This better work! I think it will work... Okay now I'm excited!

Post by Mike

The shock is wearing off, and reality setting in.

Gone is Prado with his hustle. It is a little easier to swallow when you realize that J Upton is younger, and matched Prado’s best numbers in his worst season (2010 with Arizona - .273, OB .356, HR 17, RBI 69). Plus Martin was demanding more than Wren deemed fair for his game.

He is apparently as gritty a negotiator as he is a ball player. The parties were only a few hundred thousand dollars apart in an attempt to avoid arbitration and, much like a twelve pitch at bat, Prado would not relent. So Wren walked him.

Prado was the ONLY major leaguer I have ever seen that routinely ran from second or short to back up the catcher’s throw back to the mound. That style of play will be missed.

Enough of the whining, but I will make a few more points.

1 – This better work out better than that Uggla deal.

2 – Win the NL East, and all will be forgiven. Short of that, we’ll talk in August.

So once the sting is gone and you scan the possible lineup, it is easy to get excited. Here is my prediction for opening day in Atlanta followed by their 2012 totals:

SS - Simmons - .289, OBP - .335, SB – 1. Played 49 games in the bigs, and that OBP will need to go up.

LF - J. Upton - .280, OBP - .355, SB – 18, HR – 17, RBI – 67, SO – 121

RF – Heyward - .269, OBP- .335, SB – 41, HR – 27, RBI – 82, SO – 152. You think he'll see better pitches notched between these two?

CF - B. Upton - .246, OBP - .298, SB - 31, HR – 28, RBI – 78, SO – 169 – Keep swinging, you might hit something.

1B – Freeman - .259, OBP - .340, HR – 23, RBI – 94 – No threat to steal, so get some runners on in front of him and let the kid do his work.

2B – Uggla - .220, OBP - .348, HR – 19, RBI – 78, SO – 168. ($13-mill for that?) Maybe he’ll return to his 2010 form - .287, HR – 31, RBI – 105.

3B – Johnson - .281, OBP - .326, HR – 15, RBI – 76.

C – Bethancourt - .243, OBP - .275, HR – 2, RBI – 26 in AA. While we run the bases he’ll shut the opponents down until Big Mac is back.

P – Medlen - .208 – Take your three pitches and sit down. We’ve got enough fire power to get you the lead.

In the 2 to 7 spots there were 129 dingers in 2012. With this much power strung out on the card, those numbers will certainly go up. Plus 2, 3 and 4 swiped 90 bags last year. Run Forrest run!