DISQUS

The Launching Pad: Burnett Likely A Brave Sooner Than Later

  • grantmc · 1 year ago
    One of the things I think gets lost in the shuffle with Lowe is that he likely wants to sign with an immediate winner. And that's not to say the Braves can't win - it's just to say that if he has the choice of joining a team coming off the post-season in 2008 (ie. the Red Sox) then he would look to sign there in what will likely be the last contract of his career. Frankly, despite his solid work in L.A. with the Dodgers, Lowe is not a staff ace. And he's not getting any younger. I like Burnett for the 4-years with a vesting. He is an impact arm.
  • Faceyman · 1 year ago
    Considering AJ's record and the issue with past injuries, 5 years might be a risk. That being stated, he had an excellent year with the Jays last season.! He too last year was surrounded by one of the best bullpens if not the best in MLB! Bottom line, Braves have to do something to get back to the top. I would answer a question with a question, if this goes through will AJ & the rest of the Braves rotation be enough to move them into the top spot in the NL East? I am cautiously optimistic but just not ready to say yes, this is the rotation that will do it.
  • PWHjort · 1 year ago
    Faceyman, I sincerely believe that the Braves can play above-500 ball in 2009, but to compete with the Mets and Phillies in 2009 is going to be very tough. There are ways the Braves can win in 2009, but the Phillies starters can't have good years, Delgado has to start as slow as he did, and we'd have to beat the Mets and Phillies every time we played them. Then there's the Marlins. They've got a good, solid core of young pitchers and an extremely powerful offense. Hanley Ramirez is the best shortstop in the game, even with Rollins and Reyes in the same division. All in all it's doable, but not easy. This is coming from a guy who was certain the Braves would win the world series in 2008 pre-season. Now, the goal of this rotation rebuilding experiment is to win the world series in 2010 behind hopefully Burnett, Jurrjens, Hudson, Hanson, and Vazquez. The bullpen will be good and our big time hitting prospects will be about ready for at least part of 2010. 2010 should be a very exciting year for the Braves. I'm not saying we can't win in 2009, but the possibility of a world championship is much greater in 2010.
  • jameskm03 · 1 year ago
    What is the deal... are we only interested in former Marlin pitchers? Vazquez, Burnett and it wasn't too long ago we were discussing with Dempster.
  • PWHjort · 1 year ago
    My friends and I always joke that everyone's a former Florida Marlin, pointing out the fact that the Marlins usually sell their team as soon as they get good. While this is a joke, there's some truth to it. There's a LOT of former Florida Marlins out there: Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, Mark Kotsay, Javy Vazquez, A. J. Burnett, Gary Sheffield, Vladamir Nunez, Livan Hernandez, Gregg Zaun, Ryan Dempster, Edgar Renteria, and Moises Alou are just a few I can name off the top of my head. Maybe over-exposure to the NL East is the reason I see so many "former Florida Marlins" all over the place, but I believe there are probably more "former Florida Marlins" out there than there are of any other team. It does kind of seem like something is up ever since Wren took over: Kotsay, Burnett, Vazquez, Dempster, ....hmmmm.