I am working on 4 posts about the Atlanta Braves and they are: my top 10 position player prospects, my top 10 pitching prospects, my top 5 overrated prospects, and finally a look at the trades over the last few years for the Braves and how these trades have impacted the organization.

My Top 10 Position Player Prospects for the Atlanta Braves

1. Jason Heyward OF

2. Gorkys Hernandez OF

3. Jordan Schafer OF

4. Barbaro Canizares 1B

5. Brandon Jones OF

6. Ernesto Mejia 1B

7. Tyler Flowers C

8. Diory Hernandez SS

9. Brandon Hicks SS

10. Jon Owings OF

I put a lot of research time into the numbers of these players and projected what kind of major league numbers these prospects would put up in a few years.  Also, I took in to account where these players were from and how they came to the Braves.  I can’t give away my secrets because there are none, but I can tell you I have a good eye for talent. I have been around the game for 20+ years and I can evaluate talent.

My Top 10 TV Shows

1. Lost

2. Heroes

3. The Office

4. Scrubs

5. Dexter (Showtime)

6. 30 Rock

7. Prison Break

8. Chuck

9. Always Sunny in Philadelphia

10. The Hills

Receiving a vote: Man vs Wild, Survivorman, Real World, Denise Richards, Deion Sanders….

Feel free to comment, but these shows are all good…..

Well guess what the Braves lost another one run game, that makes 11 now, and 9 on the road.   As I try to take stock of this situation I have come to realize that Kelly Johnson, Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur, etc…, who is our young talent that we are building our team around, are not very good.  Jeff is so worried about breaking Cal Ripken’s iron man record that he doesn’t take a day off when he definetly needs one.  Brian McCann has been better of late, but he is still fat and lazy and is the slowest man on earth.  Hey Bobby do you think that Kelly Johnson is a great leadoff hitter, because I don’t.  Jeff Francoeur is an average major league outfielder, time to get him off his high horse.  The bottom line is that we are not good enough to do anything this year, and it is time to admit our mistakes and correct them.  We need starting pitching, so who could we trade to get some young studs, oh Mark Teixera.  We need a 2nd baseman, who could we trade to get a promising 2nd baseman, oh Kelly Johnson, Matt Diaz, any of our terrible young pitchers, Tom Glavine, etc.  It is time to make some moves because this crop is dying and we are not going to get better unless we break up this nucleus.  This team is like sweet tea without sugar, rum and coke without rum, scissors without sharp blades, a gas station with no gas, a grocery store without groceries, and a lake without water.  My best comparison would be a man without a heart, because besides Blanco and Escboar this team has no heart and that is why the Braves have lost so many one run games, no heart.   

I know I have been down on Georgia State baseball for sometime now, and with good reason, but this weekend and the last game against Delaware has showed me something.  I was at the game against Delaware to celebrate Coach Hurst retired jersey and I watched a very weak Georgia State team play against a team that wanted to win more.  I did take away a few things from that game, Bobby Bennett was going to finish the season strong, and Bradley Logan has a very tough will to win, unlike the rest of the Panthers.  I was very impressed with his tenacity and his will to win, he did however look like the only one that could take the team on his shoulders and win a game.  Well, it looked like my observation was true, because he took the Panthers on his shoulders this weekend and willed them to two wins and a chance next weekend to make the tournament.  I wish there were more players like Logan, he obviously wants to be the man with runners on base late in the game with a chance to win.  There was one point in the game that I was at where I saw him talking to Chase about needing someone to step up and get a clutch hit late in the game, well he took it on himself, very impressive.  Bobby Bennett threw well again, and it looks like he is going to finish strong for his senior campaign.  Good Luck this weekend against Towson, Go Panthers!!

The Atlanta Hawks play tonight, and I am so proud of our young Hawks.  Boston has been whining the whole series and I love it.  They have said that the Hawks are the worst playoff team in history, oh really well since we beat you twice what does that make you, and also Paul Pierce you are a bitch.  Hey Sam Cassell if you are not the uglyiest person on earth then you are a close second to Willie McGee.  You look so stupid when you do your “juevos” dance after you hit a jumpshot, you are a tool.  Mr. Rondo, take another shot, I need to finish my walkway to my house.  Kevin Garnett, keep your mouth shut and keep making shots because you are good.  Ray Allen will you please switch jerseys with Marvin Williams.  Hey Danny Ainge, nobody likes you, so stop acting like you the man, because you are a joke.  Doc Rivers, are your players getting touchy foul calls, ahhh, I am so sorry.

The Hawks season has already been validated with the two wins in the playoffs, and we have plenty of momentum for next year.  So play loose tonight and have some fun, and kick Sam Cassell’s arssssssss…….Go Hawks!!

Stop the presses Georgia State won a game on Wednesday against a D-1 team that is almost legitimate.  They beat Samford 12-4, with that said it is not Stanford, it is Samford and they play in the Ohio Valley Conference, you heard of it?  So, this weekend is huge for a leg up on the 6th spot in the CAA tournament.  Delaware has always been able to hit, so hopefully the wind will be blowing in at Panthersville, or we will have to out slug the Blue Hens.  State must win the next three series to have a chance at that 6th spot, and I think they are in good shape to do so, but again they have to be tough and get over being scared like they were against Hofstra.  The best part of the weekend is the retirement of Coach Hurst’s jersey #30 on Saturday.  I will be there for all the ceremonies and hope that the rain holds off because he deserves this day. Coach Michael Hurst is the smartest man I have ever met, and a great leader, he built this program from scratch so that these Panthers can play today.  Go Panthers!!

Oh my goodness, I just exploded, the Braves are now the worst team in the National League, 0-9 now in one-run games.  I just wish that everyone would have shut there mouth about the Braves going to the World Series in the preseason, I was so excited because I believed those experts, prior to that I was happy with a rebuilding project, now look at me, I am a mess, I just exploded and I almost threw the remote control through my TV.  Oh and another really sad note, Mike Hampton left his rehab start early, guess what Mike, you are not a man, I cannot stand you, you are a joke, and you should retire and get your sex change.  It would be nice to bring up some young talent, oh wait we traded it all away for Teixera, our minor leagues talent is terrible.  It is time to start thinking about blowing this team up and using the Cleveland Indians as a model.  They traded everyone and stockpiled young talent and now they are one of the best teams in the American League, they were one out away from the World Series last year.  Trade Mark Teixera, Jeff Francoeur, Brian McCann, Kelly Johnson, Matt Diaz, Tom Glavine, and Tim Hudson and stockpile our minor leagues.  I know we have to wait til July so until then we have to watch this joke of a team lose game after game.  Bobby maybe it is time to step down and let someone else take over, maybe a younger coach that can put some toughness back in the Braves.  We are only 4 games out of first, but that is as close as we are going to be the rest of the year, we do not have the strength and toughness to win games.  Go Braves!!  Oh and Frank Wren, you suck!!

I absolutely loved the Falcons draft.  Atlanta needed a new face of the franchise, who better to do it with than a Tom Brady clone.  We needed an OL, and we traded up to get him, who cares if we took him early, we needed him.  Our new GM, Thomas D, said from the very beginning he was going to draft according to the new system in place, and that is what he and the coach did in this draft.  Drafting for a system means that you are not always going to take the best player on the board but one that fits the system of the Atlanta Falcons, you know who else does this, the New England Patriots, not a bad team to copy.  The Falcons got big names from big schools, there is a reason they are playing at big schools, and that is because they are good.  Even the 7th round pick from Arizona has a shot to make the club because he has so much upside.  Overall I am so happy with our 11 picks, much happier than when we took TJ Duckett in the first round a few years ago.  Great job, Falcons.

2008 NFL Draft Results
	Rd	Pk (Ov)	Player		Pos	School	Notes
	1	3 (3)	Matt Ryan		QB	Boston Coll.
	1	21 (21)	Sam Baker		OT	USC	(from Redskins)
	2	6 (37)	Curtis Lofton		OLB	Oklahoma
	3	5 (68)	Chevis Jackson		CB	LSU
	3	21 (84)	Harry Douglas		WR	Louisville	(from Redskins)
	3	35 (98)	Thomas DeCoud		S	California	(compensatory selection)
	5	3 (138)	Robert James		OLB	Arizona St.
	5	19 (154)	Kroy Biermann		LB	Montana	(from Redskins)
	6	6 (172)	Thomas Brown		TB	Georgia
	7	5 (212)	Wilrey Fontenot		CB	Arizona
	7	25 (232)	Keith Zinger		TE	LSU	(from Steelers)

Ok, well if the Braves lose to the Nationals one more time I am going to explode.  The Nationals are by far the worst team in the majors and we suck against them, which is another sign of a mediocre team.  I appreciate Sport South for driving my Brian McCann point home last night, yes he is hitting .416 with nobody on, .200 something with a runner on first, and .106 with runners in scoring position, really .106, you kidding me, if you told Brian that their was a chocolate cake at second base and to be able to eat it he had to drive in that run he would be hitting .777, but no it is just Chipper Jones, so he will just pop up.  So John Smoltz wants to come back as a closer, really ok, well don’t you have to be ahead to close a game out, and by the way the Braves are 0-8 in one-run games.  Is 0-8 in one-run games the sign of a tough team?  No, I would say that is a soft team, a lot like their cross-town friends at GSU.  Instead of hitting an extra hour in the cage before the game, Kelly Johnson is getting a pedicure, Texiera is talking to his Boras, his homosexual agent, McCann is eating chocolate cake, Francoeur is shopping online for his wife new purse, Kotsay is a bad ass, and Diaz is wondering why he doesn’t hit against righties, hey Matt it is because you suck against righties and because you are scared that the curve ball is going to hit you in your fat arssss.  Do I even have to say anything about Tom Glavine, Mike Hampton and Chuck James, for goodness sakes Chuck James doesn’t even know what team he plays for, and who is on that team.  Either Chuck is self-indulged, or the dumbest person on the planet.  Jair is awesome, Jeff Bennett is tough, and finally John Smoltz and Tim Hudson are tough.  I am making my prediction right now that the Braves will finish 3rd in the Division with an 83-79 record, just not tough enough to win the close game.  Sorry, just calling it as I see it.  As I have said before they have the talent to win the World Series, but by no means the toughness to make the playoffs.