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Monday, November 17, 2008

Bisher Unleashed: No Thanks, Jake!

Bisher’s blog title is almost as unnerving as the myosin-free Richard Burton’s “Hammersmith Is Out!”

Sorry about Jake Peavy, a good ol’ Southern lad from Semmes, AL, (pop. about 1,500), but it was about time the Braves learned their lesson about investing in high-salaried nomads, and turned to concentrating on the development of prospects within. Look, where did John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur, and a cast too numerous to mention here, come from? The farm system. From within. Home-developed.

It would seem that after the costly experiences with Mike Hampton—he never pitched a productive inning from ‘05 until ‘08—J.D. Drew, Mark Teixeira, Gary Sheffield and the list goes on, it would seem that a review of the products developed from within would convince management. John Schuerholz made a bounty of smart deals, but he kicked a few as well while developing all those division pennants. His worst, in my eyes, was giving up Adam Wainwright for one season of Drew, who was born to roam. Wainwright will be winning major league games for years after Drew is back on his acreage in Hahira.

Repoz Posted: November 17, 2008 at 09:38 AM | 11 comment(s)
  Related News: GeneralAtlantaSan Diego

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   1. flournoy Posted: November 17, 2008 at 10:06 AM (#3010567)
The Drew trade was a good trade. He was excellent in Atlanta.

How could anyone complain about the Sheffield trade? The Braves gave up Odalis Perez (who had one or two good years), Brian Jordan (who sucked), and Andy Brown (who has been traded a dozen times since, and I forget where he is now).
   2. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: November 17, 2008 at 10:19 AM (#3010570)
"Look, where did John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur, and a cast too numerous to mention here, come from?"

I don't know where those other guys came from, but John Smoltz came from Detroit.
   3. Chris Dial Posted: November 17, 2008 at 10:21 AM (#3010576)
Ever heard of Greg Maddux?
   4. Biff. You know, for kids! Posted: November 17, 2008 at 10:35 AM (#3010594)
Jake Peavy is TWENTY SEVEN years old. I think it's pretty unlikely that he suddenly turns into a pumpkin.
   5. rb's team is hopeful for the new year! Posted: November 17, 2008 at 11:28 AM (#3010640)
Jeff Francoeur is a good player in this scenario?
   6. Shooty Is A One Man Legion Posted: November 17, 2008 at 11:34 AM (#3010644)
C'mon guys, this is Bisher. It's like shooting fish made of barrels with cute little barrel heads and little barrel fins in a barrel.
   7. Walt Davis Posted: November 17, 2008 at 02:18 PM (#3010802)
True Shooty but if anyone would remember that Smoltz was a Tiger product, it should be Bisher.

Anyway, whine about the Braves' big trades, but Drew, Sheff and Teixeira all played great for Atlanta. And the Hampton deal was always about risk -- they got him dirt cheap for a few years while giving up nothing (Spooneybarger). He gave them two decent years.

It is scary that, according to B-R, Hampton was still the 6th highest salary in the NL last year.

Still, hard to argue with his general thesis. The Braves were great primarily because the farm system kept producing and Cox was never hesitant to give a kid his shot.
   8. Robert in Redondo Posted: November 17, 2008 at 02:45 PM (#3010821)
Sure Drew and Teixeira played fine while they were there but the Braves gave up multiple players in each deal for essentially one good season from each. That's something you do maybe once, but the Braves have made it their goto move. Eventually it catches up with the organization.
   9. Walt Davis Posted: November 17, 2008 at 11:44 PM (#3011311)
Sure Drew and Teixeira played fine while they were there but the Braves gave up multiple players in each deal for essentially one good season from each. That's something you do maybe once, but the Braves have made it their goto move. Eventually it catches up with the organization.

Sure. But unlike lots of other organizations which have used this maneuver, at least the Braves have gotten excellent production out of their rentals. And while that was a lot of bodies to give up, nobody has paid off for Texas yet.

The Braves made this sort of move all the time during their great run. Rarely did they give up more than they got. Maybe they've lost that touch but two trades in the last 4 seasons aren't enough to convince me.
   10. Dan Szymborski Posted: November 17, 2008 at 11:53 PM (#3011313)
True story: The Onion stopped printing columns from T. Herman Zweibel because IP lawyers found out that they were too close to the "Furman Bisher" character the Atlanta Journal-Constitution had.
   11. AJMacaroni Posted: November 18, 2008 at 12:04 AM (#3011315)
Jeff Francoeur is a good player in this scenario?

And Drew, Sheff, and Tex are bad ones.
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