Since I am still at work with no real "work" to do, I figure it is time for another pet peeve in the sports world- the Fred Taylor issue. Every year around this time, I sit in fantasy drafts and wait for the Fred Taylor pick, and the inevitable following line. "Good luck with that guy. He's never healthy for a whole season." Enough is enough. Maybe the last two years have finally helped get rid of this sentiment, if only because Maurice Jones-Drew is slowly but surely making Fred Taylor less relevant in fantasy leagues. Of course, Taylor did rush for over 1,200 yards and an AFC leading 5.4 yards per carry last year. He may currently be the most impressive "old back" in the league (at age 32), at least until LT turns 30.
Now to the good stuff- the injury history. It seems to be common knowledge that Fred Taylor is going to get hurt and miss games. Shocking for a running back, isn't it? But here's the truth. 2001 was the only season in Taylor's career in which he missed more than half the games his team played. In fact, in his ten year career, he has only missed more than three games three times, only once since that 2001 season. In 2005, Taylor missed 5 games. Add that to his total since 2002 (a possible 96 regular season games) and he has missed a grand total of 9 games in 6 years, for a grand total of 1.5 per season. Take out those five games (or even dismiss that whole season's worth of stats) and the number is 4 games in 5 years. Most backs on good teams will sit the last game of the season, so those four games are insignificant.
Considering that Fred Taylor has also rushed for over 10,000 yards in his career and has fumbled a whopping 25 times in 2,285 career carries (losing only 16 of them), his career is remarkable, injury riddled or not. At this point, a Fred Taylor pick in a fantasy league out to be lauded, not ridiculed. Unless he goes third overall of course. That's Brian Westbrook territory.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
the braves rant
I've been stewing for a while on the braves' remarkable lack of success this season. Remember March, when every pundit around was whispering about the underrated Braves heading into the season? I didn't think so. The Braves have been dreadful since the all-star break, and trading away Texiera for Casey Kotchman was a smack in every fan's face. Really, Casey Kotchman? Did this city learn nothing from the Dominique for Danny Manning trade. Ugh.
And now I'm hearing on the radio from the Braves' beat writer that Frank Wren does not see a rebuilding process in the near future. Rather, he thinks there are only a couple big holes that need to be fixed to compete immediately. Fine. But the biggest hole is surely starting pitching. And here's where the ranting truly begins. John Schuerholtz (and i refuse to double check the spelling) gets most of the blame. I do not like the aforementioned former GM, because i believe he is an arrogant prick. He was very good at what he did for a long time, but he is still an arrogant prick. Here's why that matters: he left the position of GM right when he knew the end was coming. Like all arrogant leaders he is most concerned with his legacy. His teams won a lot. However, I think we should not ignore the fact that he never really began to consider long term pitching solutions. Ever. We were spoiled by the longevity and endurance of Maddux and Glavine, and by the sheer stubbornness and grit of Smoltz. Imagine if Smoltz had a Carl Pavano mentality. How many of those games would he have pitched with his arm damn near falling off? Hall of Fame? Not even close if that had been the case. Sure, every once in a while the GM would make a trade for a Denny Neagle or an Andy Ashby. But those moves were never long term plans. We would pitch the shit out of those guys for half a season, and send them elsewhere to play out the remainder of their careers with dead arms. Outside of Tim Hudson and maybe Mike Hampton (how'd that work out?), there have been no long term pitching moves. And the prospects we draft or trade for only seem to be useful as number 4 or 5 starters at best. And so right at the end, Schuerholtz jumps ship, and leaves Frank Wren to do the cleaning up. We have no pitching. We have no power hitting outfielders. In fact, other than Chipper Jones, and maybe Brian McCann, we have no power bats anywhere. And it's never safe to have all your power at catcher and in a 36 year old body.
With no Hudson next year either, and likely no Smoltz or Glavine ever again, I think it's safe to say that we have more than a "few holes". Chipper needs to go, while he still has some value. I hope the Braves plan to spend all of the $40 million or so they will have at the end of the season to chase at least one stud pitcher on the market (Sabathia would be quite nice), and get some bats in the outfield. Can we please have a left fielder who suits up for more than 50 games next year? I would at least like to be able to tell my friends who is playing that position for us. Not a clue currently. Omar Infante? Brandon Jones? Who's playing center even? Gregor Blanco? This sounds like the makings of a halfway decent college team. Can we get the aluminum bats to play with?
This post has begun to depress me. I blame Schuerholtz. Where are the pitching prospects? Did we dump them all to land Tex, only to let him go for Casey Kotchman? And did we get anything at all for Mark Kotsay? Is our minor league system stocked with anything other than brilliant Latin middle infielders? Can we assign that particular scout to look only at pitching prospects? I am not optimistic. I do not trust an Atlanta team to spend significant money in the off-season, much less to spend it wisely. But then again, maybe Frank Wren is smarter than I am. Heck, he did request 12 oz water bottles early in the season instead of 20 oz bottles because he "didn't like so much waste". I just hope he manages the roster as well as he manages his refrigerator.
And now I'm hearing on the radio from the Braves' beat writer that Frank Wren does not see a rebuilding process in the near future. Rather, he thinks there are only a couple big holes that need to be fixed to compete immediately. Fine. But the biggest hole is surely starting pitching. And here's where the ranting truly begins. John Schuerholtz (and i refuse to double check the spelling) gets most of the blame. I do not like the aforementioned former GM, because i believe he is an arrogant prick. He was very good at what he did for a long time, but he is still an arrogant prick. Here's why that matters: he left the position of GM right when he knew the end was coming. Like all arrogant leaders he is most concerned with his legacy. His teams won a lot. However, I think we should not ignore the fact that he never really began to consider long term pitching solutions. Ever. We were spoiled by the longevity and endurance of Maddux and Glavine, and by the sheer stubbornness and grit of Smoltz. Imagine if Smoltz had a Carl Pavano mentality. How many of those games would he have pitched with his arm damn near falling off? Hall of Fame? Not even close if that had been the case. Sure, every once in a while the GM would make a trade for a Denny Neagle or an Andy Ashby. But those moves were never long term plans. We would pitch the shit out of those guys for half a season, and send them elsewhere to play out the remainder of their careers with dead arms. Outside of Tim Hudson and maybe Mike Hampton (how'd that work out?), there have been no long term pitching moves. And the prospects we draft or trade for only seem to be useful as number 4 or 5 starters at best. And so right at the end, Schuerholtz jumps ship, and leaves Frank Wren to do the cleaning up. We have no pitching. We have no power hitting outfielders. In fact, other than Chipper Jones, and maybe Brian McCann, we have no power bats anywhere. And it's never safe to have all your power at catcher and in a 36 year old body.
With no Hudson next year either, and likely no Smoltz or Glavine ever again, I think it's safe to say that we have more than a "few holes". Chipper needs to go, while he still has some value. I hope the Braves plan to spend all of the $40 million or so they will have at the end of the season to chase at least one stud pitcher on the market (Sabathia would be quite nice), and get some bats in the outfield. Can we please have a left fielder who suits up for more than 50 games next year? I would at least like to be able to tell my friends who is playing that position for us. Not a clue currently. Omar Infante? Brandon Jones? Who's playing center even? Gregor Blanco? This sounds like the makings of a halfway decent college team. Can we get the aluminum bats to play with?
This post has begun to depress me. I blame Schuerholtz. Where are the pitching prospects? Did we dump them all to land Tex, only to let him go for Casey Kotchman? And did we get anything at all for Mark Kotsay? Is our minor league system stocked with anything other than brilliant Latin middle infielders? Can we assign that particular scout to look only at pitching prospects? I am not optimistic. I do not trust an Atlanta team to spend significant money in the off-season, much less to spend it wisely. But then again, maybe Frank Wren is smarter than I am. Heck, he did request 12 oz water bottles early in the season instead of 20 oz bottles because he "didn't like so much waste". I just hope he manages the roster as well as he manages his refrigerator.
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