An Unbiased Look at the Atlanta Braves Swanson Call up
But wait, it gets better.
This club has NO CLUE what can be expected when anyone other than Julio Teheran mounts the pitching rubber every five days. And these are the guys who will expect to be out there a minimum of 5 innings. After that we have somewhat of an anchored bullpen but even that is soon to change once Father time searches AJ’s phone and realized he knows where Jim Johnson has been hiding.
How is that stability?
How is that giving a kid a chance to grow with all of the shuffling, mixes and matches and rotating doors?
How is that allowing him to mature … IN AUGUST with 6 weeks to go and extended rosters looming?
How is that the proper installation of a philosophy when we are getting a new manager soon?
How is this the best practice to get to know his teammates when not only are they going to change but so will his surroundings when we move into Suntrust Park?
This move isn’t and wasn’t any of that nor were we trying to fix anything. We are crossing our fingers that the face of the franchise will be mature enough to handle all of the above and fight through it. This move, as stated by fellow author and veteran of the dark side Chris Jervis, was simply a Public Relations (PR) move.
Every single reason the front office has stated why he is being called up ‘NOW’ could have also been applied in May or June but it didn’t happen then. If the guy isn’t ready, as Hart stated, then why is he here? I know why… because we suck.
The brass may not say it, but let’s be unbiased and be real. We suck bad. Not as bad as some of the other clubs as an organization but record wise, we are the WORST team in the league. So what do we do to try and sell tickets? We have Disco Demolition night at the ballpark. We invent a pizza and burger mashup, give it a catchy name and then sell it to the masses.
We have created and turned something that should be sacred and honorable into a marketing gimmick to try and sell tickets for this year and hopefully give the people a sneak peak of things to come next year.
I don’t like PR stunts. They are disingenuous and dirty (I need to go bathe just thinking about this) and a discredit to the Braves organization.
As a fan, I am ecstatic that I get to see Dansby in action on Thursday (hopefully) when I go and get my Andruw Jones “The Catch” Bobble head (tickets were purchased in April lol). I wish the guy all the success in the world and hopes his career here in Atlanta is long and fruitful but from an everyday fan perspective; don’t fart in my face and tell it is a windy outside.
This wasn’t about opportunities, or chances or even OTJT, THIS was a PR stunt … like this.
"The Andruw Jones Bobblehead can swim, it can stick to walls AND it can teach you how to read. It can do ANYTHING!https://t.co/t1A5705WPF — Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 8, 2016"