Analyzing The Atlanta Braves’ Depth: http://bit.ly/9LNGFk

I posted a slideshow analyzing the Atlanta Braves depth on BleacherReport.com. Below is the introduction and a link to the BleacherReport.com article.

Depth is key to any team with legitimate playoff aspirations. The Phillies were able to win a world series with Matt Stairs having some key hits in there NLCS series against the Dodgers, and the Yankees benefited from having Brett Gardner running around the bases late in games last October.

One thing Bobby Cox has always managed to do with the Braves is maximize the potential of the Braves fringe starters and bench players. Willie Harris, Wilson Betemit, and Charles Thomas are a few players who were great with the Braves in limited roles and played pretty poorly with other teams.

This season the Braves have a number of position players who can move all around the diamond and this could be critical if the Braves hope to make the post-season for the first time since 2005. A long playoff drought is something that Braves fans have not come to expect out of the Atlanta franchise and in order to avoid another season of golf in October the Braves must get the most out of their high energy players.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/350966-analyzing-the-depth-of-the-atlanta-braves

Braves Use Chipper In Negotiations Again

From Dave O’Brien’s twitter: “Braves’ interest in Damon has increased; they made initial 1-yr offer (amount unknown) in recent days and had Chipper Jones contact him.”

Chipper did this last season too right before the Braves signed Derek Lowe. If I had to guess, I would say that the Braves end up signing him. I have already expressed my feelings towards this and I truly believe this would make the Braves a worse team if Cabrera is subsequently traded.

Is Johnny Damon an Upgrade?

Currently, Johnny Damon is still unsigned and his market is continuing to drop. His price may eventually fall to the Braves’ supposed asking price of $2 million. My question is, is Johnny Damon at $2 million an upgrade over current options?

On its face, Damon’s 2009 season should make him a very valuable commodity. He set career highs in OPS+ at 126, isoSLG (The difference between his batting average and slugging percentage, demonstrating power numbers) at .207, and tied a career best with 24 home runs.

The problem with these numbers is that over the past three years his home and away statistics are separating more and more each season. As Damon has aged, he has used the short right porch in right field of Yankee Stadium to his advantage.

In 2007, his home OPS was .742 and away was .750, in 2008 his home OPS was .846 and away .827, and in 2009 his home OPS was .889 and away .776.

The dipping away OPS, along with his age, and -12.1 UZR/150 in left field last season makes it understandable why so many teams have been passing on Damon’s services.

The current options for left field are a Matt Diaz platoon with either Eric Hinske or Melky Cabrera, and possibly later in the season Jordan Schafer.

Hinske has similar career platoon statistics as Damon, and had 5.3 UZR/150 in the outfield last season—much better than Damon’s.

Cabrera was not on Damon’s level offensively last season, however, outside of Yankee Stadium the splits were not as vast as one would assume.

Cabrera’s .745 OPS in away games last year, coupled with his age (25), and his career 4.0 UZR/150 in left field make him just as serviceable in left field as Damon, in my opinion.

Lastly, unless Schafer proves to be a much better player than he was last season he is not a better option than Damon. However, if Jordan produces how he had before his injury last season and in his minor league seasons, then Jordan’s defense and offense would make him a very valuable and cheap option left field.

Outside of the current options, as previously stated Johnny Damon would cost at least $2 million. This would handcuff the Braves if they want to make a midseason trade as they did last season with Nate McLouth.

Johnny Damon was a crucial part of last year’s World Series champion New York Yankees, but Turner Field is not Yankee Stadium.

Maybe Damon can perform next year, but at the age of 36 moving into a bigger ballpark will severely decrease his overall value. The question still remains, is Johnny Damon at $2 million an upgrade over the Braves’ current options?

Hinske, Glaus, and Cabrera.

Eric Hinske, Troy Glaus, and Melky Cabrera are the most recent additions to the Braves roster. All three have playoff and world series experience and it appears to be that the Braves have decided to rely on veterans in Bobby Cox’s last season.

Hinske was signed today as a pinch hitter and insurance policy on the oft-injured Chipper Jones and Troy Glaus. He has appeared in the past three world series and has had amazing platoon splits throughout his career. If the Braves are unable to sign another outfielder a platoon of Hinske and Diaz would produce better than most expect.

Glaus missed nearly all of 2009 coming off of shoulder surgery and has had under 40 innings at 1B throughout his career. Fortunately, Glaus did not cost much and his contract is mostly incentive laden. With such a high percentage of his contract based off incentives and his opportunities to receive major league contracts dwindling if he does not stay healthy, it is reasonable to expect Glaus to come to camp in great shape. When healthy he is a threat to post an OPS over .850 and hit between 25-35 home runs.

Cabrera will likely serve as the teams fourth outfielder if he is not packaged for a more lucrative player. He had a plethora of clutch at bats as a Yankee in high pressure situations. Bobby Cox has a history of using these types of player extremely well and maximizing their performance in a Braves uniform. He should be able to fill in for injured outfielders without see a major drop off in performance, as long as said injuries are not of great length.

All three acquisitions give the Braves flexibility and experience. The Braves have lacked veteran leadership outside of Chipper Jones the past few seasons and players with world series rings, talent, and professionalism are exactly the types of players the Braves should be aiming to acquire.