Braves Trade Rumor Updates

Written by Dan on July 24, 2008 – 12:42 pm

All indications are pointing towards the Braves taking a passive approach to the non-waiver trade deadline. Here are the Braves related notes I have been hearing as of this morning:

  • Mike Gonzalez - The Braves closer has received interest from the Texas Rangers organization. The Rangers, in desperate need of bullpen help would be willing to trade an outfielder for Gonzalez. Outfielders could include David Murphy, Frank Catalanotto, Brandon Boggs or Marlon Byrd. While the Braves need an outfielder, it would be unwise to sell Gonzalez at this low of a price. He has a top-5 closer ceiling, it would be painful to see that production in another organization. Murphy and a top prospect might get the trade done however. For those who do not know David Murphy yet — he is a hard-nosed player that pounds the gaps hard. He will not be an all-star but has some above-average years in him. The rest of that crew would not be an attractive solution to our problems with outfield power.
  • Mark Teixeira - The Braves have apparently started to seriously consider moving Teixeira. CBS Sportsline has a report up stating that the Braves have made a list that includes Boston, Los Angeles (AL), Tampa Bay, and Arizona of potential trading partners. These are four organizations with deep minor league systems that could really turn into a bidding war if two or more organizations get involved in this deal. I don’t see how Tampa Bay is interested in this because they have a long term commitment to Carlos Pena who has power and plays great defense, much like Teixeira. Putting one of the two at DH would be a detriment to those two players. A new rumor that was floating around is Robb Quinlan and Brandon Wood of the Angels to the Braves for Teixeira. That is a terrible offer if that is indeed the truth. Quinlan is a career bench player and Wood’s star has burned a lot dimmer in recent years since hitting 43 home runs in 2005 at High-A Ranco Cucamonga. Also, where does Wood fit on this team? He is a third-baseman/shortstop. There isn’t a place for him this season. Los Angeles would be a lot closer offering Casey Kotchmann and Juan Rivera.
  • Tim Hudson - His name has been mentioned once, but it is highly doubtful that the Braves would be interested in moving their ace.
  • Mark Kotsay - He has just this year left on his contract but has played well despite some injuries.  I have doubts that they could get much for him - but you never know.
  • Will Ohman - This is a name that may be mentioned more frequently over the next few days. While I have not heard of any specific deals in which Ohman might be involved in, he has put together a great season and is a lefty. I can’t imagine anything that might make him more attractive.
  • Jeff Francoeur was mentioned by Braves.com today in trade rumors - though this may be shocking to some people, he’s not doing well at all.  The Royals may be interested - their GM was formerly in the Braves organization.

It may be 4:01 on July 31st when the baseball world finally knows what the Braves intentions were for this trade season.  Rumors will continue to flutter around and we may not know what’s going on until it happens.

- Dan & Colin


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Posted in General, Speculation |

Bullpen Holding Up Well

Written by Colin on July 16, 2008 – 1:15 pm

Back in February, I wrote a post called “5 Keys to 2008 Bullpen Success” and identified five points I thought would be crucial to have a successful bullpen.  Let’s see how the bullpen has done compared to those five points.

#1 - Rafael Soriano is lights out as closer.
#2 - Peter Moylan eats up innings - and stays effective.
 #3 - Will Ohman fills the left-handed setup role.
#4 - The emergence of an effective long-reliever.
#5 - The healthy return of Blaine Boyer and Mike Gonzalez.

Well, I got three out of five right.  Ohman has been great, and Boyer and Gonzalez have been healthy, but Soriano hasn’t seen much time and Moylan is out recovering from Tommy John surgery.

And yet the Braves’ bullpen is one of the best in the NL - we have the third best ERA (3.22) and the best Batting Average Against (or BAA at .224).  We’ve also give up the third fewest runs in the NL.  Our BAA is second only to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

This is thanks in no small part to Will Ohman, Blaine Boyer, and Manny Acosta.  For the crap we give Bobby for over-using Acosta, Manny is a really good pitcher when he’s not overused.  The return of Mike Gonzalez has been crucial to a stable back end of the ‘pen, and we should see that get even stronger as Rafael Soriano nears his return.

As we head into the second half of the season, our bullpen has to continue to impress to give us a chance for our hitting to win us some games.  Based on what we’ve seen so far, I’d say we’re in a good spot and on a good track.

Who’s the most indispensable arm in the bullpen so far?

- Colin

Edit: You just can’t make this stuff up…It seems Mike Hampton tweaked his hamstring after 2 IP in his latest rehab start, you just have to feel for the guy. He gave up one home run, no word on the severity of his injury yet. More details later.

Edit2: He tweaked his groin in the first inning and pitched a second, still no word on the severity, but said his super-surgically repaired arm felt great.


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Posted in General |

Smoltz Pitches, Feels No Pain

Written by Colin on May 25, 2008 – 9:30 am

John Smoltz pitched an inning for the AA Mississippi Braves last night, giving up one hit and most importantly feeling no pain.  Smoltz recently pitched a session in Atlanta to his teammates, where he revealed his way of dealing with his recent shoulder issues.  He’s dropped his arm slot, but hasn’t lost effectiveness.  He threw 12 pitches in his inning of work, 8 of them strikes.  Smoltz has successfully changed the angle of his arm slot in the past, throwing sidearm in the late ’90s.

Smoltz arrives back in Atlanta today to be re-evaluated.  He may continue his rehab stint but he could also be activated from the DL soon.  He’ll pitch out of the bullpen, likely closing games for the Braves.  Smoltz has been in the role before, with 154 saves from 2001-2004.

Smoltz will be part of a trio of pitchers that will greatly enhance the depth of the Braves already quality bullpen.  Rafael Soriano, the intended closer at the start of the season, has been battling elbow tendinitis.  Soriano pitched an inning for the Mississippi Braves on Friday, and could be activated either today or tomorrow.  He’s hitting 93 with his fastball, which is good news.

Mike Gonzalez had Tommy John surgery last year and is nearing return as well.  He’s a dominant lefty that the Braves got from the Pirates for Adam LaRoche.  It may take him some time to regain pre-surgery form, but with Smoltz and Soriano he could make a huge difference.  Even the players are excited about it - the AJC quoted Brian McCann as saying “You get Smoltz and Soriano back, and Gonzo, it’s going to be nasty. Those are guys who’ve done it before, and we’ve got guys like Blaine and Acosta who’ve filled in and done an awesome job.”

If you think the bullpen is nasty now, give it two weeks.


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Posted in Injuries |

Braves News Bits

Written by Jonathan on May 22, 2008 – 3:11 pm

There are a lot of little stories going on about the Braves recently, but nothing that really warrants a full article, so I’m just going to throw them together and make an article out of it:

Smoltz, Soriano, Gonzalez - Bobby Cox believes that all three of these guys could be off the disabled list and in the bullpen in the next two weeks.  Smoltz has been rather quiet about the condition of his shoulder.  Soriano has made the first of two planned rehab assignments in AA Mississippi.  Gonzalez has been throwing in extended spring training and is expected to be evaluated in Atlanta next week in preparation for rehab assignments.  These three will change the face of our bullpen a lot; the question at this point is, who will be moved to make room on the roster?

Yunel Escobar - Yunel missed last night’s game against the Mets after a collision with Ryan Church on the last out of the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader.  Escobar still has some pain and swelling below his knee and is questionable for tonight’s game.  He’s currently planning on being back for the wrap-around series against the Diamondbacks this weekend.

Chipper Jones - After taking a pitch of the shin in last night’s game, Chipper is experiencing a bit of soreness but says that it feels a lot better today than it did as he left the game yesterday, hardly able to put any weight on it.  He’s questionable tonight, but we need him in the game.  We all know how the offense performs when he’s out of the lineup.  Losing Chipper and Escobar against the Mets seems common this season.

Turner Field Death - As we talked about through the night, Justin Hayes has died from the injuries suffered in his 150-foot fall from the stairwell in Turner Field last night.  As part of the Braves community, we are saddened by this news and offer our condolences to his family and friends.  This is the first non-medical death at Turner Field since it was constructed for the 1996 Olympic Games.

Hank Aaron Is Awesome -  Just to reiterate the fact that I think Hank Aaron is one of the greatest baseball players ever, I’ve decided to close this article with a recent Aaron quote.  “But seriously, I think Bonds has done wonderfully. I think he had a marvelous career. I had it for a long time. Seven-fifty-five was there for a long time.” Hank went on to say what we all already know is true, “I still consider myself the home-run king”.


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Pitching Problems Have Yet To Creep Up

Written by Akshay on May 18, 2008 – 3:47 pm

When the Braves started the season, it seemed as if their impenetrable depth in the starting pitching spot would be their greatest strength. Now, heading into the second half of May, it has already become a weakness. Yes, I know we lead the league in starter’s ERA, but it’s a very deceiving stat in that our starters have only pitched 225 innings, 14th in the NL (St. Louis leads the league with 266.1 and Philly comes in second at 256.0 for comparisons).

Does that take away anything from our accomplishment so far? Not necessarily. It does, however, bring about the question of how long can the bullpen keep up their routine. Yes, eventually Smoltz, Soriano and Gonzalez will return and give us probably the best finishers in the league, but until then? And what about after that? What happens to our middle relief? Acosta, Boyer, Ohman and the others can only go so far. Especially Acosta, who has never pitched a full season in the majors and may hit a wall.

Going back to the starters. At the beginning the season, the Braves touted one of the deepest starting pitching crops of any team in the majors and looked to be getting back to their old ways of being the pitching premium. Smoltz, Hudson, Glavine, Jurrjens, Hampton, James, Reyes, Carlyle and Bennett among others that were potential starters.

Smoltz went down in spring training with a shoulder injury that never really fully recovered, and may not. It’s an injury that will linger throughout the season. For Smoltz, though, the option of pitching out of the bullpen is still there and will probably become a reality. This will reduce the stress he puts on his shoulder as well as allow him time to recover between appearances.

And then our boy Hampton tries to go up the stairs without his bubble-wrap suit and yeah…gets hurt (kidding, he actually strained a pectoral muscle warming up in cold weather and strained it again on the 71st pitch of a rehab game). Thankfully, the Braves had options at that point.

Chuck James, a veteran with options who has won 10 games in each of the past two seasons as well as Jojo Reyes and Jeff Bennett. Bennett has been a solid replacement. Three times spot starting, all of his starts have been solid. Unfortunately, only one of those was a “quality start” (6 or more innings pitched, three or less earned runs allowed). For the Braves to be successful in the long run, quality starts are important. Two of last seasons top three quality starters (Huddy and Glavine) are in the rotation, while the other (Smoltzy) is moving to the bullpen. The AJC reported today that Bennett may be a potential replacement for James in the rotation. Updated: Campillo to get the start in James’ place in game 2 against the Mets.

Carlyle is sitting on the DL with a strained neck after running into a runner against San Diego. Jojo Reyes has been both solid and bad at times. Against San Diego, he gave up two runs, but walked two in 2 2/3 innings and had thrown 51 pitches to that point. Against Philly last Friday, Reyes cruised through the first three innings with no trouble. But really struggled with the middle of the order the second and third times around and ended up giving up five runs in 5 1/3 innings.

The Braves are truly lucky to be sitting where they are, and with no one having run away with the division to this point, the Braves are primed for a run. Both Gonzalez and Soriano should be back before the end of the month and Smoltz not too far behind. Reyes is getting adjusted to the majors and Bennett/Campillo could be a solid tail end of the rotation. With the way John Schuerholz and Frank Wren prepared this team, they had injury problems at the front of their mind and truly did a strong job of getting together the right personnel to keep this team afloat.


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Braves Injury Updates

Written by Jonathan on April 28, 2008 – 11:16 am

It has been a tough season on the injury-front for the Braves already this season, especially when we take a look at our pitching staff.  I figured we could use today’s off-day to do a quick review of where we stand with a lot of the injuries that are plaguing the team on both sides of the ball thus far.  We need most (and preferably all) of these guys healthy if we want to have a hope at returning to the playoffs this season:

Chipper Jones - Chipper missed the last two games with spasms in his lower back.  This is a tricky injury that could be gone in a minute or stick around for a couple of weeks.  Chipper’s tough though and if there’s any chance of him playing, he’s not going to miss a game.  He’s still having some trouble rotating his body though, so we may see him miss another game or two.  He should hopefully be back by the time the Braves return to Turner Field this weekend.

Yunel Escobar - Yunel cracked his fingernail trying to lay down a bunt in Friday night’s game and missed the games on Saturday and Sunday as a result.  Bobby Cox said there’s an outside chance that we’ll see Yunel play Tuesday night.  The swelling in his finger is going down but he’s still unable to really grip a bat and I’m sure he’ll be severely crippled by the injury in the field as well.  I look for him to be back in the lineup by the time the Braves head back to Atlanta as well.

John Smoltz - Smoltz has been bothered off and on by soreness between his neck and shoulder.  He was strong in his two previous starts before coming out of the game after only 3 innings yesterday.  In his postgame interviews, Smoltz gave a less than positive impression of how he was feeling, saying that he doesn’t know if this is more than just muscle tightness.  Losing Smoltz would be a huge blow to our already crippled pitching staff, but if a month on the DL would keep him healthier through the rest of the season, it’s for the best.  I’m sure we’ll hear more on this soon as Smoltz may head back to Atlanta for medical evaluation.

Tom Glavine - Glavine’s expected to return from the disabled list to make his start this Tuesday.  Tommy has been out for a couple of weeks after leaving a game in the first inning with tightness in his hamstring.  His stint on the DL has gone smoothly however and the Braves are confident that he’ll be ready to go against the Nationals tomorrow night.

Mike Hampton - How can there be an injury report without a man by the name of Mike Hampton.  Hampton’s still looking to make his first start in the majors since 2005 after a slew of injuries.  The latest was straining a pectoral muscle while warming up for a start at Turner Field earlier this season.  Hampton made a start with AAA Richmond this past week and went three innings.  I’d look for at least one more rehab start in Richmond before he heads back to Atlanta to make another attempt at starting.  He joined up with the team in New York this past weekend however and spent some time playing catch pregame.

Peter Moylan - Losing Moylan for the remainder of the season is a scary prospect, but is highly likely at this point in time.  Moylan is currently on the 15-day disabled list with a bone spur in his elbow that has compromised his UCL.  Later this week, he will be reevaluated to make a determination as to whether or not he will need to undergo Tommy John surgery to repair the ligament.  I say that if this is the determination that is made, they shouldn’t waste any time in getting the surgery done to give Moylan as much time to recover as possible.  Tommy John usually requires a year at the minimum for recovery and rehab.

Mike Gonzalez - Gonzalez made an appearance in extended spring training last week throwing 12 pitches.  He still has a ways to go to be ready to pitch in the majors, but hopefully after a month or so more of rehab, we’ll be able to look to him to take a spot in the bullpen.

Rafael Soriano - Soriano’s elbow troubles continue to plague him.  When his stint on the 15-day disabled list was over, he was definitely not ready to come back to pitch.  We need Soriano healthy to take his spot as the closer, especially with Moylan down and out as well.  We’ll have to rely on Acosta for now until we get Soriano back.  Soriano threw a bullpen session last week and experienced some lingering discomfort in the elbow, but will continue to try throwing over the next week.

So there are the current injuries that are hampering the team.  On the offensive side, we desperately need Chipper and Yunel back in the lineup as they are great producers on that side of the ball.  Most of our problems lie in pitching however; 3 of our 5 starters are on this list as well as a number of key bullpen members.  Without pitching, we’re not going to go very far this season.


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Posted in Injuries |

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