The Deadline Looms

Written by Jonathan on July 31, 2008 – 11:22 am

Mark Teixeira may have been the most noteworthy move that the Braves will make before today’s 4pm trade deadline, but Frank Wren and the Braves organization still have some potential moves to make.  With Teixeira gone to the Angels in exchange for Casey Kotchman, it’s time to look more towards starting to rebuild the team for the 2009 season.  The Braves are in definite sell mode, so here are some quick highlights of the thoughts and rumors that are going around:

Will Ohman - The likelihood that Ohman makes it to the deadline as a Brave is pretty low.  There are a few teams interested in the relief he can provide, including the Cardinals who just happen to be in town.  How strange would it be to be traded to the visiting team while they were here?  Trading Ohman seems like one of Wren’s more likely moves today.

Mark Kotsay - I hadn’t really thought much about the Braves trading Kotsay, but Mark Bowman gives a 50% chance that he’ll be traded before the deadline.  Bowman also indicates that he may stick around until August.  I don’t really know what to think about this one either way.

Jason Bay - There has been some talk in the interest of acquiring Jason Bay from the Pirates, but with the talks going on between the Bucs and the Marlins/Red Sox, I don’t see much chance of this happening this season.  I could see an offseason move to help acquire a power-hitting outfielder. Update: The Pirates are still shopping Bay around to other teams but the Braves have not come up in talks. Update 2: Looks like Bay is going to the Red Sox in a trade that is sending Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers.

Starting Pitching - Don’t look for any moves on the starting pitching front today as Wren is more in sell mode to see what he can make out of our roster for the rest of the season.  Some names that have been tossed around for next year are possibly trying to obtain Sabathia, Sheets, or Lackey to help bolster the starting rotation.  With Hudson likely gone for part of next year.  This will be a big one to look out for for next year.

Completed NL East Trades:
Mark Teixiera to the Angels, Casey Kotchman and Stephen Marek to the Braves.
Gaby Hernandez to the Mariners, Arthur Rhodes to the Marlins.

There’s what I have time to throw out there right now, I will keep updating as the day goes on.  In the meantime, let us know the rumors you hear and the thoughts you have about the Braves at the trade deadline.


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Posted in Roster Moves, Speculation |

The Final Countdown: 10 Days to Trade

Written by Dan on July 21, 2008 – 3:30 pm

Coming off an ugly 15-6 (and series) defeat to the worst team in the NL East, the Braves are playing very ugly baseball while still on life support sitting six and a half games behind the first-place Mets and Phillies. Coming out of the break, this was the series to make a statement and unfortunately it was the wrong one. The Braves will now play thirteen consecutive games against teams with winning records (@FLA, @PHI, STL and MIL). They will now be challenged and if their play over the past month and a half is any indication, this is going to be a difficult stretch where 6-7 may be a winning scenario.

Monday means that ten days remain until the non-waiver trade deadline and it is certain that the Braves will receive national coverage for their position in trading slugger Mark Teixeira. While I feel that this team is still within reach of coming back, I think that the Braves may be forced into looking at moving Teixeira. There already was talk of a trade with Boston that would effectively swap first-basemen with Kevin Youkilis coming to Atlanta, but I do not see that trade coming back to life. The Braves would be smart to search for suitors on Teixeira now because he will be a free agent at the end of the season. While they will receive two supplemental picks for the loss of Teixeira, the lack of available bats at the deadline could mean that the Braves can pick up a lot more than the equivalent of two early round draft picks. They should be able to pick up a player that is major league ready and a couple of other mid-level prospects. For example, I can conceive a package of SP Justin Masterson or SP Clay Buchholz, 1B Chris Carter and another mid-level prospect from Boston and that would make a lot of sense for each team. Deals can come together in a matter of hours, so it may be Boston or a team that has not even been discussed yet with an attractive package to sell to the Braves for Teixeira.

I fear that the blame for the mess that the 2008 season has become has been placed mostly on injuries. While it certainly plays a part to the failure of the first-half, I am going to argue that some heat needs to be passed to the management of the team. This team was picked my many, including by myself, Peter Gammons and ESPN.com, to be World Series winners. The reason for that was the depth that the pitching and offense had. Generally speaking, the Braves offense and pitching continues to be successful of the 16 National league teams they are presently ranked 2nd in team ERA, 3rd in Team batting average and lead the league in hits allowed. It has just not come together for one reason or another. I criticize Frank Wren & co. for not making a single addition to effect the major league team since acquiring Greg Norton back in May for next to nothing (Brian Lawrence and Jorge Julio have been signed to minor league contracts). With a bench that lacks depth and punch, the front office needed to make a low cost move when things started to go south over a month ago and nothing was done. An example of a low cost pickup could have been Richie Sexson, now a Yankee, who could have been signed for the pro-rated major league minimum at around 200K for the remainder of the season. Immediately his power hitting ability would have been useful on a bench without power and at least his .218 batting average would have already been better than that of current Braves bench dwellers in Norton, Ruben Gotay and Corky Miller. The injuries have been devastating, but the lack of any move at all really has hurt this team and the depth on the bench.

Fortunately, baseball fans are familiar with “the comeback.” Braves fans can fondly remember the 2005 team that stormed its way to the NL East crown. Of course the 2007 season provided unforgettable comebacks by the Rockies and Phillies in the last week of the season. The Braves have the parts to contend and hopefully will be able to depending as to what happens in the next ten days. Now is the time to make or break the 2008 Braves season, we will have to wait and see if Frank Wren’s first move is big impact or silence.


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Braves Should Be Buyers At Deadline

Written by Dan on June 28, 2008 – 3:06 pm

To answer the question of buyer versus seller for the Braves, please remember the last two weeks of the 2007 season in the National League — anything is possible. Currently sitting four games back of the Phillies, the Braves are still very much alive in the most competitive division in baseball and will be buyers by the trade deadline.

I identify the Braves immediate needs as being veteran starting pitching and improving their bench. So do not expect another Mark Teixiera type trade this summer. Fortunately, Mike Hampton, Tom Glavine and Mark Kotsay are all on the mend and will be back before the trade deadline which could turn out to have the effect of a bigger trade.

The current starting rotation has held up unbelievably so, with four rookies, but I feel that the Braves need to add one more inexpensive starting pitcher because there are so many health questions with aging veterans (I mean it’s Mike Hampton…c’mon!) and four rookies. The durability of young starting pitching is always in question when it comes to September and hopefully October, so some insurance would be great to have. Frank Wren should not be looking to spend too much in this area, but players that could make sense are: Shawn Chacon, Free Agent; Odalis Perez, Washington; and Paul Byrd, Cleveland.

Buying low on Chacon makes a ton of sense to me because he will not cost the Braves a single prospect, he has some playoff experience, absolutely has something to prove and can really add depth as a starter or reliever. Whether or not the Braves want to take the chance on Chacon is a whole different question, but anyone can see that “free” is better than trading a prospect or two for Byrd or Perez who offer no upgrades on Chacon. Again, these guys aren’t going to knock you off your feet, but it’s depth that the Braves need since the young pitching is in the long-term plan (Jurrjens, Reyes and Morton). However, if the opportunity is there to get Erik Bedard in a Braves jersey, it would be worth the high price to put a potentially dominant righty-lefty combination back to back with Tim Hudson.

The Braves bench has shown its ugly face with recent injuries and currently is comprised of four players hitting below the Richie Sexson Line (.218). Corky Miller (.100), Ruben Gotay (.211), Greg Norton (.207) and Brent Lillibridge(.091) do not provide the depth that the Braves need from the bench. Perhapd Norton and Gotay can hang around but Miller needs to be sent packing and I have seen Lillibridge hit one ball to the outfield, he needs more time. Truly, I feel more comfortable with Jorge Campillo (.267) at the plate than Miller at this point. Without much help in sight from the minors, acquiring a backup catcher should become an immediate priority for Wren and the baseball operations people. Some options include: Gregg Zaun, Toronto; Ronnie Paulino, Pittsburgh; and David Ross, Cincinnati. Zaun is the best (and most expensive) of the bunch. He would provide the most experience and a great bat off the bench if need be. Zaun has an option year coming and would cost around 2 million dollars for the remainder of the season, which may be cheap enough. I like the idea of adding Paulino a lot as well. Paulino is a career .279 hitter and has fallen out of favor in Pittsburgh; he is still young and could pan out as a solid catcher somewhere. I have heard questions about his character and commitment, not something that the Braves are known for having a high tolerance for.

One final player name that I need to mention is that of Randy Winn. Acquiring Winn makes so much sense to be because he drops everyone down a spot and makes the entire outfield and bench better. A healthy Matt Diaz and Gregor Blanco become 4th and 5th outfielders’, which in turn makes the bench a lot more dangerous in the late innings with Diaz and his ability to mash lefties and Blanco’s speed as a pinch runner or defensive replacement. Winn also is durable and can be counted on to be in the lineup (149+ games played since 2001). The Braves have been linked to Winn earlier this month and it does make sense.

Remember that it does not always have to be a big deal to make a big impact and the Braves should be looking hard at some of the less talked about names approaching the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline.

- Dan
BravesBlast is proud to introduce its newest contributing writer, Dan Fisher.  For Dan’s personal blog, visit http://baseballecon.blogspot.com.


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Posted in Roster Moves, Speculation |

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