The details of the possible role are far from finalized, but the Braves have presented many options for Tommy.  Some include the opportunity to serve as an announcer or work in the front office in some capacity.  Additionally, there is the opportunity to work with the Braves’ minor league affiliates to assist in player development and coaching.  Though he hasn’t officially announced his retirement from baseball, Glavine realizes it’s not likely he’ll pitch again, and will likely retire once he assumes a new role in the game.

It seems as if the issues revolving around Glavine’s release last season are one big factor standing in the way of his return to the club.  It’s a situation that wasn’t favorable and, in the eyes of many, wasn’t handled as best as it could have been.  In a situation where he will have to work daily with the same man that decided to release him, Glavine wants to make sure he’s not jumping into a decision he will regret.

Make it official, Tommy.  Announce your retirement to cap off a sure-fire Hall of Fame career and take a new role with the Braves.  It’ll be interesting to see what becomes of the situation, but I hope that Glavine and Wren can work out any animosity and make this a done deal.  I, like many, took exception to Glavine’s departure for the Mets, but I grew up watching him pitch in Atlanta and that’s where I want to see him again.

With Hinske signing a one-year, one-million dollar contract earlier this week, it looks like the Braves are pretty much done with new signings for the offseason.  That’s not to say that Frank Wren won’t still come up with some trade (I can think of a few that I wouldn’t mind seeing), but as far as allocating money for new players, we’re pretty much spent.  Look for something to happen with Brandon Jones in the next couple of days; he was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man for Hinske.

As expected, we didn’t see the front office go after a  big-name offensive power, but instead spread the money around on a few different players.  Melky Cabrera for $2 million, Troy Glaus for $4 million and Hinske for another million.  Was this a good use of our available $7 million?  To be determined.  The success of these moves hinges heavily on Glaus managing to stay healthy and Hinske’s ability to produce from the bench.  I’m confident he’ll have a solid year in a backup role.

In other news, Mark McGwire did steroids…..who knew?!

But anyways,  it looks like this is pretty much the squad the Braves will be taking to Florida in 36 days when pitchers and catchers report.  Thoughts on the offseason moves to this point?  I think we’re better off in a couple of spots, worse off in a couple, and there is a ton that is yet to be determined.  It’s getting to be that time of  year when we’re all just itching to see baseball start back up again.  I know I can’t wait.

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?

So with an estimated $6-9 million remaining to spend, what options are still out there for the Braves?  As I talked about yesterday, one of our favorite options is Xavier Nady.  Nady would not only add a little more depth to the outfield (where the Braves often seem to have persistent injury issues) but would serve as a backup first basemen behind Troy Glaus, who the Braves are hoping to have a solid season on his surgically repaired shoulder.  For me personally, this is my top choice as of right now and what’s left on the market.

Another name that has been tossed around for the amount of money the Braves have remaining and the needs they are looking to fill is Dan Uggla.  He would provide that offensive pop that we have been wishing for while holding down the second base role.  If that’s the case however, I’d like to make sure that there is still a constant starting role for Martin Prado, who I feel is a huge asset to the Braves.

We’ll be anxious watching the news over the coming weeks to see what move or moves the Braves still intend to make.  I think they would be willing to take the current squad to Spring Training, but I get the feeling they would like to make a little bit of a change still.  Who knows?  Maybe we’ll still see them move the recently acquired Melky Cabrera for another bit of offensive power.  With DeRosa off the market, what are your next choices to bring to Atlanta?

If the Braves make a move for more offense however, it’s not going to be one of the big name moves that I have seen and heard many Braves fans tossing around over the past couple of weeks.  We won’t be seeing Adam Dunn or Adrian Gonzales or Jason Bay coming to Atlanta this offseason.  The contracts would be prohibitive and the Braves have already gotten things in the works for an everyday first basemen in Troy Glaus.  All bets are off as to what happens should Glaus fail his physical.

The Braves have an estimated $6-7 million left to spend after the completion of the Glaus acqusition, so don’t expect any of those names I just mentioned.  Instead, there are a couple of options that would still fit the need the Braves have and that we here at BravesBlast would like to see.

Mark DeRosa would be a big pickup for the Braves in that he could play many positions and fill in any gaps that would come up from injuries and needed rest.  He’s the kind of guy that would likely see action most days, just in multiple roles.  DeRosa, who played in Atlanta from 1998-2004, is a career .275 hitter and has hit 44 home runs and has 165 RBI across the past two seasons.  If anything, the big appeal to DeRosa is his versatility.

Another option for the Braves (that I was explicitly informed by Kent that he would like to see happen) is to acquire Xavier Nady, who was not offered arbitration by the Yankees earlier this month.  Nady, in addition to adding depth in the outfield and some more pop in the lineup, provides a backup for Glaus at first base.  Hopefully we won’t need him for that reasoning in particular, but it’s good to know the option exists.

What other options exist for the Braves to add another offensive threat?  If the Braves make another move this offseason is yet to be seen, but if they do, we’d love to see either DeRosa or Nady making their way to Atlanta.

So heading into the 2009 season, we made a wish that Chipper Jones would stay healthy for once and be a constant contributer to the team after playing in less than 135 games in the previous 4 seasons (with the lows being 109 and 110 games in 2005 and 2006).  Well Chipper played in more games in 2009 than he had since 2003 at 143.  But that’s about where the benefit to the team stopped in comparison to 2008.

Now, granted, comparing to 2008 may not be the most fair thing to do seen as how Chipper had a career year, batting .364 with a .470 OBP and slugging .574.  There was a decline in power with him only hitting 22 home runs, but he continued to prove that he is one of the best situational hitters in the game.

The 2009 season however provided few of the highlights that we saw in 2008 however.  By the time the season ended, Chipper, a career .307 hitter, managed only a .264 batting average and hit less than 20 home runs for the first time in his 15 full seasons in the big leagues.  On top of that, he had his fewest number of RBI in his career as well, with 71.  We have always said that we would rather see a semi-healthy Chipper Jones playing for the Braves than many other players, but one more wish for this season is to see a little bit of a rebound of his offensive potential.

Chipper’s under contract through 2012, but I’m still not convinced that he will continue to play after this season if he has another sub-par (by his standards) year.  He’s a key piece in our Christmas wish to give Bobby one more shot at the playoffs and we want to see Chipper Jones performance to bounce back a little closer to his career average numbers.  At the age of 38 just after the 2010 season begins, there aren’t many more seasons left for Chipper, so this is the year to give it one more run for Chipper and Bobby.

Pending a physical in the next week or so, Troy Glaus will become the latest offseason addition to the 2010 lineup for the Braves.  So this begs the question; who is Troy Glaus?  He’s a 6′5″, 240-lb right-handed big man that, before undergoing shoulder surgery this past January, was one of the most reliable bats in Major League Baseball.  Glaus has had 5 seasons with 30 or more home runs (and twice been over 40) as well as 4 seasons with 100+ RBI.  If all goes as planned, he will likely fill the cleanup spot between Chipper Jones and Brian McCann.  This type of offensive threat could drive Chipper to have a little more production that he hasn’t seen since Mark Teixeira was batting behind him.

But this isn’t just a simple answer to the issues the Braves have a first base.  While Glaus batted .270 with 27 home runs and 99 RBI in 2008, he battled multiple ailments in 2009 and only played in a handful of games.  In that time he went 5-for-29 at the plate.  Thankfully, the Braves have the benefit of a full physical before finalizing the deal to bring Glaus to Atlanta.  If healthy, he could provide a little more offensive production, which is definitely on our Christmas wish list for 2010.

The part that scares me however is that he’s not really a first basemen.  Six games over a 12-year career at the position is hardly an experienced first basemen.  So the defensive aspect of this acquisition still leaves a lot to be questioned.  One question answered by this however is that this likely ends any hopes for Adam LaRoche to return to the Braves in 2010.  Despite hitting .385 in 2009 after returning to the Braves, the salary and contract term that would have been required to keep LaRoche around was a little more than the front office was looking to spend.  Once again, Glaus is nothing more than a cheap bridge until Freddie Freeman is ready to head to the majors.

So, until the season starts and we really see what Troy Glaus has got, it’s hard to tell the impact he will have on the team.  Financially, the moves by Frank Wren this week leave the Braves with around $7 million to spend, but will they?  Maybe we’ll see Jason Bay coming to Atlanta.  (Don’t hold your breath on that one, by the way.)  What else is there for the Brave to acquire this offseason?  What else do you want to see?  And more importantly, what does Glaus bring to the team?

]]> http://www.bravesblast.com/2009/12/25/troy-glaus-the-bridge-to-freddie/feed/ 0 http://www.bravesblast.com/2009/12/24/bravesblast-2009-christmas-wish-list/ http://www.bravesblast.com/2009/12/24/bravesblast-2009-christmas-wish-list/#comments Fri, 25 Dec 2009 01:42:22 +0000 Jonathan http://www.bravesblast.com/?p=1349 Well it’s that time of the year.  The BravesBlast crew is putting together our Christmas wish list for this offseason and 2010.  While 2009 provided a lot of highlights and improvements over the year before, there are still a lot of improvements and changes needed.  So we’ll take a minute from the normal Christmas desires for Playstations and electronics and power tools to talk about one of the things we miss the most this time of year.

5.  Add another setup man. The bullpen for the Braves is going to look a little different come 2010.  Gone are the days of Soriano and Gonzo splitting time in the 8th and 9th innings.  If all goes as planned, the 2010 season will see a lot of Takashi Saito working the 8th and Billy Wagner working closing duty.  If Wagner can come back successfully from his Tommy John surgery and return to his dominant closer form, the Braves will be a lot better off than they have been.  What we’d like to see however is one more quality setup man to help bridge the gap to the 8th/9th duo.  Bobby’s known for utilizing the bullpen a good bit (no thanks to the lack of quality starting pitching we saw before the 2009 season), but it can never hurt to have quality relievers to bail out your starters if need be.

4.  More offensive threats. It’s not a big secret that the Braves lack a big-name offensive threat since the departure of Mark Teixeira.  Let’s put some numbers behind it.  Last season, the Braves hit 149 home runs, ranking 22nd out of the 30 teams in the majors.  First place?  244.  And while the Braves may have the 5th best team batting average in the National League, they have only the 10th best slugging percentage; that equates to the 22nd ranked slugging percentage in all of baseball.  Offense isn’t just hitting however.  The Braves often lack the ability to be aggressive on the base path.  2009 saw all of 58 stolen bases for the Braves; next to last in baseball.  Having a little more power in the lineup however would open up a lot more opportunities for the team.

3.  Solidify the outfield. I’ve had issues with the outfield for the Braves for awhile now.  I still agree with the decision to move Francoeur just not necessarily what we got in exchange.  I’m happy to have McLouth around until we can bring up some of our prospects (which, by the way, we have a very stout outfield in the making if we can keep out prospects around).  I’m still not thrilled about the addition of Melky Cabrera, but I’m happy with some of the other pieces we got out of that trade.  So what’s the answer?  I say try to track down another power-hitting outfielder that can help with that previous item on my wish list.

2.  Find the next Bobby Cox. I know it’s not on the mind much yet, but this is Bobby’s last season managing the Braves and, while the focus needs to be on the season at hand, the future is important as well.  So the question is, who is the best option to fill the shoes of one of the most revered managers in the game?  To be honest, my answer to that question right now is that I just don’t know.  In the end, it needs to be someone that can maintain a positive clubhouse attitude……and get thrown out of games as well as Bobby (though that may just be a personal preference).

1.  Going all the way for Bobby. With it having been decided that 2010 is Bobby’s last year at the helm of the Braves, it’s only right that we send him out with the best season possible.  The ideal situation obviously is to get out there and take it all the way, but let’s start by focusing on what needs to happen in Atlanta.  We need playoff baseball back.  After so many years of getting used to having a few guaranteed October games, things have cooled off a little.  Let’s get Bobby back to the playoffs one last time!

So there you have it.  That’s what we’re looking for out of the organization as Christmas presents to us and the rest of the Braves family.  What’s on your wish list for the Braves?

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Last night’s loss hurts….a lot.  Yes, being the doubter that I am at times, I had pretty much written off the game and the season heading into the 8th, down by 5.  Two runs in the 8th and two runs in the ninth and I found myself in that hopeful spot that, by now, I should know better than to do with the Braves.  Two outs, down by 1, bases loaded………I’m sure everyone knows the rest of the story by now.  So I’m just not going to make myself angry with it again.  I’ll leave it to braves.com to tell that story if you haven’t already heard it.

So let me just put this out there that, out of anyone on the team, I’m probably the most okay with the fact that this happened to MattyD.  Diaz consistently goes out on the field and puts everything he has into the game.  He never complains about playing in platoon situations; he just does his job and does it well.  Yes, he made a mistake.  He pretty much made the most decisively costly mistake at the most important time in the season, but, you know what, he has a lot more desire to win than most of the guys on the roster.

I’m not going to deny it.  When the game ended last night, I launched into a profanity-laden tirade around my house (maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t make it out to the game for once) that I’m just waiting to hear from at least one of my neighbors today about how they don’t think they should have their children living in the same neighborhood as me.  But it’s okay, Matty, I still appreciate your value to the team.  Rue and I sat down and discussed this over lunch today.  Had Kelly Johnson been the one ending our hopes for the playoffs last night, there’s a good chance that I would have made it to the stadium before he left for a little face-to-face discussion.

There’s still a slight chance, Braves fans, but either way, let’s try to enjoy our last series of the season.  Get out to the Ted and cheer on the Braves and get ready for a season of sending Bobby Cox off in style next year.  We’ll be here in the offseason helping recap the season and getting ready for 2010.

Down 4-1 in the 6th, the Braves’ chances were lifted with a 3-run Matt Diaz home run, but the high from this didn’t last long, as Kawakami allowed a run for the Marlins in the top of the 7th.  This would go on to be the difference-maker as the Braves fell to the Marlins 5-4.

At that point, eyes turned to the scoreboard to watch the Rockies vs. Brewers game.  There was a little hope when the Brewers scored 3 runs in the top of the 9th to tie the game at 5, but the Rockies ended the game on a 2-run Chris Iannetta pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the 11th.

So five games to go and the Braves are three games back in the Wild Card standings.  We have one more against the Marlins and finish up the season with four against the Nationals at the Ted.  There’s still a chance, we just need to put together some wins.  What do you think?  Is there still hope for the Braves this season?

]]> http://www.bravesblast.com/2009/09/30/that-hurts-a-little/feed/ 1 http://www.bravesblast.com/2009/09/23/home-stretch-11-to-go/ http://www.bravesblast.com/2009/09/23/home-stretch-11-to-go/#comments Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:37:41 +0000 Jonathan http://www.bravesblast.com/?p=1341 So not to sound like a bad fan, but chances are, these are  the last 11 games for the Braves in 2009.  We’re 5 games back in the NL Wild Card and Colorado is playing some tough baseball.  Believe me though, I’d love to be wrong on that statement, but I just don’t see it happening.

However, the second half of this season has been exceptional for the Braves.  Since the All-Star break, the Braves have played .603 baseball (38-25); a good enough winning percentage to be leading any division in baseball right now, save the AL East.  Unfortunately, the games before the break (in which the Braves compiled a 43-45 record) count as well.  And while our current 81-70 record is nothing to be disappointed over, it’s just tough to once again miss the playoffs after playing such great baseball.  Either way, the team we have seen in the second half of the season is getting closer to the playoff-bound Braves teams of the past.

Since the All-Star break, the team hasn’t really let up.  I’ll even go as far back to the beginning of July:

So back to the beginning of July, the Braves are 45-30 and haven’t come close to having a losing month.  Equate that out over an entire season and the Braves would win 97 or 98 games.  The real question is however, can the Braves make that a reality in 2010?  Some things will have to change.  The bullpen will need to stop wasting leads.  The offense will need to come to life when our pitchers need the run support……..and we can’t get swept by the Reds when fighting for a playoff spot.  I think starting pitching is locked up decently for the first time in awhile however.

What else needs to change or stay the same for a playoff run in 2010?  Let’s go out and enjoy these last 11 games of the season.  Who knows, anything can happen.  Just ask the Mets.

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.

But Kenshin Kawakami is still a VERY good pitcher and deserves to be in ANY rotation in the majors. Why? Let’s take a look. He’s allowed 3 runs or less in 17 of his last 19 starts. He’s averaging 5.5 innings per game. At 3 runs or less, the Braves should be in it every night when he’s on the mound.

But he’s not getting much run support. While Kawakami is on the mound, the Braves only score 3.0 runs, on average. That’s compared to 6.2 for Tommy Hanson, 5.4 for Jurrjens, 5.0 for Lowe, and 4.9 for Vazquez. With a 2 run disparity, on average, every game this year, I’d argue it’s not Kenshin’s fault that he doesn’t have a, say, 9-5 record.

With a little more run support from the offense, look for Kawakami to put up a better record in the second half of the season. He’s a mighty fine pitcher to have in the rotation’s four hole. And before someone suggests it, I don’t want Hudson in the rotation instead of Kawakami. Hudson should pitch out of the ‘pen and give the Braves even more depth in an already ridiculously stacked pitching staff. We should be more proud of Kawakami.

Maybe we should even start a group – Kawakami’s… ok I can’t come up with anything that rhymes. A little help?

Smoltz signed with the Red Sox this spring hoping to make a comeback from shoulder surgery and the Braves got some serious flack for not matching his contract from a lot of people (including myself). In the end, it looks like Frank Wren went the right direction as Smoltz had a disappointing sting with the Sox, going 2-5 with an 8.32 ERA in 8 games started. There was some banter for the Braves to bring him back in the bullpen, but with the Braves anticipating the return of Tim Hudson from the DL, they passed on Smoltz.

Smoltz will join the Cardinals’ rotation – and I’m sure he hopes to not post an 8.32 ERA in additional outings. We’ll hope he can return and perform – and that he’s not just doing the Brett Favre “I will not retire” dance.

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?

The Braves are back.

Do you remember the days when the Braves threw top-of-rotation starters at opponents just about every single night? Those days are back. Remember the days when Atlanta combined timely hitting and superior defense with that pitching to down opponents with regularity? Those days are back.

The Atlanta Braves now hold the best record of any team in the National League since the all-star break (17-9). Since the break, the Braves are 3rd in the league in runs scored, 2nd in homeruns, and 4th in team batting average. Atlanta also leads in the league in “second half” team ERA (3.03).

In fact, Atlanta holds the best record of any team in the NL since June 28th (26-14). That’s a .650 win percentage. To put that in perspective, a .650 clip over a 162 games would translate to 105 wins. That’s how well the Braves have played over the last 40 games. And we’re not talking about an insignificant sample size. As a friend pointed out to me Tuesday night as we sat at “The Ted” and watched the Braves bang around the Nats… 40 games is a full quarter of a season.

Yet, as of August 13th, the ESPN Power Rankings say there are 13 MLB teams better than Atlanta. Really? I’ll take that bet.

The Braves have substantially upgraded fully HALF of their lineup, and baseball’s top prospect, Jason Heyward, might make his big league debut in September. Also, to what is already the league’s best pitching staff, the Braves will soon add Tim Hudson, who is slated to return from his “Tommy John” rehab later this month.

So while the Baseball Tonight folks yap endlessly about the Yankees, Red Sox, and Pedro’s return to the mound, the Braves will look to continue taking care of business. Though, another series win against the Phillies this weekend would certainly make the Braves harder to ignore. And I’m confident that another series win is the only thing on the minds of these resurgent Atlanta Braves.

Braves fans, are you excited yet?

I understand his sentiment, but my opinion is based on more than giddy optimism or wishful thinking, though I couldn’t explain my reasoning very well under the constraints of 140 characters. To explain my position, let’s look at what this Atlanta lineup has done lately.

The offense scuffled a bit recently for about a week in Florida, and in Atlanta against the Dodgers, averaging 3 runs per game over that period. Against tough pitching, and without their RBI leader, Yunel Escobar, for most of that stretch, Braves bats responded poorly. But both before and after that quiet week, the Bravos have gone a long way to prove that their offensive woes are in the past. Over their last 4 games, Atlanta has touched up Padres and Dodgers pitching for a total of 28 runs.

And before that one-week offensive slump?

For the month of July, only two National League teams scored more than the Braves’ 139 runs: The Cubs (141), and the Phillies (153). Atlanta was also 2nd in team batting average (.284), and 3rd in homeruns (32). It’s also worth noting that both Chicago and Phili play in far more hitter-friendly ballparks than do the Atlanta Braves.

“OK, sure… they had a good month of July, and they’ve scored big in their past few games, but you’re forgetting about the first three months of the season.”

No, I haven’t forgotten. But if you’re going to reference Atlanta’s early season offense, you might as well be talking about last year’s team. This lineup has changed more from the one we saw through the first 2-3 months of the season than many teams change over a full winter of off-season adjustments. The mid-season extreme makeover of this Atlanta lineup is worthy of its own cable television show. They have replaced Jordan Schafer, Kelly Johnson, Jeff Francoeur, and Casey Kotchman… with Nate McClouth, Martin Prado, and Matt Diaz/Ryan Church, and Adam LaRoche. They have literally upgraded no less than HALF of the lineup, in-flight.

In short, this isn’t the same team we saw in April or May, or even in June. Not even close. Since the all-star Break, the Braves are 2nd in team average and homeruns, and 3rd in runs scored.

To put the ability of the present Braves offense in perspective… the following numbers are the current statistics of each member of Atlanta’s lineup, projected over 550 at-bats. The one exception is Adam LaRoche. Rather than project his season totals, I used his average post-all-star break performance as point of reference. I have also taken special considerations into account where Anderson and Diaz/Church are concerned, which are explained below.

These numbers aren’t ’09 season totals predictions. They are simply intended to put each player’s performance in perspective.

Every single hitter in this lineup, with the exception of Ryan Church, is a threat to go deep. But even more impressive… take another look at those batting averages, on-base percentages, and doubles/triples numbers.

What’s more, Chipper Jones and Brian McCann are clearly capable of better than what they’ve done so far in 2009. Also, it didn’t go without notice that Braves’ GM, Frank Wren, has spent the last few days observing the Mississippi Braves in person. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why. Jason Heyward, arguably the top prospect in all of baseball and current member of the Miss. Braves, may make his big league debut this month or next.

To what was one of the top three lineups in the NL in July, the Braves have added notorious second-half assassin, Adam LaRoche. And the lineup may become better still with the possible 2009 arrival of Heyward.

Don’t look now, but the Atlanta Braves are no longer offensively challenged. They may have dug too deep a hole to earn a postseason berth. We’ll just have to wait and see. But if the wheels don’t fall off other areas of strength this season (such as holding the lead in the 9th), the Braves could at least make things interesting before it’s all over.

What do you think? Do you like what you’re seeing from this offense?

*Garrett Anderson: After missing most of the spring and the first month of the season, May was an adjustment period for Anderson. His projected numbers are based on his performance since June 1. *Adam LaRoche: LaRoche’s numbers were based on his average post-all-star break performance. *Diaz/Church: The numbers for the Diaz Church platoon are based on Diaz’s performance vs. left-handed pitching, combined with Church’s performance vs. right-handed pitching.

That said, the Braves want power. They want a little more pop in their lineup and LaRoche gives them that. He has to work on keeping the strikeouts down (he’s whiffed 83 times already this year, compared to Kotchman’s 28). LaRoche does walk a bit more, too.

The bottom line is that the Braves think LaRoche is a better fit and jumped on the opportunity to bring him back home. When he was with us before, he struck out less. He now gets to play with his old buds and hopefully provide some punch to the back of our lineup, which isn’t looking shabby now. Here’s a guestimated lineup, assuming everyone is healthy:

McLouth, Prado/Johnson, Chipper, McCann, Anderson, Escobar, Church/Diaz, LaRoche. Having someone on pace to hit around 20 homeruns is not a bad person to have in the 8 hole – especially if the guys before him are on base enough to give him RBI opportunities. Sure, he’s only hitting .248, but I’m choosing to stay on the positive side of this trade. I’ll leave the negative to someone else.

Kudos to Wren and Cox for going out and making a move that they believe makes this team better. They’ve been right so many times in the past when it looks like a wash – why should now be any different?

Update: Yahoo’s Gordon Edes (and MLBTradeRumors) reports that the Braves have acquired Adam LaRoche from the Boston Red Sox. There are a few confirmations that this is at least in the works, very close, if not confirmed. Monitoring…

SI’s Jon Heyman reports that now that the Red Sox have acquired Victor Martinez from the Indians, they’re looking to move Adam LaRoche. The Braves are reported to be interested.

LaRoche is hitting .248 this season but that’s with 13 homers, 43 RBIs, and far too many strikeouts. He’d be a bit of power for the Braves (who wouldn’t be able to unload Kotchman onto the Sox) but isn’t quite a high average hitter. That said, he’s probably a better fit for the Braves than Nick Johnson, as I suggested this morning.

Glad to hear the Braves may be looking to upgrade their first base slot at the deadline. Now Braves: make a smart deal, upgrade us a bit, and don’t mortgage the future.

Personal note: I’m not sure that LaRoche is that much of an upgrade over Kotchman. Too many strikeouts and not high enough OBP. What are your thoughts? Good idea or no?

The Braves need to move. They need a bat. Standing pat will, mark my words, leave us at home and out of the playoffs. Pitching alone wins – but not enough for the Braves – as far back as we are and as upgraded as the contenders look to be – we need a bat to augment our pitching staff.

Here’s the deal: Braves trade for Nick Johnson. Offer Jo-Jo Reyes. Kris Medlen. Hell, give ‘em Casey Kotchman. Johnson plays for a few months, propels the Braves to the postseason, and splits in free agency (bound to happen). Braves play Barbaro Canizares and Martin Prado at 1B next season, give youth their chance to shine, and bring up Freddie Freeman either late next year or the 2011 season. That’s the plan to get to Freeman, who is one of the Braves’ top prospects.

But we want to win. We’re so close. We just need to win a LOT really FAST. And we need a bat to do it.

Nick Johnson is the man. Let’s rent a first base slugger for a few months. Let’s do it. I want to play postseason ball in Atlanta again. With a staff like this, we’re hard to beat in the postseason, but we have to get there first.