Georgia Sports Ediiton
Brave Moves
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The MLB Hot Stove seemed like it had gotten overstuffed on Thanksgiving Day turkey as it trudged into December with nary a big move in sight.
Clayton Kershaw decided to forego hitting the market and resigned with Los Angeles; after that, it was all rumor and no action for baseball.
Then the Atlanta Braves decided to strike a match and light up the stove. Alex Anthopoulos welcomed home Brian McCann after five years away, signing the former All-Star backstop to a one-year, $2 million contract.
Before the dust could settle on that acquisition, the news broke that the Braves had also signed third baseman and 2015 AL MVP Josh Donaldson to a one-year, $23 million deal.
Let’s tackle these both briefly for now and chronologically.
McCann’s return managed to be both inflated and a little deflating at the same time. For the past several months it seemed like Atlanta might be able to pry JT Realmuto, arguably the game’s best catcher, away from Miami.
McCann, a fan favorite from 2005-2013, is beloved by the Braves’ fanbase, but is past his prime. While this signing doesn’t mean that Anthopoulos is 100% not looking for another catcher, it’s likely that Atlanta will see a third year of platooning behind the plate. This time with a lefty/righty combination with Mac and Tyler Flowers.
I love Brian McCann. I think his presence in the clubhouse can only be a good thing for this young team. However, my excitement for his return is more reserved than it would be if he were being signed to serve as the backup catcher for someone in their prime.
The Donaldson signing came seemingly out of nowhere. It seemed like the Braves’ lineup focus would be at catcher and replacing Nick Markakis with a stud outfielder.
Third base wasn’t an area of need, with Johan Camargo capably manning the hot corner in 2017. But sign a third baseman they did, and it’s a lineup-changing acquisition.
Donaldson is coming off an injury-plagued year in which he played in just 52 games and didn’t come close to putting up his usual high-caliber numbers.
That being said, this is a great signing. It’s a low-risk, high-reward situation, with Donaldson potentially providing the Braves with 30 home runs and 95+ RBI from the cleanup spot behind Freddie Freeman; if he can stay healthy and return to form. And if he can’t? The Braves still have Johan Camargo.
That may be the best part of both of these signings, but Donaldson’s in particular: we gave up nothing. No prospects sent off, no part of last year’s NL East-winning team shipped away.
All it cost was $23 million dollars for a player who, when he was healthy for the five years prior to his injuries, averaged hitting .282/.377/.524 with 33 bombs and 98 runs driven in. Not to mention, top 10 MVP rankings in four of those years (the fifth, 2017, was the first sign of his injury problems: he hit 33 homeruns in 113 games and got some MVP votes anyway).
If those days are behind him, so be it. It’s one-year, so the deal doesn’t hurt the Braves long-term. Plus, $23 million is barely more than this year’s free agent qualifying offer, which players with worse track records than Donaldson’s rejected.
Some maniacs may think that if the Braves spent $23 million on an aging, potentially broken-down superstar, they should have just ponied up and signed the likes of Bryce Harper.
Don’t pay attention to those maniacs. If Bryce Harper for some reason wanted to take a one-year deal from someone, it would cost, AT LEAST, $40 million dollars. He won’t get that annually on a multi-year deal, but for just one season? He’d hit that mark easily.
That price for the potential that Donaldson offers is a drop in the bucket, even for the Braves, who should still have enough spending room to address the other holes (bullpen, a starter) on the roster.
Whatever happens with the rest of the NL East (the Mets are apparently trying to trade for Robinson Cano, which is the most “Mets” things I’ve ever heard in my life), the Braves are making it clear that the rebuild is over, and they are looking to repeat.
Troubled Waters
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Brunswick High Pirates traveled to Springfield and got run out of the stadium by Effingham County 45-14.
The Pirates trailed 14-6 at half after surviving three first half turnovers and 10 penalty flags they got boat raced in the third quarter 23-0.
A running clock and a last second TD pass and two-point conversion by the Rebels made the final score of 45-14.
The loss drops the Pirates to 3-5 on the season and 0-2 in region play. The Pirates playoff hopes are on life support after last night’s performance.
Pirate Report Card:
Offense: C. KJ Lee turned the football over on three straight possessions in the first half and was replaced by Anthony Mountain.
Mountain came and provided a spark and led the Pirates on a ten play 80-yard TD drive late in the half by completing an 18-yard TD pass to Kyle Patterson.
Jaylen Trimmings ran hard all night long and the run blocking was good. Pass blocking was average and the receivers had too many drops.
Six holding flags tossed by the same official doomed any chances of momentum as they were timely and killed four nice drives in the ball game.
BHS won the holding call battle with Effingham 6-0 as the Rebels were not flagged for a holding all night long. In the end, BHS could not overcome the turnovers and 14 flags on the night.
Defense: D. This unit kept BHS in the game in the first half but came out flat after halftime. Effingham scored on the first possession of the second half on all running plays and BHS never recovered.
Stopping the run is a huge issue for this defense. Octavius Butler made a few impact plays, but the unit got manhandled in the second half.
Special Teams: F. Special teams were awful in Springfield. A missed extra point, big kickoff return, a big punt return set up a touchdown, a blocked punt for a TD by the Rebels on a one man rush and three two-point conversions converted by Effingham made this easily the worst special teams perform ace of the year.
Coaching: C. The offensive game plan was very good. If it had been executed properly it would have produced a win.
Defensively, BHS can’t stop the run and other than putting 10 in the box I don’t know what you can do. Also, giving up so many two-point conversions on the same look was troubling.
Overall: D. Let’s face it Pirate fans, the Pirates are not very talented on the defensive side of the ball.
Not enough size and intestinal fortitude to stop downhill running football teams. There is not enough consistency on offense at QB and drops by wide receivers kill drives.
The playoffs would be a miracle at this point. Special teams, lack of execution, turnovers, and penalties put a very winnable game out of reach in the third quarter.
Next up is the City Championship game against Glynn Academy.
BHS has lost four straight in the series and Glynn may not throw a pass next week if BHS does not find some answers on defense.
BHS could salvage the season with a big win next week in a series where the unexpected happens a lot.
Statesboro Killed By Turnovers Against Effingham
By: Josh Aubrey
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Last year it was a wild shootout between Statesboro and Effingham that saw the Rebels come from 20 points down to win in Springfield 38-34.
This time around instead of a shootout, the Blue Devils shot themselves in the foot, with three first half turnovers that proved too much to come back from, as Statesboro fell 20-15 to drop to 2-2 on the season.
“The last thing we told our kids was to protect the football,” said Statesboro coach Jeff Kaiser. “Three turnovers, with one going for a touchdown really killed us. We beat ourselves, they didn’t beat us.”
Statesboro actually outgained Effingham County with 312 yards of total offense to only 120 for the Rebels but it would be the three Statesboro turnovers that would prove to be the difference in this one.
The Blue Devil offense was in excellent field position on their first drive of the game. Jaylen Roberson broke a tackle and went 45 yards before being brought down at the Effingham seven-yard line. The offense stalled and then on third down a bobbled exchange resulted in the ball being loose. After both teams scrambled around the Rebels finally fell on it at their own 35-yard line.
With no score through one quarter of play Statesboro’s defense got them the ball back, as Flip Dixon picked off a Jerid Stokes pass, giving the Blue Devils the ball at the 35.
A few plays later Statesboro quarterback Drake Horton was intercepted himself and the Rebels took over at midfield.
It wouldn’t take the Rebels long to score as Stokes hooked up with tight end Necos Gadson on a crossing pattern and he would go the rest of the way untouched for a 37-yard touchdown and the Rebels had a 7-0 lead.
Coach Kaiser then put Sage Reese in at quarterback for the first time this year and things didn’t go well.
On the first play from scrimmage Reese was stood up and while fighting ahead the ball was stripped away and scooped up by the Rebels Joseph Solomon, who would go 35 yards for the touchdown. The two-point conversion failed and Effingham was on top 13-0.
On the ensuing kickoff the Blue Devils Will Yawn gave Statesboro a bit of a spark with a 38-yard kickoff return into Rebel territory.
The offense then proceeded to march downfield, with linebacker turned running back Corey McCullough doing a lot of the damage. McCullough would cap the drive with a 11-yard touchdown run.
McCullough would then punch in the two-point conversion, cutting the lead to 13-8, with 2:35 left in the half. That score would hold into halftime.
The Rebels came out of the third quarter and promptly went on a five-minute drive, capped off by a seven-yard Desmond House touchdown which extended the lead to 20-8.
The Blue Devil offense was unable to get going until late in the game as they went 70 yards on their final drive of the game, aided by a couple Effingham penalties.
The drive culminated in a seven-yard touchdown pass from Horton to Yawn to cut the lead to 20-15 with less than a minute to go.
The Blue Devil onside kick attempt was recovered by the Rebels, who were able to take a couple knees and run out the clock, as they improved to 4-1 on the season.
“Our kids played hard but I didn’t think we played too smart tonight,” Kaiser said. “We will tell our kids they can listen to the poison out there if they want to, or you can come back to work, and put your nose down and try to get better. It doesn’t get any easier.”
Up next Statesboro travels to West Laurens next Friday night for a non-region matchup.
