Braves to go to 6 man rotation when Hanson returns...

Nemesis21 · Post #1 » by **Nemesis21** » Tue Aug 14, 2012 10:45 pm

Your thoughts?

Mine, I'd rather stay with a 5 man. Hudson, Hanson, Maholm, Sheets and Medlen. Minor can't stay consistent and I prefer Medlen over him. Move Minor to the pen for the rest of the year, have him pitch in the Arizona Fall League or Winter ball.

Post #2 » by **HMFFL** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 9:46 am

I agree with you.

I prefer to stay with a 5 man rotation and for the same reasons as you.

bstrassburg · Post #3 » by **bstrassburg** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 1:21 pm

Don't mind the 6-man rotation, considering it's for only until August 29. Gives us a few more chances to look at Medlen and Minor and decide who we want pitching the crucial games in September, plus gives Hudson, Hanson, and Sheets another off day to rest.

Post #4 » by **HMFFL** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 3:45 pm

Good point, bstrassburg.

Sheets has already said that his arm has soreness, not dead arm, but just soreness.

Nemesis21 · Post #5 » by **Nemesis21** » Fri Aug 17, 2012 1:47 am

Including tonight Medlen has made 4 starts in the rotation this season, winning 3 and 1 no decision. Take that into account, plus the 5 or 6 wins he got in the rotation before needing Tommy John surgery a few yrs ago and I'd take Medlen every day of the week over Minor.
I don't think Minor should pitch in the rotation anymore this season. In fact with Paul Maholm on the team, IMO Minor is expandable. Maybe trade Minor, Jurrjens and another player for a 3b in the off-season, that allows Prado to stay in LF.

bstrassburg · Post #6 » by **bstrassburg** » Fri Aug 17, 2012 8:13 pm

Nemesis21 wrote:In fact with Paul Maholm on the team, IMO Minor is expandable. Maybe trade Minor, Jurrjens and another player for a 3b in the off-season, that allows Prado to stay in LF.

Very good point, Minor is completely expendable right now and Medlen needs to keep starting. There's no way they'll be in a position to trade Jurrjens this off-season because they aren't going to tender him a contract and risk paying him $6 million+ next season. Definitely one of the dumbest parts of arbitration is players get raises every year, whether they deserve it or not. They should definitely shop Minor this off-season, however I would try to target an OF not 3B, preferably a CF to replace Bourn. I'd rather have Prado come into the infield and play third. His defense isn't bad in the OF but he definitely plays more solid defense at 3B.

The way Francisco is playing right now, I'd definitely give him a shot to win 3B in Spring Training also. Greg Walker must have taught him something that clicked because he's gotten much better as a hitter throughout the year.