projections will determine if they get some innings.
We feel the rotation is solid 1-3 with Ainsworth, Shields and Glavine. If Durbin(3.12 ERA) and Tsao(2.47) get projections anywhere near their AA seasons, they will make our staff competitive.
With an average age on our roster of 24, we are hoping to compete for 2nd or 3rd in the East this year, and with another solid year from our star spects who should burst onto the scene in '04 (Durbin, Tsao, Jones, LaRoche, Tracy, Gross, Rodney, Shelton) and the further development of 2002 draft picks Ronnie Bay and Jeff Salazar we intend to be a playoff team in '05.