Yeah, that was pretty bad. The entire offense taking a nap, and two of our best starting pitchers suffering season-ending injuries was the likely cause.

Yes, I'm on the Braves board. It's been pretty quiet there since our most exciting off season move was signing Jack Wilson.

I was interested in the Angels several years ago, since they were a team that was very clearly stat-ignorant (or at least ignored stats) but still continued to win. Then when the Vernon Wells fiasco happened I started coming here to see how the board reacted. Mostly it was 90% homers saying Wells was a steal and would hit 30 HRs and get 100 RBIs, and I tried to temper their enthusiasm, but it didn't work.

There are also a lot of very sabermetrics-oriented people on this board, more so than on the Atlanta board. And I also live in a weird timezone, with the west coast being closer than the east.

Okay, thanks for the reply. :)

I vaguely remember you telling us where you live but I can't remember where that was. Obviously, not in Atlanta.

I'm in Japan. :)

Yikes!!!

How did you become a Braves fan from there? Or were you originally living in the States and then you moved to Japan?

Yep, originally from the States. I also made a brief run at being an A's fan last year (I can watch West coast team games live, but rarely East coast games). It didn't take.

Nah, being a Braves fan I can't really be a fan of a team that spends its way to success. No offense. Same reason I cant' root for the Red Sox or really the Rangers now.

>Mostly it was 90% homers saying Wells was a steal and would hit 30 HRs and get 100 RBIs, and I tried to temper their enthusiasm, but it didn't work.<

My memory must be failing me. I don't remember very many people who liked the trade. There were some who hoped he could perform like he did during his good years but I don't remember anyone saying he was a STEAL. Almost everyone hated the contract.

Some, like me tried make the best of it yet none of us were convinced that he was a good addition to the team. Last year was terrible, he should be able to improve from last year but will never be worth the money he is making.

It was a bad move even if he ends up hitting 30 HR's and getting 100 RBI's because I doubt he will ever have a good AVG, OBP, WAR, OPS.

The overall tone was certainly positive/optimistic. Otherwise I wouldn't have spent very much time here.

< My memory must be failing me. I don't remember very many people who liked the trade. >

I remember quite a few people that tried to justify the Wells trade, but no one that actually thought it was a good idea.

Alright fair enough, Why don't we just evaluate a little more when spring training starts and then go from there. No pitcher no matter how good they are is a guarantee and there is always a pitcher with a breakout year (a la Vogelsong 2011) let's just hope everything for Williams works out because it's always best to stay positive.

>I remember quite a few people that tried to justify the Wells trade, but no one that actually thought it was a good idea.<

Exactly how I remember it. I know I was trying to look for any possible bright spots. I, as well as anyone else knew he would never be worth the money he is getting paid. I really don't remember anyone gushing about the trade.

Nor do I. I don't see how Arte let it got though to be honest.

I don't know for sure but Arte must have OK'ed it because of big dollar commitment. Not a popular trade to say the least.

But he's here and I'm rooting for him to have a great comeback season and help us get to the World Series.

YEs, Arte has to accept some of the blame for that trade.

I have to assume that Reagins was the driving force behind the trade since if he had opposed the trade he would probably still be the GM.

I think Arte realized that Reagins was over his head in negotiating with other GM's and that is why he is no longer in the position.

As far as Wells, I've rooted for him since he became an Angel and will continue to root for him to do well and contribute to the Angels success.

Don't forget, We have Garrett Richards as our insurance policy and he'll be better than a #5 for sure. I agree we need to get a shut out pen so once we get to the 7th inning we have a for sure thing. We're pretty solid on starters this year. You can never have too much depth though!