Braves Trade Deadline Watch

The deadline is upon us. The Braves have been linked to (most notably) Josh Willingham, Lance Berkman, and (most recently) Cody Ross, but nobody knows what will happen today as the deadline approaches. Will the potential injury to Martin Prado last night impact Wren’s position today? Check back, we’ll update this post throughout the day.

Cody Ross was linked to the Braves yesterday but *supposedly* the Marlins have taken him off the table. They have been known to change their mind last minute and surprise people so we’ll have to keep watching this story line for some time. We’ll see what happens here.

Josh Willingham has been linked to the Braves as well, but the Nationals have said they won’t move both Adam Dunn and Willingham. I think the most recent word out of the White Sox is that they’re out on Dunn, and it doesn’t look like he’ll move. Is Willingham an option then? Who knows. Hard to tell at this point.

Lance Berkman was another name the Braves were linked to, but the Yankees landed him yesterday so he’s no longer an option.

One has to wonder if the potential injury to Martin Prado (inconclusive x-rays on his right pinky) will impact the team at all. If Prado has to sit out a few weeks, will the Braves feel they need to add a bat more urgently? He’s been the spark plug to the team so far this year. What happens if he’s out?

The bottom line is nobody but Frank Wren knows what the hell is going on today. Check back for updates. We’ll be following all the rumors and (hopefully) a deal for the Braves that makes sense.

Oswalt To Phillies….Will The Braves Counter?

In his latest “Fried Baseball” audio blog, Kent Covington wonders how creative the Braves are willing to get in their efforts landing another big bat. Throw in your 2 cents in the comments area below… or leave a message with your questions or comments for a future commentary at 888-669-5368 (ext.701.)

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What Roy Oswalt To The Phillies Could Mean For The Braves

Pending his approval, Roy Oswalt will be making 12 plus starts for the Phillies over the course of the next two months. As Dave Cameron of Fangraphs.com points out, this trade is an admission of guilt by GM Ruben Amaro for inexplicably trading Cliff Lee last off-season. The Lee trade left the team with a top heavy rotation that was hurt even further when it lost J.A. Happ to the disabled list after only two starts.

Following the Happ injury in April, the Phillies rotation looked like this: 1) Roy Halladay 2) Cole Hamels 3-5) Kyle Kendrick, Jamie Moyer, Joe Blanton. To translate this into Braves lingo, they had a Maddux, a Glavine and then three Kenshin Kawakamis. Another comparable would be the Braves’ 2007 rotation which consisted of Hudson, Smoltz and then three or four Kenshin Kawakamis. That season there was an incredible amount of pressure on the games Huddy and Smoltz started, because losing them meant there could easily be a four or five game losing streak. Both of them stayed healthy all season and pitched very well, but the team could only win 84 games, good for third in the NL East.

The Phillies’ top two of Halladay and Hamels have been in a similar situation all year but have managed to lead the team to an impressive 55-46 record prior to the Oswalt trade. Unfortunately, adding the Astros’ ace to their staff significantly improves the Phillies’ chances at catching the Braves down the stretch. Oswalt, who will essentially be replacing the mediocre Jamie Moyer, has been very good this year, with his 8.37 K/9 ratio being the highest it has been since his rookie season.

The Phillies could potentially switch to a four man rotation at some point before the season is over. Doing so would eliminate yet another horrible starter from their rotation. This combined with the return of Utley and Victorino will make them a very dangerous team. The Braves still have a 3.5 game head start, but their chances at winning the division looked a whole lot better one week ago. At that point the lead was seven games and Oswalt was still in an Astros’ uniform. Six games remain between Atlanta and Philly including the three game set at Turner Field to end the season. As Billy Wagner predicted long ago, these three games just might determine who wins the NL East.

Final Countdown To The Trade Deadline

In his latest “Fried Baseball” audio blog, Kent Covington discusses the possibility of another pre-deadline deal for the Atlanta Braves. Throw in your 2 cents in the comments area below… or leave a message with your questions or comments for a future commentary at 888-669-5368 (ext.701.)

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Nate McLouth Optioned To Gwinnett

It appears that Nate McLouth’s days in Atlanta are done for the time being.  After going 1-for-15 in his five games back from the disabled list for a concussion sustained in a collision with Jason Heyward, the Braves front office has decided to give Nate more time in Gwinnett to figure things out.  They will likely continue to look for possible trade options for McLouth as the July 31st trade deadline approaches.

McLouth was held out of Sunday’s final game against the Marlins after failing to provide offensive production in the previous five games.  Large points of frustration with McLouth were a soft groundout with the bases loaded in late innings on Saturday and a game-ending double play in extra innings on Sunday.  Additionally, with runners in scoring position, Nate was 0-for-6 during the three game series with the Marlins.

Brent Clevlen has been activated from a rehab assignment and is expected to join the squad mid-game tonight.  Gregor Blanco, who was sent to Gwinnett, is required to spend 10 days in the minors before being eligible to be called up.  He will be eligible on July 31st.  In 58 at-bats in Atlanta this season, Blanco has hit .310, but the Braves front office has not yet decided if Blanco will end up back in Atlanta in the next week.  At this point, the Braves are still in search of the answer to a long-term solution in center field.

I don’t know what’s going to happen next for McLouth or the Braves as a whole in center field, but here’s wishing McLouth the best.  If we don’t see a move for a center fielder at the trade deadline, I’d love to see Gregor back in Atlanta ASAP.

David Ross Signs On For Two More Years

The Atlanta Braves have signed catcher David Ross to a two-year contract extension.  Ross was eligible to become a free agent at the end of this season after signing a two-year, $3 million deal before the 2009 season began.

In the season and a half that Ross has been in Atlanta, he has served as a stable backup for Brian McCann, hitting .272 with 38 RBI.  Additionally, this season, he has thrown out 7-of-15 baserunners and only has a single error.

Personally I’m thrilled with the signing as I think David Ross is the best backup catcher the Braves have had in awhile….don’t get me wrong, I loved Corky Miller…..wait no, I didn’t.  I don’t fear a game where McCann sits out and Ross has to play.  There’s power in the bat and solid defense that can be expected when he’s in the game.  I’ve seen some rumblings around the web about people saying McCann should move to first base and let Ross be a full-time catcher in the future.  I’m still not too sure what I think about that however.  As for the extension at hand….love it.  Time for the Braves to get back in the win column tonight against the Nationals.

Will The Braves Make A Move At The Trade Deadline?

With the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline less than a week away, the Atlanta Braves have seemingly reached a stalemate with the market. A recent piece from the AJC’s Dave O’Brien highlighted the bevy of great pitching prospects in the Braves’ farm system, but it hardly made it seem as though Frank Wren is interested in including any of them (possibly with the exception of Mike Minor) in a deadline move. Without a doubt the Braves would love to upgrade in centerfield, but the only name out there right now is the Marlin’s Cody Ross. If the Braves could acquire Ross for virtually nothing (Jo-Jo Reyes-like prospects, cash, etc.) then they should do so. The only problem is that other teams, such as the Red Sox and Yankees, are reportedly inquiring about him as well. Ross is under team control for the 2011 season and would be a nice upgrade in center over anyone in the Braves’ organization, but he is obviously not worth getting into a bidding war over.

Beyond centerfield there are very few areas, if any, where the Braves are likely to upgrade. The team seems content, and justifiably so, with a Diaz/Hinske platoon in left which would be the only other position where the Braves would conceivably add a bat. In an ideal world the Braves would be able to go out and handpick a centerfielder to trade for, but this is simply not the case. Their offense is, for the most part, set in stone unless they acquire Ross from the Marlins.

Wren may explore adding bullpen depth but not much else. It would have been interesting had the Braves entered the Dan Haren sweepstakes using one of Vizcaino, Teheran, or Delgado as the centerpiece. Although their rotation has been strong this year, Haren would have made it significantly better come playoff time despite his struggles this season. As I am writing this, it has been reported that the Angels have acquired him by packaging Joe Saunders with two “eh” prospects and a player to be named later who is supposedly the centerpiece. Atlanta could have matched this package easily; the question is do you think they should have attempted to improve their rotation or keep their stockpile of young pitching talent intact?

Time To Land A Center Fielder

If you watched the Atlanta Braves play the Florida Marlins this weekend, you saw Nate McLouth have several big at-bats when put in context of his future with the Braves. The latest – with the bases loaded in the top of the 11th – ended with a double play.

Yes, it was a hard-hit ball. Is he coming around? Maybe.

To me, it’s time to land another center fielder. While McLouth might come around and we may have moderate production out of the position the rest of the season, and I’m not OK with that.

The way this team is playing, I want to see us go out and get a player who can put some pop in the lineup. I want someone who is going to put us from playing pretty well in the NL East to the class of the NL East. I want to put the Phillies on notice that even if they trade for Oswalt they are going to have to play .800 ball to catch us. I want to be damn good. We’re already good. I want to be even better.

Here’s the thing – I’m against trading prospects for a star to “put us over the top” when we’re only hoping to make the playoffs. However, I am completely behind trading prospects for a star to make us the class of the National League.

Mark Bowman is reporting that the Braves may not be that interested in the Marlins’ Cody Ross. Others are reporting that the Fish are unlikely to move Ross. If you ask me, it sounds like Ross won’t be the next member of the Braves. I would like to see us make a *smart* move and land a center fielder who can give us the production we need from center field to have a potent lineup throughout the batting order.

Let’s go get Marlon Byrd ($5.5M in ’11 and $6.5M in ’12). Or hell, how about we sign Jermaine Dye? His power numbers would be nice and he’d definitely hit for more average than McLouth will. I’ll think on that more and maybe expound on it in another blog post soon.

Conrad, and Other Bright Stars on Saturday

Conrad is, as my grandfather used to say, “so clutch that the engine fell out.”  I still don’t quite get it either, but you kind of understand what he’s trying to say.  When a guy comes up in these huge clutch hits and can deliver like that… wow.  It is, in many ways, the signature of this Braves team, as I have said before.  Tonight we had some overall great performers, but Brooks Conrad, who only had one at bat, mind you, took the cake.  His second grand slam of the year (leading the majors in that category… and he’s only had a fraction of all the other players in the league), putting the Braves up 9-5.  What can you say about a guy with that kind of production from the bench?  What can you say about a team with that much production from its bench?  To me, it says that when/if the Braves finally start clicking on all cylinders (as we haven’t this entire year… someone is always doing something sub-par… this last week’s culprits have been Troy Glaus and Billy Wagner), the team is easily the most dominant in terms of overall depth and skill.  Let’s take a look at some of the other great players for tonight…

Jason Heyward:  The guy is simply the rookie of the year.  There’s just no doubt about it.  When he is playing the way that he can, there is absolutely no stopping this kid.  Some people like to point to wunderkinds like Strasburg and say that he should get the RotY, but, let’s face it, no other rookie can do what Heyward can do, and as reliably, when he is healthy.  He can field (summon up his first game after the all-star break), he can run bases (any night when you see him go from first to third on a lazy single, or when he jacks second right from under catcher’s noses), and he‘s dynamite in the batter’s box (this series in particular — he’s reached base 9 out of 10 times).  In Heyward’s last five games, his OBP is a whopping .640, and all of which were multi-hit games.  He’s on fire, and I don’t see him slowing down any time soon.  Frank Wren needs to throw up a huge contract to Heyward ASAP.  Nail him down for ten-plus years.  I don’t ever want to see 22 on another team.

Martin Prado: His leadoff home run was just great.  He easily could have had another 3-hit game if it weren’t for the nice play by the pitcher in the third.  He went through a little slump at the beginning of the second half, but it looks like Prado is back where he should be.  Three hits tonight gets his average back up to .320 (instead of the lowly ghettos of the .310′s, of course), and still 15 hits above anyone else in the NL.  He could conceivably take half a month off and still be in the lead. Think Prado is going to ease off the gas though?  Oh no.  You know why?  Because he’s so clutch that the engine fell out.

Eric Hinske: We can’t talk about clutch without talking about Hinske.  He was the hero of the game for the Braves for all of a third of an inning before Conrad’s bomb.  He only had one hit, but he made it count, driving in runs 4 & 5, and playing a huge role in the Braves victory.

Jesse Chavez & Johnny Venters:  The bullpen shut down the Fins when we needed it badly.  Had it not been for these two guys (Chavez in particular! I never thought I’d say that.) it had the potential for another heartbreaking loss.  It just goes to show you the vast chasm that seperates these two teams.  Although the Braves had a bad night last night, our bullpen got it done, setting people down with relative ease.

And now for those guys that were struggling tonight…

Troy Glaus: The guy can’t buy a hit right now.  One month he puts up prodigious, player-of-the-month type numbers, the next, nothing.  I’m losing faith in our number five man; that’s a position we can’t be in if we’re going to contend for the pennant.  I’m not asking for June numbers, I’m just asking for something to feel good about, because right now, we’re not getting any kind of production from him.

Nate McLouth: I think one more bad game pretty much shuts the gate on Nate.  He’s 1-13 since returning to the line-up, and his batting average is lower than some of our pitchers, and he doesn’t even hit the ball hard.  I don’t know if it’s all in his head or what, but right now, McLouth is looking very much like a bust, but what do you do?  There aren’t a lot of options out there.  DeJesus is hurt.  Ross is batting a puny .146 this month.  Someone like Josh Willingham might be attainable, but at what price?  We don’t want to give the Nationals too much.  There’s questions aplenty that are all swirling around the drainpipe that is Nate McLouth.  In the end, I think you sit McLouth and let Hinske, Diaz, and Cabrera platoon left and center.  It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s the best we have right now.

I don’t want to end this in all this prognostication, so let me say that I think that we’re coming up against two more teams to round off this road trip that I think we have the ability to play very good and take some more series.  The first games against the Nats and the Reds should be the most interesting games of the series with the old vet, Hanson, taking on Strasburg, a boy that he has already beaten once this year — but this time, it’s on his own turf.  Then we will see two young bucs — Medlen and Cueto — start the Reds series off with a bang.  The next week should be a fun one for Braves fans.

Wagner Blows Save, Braves Fall in 12

The Braves’ Billy Wagner had been almost automatic recently. In his last 25 innings pitched before last night, he posted a 0.36 ERA, and a .108 opponents average. But those last 25 innings didn’t help him last night.

The Braves took the lead in the bottom of the third last night, with four straight hits – including a two-run single by Chipper Jones and a two-run homer by Brian McCann. Tommy Hanson had surrendered two runs before that, and pitched into the seventh. The Braves took a 4-2 lead into the top of the ninth.

And then Wagner let one get away from him. He’s not a machine – but we’ll forgive a blown save here and there because of just how damn good he’s been. Kris Medlen took the loss in extras – the seventh pitcher the Braves sent to the mound last night. He’ll make his next start, I hear, and just skip a throwing session today.

We’ll drop a game here and there, and it’s not the end of the world. The goal here has always been to win series. We can do that tonight – we’re sending Huddy to the mound and he always puts us in position to win. Brush it off and go back out tonight and do what you do, boys – win.

Cody Ross to Atlanta? Could Happen. But Would He Help?

In his latest “Fried Baseball” audio blog, Kent Covington discusses recent developments that suggest the Braves have serious interest in Cody Ross of the Florida Marlins.  Throw in your 2 cents in the comments area below… or leave a message with your questions or comments for a future commentary at 888-669-5368 (ext.701.)

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As The Braves Approach The Trade Deadline…

In his latest “Fried Baseball” audio blog, Kent Covington takes an updated look at possible remaining trade targets and breaks down the performance of the red hot Matt Diaz. Throw in your 2 cents in the comments area below… or leave a message with your questions or comments for a future commentary at 888-669-5368 (ext.701.)

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