Who will lead off and etc?

[Adam's Army]

http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061009&content_id=1706411&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl

This is a pretty interesting article by Mark Bowman about possible leadoff hitters the Braves might consider.

I think getting Crawford to leadoff is a very interesting idea, he seems like a good choice. however, we already have a number of LF right now (Langerhans, Diaz, Johnson)

Im not so excited about the Garry Mathews idea

Ryan Freel, I think is defintely worth enquiring about, if the price is right

Also I am just throwing this out there, what about Diaz as a lead off candidate? if we can get a true leadoff hitter (even though we probably will) he could be an option. decent OBP (.364) and SLG (.475) and a nice BA (.327) in 297 At Bats in 2006, plus not too many Strike Outs (49)

Of Course Aybar and Prado are some other options on the team but we have already discussed them some, so I thought I would at least mention Diaz.

[Vuchato]

the problem with Diaz is that he doesn't walk a lot, so if his average goes down, his on-base will drop a lot. I'm for putting Giles back in, unless we can get a guy like Freel or Crawford for cheap.

[Jsh1284]

I think the Rays will part with Crawford for a frontline quality starter. Im afraid they'll be asking for Chucky though ... so thats not gonna be an option. We don't want him to become the next Kazmir...

Well, next year he might be better than Kazmir. X that.

Ryan Freel is definitely a possibility .. and JS hasnt been too shy in dealing with Cincy in the past. But considering Freel's flexibility and talent, its gonna be hard to get him without offering something signifigant in return like Kelley Johnson... With that being said, our new leadoff hitter will probably come out of the blue and will be someone nobody expects.

Off topic:
Dosent it make you sick to watch Wainright dominate for the Cards in the postseason? Bah!

[Vuchato]

I think the Rays will part with Crawford for a frontline quality starter. Im afraid they'll be asking for Chucky though ... so thats not gonna be an option. We don't want him to become the next Kazmir...

Well, next year he might be better than Kazmir. X that.



Maybe, but Crawford is much better than Zambrano. I'd see if they'd bite on Davies for Crawford.

[Adam's Army]

i would consider giving up davies or james for crawford. it may come back to haunt us, but its at least worth considering.

freel would be great, i would be willing to give up johnson for him. i like kelly, but freel is good and fills a role that we need.

[McCarroll21]

Crawford hates leading off. We need Ryan Freel, with Griffey aging, the Reds might trade Freel for Langerhans and a pitcher. Freel would give us a guy who can play everywhere on the field, give us some speed on the bases, and he's a hardnosed guy that will do the dirty things, something I think this team lacks ... especially if Giles is traded.

And as for Diaz, he's not a leadoff hitter. He may have the stats that show it, but he likes attacking the first pitch too much to bat leadoff. Also, while 49 Ks isn't many, spead that out over a full season worth of ABs. It would be closer to 100 and probably over it, not something you want in the leadoff spot.