The Braves have reached for the services of Mark Redman. Redman signed a minor league deal that could earn him up to $750K plus $500K in performance bonuses if he makes the team. Redman has been the known fallback guy for many teams since his breakthrough with the Twins in the late 90's. He's played with 6 teams since the 2001. His best season without a doubt was with the WC Florida Marlins in 2003. If Redman shows he still possess something positive, the Braves will sign him. It doesn't hurt to have pitching depth. I thought the Braves would promote from within, but I guess replace a vet with a vet and rookie with a rookie.
3 comments:
Hello - lifelong Braves fan, first post. Figured I'd finally get involved in a fan site and offer my couple of pennies.
I'll introduce myself by mentioning that I live in Richmond and grew up a Braves fan mainly because I was able to watch a lot of our up & coming prospects in person, dating back to the success stories of Chipper, Ryan Klesko, Vinny Castilla, et al and the relative failures of David Neid, Tony Tarasco, etc. I'll say that the crop of young talent we currently have in Atlanta may eventually match what I saw in the early 90's - the group that was introduced to the big leagues in late 05/early 06 is the first I've seen that's comparable to the stacked R-Braves teams of 92-94. Anyway, as for the topic under discussion:
In the end this could be a wash if everything works out well. Coming back from major surgery, it would be a stretch for Hampton to duplicate his performance in 2004 (albeit in slightly fewer appearances). So, from our number 3 spot, we'd have been looking at an ERA in the 4.00 range, maybe a dozen wins, something north of 150 IP with more hits allowed than IP, far fewer strikeouts than IP, and a reasonable K/BB ratio. As far as stuff goes, these two guys are very close to eachother.
Redman has the ability to match those numbers, though his 2006 season offers plenty of reason for concern. He's durable, though, and a switch from the AL to the NL would certainly benefit a pitcher like him. You'll notice his numbers with the Pirates and Marlins (in 2005 and 2003, respectively) show that he his ERA and periferal stats are considerably better than those he put up in Oakland and KC. He might just be the stopgap we need for 2007 to allow James and Davies to develop into the pitchers I believe they can be (I've seen each multiple times here in Richmond).
I'm pretty sure Redman will make the ML roster unless he totally bombs in his first couple of starts. Cormier's repertoire is best suited for relief, and potential upside for James & Davies gives me confidence that our rotation might be better in 2008.
Kyle-Thanks for commenting, I think you easily won for longest comment ever on this blog.
I agree with you about the young talent on the team today is quite comparable to the early 90's prospects. Good insight on newest Brave Mark Redman as well. Since your able to watch some Richmond games, tell me what you think of Anthony Lerew, if you don't mind. Do you think he'll eventually break into the rotation, or could he become a reliever? Usually you here this guy's name throw around when you talk about the next up & coming Braves pitcher.
Lerew could eventually crack the rotation, but given his rough 2006 season and the fact he's clearly behind James and Davies in the pecking order leads me to believe he'll open the year in Richmond. James and Davies will be given every opportunity to succeed, and barring another major injury to one of our starters (or Redman flaming out, which is possible but I wouldn't say likely) there simply isn't room for him yet.
He's been a starter his entire career and with our revived bullpen I don't think we need to ask him to adjust to that role. For the sake of his development they'll probably send him to Richmond as a starter to open the year. I'm looking forward to that since I'd like to get a better view of his off speed stuff - his new-for-06 split looked pretty similar to his slider from what I recall, which may have been one reason his gopherball count shot up. We'll see how he does in the first half and how our rotation and bullpen hold up...I wouldn't say he's untouchable in a trade (though I couldn't see the organization actively shopping him, either).
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