Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta Braves New: The Morning Chop, Atlanta Falcons Day, RIP Andy Marte

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:44 p.m. ET

Fansided, Jeff Schafer/FanSided via Tomahawk Take

Andy Marte Dies In Car Crash

Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Remember the name Andy Marte? Go all the way back to September 12, 2000 when the Atlanta Braves signed Marte as an international free agent. The third base prospect shot onto the scene in 2002 and 2003 after he had terrific seasons in the Braves minor leagues. Just like that, he was one of the Braves top prospects. Baseball America ranked Marte as the #40 prospect in the game in 2003, the #11 in 2004, the #9 in 2005 and #14 in 2006. He was suppose to be our third baseman of the future, but Chipper Jones was still playing ridiculous at that position. So the Braves decided to trade Marte for a position they needed….shortstop. On December 8, 2005 the Braves traded Marte to the Red Sox for Edgar Renteria. Following the trade, he was never the same player. This is terrible news and tragic. 2016 was an awful year for people we lost, hopefully we can back it down in 2017. RIP Andy Marte.

Former major league corner infielder Andy Marte died Sunday morning in a car crash in his native Dominican Republic, according to various reports. He was 33 years old.

“Words can’t express the emotions from the loss of our client Andy Marte. Gone too soon. A great person on and off the field,” Marte’s agency, J.M.G. baseball, stated (viaTwitter).

Marte signed with the Braves as an international free agent in 2000 and quickly became one of the majors’ premier prospects. Baseball America regarded him as a top 40 prospect each year from 2002-05, and he peaked at No. 9 after the 2004 campaign. Marte cracked the big leagues a year later in a 24-game, 66-plate appearance stint with Atlanta, which then traded him to the Red Sox the next offseason in exchange for longtime major league shortstop Edgar Renteria.

FOX Sports

3 reasons the Falcons will beat the Packers in the NFC Championship game

Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: It NFC Championship day! Though the NFL is getting kinda blah, a few of these playoff games have been fantastic. Also, the Atlanta Falcons are one game away from the Super Bowl! Many Braves, former and current, have gotten onto the Falcons train and the Rise Up slogan and the #InBrotherhood. The game is schedule to start at 3:05pm ET on big FOX. The Falcons have the weapons on offense and their defense continues to improve. If I’m a betting man, I would put my money on the Atlanta Falcons today against the Green Bay Packers. The AFC game, I’m still going with anyone but the Patriots. So go Steelers.

Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons haven’t made it to the NFC Championship since 2012 when they lost to the San Francisco 49ers. The time before that was in 2004, so the franchise’s experience in games like this is a bit thin. The Green Bay Packers, on the other hand, are in familiar territory. They’ve been to the conference title game three times since 2007, winning the Super Bowl once in that span.

All of that goes out the window, however, when these two teams take the field on Sunday (3:05 p.m. ET on FOX) with a trip to Houston on the line. Past history has no bearing on the outcome of this game, and it simply will come down to the players on the field Sunday. Atlanta comes into this one as the favorite with home-field advantage.

The Falcons will come away with a win and advance to the Super Bowl where they’ll take on either the Patriots or Steelers. Here are three reasons that will happen.

CBS Sports

Wieters running out of options after Braves reportedly sign Suzuki

Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Braves sign veteran catcher Kurt Suzuki to a one-year deal worth $1.5M and has the chance to go up to $4M with incentives. With this signing, the Braves are out of the market for Matt Wieters. Scott Boas and his client are running out of options as we’re now less then a month until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training camp. The White Sox could be a good destination for Wieters, but they’re on their rebuilding stage and probably don’t want to spend the money. The Rockies seem like a good fit, but they have Tom Murphy. The Nationals sounded like they were interested, but now it seems like they’re less. The Mets could get involved and according to this post, New York is the only spot that makes sense right now for Wieters. In any case, Wieters won’t be a Brave and I’m okay with that.

With SunTrust Park set to open in 2017, the Atlanta Braves have spent the offseason acquiring veteran players on short-term contracts so they can be as competitive as possible for their new ballpark’s inaugural season. The signings don’t block any prospects and they add respectability.

Aside from Gosewisch and Recker, the player most affected by Suzuki signing with the Braves is Matt Wieters, who remains unsigned as a free agent. Wieters had been connected to Braves all offseason because they needed a catcher and he has a connection to Atlanta after attending Georgia Tech.

Instead, the Braves opted for Suzuki, meaning they are no longer an option for Wieters. He’ll have to look for employment elsewhere. And at this point of the offseason, with spring training a little more than three weeks away, his potential landing spots are dwindling.