Yesterday was the conclusion to the Branch Rickey World regular season. With their win yesterday our Atlanta Tartans tied both San Juan and Houston for a share of the AL South title. But Atlanta (and Houston) still missed the playoffs. Atlanta trailed San Juan by one game in the division so while both had identical 78-84 records, San Juans 15-15 mark edged the 14-16 Tartans by one game.
Atlanta manager Trace Nichols had this to say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwq7BYOnDrM
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Future Looking Bright for the Tartans
Just a week to go in the big league season, and while the Tartans are surprising in contention for the AL South title (thanks, weak division!) the minor league playoffs are already in full swing and Atlanta is looking pretty good. That is all 5 Tartan minor league teams remain in contention, and all 5 appear to be fighting hard in their respective series. Below we count the ways in which the Tartan's farm system looks so good!
1.) All five teams are in the 2nd round of the playoffs or farther.
2.) The Tartans are sweeping the AA awards voting:
* AL AA MVP Award: Top 4 finalists are Tartans
* AL AA Cy Young: Top 3 finalists are Tartans
* AL AA Newcomer of the Year: Top 4 finalists are Tartans
* AL AA Fireman of the Year: CL Dean Cloud (a Tartan)
* AL AA Silver Slugger Awards: 6 0f the 9 Awards go to Tartans
3.) Tartan's Big League Payroll Next Season is currently under $15 million
* I.E. lots of cash to spend on Coaching, Talent Evaluation, and maybe a key free agent signing, oh and injury prevention
4.) All Tartan trades have targeted acquiring young talent, and surprisingly their big league club was still competitive.
* Just wait until the new kids come up and then it is on like Donkey Kong.
5.) Both impact rookies this season played superb.
* Compliments RF Juan Machado and C Esteban Macias.
6.) The Tartans have only two large contracts remaining from when new ownership took over the club and both those contracts are gone after next season.
7.) Winning without talent at the big league level has taught management some key strategies that will be further utilized in the coming years. Trust me.
8.) We can brag all day about the balance in the Tartans farm system.
* I.E. the layout of the key prospects covering every position. (Except, 1st Base. But you better beleive that that will be resolved during the next draft, in which the Tartans will have a coveted top 10 pick, yeah they have worked hard for that pick.)
1.) All five teams are in the 2nd round of the playoffs or farther.
2.) The Tartans are sweeping the AA awards voting:
* AL AA MVP Award: Top 4 finalists are Tartans
* AL AA Cy Young: Top 3 finalists are Tartans
* AL AA Newcomer of the Year: Top 4 finalists are Tartans
* AL AA Fireman of the Year: CL Dean Cloud (a Tartan)
* AL AA Silver Slugger Awards: 6 0f the 9 Awards go to Tartans
3.) Tartan's Big League Payroll Next Season is currently under $15 million
* I.E. lots of cash to spend on Coaching, Talent Evaluation, and maybe a key free agent signing, oh and injury prevention
4.) All Tartan trades have targeted acquiring young talent, and surprisingly their big league club was still competitive.
* Just wait until the new kids come up and then it is on like Donkey Kong.
5.) Both impact rookies this season played superb.
* Compliments RF Juan Machado and C Esteban Macias.
6.) The Tartans have only two large contracts remaining from when new ownership took over the club and both those contracts are gone after next season.
7.) Winning without talent at the big league level has taught management some key strategies that will be further utilized in the coming years. Trust me.
8.) We can brag all day about the balance in the Tartans farm system.
* I.E. the layout of the key prospects covering every position. (Except, 1st Base. But you better beleive that that will be resolved during the next draft, in which the Tartans will have a coveted top 10 pick, yeah they have worked hard for that pick.)
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Atlanta's Nichols Getting the Job Done
At 60-50 the Atlanta Tartans are atop the American League South by 4 games. There team is a collection of youth and forgotten scraps. An honestly, the majority is scrap. Bench Coach Trace Nichols was handed a roster of left overs and two top prospects (add to the team in an effort to insure 64 wins).
Well we are 110 games in, 52 to go and the Tartans need only 4 wins to reach their minimum this season. This is impressive when you consider that Atlanta is ranked last in the bigs in player ratings.
The team's salary is just over $40 million. Compare that to division rivals and you will see that Tartan ownership is getting a lot of return on its investment.
Team / Payroll / Ovr. Rating / Wins-Losses
Atlanta / $40.8 M / 63 / 60-50
Kansas City / $78.0 M / 69 / 53-57
San Juan / $89.8 M / 68 / 56-54
Houston / $59.9 M / 68 / 55-55
Well we are 110 games in, 52 to go and the Tartans need only 4 wins to reach their minimum this season. This is impressive when you consider that Atlanta is ranked last in the bigs in player ratings.
The team's salary is just over $40 million. Compare that to division rivals and you will see that Tartan ownership is getting a lot of return on its investment.
Team / Payroll / Ovr. Rating / Wins-Losses
Atlanta / $40.8 M / 63 / 60-50
Kansas City / $78.0 M / 69 / 53-57
San Juan / $89.8 M / 68 / 56-54
Houston / $59.9 M / 68 / 55-55
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Tartans Agree to Send SP Len James to Sandsharks
Later today SP Len James will become a Scottsdale Sandshark. James who has filled the #1 Starter roll for Atlanta all season has went 7-7 with a 3.87 ERA. The key for the Tartans however is his guaranteed $5.2 million dollar salary in next season and the buyout they would likely have to offer him in season 4. James is 35 years old and has just begun to see his skills deminish. He has lost a bit of stamina and control compared to last season already, and the Tartans are betting he is due for a bigger drop off next season, a chance they don't want to take.
In return the Tartans acquired two more roll playing prospects. The Tartans have went with a strategy of trying to constantly improve the quality of their minor league teams and this trade speaks to that, no superstars in return, but cheap roll playing prospects.
Vern Cox a relief pitcher has a chance to make the major leagues as a Setup B candidate. He has above average control and keeps the ball on the ground two attributes the Tartans value. Also included in the deal was SS Jude Thurman. Thurman lacks stike zone identification at the plate, but can hit lefties pretty well. More importantly he is a wiz defensively. He has above average range and glove for SS, and a projects to have a perfect arm and accuracy. His defensive attributes may be enough to get him to bigs.
*************************************
With the completion of this trade the Tartans will have their guaranteed contracts for next season down to $16,450,000. And honestly I think they are interested in cutting another $10 million off that figure if they could find some interested buyers.
In return the Tartans acquired two more roll playing prospects. The Tartans have went with a strategy of trying to constantly improve the quality of their minor league teams and this trade speaks to that, no superstars in return, but cheap roll playing prospects.
Vern Cox a relief pitcher has a chance to make the major leagues as a Setup B candidate. He has above average control and keeps the ball on the ground two attributes the Tartans value. Also included in the deal was SS Jude Thurman. Thurman lacks stike zone identification at the plate, but can hit lefties pretty well. More importantly he is a wiz defensively. He has above average range and glove for SS, and a projects to have a perfect arm and accuracy. His defensive attributes may be enough to get him to bigs.
*************************************
With the completion of this trade the Tartans will have their guaranteed contracts for next season down to $16,450,000. And honestly I think they are interested in cutting another $10 million off that figure if they could find some interested buyers.
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