Thanks, Scotty. We knew that. While we’d all like our offense to go to 11, I’m not sure I’m super thrilled with the options. Mark DeRosa is off the table, Matt Holliday is likely signing with the Cards soon, not many people are thrilled with the idea of Uggla coming in, and Xavier Nady is the other name that gets tossed around a lot. And yes, he’s good for 25 homers and 100 RBIs when he’s healthy.

But he’s had some issues and is just coming off not his first, but his SECOND Tommy John surgery. And yes, he’s just an outfielder – not a pitcher – and is being acquired more for his bat than anything. And yes, he’s probably cheaper than before his second TJ.

But he will still have to make throws. And when will he be back to 100%? How many runs will we give up because people will run on a weak-armed, twice-rebuilt robo elbow in left field?

Sure – we have doctors and if we sign him then I’m sure we think he’s a good deal and good upside and all that. I get that. But I’m just a little bit worried. Just sayin’. That’s TWO Tommy John surgeries, dudes and dudettes. Just not so sure about that.

“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology…”

Who should we go for instead? What about Johnny Damon or a one year deal for Vladimir Guerrero? Jermaine Dye?

He’s worn a cast on it for the last month in hopes that it will heal without surgery, but that’s a no-go. He can hit off a tee now without pain but once the ball has any momentum behind it he feels a fairly decent amount of pain. To that end, Schafer will undergo surgery on his left wrist and sit the rest of the season out.

I’m glad to hear there’s an issue, because frankly Schafer’s performance this year was somewhat disappointing and this at least explains why he may have struggled. Wrist issues are going to mean it’s difficult to drive the ball – resulting in little power after the initial injury. He’s going to get a new look next year in spring training to win a spot in the Braves’ outfield and that’s OK by me. We’re going to need a youth movement going forward to be competitive offensively and we could certainly use some young speed and good defense that comes with the Schafer package.

Best of luck to Jordan – heal up soon.

In other injury news, Martin Prado was taken to Piedmont Hospital yesterday after experiencing a sharp pain in his head while swinging in the batting cages.  He first felt this during Saturday’s game, which he left prior to the completion.  CT scan results were negative and it’s currently unknown on a timeframe for his return to the lineup.

These are two particularly big injuries for the Braves as McLouth and Prado are a large portion of what has spurred recent success for the team.  Is this something to be concerned about in the coming weeks or can the Braves fill in the gaps?

Glavine will likely fill the fifth spot in the rotation that has been a struggling point for the Braves since being filled by the combination of Jo-Jo Reyes and Kris Medlen.  Between the two, they have compilied an 0-4 record across 7 starts with a 7.64 ERA.

Though Glavine is still working a little rust out of his control since returning from elbow and shoulder surgery that ended his 2008 season, he is still likely a better candidate for the spot in the rotation.  Honestly, it can’t get much worse.  I think we’ll be seeing him back in Atlanta by mid-June definitely.  What’re everyone’s thoughts on Glavine?

If you missed it, Garret Anderson turned down a minor league rehab assignment (as is his right) and I think we as fans have every right to be pissed off about it.

Before I rant, the official position is that Anderson has every right to turn down said assignment. He doesn’t feel he’s missed enough time to warrant a trip to the minors for a rehab stint. The Braves are believed to be surprised with the decision. Anderson is currently missing time nursing a calf injury after originally missing time with the same injury.

That said, the man pisses me off. Haven’t missed enough time to warrant a rehab stint? How about you look at it the other way, Garret? You haven’t played enough to warrant a stint in the big leagues. 25 at-bats. Seriously. And when you HAVE played, let’s be honest – you’ve only batted .231 with 3 runs scored. No homers. No RBIs. Those are minor league stats. And it’s not like we’d have shipped you off to Mississippi or anything – you’d have to drive 45 minutes north to Gwinnett to play with the Triple A ballclub.

Get a life, Anderson. You’re not the Braves’ star player. You’re not even a fan favorite working his way to stardom. You’re an injured veteran who needs to prove he can contribute to the team. You haven’t PLAYED the time necessary to demand time in the majors – when you have played, it’s been sub-par, and don’t even get me started on easy pop flies into foul territory. I didn’t even know you could be charged with errors on foul balls until you managed to figure out how to do so. Prove you care about the Braves – put that ego away, go to Gwinnett, play with Tommy Hanson and the boys, and stop whining.

Quit being a little bitch. Heal up fast, too. We didn’t pay you to sit on the bench – we’ve got plenty of talent to do that.

Sincerely,

Braves fans everywhere

Because of the off day yesterday, the Braves have the option of moving everyone up in the schedule by one game without making anyone pitch on short rest.  As a result, Jair Jurrjens will make the start on Saturday and Jo-Jo Reyes on Sunday.  Kawakami will now instead make his start on Tuesday against Johan Santana when the Mets come to Turner Field.

Hopefully this is just a result of the increased pitching demand on Kawakami’s arm and that he will adjust in time.  Before signing a three-year, $23 million contract with the Braves, Kenshin spent 13 years pitching as part of a six-man rotation.  Adjusting to a five-man rotation is giving his body a day less of rest than he has been accustomed to in his entire career.  It will be interesting to see how this pans out, but I’m hopeful for the best.  Do you think this is cause for concern or just early problems adjusting to the changes?

While realizing that he still may have to undergo Lasik surgery once again to repair his vision in his left eye (he originally had the surgery in 2007), McCann will first give make two rehab starts in Class A Myrtle Beach.  With McCann on the disabled list and ineligible for reactivation for the next 10 days, this is the best option to test the new contact combination.  After his two-game stint, starting tonight, a decision will likely be made as to whether or not the surgery should be performed.

Personally, I think the Braves are just prolonging the inevitable with this decision.  Nothing has seemed to work for McCann so far and I just feel like every day that he doesn’t have the surgery is another day that he won’t be playing back in Atlanta.  Granted, the recovery time for Lasik isn’t that long, I think he should go ahead and get it done.  Thoughts?  Am I just completely offbase in thinking that?

Bobby Cox is hesitant to put McCann on the disabled list until he makes it back to Atlanta to be evaluated, but at the same time, it’s hard for the team to play without a backup catcher.  While hoping for some overnight improvement, Cox has acknowledged that he doesn’t expect things to magically change.  McCann has already tried ointments, drops and single contact lenses in his left eye; none of which have really solved the issue.

McCann’s 1-for-20 from the plate in his last games played and he seems to have accepted that having surgery on the eye again in the best route for him to take.  Missing a couple of weeks now to get the problem corrected in full seems like a much better option than fighting with it throughout the season and never really getting it fully resolved.

So what’s the right thing to do?  Go ahead and send McCann to the DL and let him have the surgery so he’ll be good to go for the rest of the season?  Or do we keep trying little things here and there to try to get him through?

UPDATE: It’s official now.  McCann is headed for the 15-day disabled list.

Today is Chipper Jones’ 37th birthday.  In his career on his birthday, Chipper has a .500 average (18 for 37) with 4 HR, 8 RBI and 10 R.  Let’s hope he can keep that up tonight.  Brian McCann was also a late scratch for the game with further eye issues.  David Ross will take his spot in the lineup.  Here’s to trying to get a win streak started tonight as the Braves kick off the last series of the road trip in Cincinnati.

Stay with us for in-game updates, looks like great weather in Cincinnati for baseball.  Javier Vazquez brings his solid season performance, averaging 12.5 strikeouts per 9 innings, to face off against Edison Volquez.  Volquez is 2-1 on the season, but showing a 6.46 ERA.  Hopefully the Braves offense can show up for the game tonight and help Javy out.

Jorge Campillo is the first of the Braves pitching staff (a pitching staff that is all too familiar with the DL, mind you) to make a trip to the disabled list since the start of the season.  After yesterday’s game against the Marlins, it was announced that Campillo will be placed on the DL with right shoulder fatigue.  He has complained of having a “dead arm” since pitching for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic and playing winter ball.  The outlook for Campillo is a little vague right now and he will be evaluated over the next couple of days.  James Parr will be called up from Gwinnett to replace Campillo on the roster.

Yunel Escobar came up lame in yesterday’s game while running out a grounder to first base.  The injury however, a strained abdominal muscle, happened while he was warming up in the on-deck circle.  Braves fans are accustomed to seeing Yunel jumping up and down in the on-deck circle before heading to the plate, which apparently was the cause of the injury.  I’m sure he won’t stop doing it however.  The Braves think it may be three or four games before Yunel is back in the lineup, despite Escobar’s confidence that he could play tonight against Pittsburgh.

Chipper Jones continues to battle the bruised left thumb that has kept him out of the last two games.  He reaggravated the injury while getting jammed against the Marlins on Tuesday.  He is expected to miss tonight’s game against the Pirates, but could be back in the lineup Saturday.  The thumb only bothers him on his left-handed swing.  His play on Sunday will be dependent on how he feels as the Pirates will be sending right-handed Zach Duke to the mound.

David Ross was activated from the disabled list before yesterday’s game and took the start in place of Brian McCann behind the plate.  Don’t worry though, Braves fans, it was just a regularly scheduled off-day for Mac.  Clint Sammons was optioned to AAA to make room on the roster for Ross.  He had been on the DL since straining a groin muscle in a March 31st preseason game.  Ross gives the Braves a little bit of power in the backup catcher role and he should be a good fill-in for the days when McCann needs to be rested.

So the left side of the infield is a little battered and bruised aready, with Chipper and Yunel both missing time, but the Braves aren’t expected to call up another infielder. Infante and Prado are quite capable and handling the load and we should see the starters back in the lineup soon.  Let’s just hope this is nothing serious for Campillo and that he recovers quickly.  I don’t want the pitching staff to start getting too familiar with being injured yet again.

Glavine’s MRI came back to reveal an inflamed rotator cuff. And yes, it may be about time to stick a fork in him – he may be done. The Braves are reporting that Glavine is frustrated with the rehab process and is considering retirement. Frankly, if we’re paying him this year, I don’t want him to give up and retire in a couple weeks. I want him to fight back as long as he can. I’m torn on this – I really don’t WANT Glavine back in anything but fully effective as a starter (with his historic first inning woes, I don’t want him in a relief role).

I’m not really sure what I want to happen with Glavine – I don’t want him back unhealthy and I don’t want him stuck in rehab forever – I really wish we just hadn’t signed him when we did. Couldn’t we have spent that money towards Smoltzie? I’m just bitter about the whole thing. Why sign Glav when we don’t know he’ll pitch? I’m not just an armchair GM, I’m a bitter armchair GM. What are your thoughts on the situation?

Chipper doesn’t expect to miss any time and hopes to be playing again Wednesday, but he’s obviously going to be checked out today to make sure nothing more serious is going on before he’s cleared to play. The last thing the Braves need is the main muscle in their lineup injured before the start of the season. Chipper’s agent said that Chipper doesn’t plan on going home and intends to stay with Team USA.

While Chipper has had offensive struggles during the World Baseball Classic, Brian McCann did well in his first appearance. The Braves’ catcher went 1-2 (and walked once), but his two-run home run and sacrifice fly RBI helped Team USA to a victory over Canada on Saturday. It’s aboot time those Canadians see how talented the young Mr. McCann is, eh? Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Team USA also won the contest that injured Chipper 15-6 last night to guarantee an advance to the second round of games.

The prospects aren’t immune to injury either, however.  Jordan Schafer is sidelined with a strained right shoulder that he sustained while attempting a diving catch in Saturday’s game.  He’s currently expected to miss four games with the injury, but it will likely take a toll on his chances of beating out Josh Anderson to be the starting center fielder for the Braves this season.

Freddie Freeman has been bothered by a strained quad since the first days of camp, but has continued to play.  He is, however, expected to miss the next few games while trying to rest the muscle and get back out there.  Freeman doesn’t have a chance at making the squad out of Spring Training this year, but has made a huge impression on everyone in camp.

The biggest concern out of all of this is the injury to Anderson.  Muscle strains in the legs are the types of injuries that go on to nag a player all season, much like they have with Chipper in the past.  And at age 36, Anderson won’t bounce back quite as quickly as his younger teammates.  It will be interesting to see how this evolves and hopefully it’s only a minor strain as the Braves as a whole are still thin in the outfield.  I look for Schafer and Brandon Jones to get some chances throughout the season to fill in in outfield roles however.  Should we be terribly worried about Garret getting hurt?  Only time will tell.

Kenshin Kawakami continues to impress in Spring Training, throwing his second batting-practice session yesterday.  After throw mostly fastballs in his first session, Kawakami brought a little more to the table this time around, working in the curveball and cutter.  The amount of solid hitting against him saw a significant drop the second time around and Kawakami’s working to make it clear why he was a star in Japan.  We’ll see him in action for the first time this preseason with his Friday start against the Pirates.

Along that line, Bobby Cox has laid out some of the projected starters for the upcoming Spring Training games.  Here are the starters that have been announced so far:

2/25 – vs. Tigers – Jair Jurrjens
2/26 – vs. Astros – Jorge Campillo, Tommy Hanson
2/27 – vs. Pirates – Kenshin Kawakami
2/28 – vs. Blue Jays – Derek Lowe
3/01 – vs. Phillies – Charlie Morton (Questionable)
3/02 – Intrasquad – Javier Vazquez, Jair Jurrjens
3/03 – vs. Panama – Tommy Hanson 
3/04 – vs. Yankees – Kenshin Kawakami

So things are starting to shape up for the pitchers in Florida and we’re already through our first injury of the preseason.  Let’s hope they are limited.  Who are you excited to get a first look at for the season?  I personally can’t wait to get a look at Tommy Hanson on the ESPN broadcast of the game on Thursday. 

Tom Glavine returned from his visit with Dr. Andrews today with a renewed sense of confidence about pitching in the 2009 season.  The question now remains, where will he pitch?  Andrews found no issues with the surgically repaired left elbow and shoulder during the routine checkup and cleared Glavine to increase his pitch counts during his mound sessions.

Dr. Andrews also informed Glavine that he would likely be ready to pitch in spring training.  While he is still not throwing with full intensity, Glavine reported no pain after his 60-pitch session today.  He is slated to throw a 75-pitch session later in the week and then will move on to the next step of his rehab program which will consist of throwing harder, but fewer pitches.

Glavine is expected to meet with Frank Wren later this week to discuss his rehab progress and next steps.  It’s hard to tell if Wren plans to offer Glavine a contract that would be deemed acceptable.  Financially, the Braves are down to about $6 million to spend this offseason and are still on the hunt for an outfielder.  Conversely, some believe that they will make an offer to Glavine to avoid the fallout that was experienced with the departure of John Smoltz.  Only time will tell on that one.

In other news, Don Sutton will once again be heard on Braves radio broadcasts.  The Braves confirmed today that the Nationals and MASN radio network had release Sutton from his contract obligations to allow him to return to Atlanta.  Sutton’s familiar voice, along with newcomer Jim Powell, will fill the void left with the retirement of Pete Van Wieren and the passing of Skip Caray last season.

So what do you think, Braves fans?  What will the outcome of Glav’s meetings with Wren be?  Do we have the financial means to try and bring Glavine on board and still pursue an outfielder?  With the preseason rapidly approaching, there are still questions to be answered.

Smoltz threw from a mound on Friday for the first time since his shoulder surgery in June and experienced no pain or discomfort.  At this point in his rehab, he has been described as being “way ahead of schedule”.  The official answer from the Braves at the current time is that they cannot yet count on Smoltz for the 2009 season, but it appears that his rehab is at least coming along fairly well.  It seems that Bobby Cox is very confident that Smoltz will be back on the mound for the 2009 season, saying, “oh, he’ll be back — no doubt in my mind”.

Though saying that he can’t yet count on Smoltz for 2009, Frank Wren has indicated that he hopes to offer him a contract when he reaches a point in his throwing program that it seems like he will be ready to pitch again.  It’s good to see that 5 arm surgeries throughout his career have not killed the desire in Smoltz to get the Braves back to postseason play.  

It’s not yet clear what role Smoltz would take up on the pitching staff and I presume that a lot of that would depend on how the rest of his rehab program goes.  He has, however, indicated that he would be willing to return in any role that would be helpful to the team, though he would love to return to the rotation.  Whether it be as a starter, in the bullpen, or as the closer, I’d be more than happy to see Smoltz back out at Turner Field.

So what do you think?  Will we see Smoltz back in 2009?  Will he be back in a Braves uniform?  What role do you see him serving on the pitching staff?

Instead, he’s had continuing elbow problems and is back on the Disabled List for a third time this season.  He’s only pitched in 14 games, and has compiled a 2.57 ERA, nine walks, and 16 strikeouts.  Despite not losing much of his effectiveness, his arm continues to bother him.  Elbow tendonitis has bothered him most of the year, and inflammation of the same elbow has sidelined him this time.

Hindsight is 20/20, but it’s not looking like a $9 million contract was a smart idea for Soriano.  We’ll hope he can come back from the DL soon.

• Morton pitched well yesterday – one hit through seven innings, but he gave up a home run to Prince Fielder, and the Braves fell 4-2.
• C.C. Sabathia showed us yesterday why we need to sign him in the offseason.  8 1/3 innings of four-hit ball.  He’s insane.
• Tim Hudson is going ahead with Tommy John surgery – Dr. James Andrews (the recognized expert in this area) will perform the surgery.  Hudson will have a 12 month rehab time before he is expected back with the team.
• Chipper is expecting to be back in the lineup Friday, the first day he’s eligible off the DL.  He says that “everything feels great” and he’s no longer having trouble with either his hamstring or his quad.
• Brian McCann should be expected back in the starting lineup Monday – he’s nearly done recovering from his concussion.  He may pinch hit today.
• Casey Kotchman is off to a slow start in the NL – only 2 for 16 – with 1 RBI.  Yes, it’s only been four games, but he’s not on fire.
• Royce Ring has been designated for assignment after a really ugly stretch where his ERA jumped 5 runs.  That’s not big league ball stuff.  Vladimir Nunez is expected to replace him.  Ring, according to the AJC, has the “distinction of the worst statistical season of any reliever in the history of the franchise since the 1870s, among those who appeared in as many games as he did.”  That didn’t work out well – he’s a specialist and shouldn’t be pitching as much as he did.

Well there ya have it – maybe we’ll see you at the Stadium today.  Ben Sheets is going against Jorge Campillo.  Go Braves!

Hudson has indicated that he wants to avoid having the surgery and will attempt to “tough it out”, but this is the same attitude taken by Peter Moylan earlier in the season and he ended up having the surgery a few weeks later.  As far as I’m concerned, if both doctors are of the opinion that the surgery needs to happen, he should go ahead and get it done so that we can at least try to get him back for the last few months of the 2009 season.  We’ll see what Dr. Andrews has to say in Hudson’s visit tomorrow.

What do you think?  Should Hudson go ahead and have the surgery?

Tim Hudson is on the DL.  Chipper is too.  McCann is missing a few days with a concussion.

And by the time Hudson gets back from the 15 day DL (forearm injury – unspecified) and Chipper’s hammy heals (who knows how long that’ll take), we’re gonna be so far out of first place we couldn’t come back with the entire NL All-Star Team.  And in case you missed it, we don’t have many All-Stars on the team.

Time to pack up shop and turn it in for the year.  Charlie Morton (called up, starts tonight) isn’t much of a replacement for Hudson and Clint Sammons (called up) isn’t McCann. Maybe, just maybe, Jeff Bennett (who was called up from Myrtle Beach) is a good replacement for Jo-Jo Reyes.

Time for the firesale.  Who wants Tex, Ohman, Gonzalez, or Kotsay?  They’re probably very easy to acquire right now.