Tim Hudson re-upped?

[Nastradamus]

It said somewhere on ESPN that Hudson had been re-upped for 3 years by the Atlanta Braves. Am I the only one completely baffled by this?? The guy has had injury issues the whole time he was in ATL, they are a cash strapped team to some extent who can't afford big gambles and they have a very deep and strong rotation with Jurrjens and Hanson as the young, future aces, vets like Lowe and Vasquez and Kawakami from Japan, who was striking out 10 guys in many of his games last year.

The rumors even mentioned that they would deal Lowe to make room for him. WTF????? I can understand dealing Vasquez in the last year of his deal(even though he looked great vs. NL hitters), but do you really need to replace him with a guy like Hudson? Spend that money on the hitters you desparately need Atlanta, you have plenty of pitching already. Hudson is hardly a sure thing to even pitch well or stay healthy.

[mattj21]

Their thinking is you trade from a strong point, which is SP especially with Huddy resigned for a bat, and what they will be able to acquire via trade is better than what is out on the open market. They would ideally like to move Lowe, who was awful last year, but they will probably have to eat a lot of his salary. I've read that they really don't want to move Vasquez because of the season he had and he was apparently a great mentor for Jair, but my money would be on Javy going bye bye.

[Nastradamus]

Originally Posted by mattj21

Their thinking is you trade from a strong point, which is SP especially with Huddy resigned for a bat, and what they will be able to acquire via trade is better than what is out on the open market. They would ideally like to move Lowe, who was awful last year, but they will probably have to eat a lot of his salary. I've read that they really don't want to move Vasquez because of the season he had and he was apparently a great mentor for Jair, but my money would be on Javy going bye bye.

Yeah, they will probably be able to trade Javy easier. I still think its stupid though, unless they pull off a great trade. I think they could have gotten a better bat for 10 mil on the market personally. Go get Abreu. Who is going to give you much for Lowe at 35 with a big contract coming off a bad year? I'm sure he will be fine, but who knows? Hudson has just as much of a chance of having a rough year or an injury as Lowe.

Lowe wasn't that bad either. He wasn't himself, but he was still a horse. He did struggle bad down the stretch, but he is a true pro, he always stays healthy and gives you a ot of innings and he is a damn smart pitcher. I think he will bounce back. I would trade him if I could find a good deal to save money and/or add a bat, but I don't think its necessity.

[The Q]

Should've just saved that $$ and signed Cameron to play CF. McLouth is a LF anyway. Then you let Diaz and Church platoon for the year in RF until Heyward is ready, and presto, your OF is a strength.

Finding a CF of the future might be tough, but it's certainly doable.

Lowe for Maggs?

If ATL really wants out of that contract it might make sense to take the lesser player with more payroll flexibility. Even if it adds 3 mil to the payroll this year.

[mattj21]

Originally Posted by The Q

Should've just saved that $$ and signed Cameron to play CF. McLouth is a LF anyway. Then you let Diaz and Church platoon for the year in RF until Heyward is ready, and presto, your OF is a strength.

I wouldn't exactly consider that OF a strength.

[The Q]

Originally Posted by mattj21

I wouldn't exactly consider that OF a strength.

People always underestimate the power of platoons. And it would be a very strong defensive OF with McLouth in LF.

[mattj21]

Originally Posted by The Q

People always underestimate the power of platoons. And it would be a very strong defensive OF with McLouth in LF.

It's not the platoon so much as the Braves are lacking offense, power in particularly. That is what they are most concerned with upgrading in the offseason, replacing Anderson with Cameron doesn't do much to do that. Cameron hits about 30 to 40 points less than Garrett does, and although he can get you 20-25 HRS, I don't think that is a major upgrade offensively. While they would certainly be better defensively, Diaz is still a liability in right. And for the record, I don't think they would platoon Diaz and Church. I think they would start Diaz, like they did for most of the post Francoeur era. Church would be their 4th OF.

[mattj21]

As for Hudson, per Mark Bowman he has passed his physical and the Braves are just waiting for the WS to be over before announcing the three year deal.

[The Q]

Originally Posted by mattj21

It's not the platoon so much as the Braves are lacking offense, power in particularly. That is what they are most concerned with upgrading in the offseason, replacing Anderson with Cameron doesn't do much to do that. Cameron hits about 30 to 40 points less than Garrett does, and although he can get you 20-25 HRS, I don't think that is a major upgrade offensively. While they would certainly be better defensively, Diaz is still a liability in right. And for the record, I don't think they would platoon Diaz and Church. I think they would start Diaz, like they did for most of the post Francoeur era. Church would be their 4th OF.

batting average is an irrelevant stat.

Cameron had an OBP 40 points higher, slugged 50 points higher and was the best defensive player in the NL last year. Period. Full Stop. Based on RZR.

Garrett Anderson is a bad defensive OF at this point and McLouth would be a plus defensive LF. Church is a plus defensive RF and it should be a platoon out there.

[Nastradamus]

Originally Posted by The Q

Should've just saved that $$ and signed Cameron to play CF. McLouth is a LF anyway. Then you let Diaz and Church platoon for the year in RF until Heyward is ready, and presto, your OF is a strength.

Finding a CF of the future might be tough, but it's certainly doable.

Lowe for Maggs?

If ATL really wants out of that contract it might make sense to take the lesser player with more payroll flexibility. Even if it adds 3 mil to the payroll this year.

I would do Lowe for Maggs in a heartbeat. I'd be screaming like a little girl.
It does make a little sense, like you say. I agree they should have spent the money on a guy like Cameron. Hudson is a huge gamble and I expect Lowe to bounce back, he is one of the steadiest players in all MLB.

[Nastradamus]

Originally Posted by mattj21

I wouldn't exactly consider that OF a strength.

Once you have Heyward in there it is.

[The Q]

Originally Posted by Nastradamus

Once you have Heyward in there it is.

Exactly.

And it's not like the Church/Diaz platoon is awful. It's actually a very solid platoon. And it's much better than Garrett Anderson.

[mattj21]

Originally Posted by Nastradamus

Once you have Heyward in there it is.

More than likely, but Heyward hasn't done in anything in MLB yet.

[mattj21]

Originally Posted by The Q

batting average is an irrelevant stat.

Cameron had an OBP 40 points higher, slugged 50 points higher and was the best defensive player in the NL last year. Period. Full Stop. Based on RZR.

Garrett Anderson is a bad defensive OF at this point and McLouth would be a plus defensive LF. Church is a plus defensive RF and it should be a platoon out there.

I watched nearly every Brewer game last year. Cameron isn't that good. It depends on what you are asking for from him, which given the current Braves lineup I'm sure he'd hit around 5th, much like he did for Milwaukee. In that spot, I don't really like Cameron or think he is much of an upgrade. He strikes out a lot and hits into plenty of double plays; he killed plenty of rallies for the Brewers last year.

Anderson is certainly bad defensively, I agreed that was an upgrade, and whether or not you agree with Bobby Cox about how he plays his outfielders, the fact was he played Diaz and not Church, there was no platoon so you have to factor Diaz's d into the equation more than you do Church's.