The Braves Are Locked In And Loaded With Youth

I know that I have mentioned in past posts how many teams have been locking in their young talent to long term contracts before letting them reach free agency. So far this 2014 season, the Atlanta Braves have gone way above and beyond in locking up their young talent. This offseason/spring training the Braves have extended Freddie Freeman, Julio Teheran, Craig Kimbrel, Jason Heyward and Andrelton Simmons. These are five players that are 26 years of age and under. They also join the B.J. and Justin Upton who are 29 and 26 respectively, Evan Gattis at 27. Even counting the old man in the group (Dan Uggla is 34), this is a core group that will be together for at least another two seasons.

Courtesy of Baseball Reference.com 

Heyward, Uggla and Upton are signed through the 2015 season. B.J. Upton and Kimbrel are signed through 2017. Gattis is under contractual control through 2018. Teheran is signed though 2019. Andrelton Simmons is signed through 2020. Freddie Freeman is signed until 2021. The Braves do need to address their starting pitching but then again what team in the majors doesn't. Aside from that I think the Braves are poised for some special things to come in the future.

I have to admit that I like how teams are locking up their talent. Though I still think a maximum of a five-year deal is ideal for Baseball contracts, giving a player who is 24 a seven or eight-year deal is much more appealing than giving a player in his 30's the same kind of deal. It is also promising to see teams making a real effort to invest in their young players by signing them long term and paying them rather than utilizing the system to just keep control of the players and letting them walk after the end of their rookie contracts. I think it sends the right message to the fan base that the team is committed to winning with their homegrown players year in and year out.

I hate to wax poetically about this, but I think that it is important that fans (especially the younger fans) grow up watching the same group of players on the field like it was in yesteryear. I understand the economic dynamics are different from then to now, but it is good to feel that young fans will be able to follow their favorite players on their teams for hopefully the player's entire career. That remains to be seen but I think the teams are not only do right by their bottom lines but by their fans as well.

Sisco Kid

What's Happened to B.J. Upton

I believe that a big part of the Atlanta Braves struggles since their hot start of 12-1 to start the 2013 season has to do with the downright horrible offensive showing of free agent acquisition B.J. Upton. Upton was signed by the Braves during the offseason to a 5-year $75.25 million dollar deal which has him in a Braves uniform through the 2017 season.

Players can slump when arriving at a new team with a new park to deal with especially when the player changes leagues. Look at Albert Pujols. He struggled in his first season with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. It happens. But what stands out to me are three things when it comes to B.J. Upton's struggles on the offensive side of the game (Stolen Bases/OBP, Strikeouts and Batting Average). Here are his stats at the end of play on Sunday May 12th:

Player		G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI		BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG	OPS
B.J. Upton		34	124	8	19	4	0	3	6		15	47	3	3	.248	.258	.153	.506

B.J. is not getting on base in the way a player of his caliber should be getting on base. With his speed you would think that Upton would generate more walks and try to make things happen on the base paths. Up to now, Upton only has 15 walks with just 3 stolen bases and was caught stealing 3 times. He is a very aggressive runner so he does get thrown out more than you would like. In 307 total attempts at stealing a base for his career, Upton has been thrown out 72 times. That roughly a quarter of his attempts resulting in getting caught which I believe is a respectable percentage (Tim Raines is the best in the modern era with a .847 stealing percentage 808 stolen to 146 caught stealing). Upton's On Base Percentage is really low considering that until last season, he always had an OBP in the low to mid .300's. Last season his OBP was .298 which would lead me to believe that he is free swinging more for power hits instead of generating walks.

I would also say that his free swinging has led to a ridiculous amount of strikeouts. As it is Upton already has 47 strikeouts. At this rate (to be conservative) Upton is on pace to strikeout 180-200 times which would be a career worse. His worse season in terms of strikeouts was last season at 169 K's. His batting average reflects his seemingly reckless approach to hitting. He is batting an Adam Dunn-like .153 with only 19 hits in 124 at-bats. He has four doubles and three homers with 0 triples. I would have thought that playing in a somewhat open stadium like Turner Field that Upton would be driving more balls into the gaps and utilizing his speed in an advantageous manner generating singles into doubles and doubles into triples.

Maybe B.J. would benefit from a move down into the lineup as Braves Manager Fredi Gonzalez did the other day with Upton batting 7th. Maybe a bit of a relief from the pressure would help Upton out. Whether it does or not still remains to be seen.

Sisco Kid

- Click Here for B.J. Upton's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

My POV on Lee and Strasburg

I have a few things that I want to touch upon right before the All-Star break. Here goes:

- Cliff Lee
Cliff Lee is arguably the best pitcher in the American League and some may even say currently pitching in the game. Sure Ubaldo Jimenez is currently 14-1 with a 2.27 ERA but he has slowed down from his torrid pace to start the season by winning only one of his last three starts and giving up 17 earned runs in 17.2 innings while in his previous 102 innings he only gave up 8 earned runs. Lee on the other hand missed the first month of the season and is 8-3 with a 2.34 ERA for a Seattle Mariners team that has had its shared of troubles this season. So far in 13 starts for the Mariners, Lee has only had two no-decisions, one start of 6.1 innings, three of 7 innings with the remaining 9 starts being of 8 innings (five starts) and 9 innings (four starts). Cliff Lee is what you would call a quality pitcher. He currently leads the A.L. in ERA (2.34), WHIP (0.95) and complete games (5). I would also venture to say that he leads the league in trade rumors. Speaking of which.

Rumors have linked Cliff Lee with two American League teams: The Minnesota Twins and the Tampa Bay Rays. Let me touch on the Twins first. The Twins have not had a pitcher of Lee's caliber since they traded Johan Santana to the Mets in 2008 and have been rumored by Jeff Fletcher of AOL Fanhouse of offering prospects OF Aaron Hicks and C Wilson Ramos to Seattle for Lee. The Cincinnati Enquirer speculated that the Reds would make an offer to Seattle in the form of prospects headlined by 1B prospect Yonder Alonzo, the 2008 first round draft pick for the Reds. Most intriguing has been the statement by Rays owner Stuart Sternberg that money would not be an issue at this year's deadline and there has been a rumored three-team trade that would involve Cliff Lee and Tampa's B.J. Upton. I've always felt that the ideal place for Lee to be traded to was the New York Mets. The combination of Santana and Lee with Pelfrey and Niese make the Mets a favorite to win the Wild Card and make them strong contenders for the N.L. East. Whether or not Seattle trades him remains to be seen. We have an interesting three weeks to go until July 31st.

- Stephen Strasburg
Those that hear me talk about Strasburg feel that I am against the kid succeeding. Not so. I have only felt that the kid has not been able to pitch in any real trouble situations since the organization has had him pitch against sub-standard MLB lineups. Before this week, the only strong lineup that he faced was the Chicago White Sox while he dominated the Pirates and the Royals and was good against the Indians. This week showed me something about him.

Strasburg faced better lineups in the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets. I watched him pitch in the Braves game and came away with the following points of view. The Braves were able to work him to longer pitch counts that other teams by showing patience at the plate. Strasburg only struck out 7 Braves while he averaged 10 K's per game in his previous 4 starts. He also faced his first real trouble spot with bases loaded and no outs in the 6th inning. To be fair, he walked Chipper Jones and gave up a scorching single to Brian McCann but would have had a runner on third with two outs if the shortstop had made the play at short instead of booting the ball. The Braves being a better offensive team, were able to capitalize on the error by scoring 4 runs off of him, of which 3 were earned. Against the Mets he also not as effective by walking 3 and striking out 5 in 5 innings and giving up 2 runs, both earned.

These two starts were more impressive to me since he was able to pitch in and out of trouble and even though he didn't dominate, it showed that he was able to play under pressure in trouble situations. All pitchers get hit and many don't win games. All I wanted to see was how he performed in those situations and he showed me that he could. One last thing about Strasburg.

This whole drama about his not making the All-Star team is ridiculous. He is 2-2 in only 7 starts. There are pitchers that have 9 and 10 wins and did not make the roster. Those players would be more deserving that him at this point. Strasburg has more that enough years to make All-Star teams. Let him earn them as every one else.

FH

How To Call A Teammate Out

This weekend there were two different examples on how to call a teammate out.

First was the Chicago Cubs Carlos Zambrano profanity laced tirade towards Derreck Lee and the rest of the Cubs. That led to wet and alienated teammates (courtesy of Gatorade) and an indefinite suspension of Zambrano. Plus the released statement by a "source" close to Zambrano that his tirade was meant to motivate and wasn't personal has not gone over well with his teammates. Not so good.

Second was Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria calling out B.J. Upton face to face in the dugout for Upton's lack of hustle in Center chasing a ball down that led to a triple. Upton has been in trouble before for not hustling down the line and on the field. The resulting confrontation was short with teammates holding Upton back as Longoria said his peace and walked off. As the leader of the team, Longoria did what he was supposed to do, in an even manner instead of ranting and raving.

I'm ok with teammates taking each other to task. It is a team effort after all and if your teammate can do it then who can. But Longoria showed how it is done by stepping to Upton directly instead of blowing his top as a petulant child.

FH