Jul 11 2008
Buy, or sell? Not even Wren knows at this point
By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com
ATLANTA – Lately, I’ve paid close attention to the stock market. During my afternoons, I’ll flip on CNBC and listening to the talking heads blabber about bull markets and bear markets, occasionally raising my eyes from my laptop to drool at the sight of Erin Burnett on my TV …
Erin Burnett … ummmm, wait! Where was I?
Oh yeah, the markets. You may ask what in the name of Bear Stearns does this have to do with the Atlanta Braves? Simple. Watching the markets bob up and down like a tugboat in a tropical storm is like watching the Braves bounce up and down in the muddled waters of the NL East.
And when it comes to investing right now, and when it comes to gauging what the Braves will do three weeks from now at the July 31 trade deadline, one question comes to mind:
Buy, or sell?
I’ll spare you my investment advice. But I’ll gladly offer you the following profound statement on what the Braves should do:
I don’t know. And I doubt Frank Wren knows, either. The Braves’ general manager – and the franchise he runs – sits squarely on the fence, feet dangling on both sides of the divide between 2008 and 2009.
Trade Mark Teixeira? Trade for a power-hitter outfielder? Promote the kids from Richmond? Acquire more bullpen and bench help?
What’s a GM to do, especially one who watches his team waver and wobble along the line of mediocrity like somebody who’s had three too many follows the yellow line home from the local watering hole?
One day, the Braves look like they are ready for 2009, unable to hit in the clutch or get a key out in the late innings. The next day, Atlanta plays like the team we all expected to see coming out of Lake Buena Vista way back in March, before the injuries and the burnt-as-grandpa’s-toast bullpen and the (literal) hit-or-miss lineup pushed this team to the edge of oblivion several times before the All-Star break.
The Braves are 6 1/2 games out of first entering the final series before the break, a three-game set at San Diego. It’s likely we won’t have a clearer picture of the Braves’ fate Sunday night, or next weekend, or on July 23.
The complicating factor in all of this is the neighborhood in which the Braves reside. The NL East could be called the NL Least (although the folks who play in the NL West have made quite a strong case for that label). While the Braves sit six games under .500, none of the three teams above them – Philadelphia, Florida, and the Mets – have taken hold of the division lead.
Were the Braves in, say, the NL Central, or any of the three American League divisions, they would be facing a double-digit deficit. At that point, Teixeira would be looking for rental property in Boston. But the Braves aren’t 10 games back. As bad as they’ve been at times in 2008, the Braves are just close enough this morning to still consider themselves in the race. Hard as it may be to fathom – hey, I’ve watched this team all season, too, and I can’t believe I’m about to say this – they sit just one good two-week stretch from being on the cusp of first place in a division nobody seemly wants to take.
So, when July 31 dawns, will the Braves be buyers or sellers?
Nobody – not even Frank Wren – knows the answer.
—30—
Have your say: If there is one word to describe the first three months of this season for Braves’ fans, interesting would fit the bill. So too would frustrating, maddening and puzzling.
Next week, Braves.Today.Com presents Braves at the Break, a four-day series on the state of the Braves at the All-Star break, what’s went right, what’s went wrong, midseason grades and a look at the second half.
I invite you to submit your thoughts on what you’ve seen so far from the Braves in 2008, and what you expect to happen in the coming weeks and months. You may e-mail your submissions to braves.today@yahoo.com by noon Monday, July 14. Please include your first name (initials or nickname is fine) and city of residence. Submissions will be used in a blog looking at the state of Braves Nation through the eyes of you, the fans.
Braves at the Break runs Tuesday through Friday next week, only on Braves.Today.Com. Thanks for reading!
Bud.
