FanHouse JavyLopez

The Braves assigned Javy Lopez to Richmond on Saturday, and obviously with a player that has been around as long as Lopez, there's a question as to whether or not he'll actually accept that assignment, because, you know, that means going to the minor leagues. And no one really likes to admit they can't cut it in the bigs anymore. So Javy did what any filthy rich, not-desperate-to-cling-on ball player would do -- he retired.

'Javy had a great career with the Braves," [Braves GM Frank] Wren said. 'He put up some numbers that are going to be hard to ever beat, from the standpoint of offensive performance from the [catcher] position.

'He told me he really wants to retire as a Brave, said he thinks of himself as a Brave after spending the bulk of his career here. And that's how we think of him, too.'

Javy and the Braves organization might think of him as a lifetime Atlanta guy -- but he did have a monster career / potentially outlier year when he set the record for home runs by a catcher, and then roll to Baltimore for big cash. Not that anyone can really blame him, though. Brian McCann is clearly the future, so it's not shocking that the organization isn't willing to cut a check to Javy as a backup, especially if it's just for sentimental purposes.

All free agent jokes aside, Javy will always be remembered by Braves fans as a crucial piece to the group that won 14 straight division titles; as Chipper Jones said, "it's a sad day". And Chipper was dead on in pointing out that -- all this contrary to the big offensive numbers he put up -- it was Javy that caught those league leading pitchers for all those years.

As part of our season preview, FanHouse asked bloggers from around the internet to write a poem previewing their team's upcoming season in a series entitled MLB Poetry Previews. It's like high school English class, except about baseball!

Today's entry is provided by Braves blogger Martin Gandy of Talking Chop. Martin hopes that the return of certain players from the Braves' past will provide an excellent present and future:

Come back to us Mike Hampton
make us forget that you were ever injured once, twice, thrice
is there anything left in your elbow now that its been diced

Come back to us Tom Glavine
so strange was the orange and blue
how disappointing you might be at the age of 42

Come back to us Javy Lopez
you had retirement in your sights
now you'll ride the pine behind McCann most nights

Come back to us NL East crown
we drankith from your teat for so long
now we're like an addict Jones'in for our next hit of your championship bong

Who says you can't go home? Javy Lopez, who spent the first 12 years of his career with the Braves, officially re-signed with the team this weekend when he inked a minor league deal in hopes of being their backup catcher. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Lopez hasn't played since being released by Colorado during 2007 spring training, but the Braves think the three-time former All-Star might have enough left to give them a power bat off the bench and to catch once a week or so.
[...]
Wren said Lopez has had private workouts since October with Braves bench coach Chino Cadahia. After Braves officials returned from the Dec. 3-6 Winter Meetings in Nashville, Cadahia told Wren that Lopez had made significant progress and could be worth inviting to training camp.

Of course, there's still the little matter of making the team -- he's been invited to spring training but will compete with no less than three other players (Corky Miller, Brayan Pena and Clint Sammons) for the right to be Brian McCann's backup. Lopez is already 37 years old, and the fact that he took a year off makes me wonder how much rust has settled in. Then again, it's also possible that the time off was good for Lopez, allowing him time for all of the nagging injuries every veteran has to heal. It worked for Troy Percival, didn't it? At worst, it's a good story, allowing a team icon to retire wearing the same jersey he started with.

So much for the optimism Ozzie Guillen showed yesterday concerning Toby Hall's shoulder injury. Yes, Ozzie and Toby were correct when they said they didn't think the dislocation was too bad, but what they didn't count on was the torn labrum the MRI showed today.

What that means is that Hall is most likely done for the season.

"I'm just really frustrated right now," said Hall, minutes after finding out the news produced by the MRI. "I was going to help this team this year. It's one of those things where you really can't put it into words. I knew it hurt, but I've never been hurt, so I had no idea to what extent."

So now the question is: Who will replace Hall? According to a source within the White Sox organization, it will not be Sandy Alomar Jr.(Thank God!), or Chris Widger, two former Sox backups. There's already been talk that Javy Lopez may be getting a phone call in the near future, but Ken Williams says the team is more likely to stay within the organization. Whether that means veteran Wiki Gonzalez or prospect Gustavo Molina, we'll have to wait and see.

Previously at the Fanhouse:

The Backup Plan Needs A Backup Plan

Toby Hall Has A Curious Way Of Respecting The Game

Attention Baseball GM's: Javy Lopez Is Available

It wasn't long ago that Javy Lopez was smashing 43 bombs en route to an All-Star game and 5th place finish in the NL MVP race. More recently than that, Javy signed a three-year $22.5 million free-agent deal with the Orioles. And even more recently, the Rockies signed Lopez to a one-year $750k deal in hopes for a flashback to '03. But baseball GMs should be alerted that Javy Lopez is now available after getting red-tagged on Monday

Catcher Javy Lopez's brief tenure with the Rockies ended this morning when he was released by the club. The three-time all-star with Atlanta came into spring training hoping to compete for a starting job, but the rapid development of rookie catcher Chris Iannetta meant there was no room for the 36-year-old Lopez.

So what's next for the catcher who's fallen so far?

"The only place I would play backup would be in Atlanta, because that's my home," he said. "I don't want to play as a DH (designated hitter), I'm not a DH player. I don't think I'll go anywhere else as a backup. If I am not an everyday catcher, I'd rather not play this year and retire."

Dude, the DH was invented for guys like you, why fight it?