I'd be surprised if they weren't in the ALCS. They could EASILY win the World Series. They aren't a team that is playing above their heads like the D-Backs were early in the year, they are a team with a ton of talent. They could easily be the most talented team in the league, but the Cubs might have something to say about that.
Doesn't Tampa have the 3rd lowest payroll in baseball? How did they stock up so much talent with so little money?
I'm not much of a baseball fan, but I've always thought the success of MLB teams could be generally correlated with the team's payroll. True or not? When was the last time a team with one of the five lowest payrolls made it to the World Series?
I'm not much of a baseball fan, but I've always thought the success of MLB teams could be generally correlated with the team's payroll. True or not? When was the last time a team with one of the five lowest payrolls made it to the World Series?
Front office moves that make Billy Beane jealous as shit..Note the current status of most of the players traded away.....
Carl Crawford - drafted 2nd round 1999
Bossman Upton - #2 pick in draft 2002
Eric (don't call me 5TeamParlay!) Hinske - FA 2008
Navarro and Ruggiano - Acquired via trade with LAD for Mark Hendrickson and Toby Hall 2006
Carlos Pena - FA 2007
Aki Iwamura - FA 2007
Evan Longoria - 1st round Draft 2006
Jesse Bartlett & Matt Garza - Via trade with MIN for (#1draft pick 2005) Delmon Young
plus there's another strong relief pitcher candidate in AA from that trade
Willie Aybar - FA 2008
Cliff Floyd - FA 2008
Scotty Kazmir - Via trade with NYM in 2004 for Victor Zambrano
Jimmy Shields - 16th round Draft 2006
Eddie Jackson - Via trade with LAD for Danys Baez and Lance Carter
Drew Sonnansstine - 13th round Draft 2004
Troy Percival - FA 2008
Dan Wheeler - Via trade with HOU in 2007 for Ty Wiggington
Grant Balfour - Via trade with MIL in 2007 for Seth McClung
Ben Zobrist - Via trade with HOU in 2006 for Aubrey Huff
GLASSES:
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/...tebook_id=73405634&vkey=notebook_atl&c_id=atl
4/26/2014 1:07 A.M. ET
[h=1]B.J. Upton wears glasses for first time in career[/h][h=2][/h]By Mark Bowman and Joe Morgan / MLB.com
ATLANTA -- Braves center fielder B.J. Upton assumed a studious look as he wore glasses for the first time in his career during Friday night's 5-4 win over the Reds. He exited the victory with some confidence that the prescription lenses will help him escape the struggles he has experienced since coming to Atlanta last year.
Upton has been told he should wear glasses while driving at night dating back to his high-school days. But it was not until the conclusion of Wednesday afternoon's game against the Marlins that he decided he would spend a portion of Thursday's off-day getting a pair of glasses that he could wear during games.
"I noticed a difference [in my vision] over last year and some of this year," Upton said. "It wasn't anything big. But I think it was enough for me to not really pick up spin on the ball. So I just figured we should try something."
Upton was pleased with the results that he garnered as he went 1-for-4 during Friday's win. He hit a sharp infield single that Reds third baseman Todd Frazier prevented from going down the left-field line in the first inning. In his next at-bat, he lined out to center field.
"The first one I thought he rolled over," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "It looked like he was going to make the turn thinking it was going to be a double. He made it closer than it should have been at first. The next one he hit, he hit it right on the nose. That's a good [at-bat]."
Upton has shown some signs of encouragement as he has batted .244 with a .358 on-base percentage in his past 12 games. This is certainly an improvement given what he provided last year, when he hit .184 with a .268 on-base percentage.
"I definitely noticed a difference tonight," Upton said. "We'll see how it goes."
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/...tebook_id=73405634&vkey=notebook_atl&c_id=atl
4/26/2014 1:07 A.M. ET
[h=1]B.J. Upton wears glasses for first time in career[/h][h=2][/h]By Mark Bowman and Joe Morgan / MLB.com
ATLANTA -- Braves center fielder B.J. Upton assumed a studious look as he wore glasses for the first time in his career during Friday night's 5-4 win over the Reds. He exited the victory with some confidence that the prescription lenses will help him escape the struggles he has experienced since coming to Atlanta last year.
Upton has been told he should wear glasses while driving at night dating back to his high-school days. But it was not until the conclusion of Wednesday afternoon's game against the Marlins that he decided he would spend a portion of Thursday's off-day getting a pair of glasses that he could wear during games.
"I noticed a difference [in my vision] over last year and some of this year," Upton said. "It wasn't anything big. But I think it was enough for me to not really pick up spin on the ball. So I just figured we should try something."
Upton was pleased with the results that he garnered as he went 1-for-4 during Friday's win. He hit a sharp infield single that Reds third baseman Todd Frazier prevented from going down the left-field line in the first inning. In his next at-bat, he lined out to center field.
"The first one I thought he rolled over," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "It looked like he was going to make the turn thinking it was going to be a double. He made it closer than it should have been at first. The next one he hit, he hit it right on the nose. That's a good [at-bat]."
Upton has shown some signs of encouragement as he has batted .244 with a .358 on-base percentage in his past 12 games. This is certainly an improvement given what he provided last year, when he hit .184 with a .268 on-base percentage.
"I definitely noticed a difference tonight," Upton said. "We'll see how it goes."
