Norton To Braves

The Braves have announced that utility player Greg Norton has been acquired from the Mariners for a to-be-named player.  We expect the rest of that announcement later this afternoon.  Norton is expected to fill the role that Scott Spezio was originally acquired for as a veteran utility man on the bench.  He has batted .253 over a 12-season career and .235 in pinch hitting situations.  As soon as we have the rest of the details of the trade, we’ll bring those to you.

Chuck James Wins….A Trip To Richmond

Chuck James pitched 5 innings tonight against the Marlins, giving up 4 runs and earning his second win of the season.  After the game however, Chuck was optioned back to AAA Richmond.  James was making starts in place of the injured Tom Glavine who is set to come off the disabled list with a strained hamstring this coming Tuesday against the Nationals.  The Braves made the move today instead of on Tuesday to call up a fresh arm for the bullpen to have over the weekend.  This announcement should come sometime tomorrow.

Guesses as to who may be called up are hard to formulate now, but I’d say Jo-Jo Reyes has a chance.  The roster doesn’t have room for more starters right now, but Jo-Jo is having a hot season for Richmond thus far. He has 24 strikeouts and only 6 walks in 21 innings thus far this season.  He’s also sitting with a 0.43 ERA.  It looks like the time spent on his mechanics thus far this season have been a big help for Jo-Jo who walked 11 in 11 innings in spring training.  We’ll let you know as soon as we hear about who’s getting called up.

Carlyle Called Up, Who Goes?

As reported by the AJC, Buddy Carlyle is on his way from Triple-A Richmond to Florida to meet up with the Braves for their series against the Marlins.  He is slated to either replace Tom Glavine should he need to be placed on the disabled list because of his hamstring, or to fill in as the fifth starter in the rotation.

With this move, someone from the bullpen has to be sent down to make room on the roster.   The Braves have not yet announced their decision on whose spot Carlyle will take, but I’m hopeful that it’s Chris Resop.  Resop, though he’s out of options and would have to clear waivers, has been a thorn in the side of the pen so far this season as far as I’m concerned.  I don’t think Jeff Bennett’s outing was bad enough to send him and we need his potential as a long reliever.

Carlyle was 0-0 through 2 outings in Richmond thus far this season with a 7.04 ERA.

UPDATE: The Braves have announced that Peter Moylan has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right elbow strain.

Chuck James Optioned to Richmond

Chuck James was optioned to AAA Richmond today, the day after giving up six runs in just three innings of work.  Reliever Jorge Campillo will be coming to the majors to take his place on the roster.

James has had issues with a partially torn rotator cuff and didn’t pitch until the last three weeks in spring training.  Then with his DL stint, the first real action he saw was last night.  He mentioned after the start that he needed to get more innings in somewhere in order to improve his control (kind of evident when you hit three batters and walk one in three innings).

One encouraging thing about James last night was that he struck out five.  Good to see that number, if we can just cut down on the hits and runs given up, he’ll be good.

At least we didn’t see Jo-Jo come back up in his place.  I think Jo-Jo needs more time before he’s majors-ready.

Smoltz Out After 5

John Smoltz was activated from the disabled list today to make his start against the Mets this afternoon.  Smoltz had been on the 15-day DL with some soreness between his neck and his right shoulder dating back into preseason play.  He looked solid from the mound today, striking out 6 in 5 innings of 2-hit, scoreless work.  Smoltz left the game before the 6th inning, throwing 78 pitches on the day.

As we found out at the end of the game today, Smoltz experienced some of the same pain and tightness that originally placed him on the disabled list while warming up before the 5th inning.  He pitched through the inning and left the game after talking to Bobby Cox about the issue.  It’s just too early in the season to risk losing Smoltz for an extended period of time.   In a postgame interview, Smoltz said he was confident that he’d be back on the mound without missing a start.

In related news, to make room for Smoltz back on the active roster, Jo-Jo Reyes was optioned back to AAA Richmond.  Reyes was brought up to fill the roster spot vacated by Mike Hampton being placed on the 15-day DL.

Hopefully we’ll see Smoltz make his scheduled start on Friday to open the series against the Washington Nationals.  I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about the condition of his shoulder as the week goes on.

‘08 Roster Nearing Completion

After last night’s loss to Cleveland, the Braves further thinned out their roster, getting ready for Sunday’s game against the Washington Nationals.  Of course the most notable moves involved the ongoing battles for the limited number of backup spots on the roster.

Brent Lillibridge, impressive as he was in the first half of the spring, got sent back to AAA Richmond, where he’ll get more playing time.  I think this is crucial, since either he or Escobar will likely be trade bait before too long.  He needs to be playing all the time.  Martin Prado gets to stay in Atlanta - his first time starting the season in the majors.  Joining Prado (who played a few innings last night at first, by the way) is new acquisition Ruben Gotay, a switch-hitting contact hitter who can play second, third, and short.

In the outfield, Gregor Blanco beat out Josh Anderson for the backup job.  Anderson got out-hit by Blanco this spring (.260 to .341) and despite his speed, Bobby couldn’t find a roster spot for him.  I like Anderson though - if we have an issue mid-season with Diaz or Kotsay I’m sure we’ll see him (maybe even before Schafer, whom they might want to groom all season long).

Behind the plate, Corky Miller seems to have the backup job.  Brayan Pena is still on the roster too, but he’s out of options and conventional wisdom says he’s traded by the end of the day.  If Pena sticks around, he can pitch in at first as well.

So that leaves the five bench spots going to Blanco (OF), Gotay (IF), Prado (IF), Pena (C/1B) and Miller (C).  I’m not sure what we’ll see happen if Pena is traded - maybe Anderson comes back up?

The Bullpen is finally solid, with slots going to Peter Moylan, Rafael Soriano, Manny Acosta, Will Ohman, Chris Resop, Royce Ring, and Blaine Boyer.  I like this year’s ‘pen.  Lots of arms who have the capacity to be good pitchers throughout the season.

Jeff Bennett and Buddy Carlyle are still fighting for the pitching slot left vacant by Smoltzie, who will start the season on the DL (it’ll be backdated and he’ll only miss one start).  I’d give the edge to Bennett in this one - he’s been impressive, but Carlyle hasn’t put together a bad spring himself.

More as we hear it - our ears are to the ground today as we wait for the final moves to be made.

Gotay In, Thorman Out

Our least favorite backup, Scott Thorman, cleared waivers this afternoon and has been assigned to AAA Richmond.  Thorman had a bit of a disappointing spring and apparently had no value to any other team.  At all.  He was out there for free today and nobody wanted him.  So what are we still doing with him?

In other news, much to the chagrin of our Mets friends over at The ‘Ropolitans and MetsMerized, we picked up Ruben Gotay off the waiver wire.  He’s a switch hitting infielder with experience at 2B, SS, and 3B.  Now I’m not sure why we picked him up as we have Prado, Lillibridge, and Infante as possible backups in the infield, but his versatility and offensive potential probably led the Braves to believe he’ll be a better backup then, say, Infante.

Jair Jurrjens has been appointed the starter for Wednesday’s game against the Pirates, but he hasn’t been told he’s made the team yet officially.  Jair, I think it’s safe to say you’re on the team.

Speaking of Jair, I’m off to watch him pitch tonight’s exhibition game against the Indians.  More after the game.

Yates Traded to Pirates

The Braves traded out-of-options reliever Tyler Yates to the Pirates for minor league starter Todd Redmond.  Yates lost the battle to start the year out in the big leagues and the Braves chose to trade him rather than put him on waivers in hopes he’d make it back to the minors.

Redmond went 22-21 in 70 appearances over three seasons in the minors, after being drafted in the 39th round in 2004.  The 22 year old prospect has two solid pitches - a low 90s fastball and a curve, and he’s working on his changeup.  He apparently has great control - Baseball America says he’s got the best control in the Pirates’ minor league system.   He struck out 97 batters in 160 innings last year.

We should see Redmond go to either high A ball or AA ball.  I’m impressed that the Braves are able to get a decent pitching young pitching prospect for a middle reliever out of options.  We may never hear from Redmond again, but he could also continue to develop and see the big leagues before it’s all over.  The Braves do have one of the best development systems in baseball.  Welcome to the Braves organization, Todd.  Hope you enjoy your time here.

Trade Rumors Circle Optionless Players

Frank Wren let loose this past weekend with a couple interesting tidbits regarding roster options heading into the season.  Firstly, there are trade talks surrounding many of the out of options players.  Secondly, the Braves have the payroll flexibility to add a player with a $3-4 million if necessary.  This puts us in a good position as Bobby and Frank finalize the 25-man roster.

Wren has said that teh Braves will take whatever player is the best fit for the team, and shop the other players around.  If the Braves don’t trade their out of options players, they’ll likely lose them on the waiver wire with no compensation.  What do other teams want with our leftovers?  Let’s break it down by player:

Brayan Pena

Corky Miller looks to be the favorite to win the backup catcher position, leaving Pena without a place.  He’s a switch hitter and can play first and third as well as outfield, which will make him in demand and valuable to other organizations.

Scott Thorman

Thorman has at times shown power potential that is interesting to some teams.  I’m really not sure what we’d be able to get for him - he’s not been very successful (putting it lightly) in his time in the big leagues, not to mention this spring.  He’s hitting .140 this spring.

The bullpen is congested - seven spots are available, but five of them appear to be spoken for.  Soriano, Moylan, Acosta, Bennett, and Ohman appear to be locks.  This leaves Blaine Boyer, Royce Ring, Chris Resop, and Tyler Yates competing for two spots.  Ridgway will likely get sent to AAA as he still has options left.  Boyer and Resop have been impressive and likely are the leaders for the last two spots (Resop has averaged a strikeout per inning, and Boyer has a 2.25 ERA in seven outings).  This leaves Yates and Ring.

Tyler Yates

Yates has been unimpressive so far this spring.  He’s walked 10 in 7 innings.  He’s also given up 7 hits.  But he’s a steady arm and will likely settle down once the season is moving.  For a team that needs depth in the bullpen, he could be an important addition.

Royce Ring

Royce Ring has immediate value to many bullpens because he’s a lefty, and left-handed specialists are in short supply.  This is the same reason the Braves may keep him - if they want another lefty to join Ohman, they may not want to wait for Mike Gonzalez to get healthy mid-season.  We’ll see what happens - he’d be useful to a lot of teams out there.

For one, I appreciate that the Braves are leaving enough room in their finances to be able to spend money going into the season.  I also appreciate that Wren isn’t just going to ship our guys through waivers and hope they make it to the minors.  We won’t know the magnitude of the goings on until the trigger is pulled on the trades, but as we hear it, we’ll report it.

Second Round of Cuts, Javy Retires

The Braves cut Javy Lopez and six other players today from their Spring Training roster, prompting Javy to announce his retirement and end his comeback bid.  Bobby Cox revealed that Javy lost the battle for the backup catcher position because his arm wasn’t strong enough.  Cox spoke with the catcher about starting the season in the minors, but Javy decided against it and announced his retirement.

Fans will be disappointed to see Javy go - his seasons in the late 90s with Atlanta will be remembered as his prime, when he consistently made the All Star team and put together a reputation based on his offensive firepower.  He’ll retire with a .287 average, 260 home runs, and 864 RBIs.  Javy, thanks for the great seasons from 1992 through 2003.

Also cut from the roster today were outfield prospect Jordan Schafer, Brandon Jones, Ryan Drese, Jorge Campillo, Francisley Bueno, and of course the woeful Jo-Jo Reyes.  None of these are very surprising - they all need more work before they can compete at the big league level.  We’ll hope the bad spring won’t discourage Jo-Jo Reyes, who has potential but cannot for the life of him put together a decent string of outings.  We’ll see Schafer here next year (or towards the end of the year) for sure.  Brandon Jones is talented but needs more patience at the plate before he’s ready.

On we move through spring training - we’ll have more on cuts as they come.

First Round of Cuts

The Braves cut six players from their spring roster Wednesday in their first round of cuts.  The six players included five pitchers and catcher J.C. Boscan.  Charlie Morton was optioned to Class AAA Richmond, along with Zach Schreiber and Phil Stockman.  Matt DeSalvo was re-assigned to Richmond.  Jairo Cuevas was optioned to Class AA in Mississippi, and J.C. Boscan was re-assigned to Mississippi.

Morton pitched three innings this spring and gave up 4 runs (only one earned) on 5 hits.  Cox likes Morton - said he thinks Morton “is going to be a good pitcher.”  Quite frankly, we’re a little surprised that Morton was cut this quickly - he looked good this spring.  Matt DeSalvo also looked good this spring, but after pitching 6.1 innings and giving up 5 runs and walking 6, he was clearly not ready for the big time in Atlanta.

Stockman had a strong showing, pitching 2 innings and striking out 3 while giving up no runs.  Schreiber pitched 5 innings in 3 outings - he gave up 2 earned runs and walked 3 as well as striking out three.

DeSalvo and Morton will contribute to a strong Richmond rotation that will help AAA hopefully return to the AAA championship.  We’ll probably also see Chuck James, Jeff Bennett, and possibly Jo-Jo Reyes end up on the Richmond rotation.

I’m sure that we’ll see Morton and Schreiber back in the big leagues before too long - they both have talent and a future in front of them.  For now though, they need a bit more development.

Braves Renew Francoeur’s Contract

The Braves renewed Jeff Francoeur’s contract unilaterally yesterday - meaning he’ll make $460,000 next year.  They did so after meeting with his agent and trying to see if they could hammer out a long-term deal first, but they’re apparently too far apart on terms to sign him to a long-term deal just yet.

Now in our opinion, that puts Francoeur as one of the most underpaid outfielders in the history of the game.  He’s really one of the brightest prospects we’ve had come up since Chipper Jones (along with McCann) and we need to sign him long-term.  We signed McCann to a six year deal last year (worth $26.5 million), and he’ll make $3.5 million this year.  Francoeur is projected to make roughly that next year once he’s arbitration eligible.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the process, a club can offer a contract to a player for the first three years of their big league career.  If the player turns down the contract, the club can unilaterally renew their contract and assign them a salary.

The Braves and Francoeur remain far enough apart not to discuss a deal currently.  Francoeur is expected to be looking for a deal somewhere in the range of 5-6 years for $50-60 million.  We’ll see what the Braves respond with, but I think they should lock him up while they can.  Just because we have outfielders galore in the farm system doesn’t mean we should just ditch Francoeur after a few season as fan favorite.

Francoeur won’t negotiate contract details during the season as he wants to focus on baseball.  We probably won’t hear more about this until next offseason.  In the meantime, let’s hope the Braves come up with a package he’ll sign for.