Quote Originally Posted by MetEdDawg View Post
I'm hoping it's just head stuff for Bethancourt. Wonder if he got a little complacent having been called up so early. He's supposed to be the long term guy and if he's going to do that, he has to play good defense and hit the baseball consistently.

Totally agree on Fredi taking too much heat. Wren was the one that deserved it and he got canned for it, rightly so. We depleted out farm system terribly and I feel made some awful moves. Liked Justin Upton alright, but BJ was an awful move and I think most of us said that from day 1. But we needed a competent hitting coach badly and we've finally got one and you can see the difference. We are great with RISP, we are good with 2 outs, and we are much more disciplined at the plate. We need another bat because we don't have a ton of firepower and finally have the farm system to get one long term.

I still maintain with Freeman healthy this team would be at or above .500 and still competing for the East, even with one of the worst bullpens in baseball, so I think the pieces are in place to make a run at it next year. But I think most thought we would be one of the worst teams in baseball and at the moment, we are actually 16th in baseball in win percentage, so right in the middle of the pack. I think we can build off of that and make a few moves to position ourselves for a good shot next year. Get a few arms in the bullpen, get a RH power guy, and that to me would be enough to make the playoffs if we can keep what we've got.
I agree with this. The majority of people felt the Braves would be one of the worst teams in baseball, and they have far exceeded expectations. I would disagree with anyone that believe another manager would have done better with this team.