***The 2008 Atlanta Braves Thread***

[CharlestonPhan]

http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/...t_id=2359219&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl

Discuss.

i am going into the season with a mindset of "expect absolutely nothing from Hampton," and plan around that.

if he contributes anything, it will be a pleasant surprise. it is a shame the contract structure in baseball and basketball are not like the NFL, where teams aren't on the hook to guys for years and years for guaranteed contracts, with no option out.

 

[HaRdKoReXXX]

I can't believe I didn't see this thread earlier! Hampton is one of the biggest dissapointments Ive had as a Braves fan. If he's healthy and pitches half as good as he's capable I think we take the division last year.

Mark Redman, Lance Cormier, and JoJo Reyes were not gonna get the job done. Now that we have Glavine to solidify the 3/4 spot in the rotaion I like our chances.

 

[unluckyluciano]

Welcome bro. And I'm glad to see another person who agrees with me that we could have a pretty good rotation this year.

 

[DolfinDave]

We can have a pretty good rotation. But the Mets could have a very good rotation. That is a big if but if the chips fall their way I can see it happening.

Everything falling in the middle, I think our pitching and hitting are good enough to compete with the Mets and Phils. In order to win the division I think our pitching has to be better than theirs because they will definitely score runs.

 

[HaRdKoReXXX]

Hey guys you should check out The-Ted.net

Pretty small Braves message board but seems to be expanding. Thought some of you may be interested.

 

[unluckyluciano]

Or you could just bring us information over

 

[HaRdKoReXXX]

Or you could just bring us information over

Haha, well there is only 33 members on the site so I don't know how much info Im gonna "bring over".

I mainly joined so that I could get, and show-off a sweet Braves sig. :up:

 

[muscle979]

So Javy Lopez is back with the Braves as a backup? Crazy. I guess his skills really must have declined for him not to be able to get a better gig than that.

 

[DolfinDave]

Maybe if we tell Javy this is a contract year he will put up some good numbers like he did the last time he was with us.

 

[unluckyluciano]

So Javy Lopez is back with the Braves as a backup? Crazy. I guess his skills really must have declined for him not to be able to get a better gig than that.

Yup, braves needed a backup soooooooooo...........
he hasn't earned the spot yet though from what I understand.

 

[NorthFloridaFin]

What's up guys? Huge Braves fan here. The season hasn't started so I haven't been on this thread, but I'm here now. What's up with this pitcher we got from Detroit in the Renteria trade. It seems he is going to be one of our starter but I don't know much about him.

 

[HaRdKoReXXX]

What's up guys? Huge Braves fan here. The season hasn't started so I haven't been on this thread, but I'm here now. What's up with this pitcher we got from Detroit in the Renteria trade. It seems he is going to be one of our starter but I don't know much about him.

Jair Jurrjens, the Tigers had him rated very high in their farm-system. He pitched very well last year when they brought him up for a couple months. He started having some arm soreness after about 7 starts I believe.

He's a right handed starter with great control and a nasty hard sinker. Rated the Braves 3rd best prospect by Baseball America heading into this season.

Alot of people believe he is a better option at the 5-6 spot in the rotation than Jo-Jo Reyes.

 

[NorthFloridaFin]

Jair Jurrjens, the Tigers had him rated very high in their farm-system. He pitched very well last year when they brought him up for a couple months. He started having some arm soreness after about 7 starts I believe.

He's a right handed starter with great control and a nasty hard sinker. Rated the Braves 3rd best prospect by Baseball America heading into this season.

Alot of people believe he is a better option at the 5-6 spot in the rotation than Jo-Jo Reyes.

Thanks man!! Also I believe this will be the year that Francouer really steps up. He learned to control his aggressiveness a little last year, so I'm expecting big things from here this year. And maybe Escobar can continue his nack of clutch hitting he showed as a rookie.

 

[DolfinDave]

I was impressed with Francouer's disipline at the plate this year. He seemed to sacrifice a little power in order to raise his BA but he still drove in a lot of runs. Hopefully he can combine that disipline with the power he showed his first year. Maybe that could make up a little bit of the loss from Andruw's power.

 

[HaRdKoReXXX]

The great thing about Frenchie is that with Chipper and Tex hitting in front of him he doesn't need to hit the ball out of the ball park. Those guys are gonna get on, if he goes with the same approach as last year he's got a guaranteed 110-115 RBI's.