From the Boys of Summer drafts vault, more unpublished stuff about the No Expansion 1990's Braves project from Out of the Park Baseball, with the All-Star update for alternate 1998.
The Atlanta Braves who were favored to win the division entering this season, found themselves starting off slow out of the gate. Their starting pitching was off, with both Greg Maddux and John Smoltz with ERA's above 4.00 (Smoltz was at 6.26 in April!).
Newcomer rotation hand Steve Trachsel (who signed a lengthy 6-year deal worth $11.3 million) started off slow as expected, but has now settled down (8-5, 3.40 ERA), starting with 10 K, 1 BB performance against his former team the Cubs, allowing only 6 hits & 2 runs.
The lineup has been doing great as expected, except for Bret Boone who is batting just above the Mendoza line, but he will only improve in time. Shortstop Mike Bordick (above) is currently playing above par, batting .311 with 32 RBI & 16 doubles through 70 games -- which is great, since I primarily got him for his great, dependable glove.
The Braves (52-34) have gained some ground on the Los Angeles Dodgers, closing in within 3.5 games. With the lineup delivering, the rotation starting to balance out (except for Darryl Kile and his 5.25 ERA), and the bullpen doing its thing... I really don't feel the need to make any major moves since the team I built in the off-season took every penny to make it a contender. I feel if I tinker too much at this point, the team will falter. I have, believe it or not, have stayed pat before, and feel this is the best decision for the this season's situation.
I noticed Oakland (41-45, 15 games out) has been shopping around Roberto Alomar, but I have Bret Boone at second for far cheaper at the moment, and although Alomar would look great with a Tomahawk across his chest, I'm better to stay put. Interesting side note, I had Alomar on my high school APBA league team, also named the Atlanta Braves.
So, what's going on around the rest of the league? You may have asked.
Well let's head off to the American League East, where the emerging Detroit Tigers are in 1st place, with a 4-game lead over the Toronto Blue Jays. Prospect Carlos Beltran recently made his MLB debut with the Tigers, while the team's superstar is Alex Rodriguez (.308, 22 HR, 79 RBI & 18 SB).
The Tigers made their turnaround last season, finishing with a 80-82 record, after 4 consecutive seasons of 100+ losses. The lineup also includes Bobby Higginson, Tony Clark, Paul Lo Duca, and Wade Boggs (who signed a two-year deal in January).
The biggest surprise with the Tigers is not their hitting, but their pitching, as they are getting good outings from Justin Thompson (8-7, 3.10 ERA), Dustin Hermanson (8-5, 3.38 ERA), Esteban Loaiza (11-3, 3.49 ERA) & Jose Lima (9-4, 2.79 ERA). The Tigers did an excellent job at signing closer John Franco (one-year, $1.1. million), who has a 2.15 ERA and 19 saves.
The Blue Jays who trail Detroit, are solely getting by with their lineup again, with Larry Walker, Carlos Delgado and Greg Vaughn all on pace for 40 home runs this season. I think the Tigers will have to worry more about the New York Yankees who have a better balance in hitting and pitching, trailing Detroit by 4.5 games. The Yankees are led by Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams & Fred McGriff at the plate, while their two starters Andy Pettitte (11-4, 2.91 ERA) & Scott Karl (9-5, 2.77 ERA) are pacing the rotation.
The A.L. West is currently between two teams, the Texas Rangers (56-30) and the Kansas City Royals (54-33). One of the biggest under-the-radar signings this past off-season may be the Rangers' one-year ($1.44 million) to Eric Davis, who may be having his best season since being a Cincinnati Red in 1991. Davis is currently batting .268 with 11 HR & 35 RBI with a .773 OPS for the Rangers.
The top 4 of the Rangers' rotation has also been pretty good in Todd Stottlemyre, Matt Morris, Darren Dreifort & Livan Hernandez. The Royals, meanwhile, are led by Scott Rolen, who is having a monster year, batting .306 with 21 dingers & 74 RBI -- while he is getting support in the lineup by Wally Joyner and Carl Everett.
The Royals, winners of three straight, could use David Justice's power bat to return back to norm, as he is experiencing a down year (.259, 8, 52) after hitting 61 HR & 227 RBI over the last two seasons in a Royals uniform.
The only team in the N.L. East that is not competing are the Philadelphia Phillies (28-58), who have the 2nd worst record in all of baseball behind the A.L. Milwaukee Brewers (25-65). The Pittsburgh Pirates currently lead the division with a 48-39 record, while Montreal Expos trails them only by a game, and the Chicago Cubs (3 GB), St. Louis Cardinals (4.5) & New York Mets (5 GB) are not far behind.
I got a kick out of looking at the Pirates' lineup when I read that Cal Ripken Jr. is their third baseman, batting 7th. Ripken briefly played for the Giants in 1997, where he experienced his worst season since 1981, by batting only .255 with 10 HR, with a sub-.700 OPS. Ripken came to Pittsburgh on a (don't laugh) minor league contract, and has done better by batting .287, with a .744 OPS.
By the way, Cal didn't leave Baltimore on his free will, you can blame their owner who traded him to San Francisco in exchange for RP-Jay Tessmer and RF-Roberto Mendez.
Ripken is in a stacked lineup that features Ken Griffey Jr, Albert Belle, Mo Vaughn, with Jay Bell and Jason Kendall emerging. Their rotation just acquired starter Tom Candiotti (9-4, 3.75 ERA) from the Anaheim Angels in exchange for two minor leaguers.
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