Continuing with a semi-regular Sunday tradition, Bobby Cox inserted Jesse Chavez into a ties game in extra innings and watched Chavez lose the game with alacrity. Against the Dodgers in June, Chavez recorded one out. Yesterday, he didn't record a single out. Literally any option would have been better than Cox putting Chavez into the game. At this point, blame has to go to Frank Wren for allowing Chavez to continue to occupy a spot on a major league roster in which he can do damage.
Yesterday's game also illustrated the flip-side of Cox continually trotting out a reliever whose function in life is to make us all angry. The Braves found themselves in extra innings because Melky Cabrera doubled in the eighth inning with two outs and then came around to score the tying run when Chipper shot a ball into the gap in left-center. I was certainly not alone in complaining about Melky when he started the season in a major funk. Cox, a more patient man than just about any fan, stuck with Melky. Cabrera is now producing for the Braves, maybe not at an all-star level, but he is a league average outfielder (if you take out his terrible April). After the problems that the Braves have had in the outfield over the past several years, league average is nothing to sneeze at.
5 comments:
I agree with you about Bobby Cox. While he knows what he's doing with managing players, as for managing the pitchers, he would have more luck putting on a blindfold and just pointing to guys in the bullpen. I won't miss that about him when he's retired.
The Braves outfield is a mess, with Cabrera and McLouth taking turns providing embarrassing defense. Diaz and Heyward are decent at the corners, but I don't trust them being healthy and productive in late September. It's time to cough up Medlen and Schafer in a package to bring in a legitimate center fielder with a real bat.
One more day, maybe the Braves make a move for an outfielder. It sure would be nice if they could get Dunn from the Nats.
Dunn would be an interesting addition. What is his contractual status? If the Braves assume/know that Chipper is retiring at the end of the year, then they have some flexibility to add an expensive bat for 2011.
Baseball-Reference has him as a FA at the end of this year. He is currently finishing up a 2yr/$20mil ($12mil owed this year, which I assume would be pro-rated). So if you figure $6mil for a Dunn rental, I'd say jump all over that depending on what the Nats are going to want back.
In fact, I wouldn't mind locking him up for 2-3yrs if not longer. He's currently on pace to get his 7th consecutive year with 30+ HR's and he's only 30 years old. It's be nice to have that kind of power in the lineup with Heyward for the next 3-6, especially if you can get him at $8-10mil per.
Haha, also according to B-Ref, his nickname is Big Donkey. Hilarious!
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