From the San Francisco Chronicle comes the news that Brian Sabean and the Giants are looking to acquire a left handed hitting first baseman. Teams that happen to have a left handed hitting first baseman that's expendable may now commence drooling at the prospect of trading with Giants GM, who made a name for himself by giving up waytoomuch for notenough.
Anywho, two of the names mentioned in the Chrons article were Nick Johnson and Scott Thorman. Johnson, at this point, is probably not going anywhere, simply based on the fact that he beat out Dmitri Young for the Nats' starting job. I mean sure, he's tradeable, and not to take the fantasy baseball angle here, but when a guy who can't stay on the field finally looks healthy and someone starts sniffing around, I'd probably move him. But again, real life and whatnot.
Thorman, however, is imminently movable. In fact, Frank Wren had mentioned some early season trades and there were rumors aplenty that Thorman might be one of the guys moved. So maybe something between Wren and Sabean will happen in the near future.
"Huhllo?"
"Brian, heeeey, it's Frank. What's going on, buddy?"
"Nothing."
"Well, look, I've just got too many darn good left handed, power slugging, All Star potential ridden first baseman this year."
"Go on."
"Well, I was taking at look at that Cain kid you guys have out ..."
Certainly nothing is more exciting than trade talk leading up to Opening Day. Right? Well, not exactly, but at least there's a sense of urgency for many teams considering they now know what they've got on their roster as they head into the regular season. The Braves are one of those teams, and according to Dan O'Brien's Atlanta Journal Constitution blog, both Tyler Yates and Scott Thorman could be dangled to land another position guy. So says Atlanta GM Frank Wren anyway.
When I asked GM Frank Wren 20 minutes ago whether he anticipated a trade, he gave me a refreshing, honest answer: "I do. I think we'll make a deal or two," he said. "I'm not sure of the magnitude yet."
The Braves are looking to add a bench player with a more-proven bat than they have now, but I can't give you any names yet. You know how these things go - it's likely going to be an extra player from another team that has a surplus at a position, like the Braves have a surplus of relievers.
So what you're telling me is that it probably won't be anything exciting? Seems about right, although it is interesting to note that Thorman did have a sub 4.00 ERA last year and Thorman has always been regarded as someone with at least a little upside. In other words, while another GM will not be likely to cough up a big player, Wren could probably pull off something. Hopefully it's for a freaking starter. John Smoltz is down, Tom Glavine could start Opening Day and a Mike Hampton injury just can't be far off.
Major League Mongering will look at players rumored to be on the move between now and the July 31st pseudo-trade-deadline.
It's becoming more and more rare to see blockbuster deals at the deadline, but that might not be the case this year if there is any truth to these Mark Teixeira rumors. From MLB.com:
But one Major League scout confirmed the Braves and Rangers are still discussing a trade that would be headlined with Teixeira and almost definitely include Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Atlanta's 22-year-old switch-hitting catcher who stands as one of the most attractive prospects on the trade market.
Why does this need to happen? The Braves are desperate for a big stick at first base. How desperate? Their current first basemen have combined for a pathetic .205 batting average and .621 OPS this year, which each rank dead last in the National League by wide margins. Scott Thorman, who's seen most of the starts, has been so bad that the Braves have played Saltamacchia out of position there and even picked up 800-year-old Julio Franco.
What might he bring in return? Like the report from MLB.com suggests, the Rangers probably wouldn't do this deal for anything less than a package involving Saltamacchia, widely regarded as one of the best catching prospects in the game who's unfortunately blocked at the big-league level in Atlanta by the 23-year-old Brian McCann. Other players that Atlanta might deal include young pitching prospect Jo-Jo Reyes or shortstop Elvis Andrus.
Major League Mongering will look at players rumored to be on the move between now and the July 31st pseudo-trade-deadline.
The Braves are in second place and bearing down on the Mets despite a rotation that's giving lots of starts to Buddy Carlyle, Kyle Davies, Chuck James, Andrew Lerew, and Jo-Jo Reyes. It's all very un-Braves-like if you ask me. While most of those guys haven't been awful, it's pretty safe to assume that the Braves would like to add a veteran arm to solidify that rotation before the July 31st deadline.
Buster Olney wrote in his blog yesterday that a rumor was passed his way that the Braves were inquiring about Cincinnati starter Bronson Arroyo (Olney link is Insider only, sorry). Arroyo would be a guy that would make a lot of sense for the Braves. He eats up innings like crazy and he's got plenty of experience in pressure packed post-season pitching, having been with the Red Sox from 2003-2005. Add in the fact that he's had a pretty poor first half and the Braves may be able to prod Cincy to sell low on him, and you've got yourself the making of a deadline deal.
The Braves' bullpen was so lousy in 2006 that they felt that they had to make bold moves to shore it up for 2007. One of those moves was to trade their starting first baseman for a Pirates closer to turn him into a set up man. It worked for a while. But now, the Braves have to go to plan B as Mike Gonzalez is out for the season, after it was learned that he's going to have to have his elbow ligament replaced.
"This is the worst news you can get," Gonzalez said.
A first MRI in Atlanta found no serious problem, but the Braves and Gonzalez remained concerned after an unusually sharp drop in the velocity of his pitches. "I hadn't thrown 82 (miles per hour) since high school," Gonzalez said. "I was feeling something uncomfortable. You just don't drop 10 or 15 miles per hour."
No date has been set for the surgery, but Gonzalez said he expects to have the procedure next week. "I'm not down in the dumps or anything," Gonzalez said, adding he is bracing for a long rehabilitation.
Whatever happens with Adam LaRoche (and it should be noted that LaRoche was hitting .196 coming into play on Friday night), the trade was still the correct thing to do for Atlanta. Increasingly, teams win with bullpens. And I don't care how many straight division titles the Braves had won, they're never going to win with a bullpen like they did coming into '06. So the Gonzalez for LaRoche trade, especially with Scott Thorman waiting in the wings to take over for LaRoche, was a chance worth taking.
But this is a hit for the Braves. They should still be all right with Rafael Soriano and Bob Wickman at the back end of the 'pen. However, great bullpens win ball games, and the Braves, without Gonzalez, have merely a good bullpen.
Like a ship losing its steam, the Atlanta Braves aren't afraid to lose cargo to move faster. First, it was Craig Wilson with his .172 batting average and $2 million contract. Tonight, it's Mark Redman who got "chopped" (sorry) off the Braves as -- like Wilson -- he failed to put up any sort of numbers that made him a better option than anything the Braves had in Richmond. You'll remember that Redman was originally signed to help ease the pain of losing Mike Hampton for the first two months of the season (which turned into the entire season). But Redman's numbers were atrocious: an 0-4 record, an ERA of 11.68, and 38 hits in 21 and 2/3's of an inning.
But the story here isn't so much that Redman got cut ... the story is that the Braves aren't afraid to cut veterans who aren't providing anything. It not only speaks of a good farm system, but of a team not afraid to use it. They never have been afraid as players constantly come up out of seemingly nowhere to fill whatever holes they might have, from Jeff Francoeur to Chuck James to Jarrod Saltalamacchia to Scott Thorman and on and on and on. Look at the outing Kyle Davies had tonight: eight solid innings (and a three run HR!) against the New York Mets to bring them to within one and a half games behind them for first place. 2005 first round pick Joey Devine will be the next Braves farm guy to show he's worthy of sticking with the Braves as he was called up in Redman's place.
A good farm system means you don't ever have to be afraid to cut your losses and say you're sorry for making mistakes in free agency (although Redman was a mistake out of necessity). The next player on the chopping block is surely Andruw Jones and his .212 average.
The Braves announced Thursday their plans to keep one of their top prospects in the big show longer and to give another more playing time than originally expected. From MLB.com:
Jarrod Saltalamacchia's stay at the Major League level is going to last much longer than two weeks and it appears that Scott Thorman is going to be given the chance to play first base on a regular basis.
This became evident Thursday morning, when Braves manager Bobby Cox explained what the team planned to do now that it has given Craig Wilson his unconditional release.
This is great news for Saltalamacchia ... and horrible, horrible news for Braves beat reporters. Seriously, there's 21 keystrokes in typing his full name. The 14 letters in his last name is actually the most in baseball history, topping a host of 13-letter players, most recently being Todd Hollandsworth and Tim Spooneybarger. Needless to say, I don't think it's a big surprise that most people just call him "Salty."
But while Salty is a top prospect, it's also a bit unfortunate that he's blocked by 23-year-old Brian McCann, which has led to rampant speculation that Salty might be dealt at some point this summer. Maybe that'll happen ... but I have to imagine if showcasing him for a trade was really the team's intention that he'd instead be given a chance to play every day in the minors. So, really, I'm kind of confused what they're doing.
As for Thorman, that's great news, too, especially for his fantasy owners who've been patiently waiting for him to play every day. He's always hit lefties in the past, and the only reason he was in a platoon early this year is because that's what the Braves do with their young hitters (or at least the ones who play first base).
As well as Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez have been in Bob Wickman's absence, you could be forgiven if you thought that Bob Wickman might not return to the closer role when he returns from the disabled list today. But Bobby Cox has come out and said that Wickman will indeed to return to the ninth inning when he comes back. The reason? Simple:
Braves manager Bobby Cox didn't hesitate when asked Monday whether Wickman would resume closer duties today when he's scheduled to come off the disabled list.
"Yeah, why not?" Cox said. "He's good."
And there you have it. Who needs saber metrics when you can simply point out that he's good. And Bob Wickman was pretty good before he started having injury problems. And speaking of injuries, John Smoltz saw his season flash before his eyes Monday night as he dislocated the second joint on his right pinky on an innocent looking rundown play. The sight of it almost made a teammate throw up.
The right pinky of Smoltz's pitching hand was bent upward at a grotesque angle. The veteran, overcome with anger, frustration and fear, fired his glove at the ground and clutched his hand. Nearby, first baseman Scott Thorman felt queasy. "Anytime you see your ace go down, it's devastating," the rookie said. "And his reaction ... I felt sick when I saw it."
Luckily, x-rays were negative and Smoltz might not miss a start.
"It could have been [much worse]," said Smoltz (5-2), who had his finger taped afterward as he discussed the ramifications of the injury. "I feel like I'm on top of my game right now, and I don't want something flukey to take me out or miss something or cause me to alter my mechanics or something. So I'll have to see day-by-day what this does. I don't need my pinky for any specific pitches, and hopefully I can get the swelling out."
Every year, a few of the luckiest (and usually most talented) Pittsburgh Pirates get to turn in their black and gold for the colors of some other team at the trade deadline or over the winter. And if that team is a National League team, every single year they come back and tell the local writers how happy they are to be playing for a winner. This year, the first winners of this sweepstakes are Mike Gonzalez and Craig Wilson, both of whom have upgraded to the blue and red of the Atlanta Braves. From today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
"It's a great feeling, man," Gonzalez was saying by phone from Atlanta during the Braves' series with the San Diego Padres that ended yesterday. "You have that extra little bit of anxiousness to get to the ballpark everyday. You know you've got a chance. You know you can win. Anyone on a winning team can tell you that's a good feeling."
Wilson sounded much the same about being with the Braves, who have won three games in a row and are 22-12, a half-game ahead of the New York Mets atop the East Division.
"The one thing you play the game to do is win, and it's great knowing that the organization is going to do all it can to help you achieve that goal," Wilson said. "The only goal is to win."
Of course the worst part about it isn't the players moving on, it's being in Pittsburgh and seeing what the Pirates got in return for them. At the trade deadline last year, the Pirates moved Wilson to the Yankees for Shawn Chacon. Chacon was an All-Star in 2003, though an investigative committee launched at the same time still hasn't concluded why. In the off-season the Pirates traded Gonzalez to the Braves for Adam LaRoche. The Braves turned to Scott Thorman and free agent Wilson to plug the hole in the lineup created by that move (see where this is going?).
Sure, Wilson has been awful in that role, batting .179/.313/.268, but it's no worse than LaRoche's .168/.280/.283 in Pittsburgh, plus Thorman gets the majority of at-bats at first in Atlanta anyways. The Braves lose practically nothing and gain a lights out reliever, the Pirates lose two contributors and get Shawn Chacon, then have to hear the two ex-Pirates talk about how happy they are to be out of Pittsburgh. It's the circle of ineptitude that Pirate fans are doomed to watch for eternity.
From the San Francisco Chronicle comes the news that Brian Sabean and the Giants are looking to acquire a left handed hitting first baseman. Teams that happen to have a left handed hitting first baseman that's expendable may now commence drooling at the prospect of trading with Giants GM, who made a name for himself by giving up way too much for not enough. 
Certainly nothing is more exciting than trade talk leading up to Opening Day. Right? Well, not exactly, but at least there's a sense of urgency for many teams considering they now know what they've got on their roster as they head into the regular season. The Braves are one of those teams, and according to Dan O'Brien's 
Major League Mongering
The Braves' bullpen was so lousy in 2006 that they felt that they had to make bold moves to shore it up for 2007. One of those moves was to trade their starting first baseman for a Pirates closer to turn him into a set up man. It worked for a while. But now, the Braves have to go to plan B as Mike Gonzalez is 
Like a ship losing its steam, the Atlanta Braves aren't afraid to lose cargo to move faster. First, it was Craig Wilson with his .172 batting average and $2 million contract. Tonight, it's Mark Redman who got "
The Braves announced Thursday their plans to keep one of their top prospects in the big show longer and to give another more playing time than originally expected. From 
As well as Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez have been in Bob Wickman's absence, you could be forgiven if you thought that Bob Wickman might not return to the closer role when he returns from the disabled list today. But Bobby Cox has come out and said that Wickman will indeed to return to the ninth inning when he comes back. The reason? 
Every year, a few of the luckiest (and usually most talented) Pittsburgh Pirates get to turn in their black and gold for the colors of some other team at the trade deadline or over the winter. And if that team is a National League team, every single year they come back and tell the local writers how happy they are to be playing for a winner. This year, the first winners of this sweepstakes are Mike Gonzalez and Craig Wilson, both of whom have upgraded to the blue and red of the Atlanta Braves. From 
