Braves Sign Robert Fick

[jdpatri]

From atlantabraves.com:

Robert Fick's search for a winner has led him to Atlanta. Fick, 29, and the Braves agreed to terms on a one-year deal worth $1 million on Sunday night. The deal, which also includes $350,000 in incentives, will formally be announced on Monday.

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Wow... something I said should happen, actually did. JS gets a few points back in my book by aggressively pursuing Fick. Let's check the latest tally from the Braves' offseason scorecard.

Signing Hampton for peanuts: +15
Ortiz for Moss: -25
Signing Paul Byrd: +8
Estrada for Millwood: -457,937,994
Not resigning Kerry Ligtenberg: -5
Signing Robert Fick: +10

Total : -457,937,991

[das Monkey]

Exposing Glavine as a fraud: Priceless



das

[Bushdog]

Originally posted by das Monkey
Exposing Glavine as a fraud: Priceless



das

I know your posts well enough to know you're not homer enough to believe that, das.

[das Monkey]

• Quoth Bushdog •

---

I know your posts well enough to know you're not homer enough to believe that, das.

---

Then you should know I'm kidding.

In all seriousness, though, I'm not the biggest Glavine fan right now. Given all the circumstances, I don't think what the Braves offered him was unreasonable, and I'm not buying into the "He Said/She Said" silliness that followed.

das

[Jericho]

Makes sense. And the Braves are long overdue to get a decent hitter at 1B. One million is a nice price as well.

[jdpatri]

Originally posted by das Monkey

• Quoth Bushdog •

---

I know your posts well enough to know you're not homer enough to believe that, das.

---

Then you should know I'm kidding.

In all seriousness, though, I'm not the biggest Glavine fan right now. Given all the circumstances, I don't think what the Braves offered him was unreasonable, and I'm not buying into the "He Said/She Said" silliness that followed.

das

Agreed. If he wanted to stay, he very easily could have. God forbid he only live on $9 million a year and work (by means of incentives) to earn his coveted four year contract.

If you say you've got the stuff for four more years, back it up on the field buddy. Don't ditch your team because the Mets were gullible enough to give in to your excessive demands.

[Patman]

Yeah, with some time between now and how things went down for the Braves and Glavine, I don't feel too bad that Glavine left the Braves for a few extra million or two.

Can't wait for Bobby Cox to tell all the hitters to take Glavine to right field with their hitting...

[Ranger02]

Originally posted by Jericho
Makes sense. And the Braves are long overdue to get a decent hitter at 1B. One million is a nice price as well.

Fick is an overrated player with an attitude. His OPS for the 2002 season is .764... that's well below average for a 1B. His defense in RF was reasonably good in 2002 but he never played 1B last season so its hard to judge if his defense at 1st improved any. His defense at 1B though was horrible.

Fick worked with Al Kaline last spring training to learn how to field RF maybe if the Braves can bring in a HOF first baseman that had a gold glove to spring training to work with Fick, he could be an average defender.

I will say this about Fick... he's a great teammate. If there is a baseBRAWL, Fick will be the first one out there fighting for his teammates, no matter who it is. He usually starts the first half off pretty decent but he just slows down so much after the break, its like his production falls off a cliff. He can't stay consistent through 162 games. Happened in 2001, he started off hot but ended ice cold and happened in 2002 too.

I wish the Fickster the best of luck in Atlanta, I love seeing former Tigers suceed but I'll be the first one to say that Fick is overrated and hope he isn't pegged as the "answer" to the hole Atlanta has at 1B. He also might be "cursed" but the reasoning to that will come in a later post.

[Ranger02]

Originally posted by Ranger02
I wish the Fickster the best of luck in Atlanta, I love seeing former Tigers suceed but I'll be the first one to say that Fick is overrated and hope he isn't pegged as the "answer" to the hole Atlanta has at 1B. He also might be "cursed" but the reasoning to that will come in a later post.

Former Tiger All-Stars since 1996...

1996 - Travis Fryman
1997 - Justin Thompson
1998 - Damion Easley
1999 - Brad Ausmus
2000 - Todd Jones
2001 - Tony Clark
2002 - Robert Fick

Has anyone noticed this...
After a Tiger becomes an All-Star, their production drops off a cliff or they leave the team within a year or two or they leave and their production drops off a cliff both.

Thompson, Ausmus, Jones, Clark's production dropped off considerably the season after they were named All-Stars, does Fick hold the same fate?

Easley is the only "All-Star" left on the Tigers.

[the aftermath]

Who is Robert Fick? Never heard of him.

Edit: I just read about him on ESPN's Baseball site. He's not even that good and he was an all-star last season. I don't get it. He's not going to fare much better against the superior NL pitching.

[jdpatri]

Originally posted by Ranger02
Fick is an overrated player with an attitude. His OPS for the 2002 season is .764... that's well below average for a 1B. His defense in RF was reasonably good in 2002 but he never played 1B last season so its hard to judge if his defense at 1st improved any. His defense at 1B though was horrible.

I wish the Fickster the best of luck in Atlanta, I love seeing former Tigers suceed but I'll be the first one to say that Fick is overrated and hope he isn't pegged as the "answer" to the hole Atlanta has at 1B. He also might be "cursed" but the reasoning to that will come in a later post.

Judging stats based upon performance in Comerica Park is like judging stats based upon performance in Coors Field.

His OPS was deflated. Granted Turner Field's not a hitter's paradise... but compared to the cavernous Comerica it'll seem like a little league park.

edit: noticed his stats home/away are the same. Still I believe players that play in big parks carry over the same hitting philosophy wherever they go. You don't suddenly develop a power-stroke just because the scenery changes.

He may not be the "answer," but he's definitely not Julio Franco and that, in itself, is at the very least an improvement. Hell, let's put him in RF, move Shef to left and Chipper to 1st. That solves two defensive problems.

My only concern is that like the Keith Lockhart fiasco last year, Bobby's gonna play Franco anyway... and bat his slowness second again because the man can do ONE thing a good second-hitter should be able to do: hit the ball the opposite way. Great. Now if he would put the ball in play more often, strikeout less and run twice as fast, you've got yourself a nice two-hitter.

psstt.... Bobby.... just a suggestion...

Furcal
DeRosa
Chipper
Shef
Andruw
Fick
Castilla
Javy

[Ranger02]

Originally posted by jdpatri
Judging stats based upon performance in Comerica Park is like judging stats based upon performance in Coors Field.

I'm not just judging on stats but the stats do tend to back me up. And how would Comerica Park be friendly to a hitter the first half of the season and not the second? Fick slows down alot in the second half, happened the last two seasons in a row. The first season I thought it was just him playing behind the plate taking a toll on him but same thing happened last season.

Fick is also a LH hitter, all his home runs come to the right field of Comerica and the RF of Comerica is not "pitcher friendly" as left field was, its a normal/neutral distance. So judging Fick on his power is still valuable even though he played his home games at CoPa.

Fick is overrated.

[Deftones]

well, this free agent signing settles it. The Braves will win it all 2003.

[wiz]

And what have the Diamonbacks done this offseason except unload Durazo...

Anyhow, here's how I think the lineup should look:

SS Furcal
3B DeRosa
LF Chipper
RF Shef
CF Andruw
1B Fick
2B Giles
C Javy

Or even give the new catcher kid from Philly a shot at starting...but screw Castilla at 3rd, the guy just flat out can't hit...I'd rather see the kids play...

[jdpatri]

Castilla proved he could still hit in the post-season. I say give him another shot. He had a wrist injury most of last year.

Castilla/Furcal/Derosa is a much better infield than Derosa/Furcal/Giles.

[jdpatri]

Originally posted by Deftones
well, this free agent signing settles it. The Braves will win it all 2003.

As much as I like the signing, I still think they're losing to the Phillies.

You don't just hand your biggest competitor a new ace and expect to win... I still have faith in the Braves, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them fall flat on their faces this year.

[Jericho]

Originally posted by Ranger02
Fick is an overrated player with an attitude. His OPS for the 2002 season is .764... that's well below average for a 1B. His defense in RF was reasonably good in 2002 but he never played 1B last season so its hard to judge if his defense at 1st improved any. His defense at 1B though was horrible.

Fick worked with Al Kaline last spring training to learn how to field RF maybe if the Braves can bring in a HOF first baseman that had a gold glove to spring training to work with Fick, he could be an average defender.

I will say this about Fick... he's a great teammate. If there is a baseBRAWL, Fick will be the first one out there fighting for his teammates, no matter who it is. He usually starts the first half off pretty decent but he just slows down so much after the break, its like his production falls off a cliff. He can't stay consistent through 162 games. Happened in 2001, he started off hot but ended ice cold and happened in 2002 too.

I wish the Fickster the best of luck in Atlanta, I love seeing former Tigers suceed but I'll be the first one to say that Fick is overrated and hope he isn't pegged as the "answer" to the hole Atlanta has at 1B. He also might be "cursed" but the reasoning to that will come in a later post.

I don't deny he's overrated, and he field likes crap. How he ever was a catcher is amazing to me. But what he is, is an improvement over the Francos. Defense really isn't that important at 1B though. And Fick isn't an absoulte waste of a line-up spot. Considering the options, he's better than the rest the Braves have. And one million isn't that much more than league minimum. that's why it's a decent signing to me.

[Jericho]

Originally posted by jdpatri
Castilla proved he could still hit in the post-season. I say give him another shot. He had a wrist injury most of last year.

Castilla/Furcal/Derosa is a much better infield than Derosa/Furcal/Giles.

So five games of postseason "hitting" outweighs 162 games of regular season sucking? Wrist injury or not, Castilla bites the big one. But he's going nowhere and he can't be worse than last year.

[wlmowery]

Originally posted by Jericho
he can't be worse than last year.

O' ye of little faith...