The Atlanta Braves have made no secret that they have interest in trading starting pitching, feeling that it is a place of excess at the moment. They got the offseason started by trading Derek Lowe to the Cleveland Indians; in doing so agreed to pay $10 million of Lowe's $15 million remaining on his contract. (I still feel Lowe was a good signing. The Braves got a lot more out of him than the Mets did Oliver Perez.) Now they have interest in perhaps trading Jair Jurrjens, with the hopes of being able to strengthen their starting lineup for the 2012 season. While there is no question the Braves have several young pitchers who have a future in their major league rotation, I think they are very quickly forgetting what hurt them at the end of last season. Due to the historic collapse of the Boston Red Sox and the aftermath of what proceeded, many have underrated the ranking of their own September swoon. More importantly, is the fact that the Braves needed to dip into their farm system and use pitchers such as Mike Minor, Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado in roles they would prefer not to due to injuries. Not having Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson down the stretch forced them to rely on the younger pitchers and in turn, destroyed one of the best bullpens in baseball. (With some help from manager Fredi Gonzalez, though I don't think he was fully to blame.)
Anyone who thinks the Braves failed because they didn't have enough offense is not paying attention. Injuries to Jurrjens and Hanson, coupled with the struggles of Lowe and the young pitchers not being ready for prime time killed the Braves who should have made the postseason last year. Not the offense. Next year they have Michael Bourn coming back. Add Brian McCann, Chipper Jones, Freddy Freeman, Dan Uggla and Martin Prado and the offense is better than a lot of teams. What separates the Braves from other potential contenders is their pitching and it is something they should not compensate. Their projected rotation of Tim Hudson, Jurrjens, Hanson, Brandon Beachy and Minor should put them in strong position to reach the postseason, especially with the second wild card being added for the 2012 season. Having NL Rookie of the Year Craig Kimbel anchoring a bullpen that has Johnny Venters and Eric O'Flaherty gives the Braves an advantage on many other National League clubs.
Most importantly, the Braves collapsed because of not having enough depth in their starting rotation. They were unable to shake injuries to Jurrjens and Hanson and could not replace them in the rotation in the heat of September. But now they have too much depth? I think they will need every bit of their pitching to get through a 162 game season.
If offense is what they need, there are other ways of obtaining players. How about free agent SS such as Jose Reyes and Jimmy Rollins? How about moving a Prado or Jason Heyward to get a more established power hitter? Because once the Braves move one of their pitchers, they are guaranteed to need one as the season goes on. It happens all the time.
Anyone who thinks the Braves failed because they didn't have enough offense is not paying attention. Injuries to Jurrjens and Hanson, coupled with the struggles of Lowe and the young pitchers not being ready for prime time killed the Braves who should have made the postseason last year. Not the offense. Next year they have Michael Bourn coming back. Add Brian McCann, Chipper Jones, Freddy Freeman, Dan Uggla and Martin Prado and the offense is better than a lot of teams. What separates the Braves from other potential contenders is their pitching and it is something they should not compensate. Their projected rotation of Tim Hudson, Jurrjens, Hanson, Brandon Beachy and Minor should put them in strong position to reach the postseason, especially with the second wild card being added for the 2012 season. Having NL Rookie of the Year Craig Kimbel anchoring a bullpen that has Johnny Venters and Eric O'Flaherty gives the Braves an advantage on many other National League clubs.
Most importantly, the Braves collapsed because of not having enough depth in their starting rotation. They were unable to shake injuries to Jurrjens and Hanson and could not replace them in the rotation in the heat of September. But now they have too much depth? I think they will need every bit of their pitching to get through a 162 game season.
If offense is what they need, there are other ways of obtaining players. How about free agent SS such as Jose Reyes and Jimmy Rollins? How about moving a Prado or Jason Heyward to get a more established power hitter? Because once the Braves move one of their pitchers, they are guaranteed to need one as the season goes on. It happens all the time.
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