Beltran and the Braves

So here's a recap of the last few days in the NL east.

Phillies- Despite passing the Braves in the standings, they don't look to good right now. With Utley out for at least 3 weeks and now Victorino and Bourn out for 2 the lineup is looking a little thin behind Howard.

Mets- Carlos Beltran and Paul Lo Duca are both out with leg issues and the former is now on the DL. The plan is to play the rambunctious Lastings Milledge in center and get Lo Duca healthy quick.

Braves- Send of no player currently contributing for no less than 3 impact players. 1B is now as good if not better than anyone in the NL East (With no protection Howard is going to have... fun), the missing lefty is here and the braves have one of the best setup men available.

Survey says... Braves have a chance of winning the strong NL East. The good news beyond that is that the Braves will likely play either the Brewers, Cubs, Diamondbacks, or Padres in the first round. Honestly, none of them scare me.

Oh, and if you're wondering our lineup looks like this:

1) Harris/Escobar
2) Rent
3) CJ
4) Tex
5) AJ
6) Heap
7) Frenchy
8) Johnson/Diaz
9) Pitcher

Honestly? That's the best lineup in baseball. For god's sake our #8 hitters would be 5 or 6 on most teams.

This does not bode well for the braves...

Texas offered Tex $140 mil for 8 years at an average of $18 mill from 2009 on. Yikes. He obviously turned it down.

News and Notes

-Tex trade is done, and does not include Davies.

-Dotel trade can happen with Davies going to KC.

-Ring is a Brave via a trade with San Diego.

-Wickman is now expendable for the right price. DOB speculates that this might be done through waivers. Now, with relief pitching the way it is I doubt Wickman will make it through waivers but his contract is fairly big (almost as big as him). Perhaps if he struggles down the stretch...

-Jo-Jo has been offered for Arroyo but the price is likely more. Thorman, Yates, Paronto, Ladezma, and other prospects being discussed.

The Trifecta

How bout Arroyo in a braves uniform? Not as sexy as other options but that would likely make the Braves the favorite in the East if not the NL. Not sure why JS is cleaning out the farm system... or is he? Take a look. These are the prospects that have been, or likely will be traded:

Jarrod Saltalamacchia - MLB Bench, Backup Catcher
Elvis Andrus - A+Myrtle Beach, 4th on SS depth Chart
Matt Harrison - AA Mississippi, 3rd on Prospect Pitching Chart (Behind Jo-Jo and Devine)
Neftali Feliz - Rookie Danville, 17th on Talking Chop's Prospect List
Kyle Davies- AAA Richmond, Failed 5th Starter

Look what we got back:

Mark Teixeira - MLB All Star and Gold Glove 1B
Ron Mahay - Veteran Lefty Reliever
Octavio Dotel- Veteran Closer and Setup Man

We even still have players to trade:

Scott Thorman- Failed 1B in need of an everyday job
Wilfredo Ledezma - Failed Lefty Reliever with plus power
Chris Woodward - Veteran Utility Player
Brent Lillibridge - Middle Infield Prospect

I like that return personally (I hope Harrison isn't the to be named later, he i'd keep). It's a whole lot better than the Farnsworth, or Aybar/Baez trades. And remember, 2 out of the 3 will get us high draft picks if they walk. In fact, if we win this year and next these picks will be about as good as what we get normally.

Oh, and I seem to remember the system is stocked with talent about 2 years away from prospect status... Mostly pitching.

A Couple of Things...

...have been bothering me lately. First, this trade for Tex seems to be unfavorable to the Braves long term. Second, why was Escobar held onto so tightly? Finally, why does Atlanta seem to be willing to suddenly trade prospects when for years they've held them so tightly? Tough questions.

Let's start with the obvious answer to the first question. Tex makes the Braves a threat to win the devision and the NL overall. I shy away from saying World Series because year after year the team with the best pitching wins the series. The Braves just don't have that pitching... yet. But I still don't like this trade if that's all we're looking at. Personally, and I have noting from JS to back this up, I think that this move serves the purposes beyond the contention part. First, we now have a ligitamate #4 hitter to put behind Chipper, and that also forces Andrew into the 5 hole, a position where he's had some success. Second, it puts pressure on AJ in the off season. If he knows the Braves are going to be good (and they are as he's the only big player looking to leave) it's harder to walk away. AJ has spent his entire career here and wants to win here, plain and simple. Finally, I think JS is confident that one of two things will happen. Either the prospects will not reach their full potential or Tex will resign.

Next let's look at Escobar. If you've ever seen him play you'll know why Bobby loves this guy. The heads up play on Saturday was a perfect example. To steal that base right under the nose of 4-5 players who should have been paying attention is amazing. That kind of play is not something you can really teach and not something that comes across in scouting reports. That leads to him being undervalued and thus important to hold onto. Further, if the Braves want to trade Rent today/tomorrow or next year they'll need a SS ready to play in the majors. That's Escobar.

And the deep question, why trade prospects? Amazingly enough this one is the easiest to answer. They're over valued. Plain and simple. 5 years ago you couldn't get a guy like Tex for 3 minor leaguers and a backup catcher. I don't care how promising they are, these trades almost always included a proven ML player. Today, trades like this don't happen because it's become more economical to play with players who are home grown than to sign a FA. The down side is it's hard to predict young player's contributions. That makes being a perennial contender difficult.

I think JS is doing the right thing. The common sentiment in baseball has swung one direction, and JS is pioneering another. Good work.

Dotel Too?

Update: It looks like Davies is the one going over. Can you say H-Ram take 2?

Rosenthal is now saying that the braves are one of 3 finalists in the Octavio Dotel race. The Indians and Dodgers are still in play but it looks like the braves might pull off the Trifecta. Adding not only a power bat and a lefty to the pen but a proven closer to split time with Wickman. In an ideal world Wickman closes at home and Dotel closes on the road. Now if only there was a starter coming too. oh, and before you ask, no players have been mentioned besides Dotel in this deal.

Tex is a brave!

Rosenthal is reporting it's done pending medical stuff. Despite my conviction that JS won't trade pitching for hitting he managed to give up 2 pitching prospects along with Salty and Elvis for Tex and Mahay. Depending on the prospects this could be a good deal or a mediocre deal. Either way the braves have a real first baseman and a lefty for the pen. Rosenthal speculates that one of the prospects is Harrison.

We all know about Tex, but Mahay is having a very good year. The league is hitting .236 against him (.250 vs. lefties) and he has a tiny 2.77 ERA. In comparison to the braves' pen only Moylan has a lower ERA (2.04). Also of note is how few innings he's pitched. He only has 39 IP compared to Moylan's 57. The down side is he's a FA after the season. Here's hoping we resign him quick. Speaking of which, he has the same agent as Smoltz and Davies, Career Sports & Entertainment.

BTW, I am eating humble pie right now. Happy Chipper?

DOB Gets Nervous

David O'Brien, the Braves beat writer for the Atlanta Journal Constitution is getting a little nervous about the recent rumors that the D'Backs are in on Tex. Today in his blog he posted,

"Yes, I do believe Braves will get it done. Just not quite as sure as I was Saturday morning."

This coming from a man who was "very, very surprised if it didn't get done."

"Take off one of those “verys”" he said today "That’s why I usually like to avoid saying “never” or “sure thing” in these scenarios."

Even if this trade falls though, few people around the organization think that Tuesday's deadline will pass without the braves making some move. Chipper Jones just last week expressed his confidence in JS and the front office staff "It's nice to know our front office is giving us a shot of new blood," Jones said, "and cares about us continuing on in the playoff chase. Hopefully we can make a move to get us over the hump."

I know I speak for all the ravenous braves fans out there when I say, JS make us a winner!

This deserves it's own post.

While perusing Chop-n-Change I came across this post by Edo River. I understand if Edo wants me to remove this but I think that it speaks to every Atlanta fan who hasn't been completely enamored with JS and Bobby, and there are a few of us. Read and Enjoy.

"Will,

I’m going to have detach myself from all this. I agree with you completely, I think. I get this feeling from the wave-after-wave I am subjected to about this one trade and nothing else. I am superstitiously feeling that this will happen. No evidence except just like the news from Iraq, that is repeated on the hour every hour, things are happening (and even some of the on the hour news is comparable to sports trade-rumors, fiction by the way, as far as ultimate effect on us.

I grew up not far from Atlanta and endured doubling with Floyd Farless and his dad, in their car, for 1 and a half hrs, talking about the moral and physical superiority of the St. Louis Cardnials over the Braves, there and back when “our” team came to Atlanta in the first few years of the relocation.

It seemed back then that our farm system, (what farm system?) wasn’t worth crap. It hasn’t been but in the last 7 years or so that I have really paid attention to what they are trying to develop and now my hometown has an A level team.

So, I am extremely reluctant to see JS do this time after time, I have read an excellent analysis a while back, over at minorleagueball.com of JS record. and It wasn’t so great. THere are better judges of talent and trade value, JS is up there I think in the top 5. but even so the outcomes were suprisingly close to the .500 mark. Of course we remember the smashing successes, but when you put them ALL together and measure the outcome after a few years, He isn’t that impressive, well he is in comparsion to the really lousy GM’s and owners who deal, but I think we should give ourselves alot more credit when we taking what we can gather from the Internet and discuss the issues dispassionately and realistically, by

for example sitting in the other person’s shoes and trying to imagine what they would willingly give up, and want to get in return. See, this is what most of these hairbrain common tators don’t seem to think about. They wish for Miss America, and their willing to offer only a meal at McDonalds and a ticket to the drive-in. Why don’t they go and play fantasy baseball with their little 10 yr old brother, for pete’s sake? A 10 year old, and a slow one at that, is the only one who would agree to some of the suggestions I have read in the past few days over what they would do.

As I have mentioned, we all thought in spring training of ‘96 just like Smoltz did. And it didn’t work out that way, never again. never again, yet. So, As I also mentioned there are just too many holes I can see matching up against the Red Sox, esp with Chipper’s decline and Andruw’s disappearance at the plate.

I enjoy watching the growth of the Baby Braves that we hav e brought up, that my parents’ neighbors have seen play A ball years ago. That other friends of friends have seen Chipper in A ball, Andruw in A ball, and I am a hopeless romantic about Willie Harris. Why? because his success is an escape from worrying about Salty’s disappearance, Andruw’s percipitous decline, Chipper’s ankles, wrists, shoulder, Smoltz’s shoulder, Our bull pen. our #4 and #5 starters. our closer. Our First base batting average.

Most of all. Most of all I feel for Chipper and John Smoltz, and I have a little left over for Bobby Cox, JS and the other coaches, I met several at Orlando a few years ago (my parents now live in Tampa). I know from being around those guys and watching them up close why they attract such loyalty.

So its just a game. It isn’t Iraq. It is an escape from Iraq. I am a volunteer online English teacher for some kids in Iran, who are banned from schools there. there is no way out for them. Sometimes I have to compare my anguish over trading or not trading Salty to their situation, and I feel ashamed. I’m getting too caught up in this! lol. I feel this trade is going down. but as you say, the referee may not see it that way, we may be out "

Thank you Edo for putting it better than I ever could.

WOW!

Apparently all of us who thought that mega 3 player swap for Tex was also for a reliever were wrong! Rosenthal says it's Salty, Harrison, and Elvis for Tex STRAIGHT UP! That's nuts in terms of prospects. The willingness to do this deal (if it isn't a red herring) begs the question, "Is there something the scouts know that we don't?"

First off, i've been saying for a while now that Salty looks over matched at the plate, much like Frenchy did when he first arrived (but Frenchy was such a good hitter he could put a charge into any ball that touched his bat). Second, if you saw the Future's game you saw how slick Elvis was with the glove, but he isn't exactly burning up minor league pitching. Finally, Harrison is kind of a wild card. He was supposed to be the next #2 or #3 guy in our rotation but has stalled in the minors. His major problem is that he's a control/contact pitcher. While he has or is developing 3 plus pitches he has little power (Buddy throws harder) and has a propensity for the long ball. He also give up a lot of hits and doesn't strike out a lot of opponents. Unfortunately, this makes him less than a blue chip prospect.

So, if braves management is thinking that the three I listed above are having the same problems I think they are they might be willing to deal them. If not, I'm betting there's more to this story.

Braves Payroll

Will over at Chop-n-Change has a new post up about the Braves Payroll for 2009. He takes the safe rout and expects no trades to make his estimate. I however am not going to play it safe. Here's what Will thinks the 2009 payroll will look like.

C Brian McCann- $3.5 million
1B Jarrod Saltalamacchia- $420,000
2B Kelly Johnson- $2.5 million
SS Edgar Renteria- $11 million (option)
3B Chipper Jones- $11 million (option)
OF Jeff Francoeur- $3.5 million
OF Brandon Jones- $400,000
OF Matt Diaz- $2 million

SP John Smoltz- $12 million (option)
SP Tim Hudson- $13 million
SP Matt Harrison- $380,000
SP Chuck James- $2.75 million
SP Jo-Jo Reyes- $420,000

CL Rafael Soriano- $7 million
SU Mike Gonzalez- $4.5 million
RP Joey Devine- $400,000
RP Peter Moylan- $420,000
RP Tyler Yates- $2.5 million
RP Will Startup- $400,000

Here's what I think.

C Brian McCann- $3.5 million
1B Mark Teixeira - $18 million
2B Kelly Johnson- $2.5 million
SS Yunel Escobar - $420,000
3B Chipper Jones- $11 million (option)
OF Jeff Francoeur- $3.5 million
OF Brandon Jones- $400,000
OF Matt Diaz- $2 million

SP John Smoltz- $12 million (option)
SP Tim Hudson- $13 million
SP John Garland - $12 million
SP Chuck James- $2.75 million
SP Jo-Jo Reyes- $420,000

CL Rafael Soriano- $7 million
SU Mike Gonzalez- $4.5 million
RP Joey Devine- $400,000
RP Peter Moylan- $420,000
RP Tyler Yates- $2.5 million
RP Will Startup- $400,000
RP C.J. Wilson - $975,000

1B/PH Kala Ka'aihue - $380,000
INF/OF Brent Lillibridge - $380,000
2B/PH Pete Orr - $420,000

There will be two other vet. players riding the bench. Neither of which we can speculate on right now. I have the deal for Tex going through and the Braves resigning him @ $18 mill (between the two quoted numbers Boras has said). I also have the Sox taking the Renteria trade and Garland resigning for what he'll make in 2008. That makes the team payroll a nice round $100 million. Annual inflation puts the team salary at $85m in 2009 with no changes to pay structure. The extra $15 is a number right between DOB's estimates for Liberty's increase. You will note that AJ is not on this list in either incarnation. I believe that he will leave after 2008 (I'm fairly sure he'll sign a short contract for 2008 with the Braves).

There it is. The dreamer's team of the future.

Salty sits!

Thorman is in at first and McCann is catching. Espn was speculating the Franco's playing time was increased to ensure that Salty wasn't hurt before the deadline. As Julio's legs are about ready to fall off from the effort we would expect Salty in there tonight at first. Nope, we get Mr. Big Hack himself, Thorman. This might be an indication of a trade about to happen involving Salty (or for that matter Thorman). Too soon to tell, but this next 24 hours might be BIG!

24

24 hours and the NL East race has changed. From looking like a sprint to the finish to a late season grind, each of the three teams still in the race has serious injury problems to worry about. Today, Chase Utley went down with a broken hand, leaving the Phillies without their best hitter. Likewise, the Braves are without their best hitter, Chipper Jones who yesterday tweaked his groin. While both are freak accidents, Chipper's injury seems the less severe. "It's not serious," he said before the game. "I just don't want it to get any worse." Utley on the other hand has an injury that threatens to keep him out a month if not longer. "As breaks go, it's not that bad of a break," Utley said. When asked when he would return he replied "I think it will be sooner than [a month]." But, as injuries go this is not a good one for a power hitter to have. Even if he heals at the pace he expects, there will be deterioration.

Unfortunately for the Braves, the major injury to the Mets was long term and looks to be about over. Pedro Martinez, the Mets' hands down ace, recently began his 30 day trip back to recovery when he began his minor league rehab assignment. That means, that all three teams will be looking to The last month or so of the season to make their big push. That is unless someone pulls of a deadline deal.

Finaly some decent rumors!

The whole Teixeira mess has gotten so muddied the last few days I'm ignoring most of it. However Evan Grant at the Dallas Morning News has just posted this article. In it he discusses interested teams, leaving out the obligatory Yankies and Red Sox rumors. Both of those teams are not in need of 1b help as the Yanks have Giambi coming off the DL soon and the Sox have plenty of internal options.

Anyway, the current deal seems to be a bidding war between the Dodgers, Angels, and of course the Braves. I'm going out on a limb and say that Tex is not going to the Angels as the Rangers and Angels are both in the AL West and therefore division rivals. It would take an amazing package to get him moved there and I can't see it happening. That leaves the 2 NL clubs. The Dodgers are offering their 1B of the future (Loney), outfielder Ethier, and a pitching prospect, but they want Gagne back.

The Braves are offering Salty, Elvis, and Davies/Harrison. I think the Davies deal would be where JS would push considering his falling out with the team. The best news for the braves is that a Lefty Specialist (what they're requesting) is worth less than the picks Gagne would bring them if a trade falls through. Like Gagne, Mahay is also in the last year of his contract. The long shot here is C.J. Wilson who the braves covet but who is still a ways away from FA.

I'll assume the Rangers are rational here and value their relief at market value. This makes the following trades the most likely.

Braves: Salty, Elvis, Harrison
Rangers: Tex and Gagne/Wilson (depending on valuation of time under control)

Braves: Salty, Elvis, Davies
Rangers: Tex and Mahay

I'm putting the latter down as my guess if the Braves pull this off.

Wickman looks terrable

Last night's game was a disaster. Never mind Bobby pulling Huddy after an unfortunate inning. Everything but the first walk looked like Huddy was doing exactly what he wanted to do (the second walk was more a product of Winn not offering at anything). The thing that i'm mad about is Bobby not showing confidence in Huddy but showing way to much in Wickman. He looked horrible. Utterly horrible. This pitches had little movement and his fastball topped out at 92. It's like throwing a lollipop curve over and over. It takes only one or two looks before any major leaguer can belt it.

I think it's time for Bob to pack it in. His best days are behind him and i think he knows this year is his last. The braves certainly do. If they thought he was going to say would they be trying to deal for ANOTHER setup guy? We already have 2 proven ones (even if one is on the DL right now).

The Nationals' plan...

Some media outlets are surprised that the lowly Nationals have been willing to trade away major league players for stars who will almost certainly walk at season's end. I am not. In the days of compensatory draft picks and overvalued veterans, teams who develop talent in house often have the most competitive teams. Just look at the Braves, or the Indians, or even the Marlins. All three are small or medium market teams who are finding success primarily through their farm system.

The Nationals know that to play with the big boys they need to develop some big talent. The best way to do that is to have a lot of high draft picks where, with good scouting, they can select future stars and get some of their most productive years on the cheep. But why trade every and any decent player on their current roster? It's simple, there really aren't many to build a team around. When Nick Johnson and Austin Kearns are your biggest financial commitments you can rest assured that a team rebuilt from he ground up can be nothing but improved.

Think of it this way, If the Nationals get Dunn w/o giving up any stars (not that they have any beyond Young and perhaps Cordero) then they've assured themselves 2 high level draft picks or Dunn for another year. Either way the team wins. It was the same way with Soriano last year. Take the star that got some people excited about your team then if he walks take the picks. For a team not looking to contend this decade it's a very sound move.

Confidence....

Confidence is the word of tonight's game. DOB has begged Bobby not to put Soriano in in the setup situation if Bonds was coming up in the order. Hell, DOB wanted Soriano benched even if it was just a tight game. No, Bobby wasn't listening. He trotted Soriano out before this sellout crowd, Bonds's home crowd, and asked him to pitch in a 4-2 game.

Soriano did more than that. After Striking off the leadoff man, Soriano pitched around bonds who managed a single up the middle. Then he induced Klesko into a double play to end the inning. 1 hit, no walks, no runs, one strikeout. That's a line we expect from Rafael Soriano, set up man. I think he'll be ok; now that this lion his his courage back.

Taking the weekend off...

I took the weekend off (as u might have noticed) to go lounge on the beach and read a good book. God i love living in the south! Anyway, while I was gone the braves won in resounding fashion then lost one. I have a few comments on both games.

On Saturday's game:

-Harris likes a light bat. He likes it a lot. In fact the first 3 hits of his 6 in the game were with a commemorative bat. Harris plays the game the way it's supposed to be played.

-Speaking of Harris, anyone else notice that he's trying to become Ichiro? When he expects an off-speed pitch (sinker, curve etc.) he takes a step forward in the batter's box. It seems to work for Ichiro, I hope Harris can get the feel for it.

-Hot bats + good pitching win games. Braves players take note. If you lack either you're going the be having problems. See Sunday's game.

On Sunday's game:

-Salty is looking a little over matched in pressure situations. Can you believe he's 0 for 9 in bases loaded situations? By the laws of probability he should at least have 1 if not 2 hits. I think chipper needs to take him aside and explain that pitchers fall back to their goto pitch in those situations.

-Julio is looking old. He still has some pop, but that heavy bat is slowing him down rather than helping him. Perhaps he should borrow Willy's extra bat.

-Jo-Jo is on a short leash. Cox pulled him in the 5th rather than letting him work out of his jam. He had been cruising before then. Fortunately Moylan is still the man.

-Andrew still can't get a hit to save his life. He was even trying to hit singles last night, thank god.

-Even when Harris isn't hitting and getting thrown out stealing he still is a defensive marvel. Perhaps we have our center fielder for the beginning of next year. Or at least until the next Jones is ready.

Good News, Bad News

Just when we were loosing all hope in life the Braves pulled up a major upset. The defending world series champion Cardinals came into today thinking they were unbeatable. "I bet they can't hit my fastball!" Cardinals starter Mike Maroth bragged before the game. "It's hitting 85 even 86 on the [radar] gun." That kind of speed is just unheard of in today's age of control pitching and gyroballers.

The Braves only hope was their star First Baseman, who after a bout with insanity, rejoined the team Thursday. "It's great to be back. When I was in the mental hospital at Shea i thought my career was in a death spiral." The youthful Franco said. Despite the maximum security status of Shea, Franco was able to escape when Manager Minaya accidentally left the seat of his gold toilet up. "It was a tight squeeze but I made it." Franco said of his escape.

When Franco started the game today it was the first time in over a year and a half that he had been seen out of his orange and blue jumpsuit since his incarceration. His first at bat ended poorly when he grounded out. Fortunately, some of the even younger players had already helped him out with putting runs on the board. In the first A. Jones homered to drive in his partner in crime C. Jones. The Jones boys are known for theft and assault, with a deadly tree limb or cannon being their weapon of choice. In the second, a future all star named Diaz hit another HR to put the Braves out to a meager 2 run lead.

The third found Julio up with 2 in, 2 on, and 2 out. Maroth, promptly wet himself at the imposing visage of Franco and promptly offered him a free ride to first. "He was just so big up there, ya know?" Maroth said later "You could see it in his eyes that he was just going to bunt anything I was going to throw for a home run."

Back at bat in the fourth, with only an 8 run lead, Franco was called upon to drive in both runner on base ahead of him. Francoeur, a frenchman of unknown origin, and the same Diaz who had homered in front of Franco in the 2nd. Wasting no time Franco singled with authority to drive both in. Francoeur later described the scene in his heavy French accent. "Maroth was like huh huh huh, you can not hit my pitch! And Franco was like, you can not pitch to me you silly American, I will hit it to the Eiffel tower!"

Franco, the obvious pick for game and now season MVP, has another chance for a home run in the pitcher, Russ Springer, used his mind to force Franco's solidly hit ball to the ground at his feet. "It was like that Jedi guy, you know, Old Bean One Canofbeans." Catcher Jarrod Saltyalamaccccchisciaqlacia said. "You gotta be careful when hitting against fictional characters."

Braves 10, Cardinals 1

W: T. Hudson (10-5)
L: M. Maroth (0-3)

HR: A. Jones (19), M. Diaz (5)

Notes: J Saltalamacchia was removed from the game after it was realized that no-one could pronounce, let alone spell, his name. He was replaced by Brian McCann, who's name we could spell... Jeff Francoeur left the game during the bottom of the 8th for a cigarette and expresso and hasn't been seen since... Today's pitcher, Tim Hudson, recently started a rival website to Kevin Youkilis's site www.ihaveagiantassbeard.org. Hudson's site discusses the benefits of small amounts of facial hair. It can be found at www.shutthehellupYouk.net... Julio Franco tuns 103 tomorrow... Brian McCann refused to play in Thursday's game due to the fact he was afraid "all of my shiny little clones are out to get me."... Man i'm hungry... Willy Aybar was spotted on a New York street corner giving handjobs to passers by for "crack or crack money"... Scott Thorman was asked to try out for "Who Wants to be a Superhero?". Initially excited at the prospect of being his idol Thor, he quickly refused when he was told that his secret identity was that of a major league caliber first baseman... Chris Woodward has been cast as the schizophrenic woodchuck in an upcoming Pixar film. He will spend the rest of the season learning how to chuck wood on the bench.

JS Agressive? Really?

A quote from Stark's column today.

"Meanwhile, clubs that have talked to Atlanta say there isn't a buyer in baseball trying to be more aggressive or more creative than the Braves. 'They're in on everybody,' says one GM. 'Starters. Relievers. Bats. Older guys. Young guys. They're heating up to do something.'"

He also mentions teams asking about Elvis and Dan Smith. Despite the potential there I think those two are the best candidates to move. We all know Elvis' story, but smith is a little discussed secret. A 2003 undrafted FA he has since put up filthy numbers as a reliever and good numbers as a starter. His control is about where you'd expect for a AA prospect, but he's getting a lot of Ks. Right now he's striking out just under 13/9 innings with Mississippi.

How much you want to bet that Moore is the guy who's making a big stink over getting Smith in any trade?

BTW: If you haven't noticed i'm disavowing any knowledge of last night's game. It never happened.

Here's a new name

Dan Graziano of the Star Ledger is reporting the following "The Braves, looking for left-handed relief help, are working on a deal with Texas for lefty C.J. Wilson." It's a new one on me. I don't know how true it is but it is inline with the Braves' current philosophy. Wilson is a strikeout pitcher with some problems with control. However, he has the makeup of a future closer ala Soriano. if this trade does happen we might have 3 future closers again when Wickman walks.

That's not the best part though. Wilson is a card, through and through. He's a self proclaimed savant (and a left to boot!). Some of the things in this article crack me up! Just read it.

Some notes from Dayn Perry

Dayn Perry has a new article up on Fox Sports about what various contenders are looking for. It's an interesting read if you're bored. There are some notes that I haven't seen mentioned on the major rumor mills that might be interesting closer to the trade deadline.

First, the Rockies are looking for a catcher. Normally I'd write this one off, but there is both Francis and Helton on that team. While I doubt Francis is going to be moved, Helton is available and the Rockies have been known to eat a lot of contract. It's some money to spend, but much less than Tex will get in 2 years.

Next, the Padres are looking for middle infield help. They look very thin out there. They happen to have some good arms in both majors and minors so I could see a prospect for prospect swap there.

Finally, Perry brings up Millwood. His contract seemed huge at the time, but it's now about what you would expect from his past performance. Actually, aside from his walks Millwood's numbers this year would predict a better ERA and win total than he's getting. It might work, but i'm not sold.

Thoman has one foot out the door

With Franco on board the Braves have a decision to make. Thorman has potential, just not any that seems to translate into success in the majors. Yes, if you're looking to power Atlanta for a week, just hook up a wind turbine anywhere near Thor during an at bat, but powering an offense is a bit different. Thorman seems to have no ability to cut down his monster swing and thus he is likely soon to be traded or waived (he's out of options).

This means that Salty is being handed the 1B job OR there is already a trade pending for a 1B. I severely doubt that Bobby is going to go with Franco as an every day first baseman. Our best indicator of who's being moved actually is not currently on the Braves' roster. Brian Pena is next in the depth chart for the braves and any move involving Salty must have as it's precursor a Pena call up. In the unlikely situation that Pena is not pulled from the minors first, the Braves still have Diaz as an catching option, but Matt is no one's first option behind the plate.

With today's move I want to make a guess at the next move (note the guess aspect of this):

Thorman to KC for Jimmy Gobble
Davies and Escobar for Arroyo

Davies in the Pen, Salty at 1B

Not what we expected but Kyle Davies will now be working from the pen. I'm not a huge fan of this move but it seems to have it's advantages. A reliever can be useful with only 2 pitches (which Davies usually has) and that gives him time to find his location. However, the reason i don;t like it is that Davies will now be counted on to pitch in pressure situations, something he could not do as a starter. He also pushes out Devine, who has been effective in limited use this year.

The better news is that Salty is again at 1B against a righty. "I just want to see him against right-handers," Cox said. "I haven't seen him against them all year." This makes me happy beyond all reason as it suggests that he has earned Bobby's trust. I hope we don't have to see Thorman struggle there again.

KC with the parts the Braves need?

Looking for a serviceable closer? Want a lefty specialist? How bout a flame throwing youngster? KC is your one stop shopping mecca and they're looking to deal. What's even better is that Moore knows the Braves farm system and isn't afraid to ask for what he wants. Why is this so good? Well, in short Moore is not going to ask for the same prospects as other teams (in general, but it's a limited type of thing). This makes trades with him much more attractive as what we give up doesn't impact what we have to sell much. This makes getting that great young starter AND that relief help much more plausible.

Let's take a look at what these two teams might want to trade.

Royals Have:

Zack Greinke: The Good: By far the highest ceiling of all the Royals relievers. His stuff is filthy at times and his fastball can hit tipple didgets. A converted starter (yes, it works that way too), Greinke can go long innings and has the stuff of a future closer. On top of that, he's only 23. The Bad: He has been troubled by confidence issues (isn't everyone these days) and has seen his ERA balloon up due to the occasional bad outing. Have i mentioned everyone and their brother is calling about him?

Jimmy Gobble: The Good: He has decent stuff and has a track record of getting lefties out. He also has a few years left before free agency. The best part is that it won't take much of an effort to come up with a good nickname. I will call you Bubba. The Bad: Righties light him up. They're hitting .350 against him this year Vs. lefties that are hitting a tiny .239.

David Riske: The Good: A solid reliever with blowup tendencies. In several years with Cleveland he was an effective setup man but could never move to closer. He has struck out about on an inning over his career. The Bad: if ever you wanted a man who can have a breakdown on the mound, David is your guy. Cleveland fans didn't need a nickname for him, they just moaned his last name whenever he was announced.

Braves Have:

Middle Infielders: Prospects, ML ready players, the braves have so many middle infield prospects they're considering moving one of their Minor League all stars to the outfield. Moore has already picked off one (Pena) and i'm betting he'll want another.

Young pitching: Moore helped draft many of the players currently sitting at low A ball in the braves system. He knows what's there and the Royals have always shown a willingness to develop talent.

Payroll Flexibility: The braves are getting back a significant portion of Hampton's 2007 salary so they have money to spend. KC has increased their payroll with several FA signings that haven't made them close to contenders (A later post will analyze this strategy). I'm sure they are looking to dump some of these and look to the future.

Basically, if Moore wants a braves prospect he has the pitching to trade. If he sees nothing he likes then the Braves are out of luck as our vets are too expensive for the KC payroll.

Rally Falls Short

The Braves lost again to fall to 0-2 this series against the bottom feeding Reds. Honestly, the onus of this responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of Peter Moylan. That's not to say that he didn't pitch well, he just didn't do what we've come to expect him to do. Other than Peter's uncharacteristically poor performance the night was full of hope. The Braves attempted one of their patented late inning rallys, falling short by only one run, Salty got the rare 1B start against the righty, and Jo-Jo proved he could play with the big boys. I think Chipper Jones summed it up best.

"I was impressed with him," Jones said. "Young pitchers — you've got to try to get them ahead in the count because they get predictable if they get behind in the count. Big-league hitters will take advantage of that. If he pitches ahead in the count, he's pretty darn good." (AJC)

It looks like Jo-Jo is starting to feel more at ease pitching up here. This kid has some stuff and the makeup that others sorely lack. Let's hope he is a pleasant surprise the rest of the way.

I know everyone else will be covering the Salty bit so i'll skip it. I still say Salty is better behind the plate long run.

Braves 5, Reds 6

W: Arroyo (4-10)
L: Reyes (0-1)
S: Weathers (18)

HR: A. Jones (18)

(BTW: How does Reyes get the loss if he only gave up 4 runs?)

Ugly, Just Ugly

I tuned the game off after 3 batters last night. I couldn't take it. Davies has likely punched his ticket out of Atlanta (AAA or otherwise) with his performance. Evil Davies? I say Demonic. Hopefully Jo-Jo can throw some quality pitches tonight and let us beat the awful Reds.

Braves 3, Reds 10

W: Livingston (2-0)
L: Davies (4-8)

HR: K. Griffey Jr. (24)

The Mets and Roy Oswalt

Rumors are circulating that the Mets are "trying like crazy" to get Oswalt from the Astros. We all know that the Astros want to keep Oswalt and that the only reason they would part with him is if someone offered them such an amazing deal that they couldn't pass it up. The Mets just don't have that kind of prospects. Their top trading chip, Lastings Milledge, is currently being relied on to sure up the outfield while Moises Alou and Endy Chavez are hurting. Even if they had a surplus of outfielders, the Mets still couldn't pry Oswalt away by trading Milledge as his value is quite low at the moment.

That said, if a contender really wanted Oswalt they might be able to snag him. Let's take the Dodgers for example. If they offered Russel Martin AND Matt Kemp they might be able to convince the 'Stros to give him up. But we know that won't happen. From the Braves perspective, Oswalt is actually not what we need. The braves have two front of the rotation starters. Both Smoltz and Hudson could carry the moniker with little problem in today's pitching light NL. But the question is not "Should we get Oswalt?" it's "Can we get Oswalt?" As I've said before it is possible. If the Braves were willing to part with Salty, Escobar, and Harrison that might get it done. However, that's a bounty the Braves can't afford. Perhaps by including younger talent (Elvis) they could salvage Harrison. A package of Salty, Elvis, Jo-Jo and another pitcher might get it done. But again, we're talking 3 of the top 5 braves prospects.

Braves fans, we need to face facts. We have some good prospects, just no Great prospects (Yes Salty is Vary Good, still not Great). That is likely enough to pull off a trade fro a 3rd or 4th starter but likely not a #1 like Oswalt. That said, i do like what the Pirates are peddling (Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny) but I'm not sure that the price is worth the return. Either way, Salty needs to play and his value is not maximized at 1B. Salty needs to catch.

Free Salty, free him to catch.

The Pen Question...

Does Wickman have what it takes to finish the year as the Braves closer? Beyond that, do we trust him in the post season? Honestly, both questions worry me right now. I believe that Moylan will regress a little toward the end of the year and Soriano is better than he looks right now. However, Wickman has been inconsistent all of his closing career. His biggest asset is... his bigness. His stuff isn't filthy, he doesn't throw it by anyone, and he has a problem keeping the ball down. Not the makeup of a ML closer.

That said, i think he can be effective if there is someone to take the stress off of him and Soriano. Gonzo will be that guy next year, but for the moment there seems to be nothing in the system that can be an effective 7th inning guy. My apologies to Moylan, but some power is needed.

That said, is there anyone on the market that can help?

Update: ideas

Eric Gagne: Former allstar closer for the Dodgers. Cy young award winner in 2003. Currently plays for the Texas Rangers. He pitches effectively when healthy but had been plagued by trips to the DL. Currently pitching well in the closer role but sill in recovery from season ending back surgery in 2006.

Gagne is certainly an interesting option for the pen, when healthy. His 14.6 VORP is much better than Wickman's 1.9 mark. However, Big Bob has more appearances. That said, i'd take Gagne any day over Wickman. However, he's not just up for the taking.

Gagne will likely command a top prospect for a rental. Plus, since his one year contract is incentive based and has a full no trade protection, I'm betting the contract will become guaranteed. At $11mil that a big chunk that the braves would have to eat or pay to have eaten. I just don't see it.

Akinori Otsuka: Quality relief pitcher and fill in closer. This Japanese import has been a steady contributer in the pen. He is currently experiencing arm issues and is listed as day-to-day with the rangers.

Otsuka is another Soriano style reliever. Good stuff and can close, but has been blocked. That does not make him a closer. Think of what happened last year. His contract is a 1year @ $3m but i think he still has arbitration left (not sure on this). Unfortunately, everyone and their brother is asking about him. On top of the requisite pitching prospect, I can see a prospect like Escobar being demanded for him if not more. That's likely more than the Braves are willing to pay. However, he would stabilize the pen. JS needs some magic on this one.

I Was Going to Quote This...

...but found myself coping most of the article. Just read it for yourself. Oh, and if you haven't seen. Enjoy.

Braves Win

Sorry about the short post. I had a long rant about how bad the Pirates are and then had a random reboot and it's lost. Shoot. Anyway, Braves won again. Good hitting and good pitching. Who would have guessed that wins games?

Braves 5, Pirates 1

W: Carlyle (4-2)
L: Maholm (5-12)
S: (0)

HR: F. Sanchez (3)

Open Forum: Where's salty going?

There has been alot of speculation on the future of Jarrod Saltalamacchia as of late. Various rumors have him going to any team with a decent starter available, Texas for Big Tex, and even that he's a franchise player. Overall, the causal observer can't help but be confused.

What we do know is that EVERY discussion with JS starts and ends with Salty, but until now we could only speculate what the bounty on Salty's head is. We now know what JS has asked of at least one team. "Atlanta management would seek nothing less than an impact-caliber young pitcher in exchange for promising catcher/first baseman Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The Pirates are among several teams to have inquired about him in the past month." The only starter from the Pirates I've seen linked to the braves has been Snell so I'm assuming that's what JS asked for.

What do you think? Will Salty become the next career Brave or will he be gone before he has a chance?

A scary one

Frenchy just had to come through after that rain delay montage. But he should not have had to. Consider this, before the pen began racking up innings it was stupendious. Now, Yates has an ERA of almost 20 in July, Wickman is at 7.2, Villarreal is at 5.19, and Soriano is 2.08. The last number is the most troubling because it comes on the back of 3 really bad outings at the end of June. What do these 4 have in common? Well, they all have been effective from the pen, and have been handed the ball in tight situations. Personally, I think Yates is working through some discomfort but the rest look to just be serving up some of these pitches. This needs to be fixed before the rotation begins to break down too.

Braves 5, Pirates 4

W: Wickman (2-2)
L: Chacon (4-2)

HR: A. Jones (17), R. Doumit (7)

AJ and the Longball

Those of you keeping track right now will note that Druw has 5 HRs in his last 10 games. That makes 9 HRs from the 4 & 5 spots in the last 10 games. Yikes. If AJ and McCann keep hitting like this the Mets might need a change of pants... I'm just saying.

Bobby Not to Hot on AJ Right Now

Update: Autocorrect sucks. Thanks Chipper.

Despite having homered in his previous at bat, Andruw was pulled from last night's game in the 6th inning when the braves batted around. The explanation given today was that Druw had a "right quad injury" but he'd play today. I don't buy that for a second. I saw him sitting in the dugout with his batting gloves on chatting with his teammates seconds before the switch. He was not in pain.

We all know about Druw's struggles. The fact that we had a big lead at that point AND that there was 1 out with men on meant that AJ's patented rally killing double play grounder was what bobby feared. Regardless, other vets came out for a much deserved rest later in the game too. They just weren't pulled during a hitting spree.

Lucky 13

It turns out that Friday the 13th is the Braves', especially Brian McCann, lucky day. Not only did the braves pull within 1 1/2 games of the Mets, but they also proved that the break didn't affect their bats. In fact, every starter reached base at least once and all but one had a hit (Thorman walked twice). That included Tim Hudson who picked up his 9th win along with an RBI. I think that's a pretty good early birthday present. Hudson turns 32 Saturday.

Hudson pitched a good game but McCann was the star. Going 3-4 with all three of his hits being for extra bases and two going out. He also accounted for almost 1/2 of the braves runs. Those of you keeping track might want to note that McCann has 4 HRs, 12 RBIs, and 4 runs scored in his last 6 games. The runs scored is a worrying stat as in those games Brian has had to drive himself in. Fortunately, he seems quite capable of doing so.

Braves 9, Pirates 1

W: Hudson (9-5)
L: Snell (7-6)

HR: A. Jones (16), B. McCann 2 (11)

More speculation on starters

Update: JS was quoted today as saying " “I don’t have any intention of trading [Salty].” That makes this trade a whole lot harder. Escobar won't get it done with the Sox due to the presence of decent infield prospects in the Sox system. However, the more I hear the more I think Oswalt is our target. The Astros are out of it and need to rebuild and the braves have proven that we can field a minor league team and still win. If you want to rebuild fast you look at the example of the Marlins and get a lot of prospects for your older expensive vets.

So as you can tell, I'm a bit of a rumor monger and I've got one that looks to have some legs. Chris Solberg over at Baseball Opinion is speculating that Vazquez could become a Brave before the deadline. I've been watching the Sox's pitching situation since Buherle's name first came up in June and I must say that Vazquez is a very good #3 for the braves. He eats innings very well. His shortest outing was April 13th @ Cleveland where he was pulled after 5.1 innings due to the pitch count, other than that he goes 6-9 consistently while keeping his team in the game. He doesn't allow base runners primarily due to his control (he walks less than 1 per 4 Ks). Best of all he comes cheap ($11.5 mil/year), is signed long term (through '09), AND has a limited not trade clause to only teams in the west. It should also be noted that JS likes this guy. He's been linked to the Braves almost every year since 2003. There was even a rumor of us sending AJ to the yanks for him back in the winter before last season.

What would it take to get him now? Solberg says Salty and a top pitching prospect. I disagree. I think Salty would definitely have to go as behind Pierzynski there's nothing in the system. But a young starter might not be what the Sox are looking for. The rotation in Chicago is fine but the pen is horrendous. No one outside of Jenks has an ERA under 4 and the pen has blown a lot of games. I can see one or two of our young players in the pen going. I'd bet Villarreal and Devine. Villarreal is a proven long reliever and Devine has the stuff to be a setup guy if he works out his confidence issues.

Now, do i think this trade makes sense for both sides. Yes. Do i think JS will let that much talent go all at once? No. This deal is one that we will only see closer to the deadline as JS will be reluctant to give up two pieces of the pen at once. We may see a vet from the pen and a minor league pitcher go instead. That minor leaguer is almost certainty not Harrison. I consider Jo-Jo part of the staff right now btw.

Julio Franco

Update: It's Official. Say goodbye the the extra relief.

Update: Time to man up on this one. I still don't understand it.

When we need a coach... one of those "Don't call us, we'll call you" type deals. I'm not taking a roster spot away from a better player for him. End of story.

Braves in 08 (Part I: Starting Pitching)

Update: Mike Plugh has mentioned the Braves as one of the top suitors for Uehera. He also mentioned that winning this year would go along way to getting Uehera to sign.

It's never too early to look at 2008. This post is the first in a series of posts relating to the 2008 team and it's contracts. What better place to start than the part of the club that's been giving fans heart attacks all year, the starting rotation.

We know these players will be on the team:

John Smoltz:
Contract: $14mil 1 year contract with options for '09 and '10. The '09 option vests on 200 inning pitched and is for $12mil. The '10 option is a club option for $12mil with a $2mil escalator with 200 innings pitched in '09.
Status: We all know John will be at the top of our rotation next year. However, injury concerns this year have him currently on the DL. I'm not sure how a man over 40 can pitch like he has and I don't see him improving next year. Still, on his worst day he's a better #2 than most of the rest of the league's #2s.

Tim Hudson:
Contract: $13mil for '08 and '09 with a mutual option for '10 at $12mil or a $1mil buyout.
Status: Tim is another one we know will be at the top of our rotation next year. I can foresee him being the #1 to take some pressure of Smoltz. There aren't realy any worries here as long as Huddy keeps himself committed like he is this year.

Mike Hampton:
Contract: $15mil left on his monster 8 year contract and a $20mil '09 option (the buyout is being paid by Colorado).
Status: We count on Hampton for nothing. Anything we get is gravy.

Chuck James:
Contract: none (still under team control and not arbitration eligible). $.395mil contract likely.
Status: In an ideal world Chucky would be a #4 or #5 in our rotation. He's been decent this year but nothing spectacular.

Buddy Carlyle:
Contract: None ('07 is a 1 year contract at $.4mil)
Status: He's been useful filling in at the bottom of the order, but i doubt he'll stick in the rotation for '08.

Kyle Davies:
Contract: None (still under team control and not arbitration eligible).
Status: If he fixes his problems and banishes his evil twin he can win himself the #5 spot. It's just not his yet.

Jo-Jo Reyes:
Contract: None (still under team control and not arbitration eligible).
Status: Too young to really stick in the rotation but the pen is an option worth looking into.

Matt Harrison:
Contract: Minor Leaguer
Status: Very young but he has the stuff of a middle to top of the rotation guy. If the braves loose confidence in Davies for '08 we could see this kid right out of spring training.

External Options:
I very much doubt that JS is going to make a big splash in the FA market. However, trades are possible. I won't even dabble in who's even available in the trade market this winter, but i know JS is looking for a #3 or a potential replacement for Smoltz. An international signing is not out of the question.

Koji Uehera:
Status: FA after the 2007 season from Yomiuri Giants.
Upside: He is a command pitcher who pitches like Greg Maddux did. At 32 he'll be well seasoned and ready to pick up a #3 spot and contribute. No posting Fee.
Downside: After Dice-K, Uehera was likely the best starter in Japan last year. This year he's been a closer out of need. Both of these facts make it almost assured that he's on a few people's radar. He won't get a monster contract like Dice-K but he might pull off something in the $30mil 3 year range w/o pitching a day in the bigs. Also, to my knowledge, the braves haven't signed a player directly out of the pacific rim yet. Take a look at MLBtraderumors.com has to say on him.

Final Prediction:
1) Smoltz
2) Hudson
3) ???
4) James
5) Davies/Harrison

Mark Teixeira

Good player, not coming here. End of story.

No all stars

I tuned into last night's all star game for two things. Ichiro's inside the park homer (thank you random banner in RF) and McCann's 9th inning. And, as it turns out, neither was hyped at all by our good friends at FOX. I've already said my piece about them, so i'll move on to the topic of this entry. The Braves really have no all stars.

When you look at the numbers put up by even our best hitter this season (Edgar hands down) and our close second (Chipper of course) you see something amazing. First, Hanley Ramirez should have made the team over Hardy hands down, but Edgar is well behind Hanley in BA, HR, SB, and Slugging. That's more than a trifecta. Edgar isn't an all star this year. Second, Chipper is on par with Miguel Cabarera in most categories over the same number of at bats, but Chipper has gotten to the dish 70+ times fewer than Miguel. That alone would make the decision easy for the players. When you have to guys producing at about the same rate, but one has been hurt, you choose the healthy one.

The only other players on the team worth mentioning were the two actually voted on, John Smoltz and Brian McCann. John Maine has been better all around than Smoltz, end of discussion. As for McCann, as i noted previously, there just isn't anything at catcher this year to write home about beyond Martin. Barrett is hitting like a clone of Brian, Estrada, Molina, and Lo Duca all have better BAs but the rest of the stats are a tossup between the 5. Personally, i think McCann was voted in because he's the only likable one in the bunch. Lo Duca is an ass, Barrett doesn't get along with anyone, Estrada has always been a little anti-social, and Molina... well i don't know anything bad about him, nor do i know anything good.

But how can a team with no all stars be 2 games back from a team with 4, three of which were starters? Easy, the Braves are playing like a team. It's something i've never seen before from a Braves lineup. You have 10 guys producing (with the notable exception of AJ) and doing it differently every day. Besides Chipper, who seems to work more like a stabilizing influence than anything else, no one hitter has distinguished themselves as the go to guy. Theres not Reyes who makes runs for the team. No Beltran who will unbeatably be up in the bottom of the 9th and hit a bomb. Nothing. Our hitters go out there day after day and hit, our pen goes out there and cleans up when the starters falter, and most importantly they do it time and time again.

Folks, this is a team. Honestly, if i was an opposing pitcher i'd fear our lineup more than the Mets, Yanks, or even the Red Sox. If JS can get the rotation patched up before the deadline, I say the Braves are going to October, maybe even November.

AJ Back with the braves in 2008?

Several of the major sports news channels have been talking about how our FA to be CF has likely hurt his chances to sign a huge contract with his poor play. Even if he hits his career mark the rest of the way he'll finish at .238/.327/.455, the worst line since his 1997 rookie campaign. That hurts. However, hitting up to his career mark is not out of the question if he hits like Chipper the rest of the year. I think he's boned, but that's me.

Andruw has a few options at season's end if he finishes with the above line. First, he could sign a 1 year deal and try and improve. I'd be willing to bet the Braves would give him 1 year @ $8-10mil with performance bonuses in a heart beat. He could even probably get 1 year $14-16mil guaranteed from the Braves. The previous number is a common 1 year deal that players looking to rebuild their careers sign. Piazza is signed for $8.5mil, The Big hurt is making $5.56 (and hitting better than AJ), and Luis Gonzalez is making $7.16 mil. Two out of 3 of these contracts look like bargains but all three are older players. And that's where Andruw is unique. There hasn't really been this much of a funk by a star player who isn't injured so it's hard to compare.

Second, he could take a long term contract that's heavily incentive laden. For example. A 4 year contract with a fifth and sixth year vesting that become guaranteed at a certain trigger. This deal could start somewhere around $65mil and end somewhere near $110 mil. Not bad in the grand scheme of things. The sad thing is that if he had played even his average this year he would have gotten 8 years/$136mil easily.

Finally, he could pull a Buherle and resign with the Braves like he did last time. This last one is is a bit more likely now that this cold streak has come on. Druw is a notoriously streaky hitter and any of the big market teams that would try and sign him would have trouble stomaching that inconsistency. Think about the pressure he would be under someplace like Chicago, LA or, god forbid, New York. He'd be picked apart by the media so quickly his head would spin. A $75 mil contract for 5 years, back weighted of course, would be about right.

But who knows what will happen in the world of Scott Boras.

Vet @ 1B?

Update: Ken Rosenthal is speculating this just. It's good to be a step ahead of the experts...

If JS wants a vet at 1B then he may want to look past Shea Hillenbrand's bad attitude. The Angels really didn't have a place for him this year and his numbers have tailed off. He's still fairly young (Almost 32) and will be making league minimum the rest of the year. The only caviot beyond his... interesting personality is that he wants to play every day.

Personally I think Hillenbrand is just an older clone of Thorman. His numbers are down, due to playing in the AL West most likely, but he also hasn't played much. It's a low risk pickup and it gives us the option of sending Salty down for some work on playing first for next year.

Liberty willing to pony up for a star?

So i've been thinking about the conventional wisdom that a corporate owner is less likely to increase payroll and allow the team to make a big splash in the free agent market (% investment in a single player). Now, some of you are just going to stop listening now as you've hear this all before, but I promise this is NOT the logic you've heard before.

First, let's examine the team value (Data from Forbes) Vs. Payrol (Data from USAToday). Note: Forbes' numbers only reach up to the 2004 season so please take this with a grain of salt. When we compare the Year/Year change in value to the same measure of payroll we find the following statistics.

1999: 3.73
2000: 4.04
2001: 2.06
2002: 11.08
2003: -.07
2004: 2.55

As you can see, payroll is directly related to team value with a multiplication factor of between 2 and 4. The blip in 2002 and 2003 indicates an over valuation (actually a bubble if you look at all teams) and then the correction (taken together the two years produce a multiplier of 1.12). So, now that we can SEE that investing in a team actually returns 2-4X the investment, what else would a team need to see that increasing payroll helps?

Well, making big FA signings also draws people to the park. Let's look at Texas' signing of A-Rod. Before the signing, The ballpark at Arlington drew 2,800,147 fans (Data from Ballparks of America). After the singing it drew 2,831,021, a change of 30,874 fans or ~1.1%. Not impressive. But when you include the fact that major league baseball LOST 135,000 fans between 2000 and 2001, a bump up like that is impressive. Further, the only comparable draw ballpark (Houston) lost 150,000 by itself between the two years. That's a 5% drop, making the net gain for Texas over 6%. That ain't bad for a single player*.

Finally, there's the TV and merchandising revenue. Every jersey, hat, bat, or anything else with a team logo is money in the team's pocket. When A-Rod was traded to the Yanks no store in town has an A-Rod jersey in stock 2 days later. TV also got a boost with the YES network reporting record ratings that year. Add to that increased AD revenue and you'll need a dump truck to carry your new loot.

So why don't teams under corporate management make big splashes? Well, unfortunately it's politics. Corporations budget money well in advance and are forced to channel dollars into capital expenditures, not human resources. As much as we think of a great player as a building block, he's just another employee to the company. It's always a tough sell to get the CEO $5mil a year, it's even harder to get someone 5 levels down $20mil.

Such is business. But will Liberty break with tradition and allow JS to pony up for a star? Well, we already know that the payroll is all but fixed at around $80mil but there were early indications that that could be flexible if there was a good opportunity out there. My feeling about that is that if JS can pull off another Hudson trade and needs some cash to get him signedin the short run Liberty is on board. Look at the McCann signing. There was no way the braves had to make that deal, but it was certainly worth the money even if it cost us short term.

But who would Liberty be willing to pony up for? Well i can be all but certain that Liberty would have approved Hudson's deal, and if Buherle had come over, they would have likely approved the deal he signed with the Sox. I know they would not approve an A-Rod type deal, or a Zito deal. That leaves us with some promising ideas. Any young starter with a proven track record would likely get a decent deal with a Liberty seal. That means Snell, Willis, or even Zambrano (though i doubt he's leaving the Cubs) would get a nice deal.

Long story short:
1) the Braves will not be signing a big FA any time soon
2) the Braves do have some money to lock up young talent long term (Frenchy?)
3) a trade that brings in young talent, especially a starter, will likely result in rentention

*I know other things happened, but i'm making a point.

Ending the 1/2 on an up tick

The Bravos won again last night beating the offensively challenged Padres to capture the series (The braves clenched the season series with their win on Friday) and move to within 2 of the lackadaisical Mets. Those of you who watched know hoe bored to tears i was listening to the ESPN color guys. I actually think they tried to work in a Monty Python reference at one point... but failed. I think that also summed up the game from the booth. Complete and utter failure.

The good news is that Greg Maddux is human as he proved giving up back to back jacks to McCann and Johnson. After the one to Johnson, Greg seemed upset with the home plate umpire and avoided getting tossed based on reputation (Wells got tossed Saturday at the first word about it). They even had a little man-to-man after the inning. Anyway, the more i see KJ hit the less I want Escobar in at second. Escobar is clutch but KJ needs that assurance that he's the man at the position.

Another blogger brought up the point that Escobar does a decent job at 3b (i dare say better than Chipper most days). What are the chances that Escobar takes everyday 3b, Chipper moves to 1b to give his aches some time to rest, KJ gets 2B every day, and Salty gets sent back down? I love Salty to death, but I think at the moment his most useful talent is knowing how to catch Jo-Jo (oh, and that bat thing). Perhaps the two should become better friends and move to the majors together come September. For now, neither looks to have a spot.

This makes the roster:

Lineup:
1) Escobar, 3B
2) Rent, SS
3) CJ, 1B
4) AJ, CF
5) McCann, C
6) Frenchy, RF
7) KJ, 2B
8) Diaz, LF

Rotation:
1) Smoltz
2) Hudson
3) James
4) Buddy
5) Davies
6) Option (who ever is available for a spot start)

Bench:
Harris (4th OF, pinch runner)
Thorman (Pinch hitter, 1B)
Woodward (2B, 3B)
Pena (Backup Catcher)

Pen:
Wickman (CL)
Soriano
Devine
Moylan
Villarreal
Paronto
Yates
Ledezma

It's not a bad lineup. The bench is thin though...

Anyway, the only down side to last night was Wickman. He looked awful. 5 hits, 3 runs, 3Ks. The oddest line i've seen in a while and almost the saddest. This adds fuel to the fire of letting Soriano take closing duties for a while and letting Wickman rest. Devine is up now, and he looks good. I think the 7th, 8th, and 9th should be Devine, Moylan, Soriano for the next few weeks, and if we can get more than a bag of balls for Wickman, the rest of the year. Just my 2 cents.

Braves 5, Padres 4

W: K. Davies (4-7)
L: G. Maddux (7-6)

HR: B Mccann (9, 2nd inning off G Maddux 1 on); K Johnson (9, 2nd inning off G Maddux 0 on)

Was there a trade no one told me about?

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/photo?slug=cb8a5af8860f44119b28a5b5fde63f34.braves_dodgers_baseball_lad105&prov=ap

Harris finaly falling back to earth?

Sadly it looks to be true. After his last 10 games his average has fallen over 30 points (.383-.351). During this bad streak Harris has no extra base hits and 4 SBs, 3 of which came in one wonderful game Vs. Florida on the 30th. Now some would say this is a slump, I say this is reality. Harris has looked a little over matched as of late against pitchers everyone and their brother is hitting. Do i think this swoon will continue? Of course not. Harris is a scrappy hitter with a decent eye (6 walks in that period) but much of the time when he's hitting the ball it seems to make it's way feebly to a infielder. Perhaps he's playing hurt?

Either way Harris finds himself with his platoon job in jeopardy as Diaz is raking for power and average. In the same 10 games Diaz has seen his average CLIMB 12 points (.340-.352). He also has a pair of doubles in that stretch and 5 RBIs. KJ is also raking raising his average 14 points (.274-.288) with again a pair of doubles and 4 RBIs and 9 runs scored. What's amazing about that last bit is that he's scoring at a 56.3% clip when he gets on base. That's ridiculous. Harris has 5 runs scored in this span at 62.5% rate, but one of those was pinch running so the actual rate is 50% over a much smaller sample. Last but not least Escobar is raking too. In his last 10 games (of which 4 he was a pinch hitter or runner) he has raised his average 45 points (.264-.309) has 5 doubles, with 5 RBIs 8 runs and 2 stolen bases. This is easily more productive than any of the other 3 in his last 10 games.

Let me put it this way, if Bobby is a stat head he would sit KJ and Harris and let the LHP side of the platoon hit some vs. righties. Or, just give Diaz the job in LF, trade either Escobar or Rent for some pitching with the other playing short and let KJ play 2b. That way we field a stable order and get another pitcher. Bloody logjam.

So i'm a little cranky...

I've got a fever of 101, tons of work I need to get done by Monday morning, and, oh yea, the braves lost. Now this wasn't a blow out, scratch that, it WAS a blow out! Consider this, before today the Pads had scored a wopping 14 runs this month. 14 runs in 6 games equates out to 2 1/3 runs a game and that includes the 4 we gave them yesterday. Today we gave them 8 runs. 8 runs! For god sakes people 8 runs is a huge blowout for the Pads. The Pads scored 8 or more runs 4 times last month. 1 each against the Nats, Rays, Cubs and Orioles. The cubs are the only team of the bunch over .500 and that's a recent development.

Now after ranting about how bad 8 runs is I want to point out who the worst culprit is. Yes JoJo was bad. 5 ER in 3 innings pitched does not bode well for the youngster. He's fighting for Davies's spot in the rotation but at this point it's not clear which is worse. Neither is looking good. HOWEVER, 4 of the 5 runs were the direct result of the longball. I think some of the problem actually came from a lack of scouting information on Reyes. How does that hurt a pitcher? Well, normally a pitcher making his first start has an advantage over hitters who haven't seen him before. But Reyes is a different beast from most pitchers. He LIKES to throw a lot of pitches. He tosses all over the zone to try an keep hitters guessing. Most of the time in the minors, hitters will take a hack at something that looks decent. In the majors that doesn't happen. Thus you walk batters while showing them more of your pitches.

On the flip side, a catcher that has never caught you before has to adapt to how you pitch. Reyes has a big delivery and the ball moves. It looked like Brian git a little frustrated over how JoJo was all over the zone and began stetting up more in the middle. You give a pitcher a target he tries to hit it. That seems to be exactly what happened to Reyes. Second time through the order McCann is setting up over the plate and the Pads are hitting it. I don't want to knock Brian's skills, but Salty should have been behind the plate today. He knows JoJo and at this point the defence between the two is comparable. Put Brian at 1b and let him rest his knee (JK, you never move an Allstar to a new position midyear).

W: Bell (3-2)
L: Yates (2-1)
S: Hoffman (25)

HR: J. Francoeur (10), M. Cameron (11), K. Greene (15)

Paronto and the Shark

If you weren't watching the game, first off shame on you, second you missed one of the most hilarious things i've seen on the field in a while. If you don't know about the San Diego chicken you have likely been living in a hole for most of your life but i'll spell it out anyway. The chicken is one of the Pad's mascots (i believe they have a friar too) and decided to play a little prank on the braves. After donning a Shark suit OVER the chicken suit he snuck up on Glen Hubbard and, i kid you not, humped the bejesus out of him. Then he attacked the braves pen (which for some unknown reason is down the RF line in SD), scrambling the pitchers and coaches. Most fained fear, except for Chad Paronto. He ran out like a nancy boy from a locker room, hands flopped over and prancing. Think of it, all 6'5" and 250 pounds running like that! I was rolling on the floor in stitches. Then to top it all off soon after he had to dodge a foul ball and, low and behold, he does it again. I think i may need surgery to remove the goofy grin from my face. Good day.

(BTW: anyone notice Chad doesn't have a wikipedia page? I think I need to fix this. Any suggestions?)

How sweet it is

Update:
Salty say's he fine and that he can start @ 1b tonight with Brian behind the dish. Looks like Pena will have to wait some more.

Tonight's game was really and truly sweet. After a so so first inning, Buddy was lights out (in his own way) giving up 8 hits and striking out 7 in 8 innings. Bobby pulled him after 8 but it looked like he could have gone another with his pitch count only a couple over 100 and his heater still sitting in the mid ninetys. But he did and Yates gave up a run but got the door closed.

Of other note is AJ who put up his first multi hit game since June 9th. JUNE 9TH! One of them was even a long 2 run HR. Chipper also had a great night with 2 hits (including his 400th double) and a walk. In fact the 3-6 spots all put up a multi hit game with almost all of the run production coming from there (Buddy got his first hit and RBI).

Unfortunately another ugly problem has reared it's head. Salty got hit by a foul tip in the 7th. On the replay it looks to have hit him on the collar bone between the shoulder and chest pad as well as on the neck. With McCann hurting, an injury to Salty could mean the recall of Brayan Pena from Richmond. To make room for him the braves would likely send Devine down again as the bench is already a man short. However, there has been talk of Salty being demoted to give him more work (at First or Catching I don't know). If he really is injured then the DL is always a possibility but the braves just put Smoltz there today (and called up Jojo) so i doubt they will do it unless Salty's hurt bad.

Braves 7, Padres 4

W: Carlyle (3-2)
L: Germano (5-3)

HR: A. Jones (15), R. Branyan (7)

Braves looking at Dmitri Young

Rotoworld.com is reporting that the braves were looking into Young recently but backed off when the Nats asked for an arm, leg, and one of 3 minor league prospects (JK, they wanted Salt's first born too). Now I'm no JS but I'm pretty sure an aging 1b like young is not what our club needs right now. You have Salty, Thorman, and even Diaz who could play there. Albeit Diaz is an outfielder, but he's built like a first baseman. God i'd love to have Harris's speed and Diaz's bat in the lineup every day.

Anyway, the bottom line is I don't understand the interest. Perhaps the braves are looking to trade Thorman and aren't comfortable with Saly's defense (not that Young will win a Gold Glove any time soon with 9 errors so far), or the braves are trading both and looking to keep the production. Neither case seems likely to me.

Update:
So i may have scooped Rosenthal a little but he's got me on the reason the Braves were interested. He speculates that Atlanta wants to send Salty back to AAA. Not a bad idea, but i'm not sure how he would feel about it.

Roger McDowell

So I've had issues with Roger's ability to mentor pitchers the last season and a half but Chip just imparted some unusually insightful information on us TBS viewers. "I asked Brain McCann after the game what Roger had said to Peter Moylan before that double play and he told me "He told him to throw him the sinker, he'll hit it to Renteria, and he'll turn the double play.'" Despite the poor wording it came to pass EXACTLY as Roger said. Give the guy credit, he knows how to pitch. Now let's see if he can get Devine and JoJo to produce.

Davies to see Hypnotherapist?

I doubt it, but at this point it couldn't hurt. McDowell thinks the problems are all in kyle's head. Our venerated pitching coach thinks that his mechanics are fine but he's not pitching with confidence. Now I've never pitched in the majors, but I'm pretty sure that confidence doesn't give your fastball lateral movement and your curve another 3 inches of drop like Davies had when he first got to the majors. Yes it helps, but i think there might be another problem. You see, McDowell emphasizes pitch location (as do most major league pitching coaches) and that's fantastic for someone with confidence in his pitches, but Davies has none of that. What's happening now is that Kyle is trying to place his pitches and thus making them hittable almost anywhere he puts them. Think about it, if you had 90 MPH heat and I said "I need you to knock this apple off my head" would you throw at full force? I doubt it. And there in lies our issue. Kyle has been throwing at just below his 100% and not getting the spin on his pitches like he used to because of it.

Now there is a solution, and it's not demotion, it's not being berated by the media and fans, and it's certainly not being taken out back and shot (no matter how much i'd like that after Tuesday's horror show). The solution is relaxation. The pressure of the major leagues is enough, let's get off Kyle's case and see if he improves. As for me, Kyle, I'm sorry. Do i think Buherle should replace you? Right now yes, but I think you do have a future in the major leagues and us giving up on you isn't going to help that. I'm behind you all the way.

There i've said it, won't the rest of you lighten up too?

Thank God

So we won one after dropping 2. This is good news. The better news is how amazing our pen was tonight (I still think Ledezma is pitching for Detroit). 2 hits, 2 walks, and 4 Ks in 4 innings is pretty amazing. To top it all off we won by scoring runs the old fashion way, we made them. The only guy on the team swinging for the fences was our good friend Andrew (You think he's playing for Detroit too?). Besides AJs all or nothing approach (4 Ks, 1 HR in 5 ABs) the only other position player that looked bad was Salty. He put up a big Ofer with a K.

Tomorrow's game should be a pitcher's duel and great fun on TBS. Will someone please hold up another "Free Salty" sign for me?

Braves 5, Dodgers 2.

W: James (8-7)
L: Hendrickson (2-4)
S: Wickman (15)

HR: A. Jones (14, 7th inning off C Tsao)

Leave KJ alone!

This just pushes my buttons. KJ has played a very good defensive second base this year and is hitting just behind Hudson in most categories. Have I mentioned he makes 1/10 of what Hudson makes? I swear, every time someone mentions the braves as a destination for a major league middle infielder an angel must get it's wings or something (not that the Angels need much help right now...). I have a message for all you doubters out there, LEAVE KELLY ALONE! You wish your second baseman was half of what our is!

Our Savior, Kosuke Fukudome?

Nope not him, but he'll help. Everyone and their brother will be after this guy and i'm willing to bet that one of the 3 teams likely to snag him will have a dilemma on their hands. Check out this article from armchairgm.com and see what i mean.

Why won't we try and sign him? It's a no brainer. First, JS doesn't like to spend money on FAs that don't pitch. Second, Fukudome is not a good defender. We're talking worse than Diaz in left bad (although i think Diaz is serviceable). Third, our hole will be at CF, not RF where Fukudome plays. Finally, the braves are not in a town that's very rich in Japaneses fans (Atlanta is a Hispanic town if anything) and thus the signing does little to improve the fan base like it would in San Fran.

Why does someone else signing him help? Well, look at the top three names in the running. The Red Sox have nowhere to put him w/o trading. Manny, JD, and Coco patrol that outfield in one of the most overpaid landscapes in the game. If they sign Fukudome how much you want to bet Coco is gone? The braves have made a trade for an under performer before (Edgar anyone, who came over TO GET Coco) and i'd bet they'd try and do it again.

The Yanks have the second most overpaid outfield but Abreu comes off the books after this year (that option is daunting). Since the big man patrols RF Fukudome could fit there, but that puts Cabrera as the 4th OF. I don't think that will sit well with a guy who's used to playing almost every day.

The Ms have the best shot in my opinion, but they also have RF blocked by a guy named Ichiro. Ichiro is an amazing player and a good defender, but CF is not an option for the Ms with their big prospect Adam Jones lurking.

This one has to wait till the winter, but it'll be fun to watch!

I don't want to talk about it..

On a night where most of us could stay up late and watch this west coast game that starts at an unbelievably late hour (i mean come on, who decides this time is a good idea to put a game on TV?) we were treated to one of the worst pitching i've seen in weeks. Our good friend evil Davies reared his head and likely ended good Davies's role as starter on the Braves. I'm hoping he'll go the way of H. Ram (u know, the guy we gave to the M's for Soriano?). I hate to say it, but i'd rather have Buddy out there than Kyle right now. Ouch. Let's hope Chuckie can fix this today.

Braves 6, Dodgers 7

W: R. Seanez (5-1)
L: W. Ledezma (0-1)
S: T. Saito (23)

Braves sign Julio Teheran

If this kid was stock i'd be buying like crazy right now. We've been following this kid for a while, and for good reason. He was rated the best prospect in the international arena and he's ours. Teharan has 3 plus pitches, is a power righty, AND IS ONLY 16! We were damn lucky to get him as a lot of other teams were drooling over this one. Financials weren't included in the article but we can assume it was a fair chunk of the braves budget for international prospects.

Ugly

The title says it all about last night. McCann looked like he was drugged and Chipper seems to have given up on life. The umps didn't help much as quite a few pitches that would have been strikes in ANY other park were called balls. I remember one pitch in particular (a slider I think) was almost right down the middle on TV and on pitch track but was called a ball. I think I actually threw the clicker at the TV, judging by the remote shaped crater in the wall next to the entertainment center (hey, it's a 42" Flat, I ain't hitting the sucker).

Out of all that the good news is that we get Wolf tomorrow. He is hittable and the Bravos better break out of this funk, especially McCann. If we see something like last night from him again Bobby might begin to listen to Salty.

Braves 2, Dodgers 8
W: J. Beimel (2-1)
L: J. Smoltz (9-5)

HR: M Kemp (3, 6th inning off J Smoltz 1 on)

New Metric

So i've been tinkering with team quality metrics and wanted to share the results of one attempt with you. This is an old method but it says a lot about relative quality. What i'm doing is making a cumulative score for team rank in the NL of important stats. Dumb i know, and stats heads like me cringe when people try and compare stats like this but amazingly enough this method does give a good and simple metric for team quality.

To set up the data set i've taken all the major team stats from ESPN as of noon today and assigned a point value for rank with 1pt being first in the league and 16pt being last. I've ranked teams based on R, H, HR, TB, BA, and OPS then summed their scores. Here are the results:

1 Philadelphia 17
2 Milwaukee 22
3 Chicago Cubs 25
4 Colorado 30
5 Florida 30
6 Atlanta 32
7 NY Mets 37
8 Cincinnati 41
9 Houston 48
10 LA Dodgers 53
11 Arizona 70
12 St. Louis 72
13 San Francisco 77
14 Pittsburgh 80
15 San Diego 80
16 Washington 94

By this metric the braves have the 6th best offense in the NL. Now for the pitching. Same method of analysis using ERA, R, BB, SO, and BAA. The results:

1 San Diego 15
1 LA Dodgers 15
3 Chicago Cubs 24
3 Milwaukee 24
5 NY Mets 26
6 San Francisco 38
6 Arizona 38
8 Atlanta 40
9 Houston 52
10 Pittsburgh 54
10 St. Louis 54
12 Florida 59
12 Cincinnati 59
14 Colorado 60
14 Philadelphia 60
16 Washington 61

Here the Braves are 8th. Now we combine metrics to find:

1 Milwaukee 46
2 Chicago Cubs 49
3 NY Mets 63
4 LA Dodgers 68
5 Atlanta 72
6 Philadelphia 77
7 Florida 89
8 Colorado 90
9 San Diego 95
10 Cincinnati 100
11 Houston 100
12 Arizona 108
13 San Francisco 115
14 St. Louis 126
15 Pittsburgh 134
16 Washington 155

And amazingly enough the braves are 5th, or just out of the playoff race. Now, personally i feel that the Cubs and Brewers are over performing but this method of analysis shows that the Braves are going to be in a dogfight for the wild card with the Cubs... scary. Fortunately we have 1/2 a season to go. Let's hope those numbers improve.

All Stars?

So John Smoltz and Brian Mccann are All Stars. Yay. We all knew Smoltzie was going, how could he not? Brian had a good chance because of the lack of depth in catching in the NL, it's nice that he got a nod from the players. But I can't help wondering who missed out. So without further ado I offer you my all star list, with a twist. The following is a list of my BRAVES all stars. These three players have made more of a difference to the braves than any other AND they're not getting a nod nationally.

OF: With deference to Matt Diaz I have to give the nod to Willie Harris. The boy is blazing on the base paths and money in the box. His aggressiveness has been the spark the braves need. A few stats realy prove this. First, Willie is hitting .373 overall and .461 in the first 2 pitches he sees. That's something we'd expect from Frenchy (Even though Frenchy never hit that good) not Willie. Second, the OBS .929 is 10th in the NL (w/150 min PA) but his OBP of .444 is second to only Mr. Bonds and his AVG of .373 is first. His SBs are 14th but only 2 back of Jimmy Rollins @ #8. Give me that any day even if he hits much better against lefties (not that he's had a chance against righties with only 15ABs).

IF: With deference to Edgar, I'd have to pick Chipper. He's tops of all the regulars in OPS, AVG, and HRs as well as top 4 in all the other major offensive categories despite missing 25 games so far. That's insane production from someone who's been hurting so much this year.

P: This has to go to Peter Moylan. He's got the best ERA on the staff and the second best WHIP all while racking up the most innings out of the pen. Those numbers are nuts for someone who's a retread.

And there you have it; my picks for Braves All Stars. Scream all you want about leaving Edgar, Diaz, Hudson, and even KJ out but these three are players I'd want on my team (and actually have them on several).

Braves drop a heartbreaker in 10

After an hour and a half rain delay chased both starters in the middle of the 4th Oscar Villarreal played the villain and yielded 3 runs in the space of 2 batters. It was all cruddy from there on until the 9th when the braves put men on 2nd and 3rd after a wild pitch from Gregg and Escobar worked a tremendous at bat for a 2 run single. But that was the last offense the braves would get after Wickman and Soriano each gave up runs to drop the braves to 43-39 and still 4 games back after a Mets loss.

WP: Gardner (2-2)
LP: Soriano (2-1)
BS: Wickman

HR: A Jones (13, 7th inning off M Lindstrom); J Hermida (7, 4th inning off O Villarreal), M Olivo (7, 9th inning off B Wickman)