SB Nation - Jo-Jo Reyes

Braves at the Winter Meetings... Wha' Happened?

gondeee — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:02:29 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox was one of the main attractions when he gave a pres conference at the Winter Meetings.

It was such a tumultuous few days, some of us may have forgotten what exactly the Braves did and got out of baseball's Winter Meetings. Here's a recap:

Rumors coming into the meetings had Rafael Soriano "leaning" towards accepting the Braves offer of salary arbitration, instead of declining like he should and netting the Braves 2 draft picks.
Those rumors increased once folks got to Indianapolis.
We had a fun first-day rumor about Yankees reliever Brian Bruney possibly heading to the Braves, but he ended up going to the Nats.
The Braves had interest in Nats outfielder Josh Willingham, but the Nats weren't willing to part with him.
There has been a lot of interest on the trade front in Braves second baseman Kelly Johnson, but nothing else was mentioned after that first day.
After a night of sheer agony and waiting, Soriano finally set the rumors right and accepted arbitration from the Braves.
Because of that decision, the Braves had to DFA Ryan Church, whom they still have not traded (nor likely will).
Like clockwork, Soriano's agent asks the Braves for a trade, thusly skirting the free agent compensation system.
There was some rumored interest by the Braves in free agent Xavier Nady.
But the trading of surplus pitching dollars was top priority over anything else, and our Meeting's were seemingly put on hold until the Soriano situation could be resolved.
Finally, in the middle of the night, we learned that Rafael had been moved to the Rays for a mighty return of... Jesse Chavez.
As if the Braves had not been slighted enough during the meetings, they lost promising lefty Edgar Osuna in the Rule 5 draft to none other than the Royals.

The Soriano trade is not yet official, the two sides are apparently awaiting the medical files or pending physicals to consummate the deal. Tampa Bay got a steal of a closer for next season at a reasonable $7 million-plus. A condition of the deal was that the Rays agree in principal to sign Soriano before the deal was complete.

The good news for the Braves is that we apparently don't have to send any money to the Rays, and thus the whole Soriano Surprise was just an unpleasant distraction that netted us a durable middle reliever for our bullpen next year. Jesse Chavez won't blow anyone's socks off, but in a pen where Cox likes to run people out there day after day, Chavez seems to be a guy that can be abused in that way. He's also a childhood friend of Jo-Jo Reyes, and was good friends with Nate McLouth when they were teammates with the Pirates.

The Soriano Surprise may have been a sour point for some fans, but the original thinking was that the team would not offer him arbitration, and it was only a few days before the deadline that we learned they would. Wren knew the risks, and instead of not offering him arbitration and ending up with nothing, they rolled the dice and ended up with a serviceable and affordable major league middle reliever. As weird as that is, I'd call it a win. Especially since we likely needed another middle bullpen guy like Chavez anyway.

Osuna was not a huge loss in the Rule 5, and the Braves usually do one of the best jobs of any organization of scouting their own players, so while he has talent, the Braves obviously thought more of some of the other guys they protected.

We have to believe that the main goal accomplished at the Meetings for the Braves was to lay the groundwork for a future trade of Derek Lowe. They should know the full market by now, and whether they need to wait until after Lackey signs or not. Hopefully we'll see some movement on one of those fronts soon, and hopefully he can bring back some sort of more valuable return than a Jesse Chavez, though to clear payroll, I may be willing to accept such a return if it means we can sign a bat.

Braves 2009 Season in Review: Middle Relief

gondeee — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:48:31 -0000

More photos » by John Heller - AP

Atlanta Braves reliever Peter Moylan was one of the most valuable members of any team's bullpen last year.

Browse more photos »

Middle relief is never a sure thing in baseball. The Atlanta Braves have been lucky in the past to have cobbled together good middle relief corps. They haven't been so lucky the last few years, but last year they did a decent job of assembling good middle relievers while working around some injuries.

The most striking thing about the 2009 middle relief crew was how fast the team was to make a change early in the year. The Braves hadn't broke camp a week when they released Blaine Boyer after two (out of three) disastrous outings. Blaine bounced around the rest of the season, ultimately finding some success (or luck) in Arizona. The Braves were also quick to cut ties with Jeff Bennett after he went kung-fu on the clubhouse wall.

Peter Moylan

Perhaps the rock of the 2009 bullpen, Peter Moylan appeared in 87 games only a year removed from Tommy John surgery. He got off to a rough start, but continued to battle, and posted a 1.00 ERA in the second half of the season. He gave Bobby Cox the luxury of having a second setup man, and his 25 holds led the team and ranked 6th in the NL.

Going back to the 87 games he appeared in, that should raise some alarms, but Moylan insists he likes to pitch that much and many say that his arm angle puts less strain on the elbow than an overhand motion. Those 87 games ranked one game behind the NL leader in appearances for a pitcher, and the Braves had 4 relievers in the top-10 in appearances.

Eric O'Flaherty / Boone Logan

One of those relievers who was in the top-10 in appearances was Eric O'Flaherty. The lefty specialist appeared in 77 games (56.1 innings pitched) and put in his best work as a major leaguer. The Braves got him off the waiver wire from Seattle last off-season, and he beat out Boone Logan in spring training for the LOOGY role. A minor pick up at the time, his good season makes that move look genius -- getting a reliever like that without having to give up anything.

Boone Logan came over as part of the Javier Vazquez trade. He was called up several times in 2009, but had spotty success while being used rather sparingly by Cox.

Here is a breakdown of all the lefty relievers on the Braves in 2009, and how they did versus left and right-handed batters:

Pitcher	BA vs. RH	BA vs. LH
Mike Gonzalez	.218	.194
Eric O'Flaherty	.282	.215
Boone Logan	.364	.231

O'Flaherty was pretty close to Gonzalez in handling lefties, but Logan wasn't that far away either. The big difference between O'Flaherty and Logan comes when they're facing right-handed hitters, with Eric having the clear advantage in that department. The Braves will probably want to keep all the depth they can, but Logan is out of options and arbitration eligible this year, so a non-tender might be in his future.

Kris Medlen

While Medlen posted a respectable 4.26 ERA for a rookie, his ERA as a reliever was even better at 3.47. He struck out more than a batter per inning in relief and gave up less than a hit per inning while keeping his walks in check. He was used inconsistently at times, getting long rests only to pitch on consecutive days. This unfamiliarity with the major league bullpen role caused Medlen to admittedly undergo some growing pains, but his work ethic kept his spirits up and his mind ready for any situation.

He could certainly move into a setup role next year, and may become one of the more indispensable members of the Atlanta pen. With the Atlanta rotation at 120% capacity, there's little chance that he would move back to a starting role, but his familiarity with starting may make him an ideal emergency swing man -- further increasing his value to the bullpen and the team.

Manny Acosta

Here are Acosta's ERAs the last three years:

2007 - 2.28
2008 - 3.57
2009 - 4.34

Meanwhile his FIP has hovered around 4.77, and has never been below 4.25, so that should tell us that Manny is either getting real lucky or he's getting bailed out by other Atlanta relievers -- either way it seems to be catching up to him. He is becoming more and more worthless, and that tells me his spot in the pen is in question.

Others

Jo-Jo Reyes and James Parr could find some time in the bullpen in 2010, though neither is ideal for the role. Luis Valdez is doing well in winter ball, and he could play a prominent role in the pen as well. I wondered why the Braves didn't use him more this year, especially towards the end, but maybe they wanted him to get work in winter ball and not the majors.

As always, there is a lot of work to be done this off-season to bolster the Atlanta bullpen.

Talking Chop Round Table: Braves Left-Handed Starters

gondeee — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:24:28 -0000

As part of season reviews for major league players and top prospect rankings for minor league players, we here at Talking Chop thought it would be a fun idea to get all of our bloggers together with the help of Google Docs and debate the various aspects of each position in the Braves organization.

The participants are, yours truly (gondeee, indicated by MG), yondaime4 (indicated by MF), royhobbs (indicated by DH), and cbwilk (indicated by CBW).

The round table for left-handed starters in the Braves organization is after the jump.

MG: So many different things being written and said about Mike Minor as far as ceiling goes. Most prospect guys think of him as a #3 at best, but the Braves see him as a possible Cole Hamels type pitcher. I guess I need to see more of him at higher levels, but I'll probably fall somewhere in the middle of those assessments.
MF: I don't know what to think about Minor to be honest. I've heard such varied opinions on him thus far its hard to get a good read on him and it probably won't be any easier until he moves up the ladder and pitches against some people who are closer to his talent level. Obviously he has done well in Arizona, but that doesn't really mean a whole lot. I have heard his fastball gets up to 94 (probably sits somewhere in the low 90s) but that is better than what most reports say about him. I mean if we are talking about a guy who's floor is a number 5 starter in the majors then I'll take that, because all things given, thats still pretty good value, even if he wasn't the best guy we could have had at the time.
CBW: I've never understood the hate for this draft pick. Of the guys in the draft not named Strasburg, nobody seemed like more of a lock to become a contributing Major Leaguer than Minor. And he's a lefty! Obviously, he should have pitched well for Rome given his experience level, but I'm glad he dominated in his time there, because anything less would have been more fodder for the people who seem to be against him. I just want to see what the guy does. I haven't seen him, so I can't even make a guess about what he'll end up being. If he's a number 3, that's great, there's nothing wrong with that, especially since he seems like he could be ready for the Majors by sometime in 2011. At the end of the day, nothing is a sure thing in the draft, so a few years from now I'd rather be the ones with a Major League number 3 than the ones who drafted the high school guy who supposedly could have been amazing but ended up being terrible because gauging how high school players are going to turn out is just about impossible.

MG: There was a lot of disagreement about who should come after Minor. I think it should be DeVall. I know he's injured and out for a year, but he's still got that ceiling that's better than most of the other guys on this list.
MF: I like Brett too, but I made a point not to rank anyone who was injured for most of the season this year. Too many guys have just fallen off the face of the planet recently to injury stuff (Steven Evarts anyone?). If he comes back next year and has a solid year, then yes I will probably have him second, barring any explosions from other prospects. I think the guy that could be the best of this group is Tyler Stovall. His stuff was great in the Appy league but his control just wasn't there. He has good stuff and already a plus curveball and will be 20 next season. Tons of potential there, he just needs to reign it in a little.
CBW: I think if DeVall had pitched a full year with the kind of numbers he was putting up, I might have put him ahead of Osuna and Ortegano, but he was only in 10 games, so it was hard to give him that. I didn't really factor the injury in when I made my list, because at the time the whole Tommy John thing was kind of a rumor. But, since he's going to miss all of 2010, unless there's a real dropoff in the left handed talent in the system, I'd have a hard tim putting him on this list this time next year. What sucks even more is that if he had had the surgery back in June or July, then you'd be pretty certain he'd be fully healed by 2011, but since he just had it, you're going to have to expect 2011 to be sort of a rehab year, so you really won't be able to judge him fully until you see what he does in 2012. As for Stovall, I'm really not sure what to make of him yet. He was the first guy we picked in 08, but he was outpitched in the GCL by the two guys picked after him, DeVall and Zeke Spruill. Then, in 09, those guys go to Rome and both pitch well, but Stovall ends up having to wait to play with Danville. And while he did pretty well, he's shown a tendancy to walk a ton of batters, giving up 8.8 walks per 9 inning this year. His strikeouts and walks are almost neck and neck; he's getting a lot of both, but that's just an odd sign. But, on the other side, he's going to be 20 years old in 2010 playing for Rome, which is the age you want a guy to be there, and he's been touted as having all the talent in the world. So while I still want to see more out of him, you have to think he's better than he's shown.

MG: Edgar Osuna and Jose Ortegano seem to be interchangeable to me. I do like Osuna better, but I think their ceiling is that of a LOOGY.
CBW: For me the big difference is that Ortegano has better stuff but Osuna knows how to pitch better, and I think he's consistently shown that, which is why I ranked him ahead of Ortegano. I've been waiting for these two to break out for a few years, ususally ranking them a lot higher on my own lists than other people have, and 2009 was a huge year for both of them. They both pitched a lot more innings than they had in the past (Osuna had 25 more than his previous high, Ortegano had almost 30 more) and they were both dramatically better at the higher level. They've made some strides over the years, but I got to see them both pitch three times this year, from Spring Training to almost the end of the season, and the difference just between where they started this year and where they finished is huge. These two are getting better and I think a major factor is their friendship and competition. They feed off of each other and want to get better. Ortegano has learned more about pitching because of Osuna, and Osuna has added a little nastiness to his finess repitoire because of Ortegano. I think at the absolute worst these guys become dynamite LOOGYs, but if they keep progressing, and there's no reason to think they won't, there's no reason they can't become middle to back of the rotation starters.

MG: I probably have more remaining love for Cole Rohrbough than either of you guys. I know he was lost last year, but he seemed lost mentally, while his stuff was still there. I think if he can get his head together he will bounce back nicely.
MF: If anyone does have more raw potential from the left side of the rubber than Tyler Stovall, its Cole. You are right about his stuff still being pretty solid, but he just imploded too often for my tastes. He always had one really bad inning and I know we have read the 'reports' about his mental composure and frankly that scares me more than mechanical issues. I'll take a wait and see approach with him and if he comes out of the gate fast next year I won't be afraid to move him back up the list quickly.
CBW: I don't know if I was right to not even put him on my list, but it made sense at the time. I just can't get over the fact that he was already a little too old for the level, and that he had already had success at the level, and he just spent most of the year getting hammered. And making things even more frustrating is that he started out well, pitching great in his first 5 games. I know he has talent, I've seen it, but the guy just doesn't pitch like a top prospect. Yes, he was outstanding in 2007, but in 08 he was just kind of Ok, even though he spent most of the year with Rome where he was a year older than you really want a prospect to be, and this year he was just bad. I hate to talk about the personal frustrations that he had, but they did exist, and they did affect his year. It'd be unfortunate to think that this might be what derails him, but he wouldn't be the first guy with talent who couldn't hack it because he couldn't handle the lifestyle.

MG: Matt, why this extra love for Scott Diamond (ranking him 2nd on your LHSP list), and no love for Todd Redmond (unranked on RHSP list)? I like Redmond a lot better than I like Diamond.
MF: Well I have to be honest I didn't even look at Redmond because of how bad the first part of his season was, though on a look now he did improve down the stretch. The big thing for me with Diamond is he has always had a very heavy fastball that generates a ton of groundballs. He also struck out 7.4 batters p/9 on the season and got better and better as the season went on. He also played most of the season at age 22. He isn't a classic prospect but he is a soft tossing lefty that more than held his own at AA this season.
CBW: This wasn't directed toward me, but whatever, I'm jumping in anyway. First, I wouldn't rate Redmond ahead of Diamond; he's two years older and only one year ahead in the system and, whether it's fair or not, Diamond is a lefty, which is just more valuable, especially since both of them have average stuff. I didn't have him as high as Matt (in fact I'm not sure now why I had him behind Brett Oberholtzer), but I love the guy. He's a smart pitcher who doesn't try to outplay his limitations and unlike some college guys, he's moved up fast and been able play at age appropriate levels to merit consideration as a top prospect. I think his mental ability is going to be what keeps him successful.

MG: With a full roster of major league starters and Mike Minor in the wings, where does this leave Jo-Jo Reyes? Is he prime trade bait? Does anyone still believe that he can be an effective "major league" pitcher?
MF: I don't. At least not with the Braves.
CBW: I think he can still be a good Major Leaguer. He's only going to be 25 next season and while he's been pretty bad for Atlanta, if you look at his AAA time, it's basically one season, 28 starts, 141 innings, with a 9-3 record, a 2.23 ERA, a 1.24 WHIP, 7.9 hits per 9 innings, 3.3 walks per 9 innings, and 7 strikeouts per 9 innings, and about half of that came this season. That's not a guy who can't pitch. More than anything, the times that I've watched JoJo pitch for Atlanta the problem has been that Bobby Cox hasn't let him work himself out of anything. He'd get in trouble in the 3rd or 4th inning and Bobby would pull him, so if he had given up any runs or if the guy who relieved him gave up some runs, his numbers would look awful. If you never learn how to pitch out of a jam, you're never going to e able to. I don't think he's trade bait, because it's hard to get much for a guy who didn't pitch well in the Majors and hasn't in his 3 shots at it, but I do think he needs a change of scenery.

CBW: We each had at least one guy that we didn't vote for on our personal lists who ended up on the final lists, but while we all gave Andy Otero a vote, he actually ended up just missing the list. So let's talk about him for a second; I know it was only the DSL, but he was 17 with a 0.84 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and struck out 13.1 per 9 innings. Pretty damn good.
MF: For all the flack I caught during the year for not including the DSL scores in the recaps. I still was keeping an eye on it. You can't ignore what Otero was doing there. I am still taking a wait and see approach with him because at this point does anyone know what this kid has other than age or a fastball (maybe)? So definitely an interesting prospect, but lets see if he can keep it up next year.

Gwinnett Braves Playoff Recap: Game 2

yondaime4 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:09:53 -0000

The Gwinnett Braves fall to 0-2 in the series against Scranton, as they turn around and hit the road for the rest of the series, continuing tomorrow night.

Gwinnett was pretty much shut down on offense for the second straight night, this time by Ivan Nova (granted, that is an awesome name). Nova wasn't really effective in his 12 starts in the International League, but he found ways to get the Braves out. The Scranton bullpen came on and finished us off with 4 Ks in the final 2 innings (though Whelan allowed 2 men to reach base in the 9th he did strike out the side.

Jason Heyward had a hit and a K, and the only Gwinnett hitters with more than one hit were Barbaro Canizares and Diory Hernandez. Also of note is the fact that the Braves have only 1 extra base hit in the series so far. Jo-Jo Reyes pitched 7 innings and he wasn't horrible. His defense allowed one unearned run to score but you have to expect the offense to step up.

Gwinnett has an uphill battle, but a comeback isn't unheard of. Right now I wouldn't be betting on them though.
Bobby Brownlie goes for the Braves and Kei Igawa for Scranton tomorrow night.

Gwinnett Braves Playoff Recap: Game 1

gondeee — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:08:26 -0000

There's at least one Braves team in the playoffs, unfortunately that minor league team -- the Gwinnett Braves -- has the same problem the major league club does -- it can't score any runs. Sporting a starting lineup that includes players with major league experience in 7 of the 9 spots, and baseball's top prospect batting third, the G-Braves only managed to get one runner past second base all night.

They were shut down by the evil minor league journey man, Romulo Sanchez. (That name is f-ing awesome!) Meanwhile, our journey man pitcher, John Halama, pitched well, but remember this is a Braves team, and you just can't give up any runs if you expect to win.

Our top prospect, and baseball's top prospect, Jason Heyward, went 1-for-3, was hit by a pitch, stole a base, and struck out once.

The G-Braves were the beneficiaries of some bad luck. Brandon Jones hit a ball up the middle that would have at least plated a run, but it hit the second base umpire and that's a do-over. For a full recap, see the Gwinnett Daily Post.

The G-Braves will now turn to Jo-Jo Reyes to try and win Game 2 tonight.

Will the Braves make any more moves before the trade deadline

gondeee — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:28:08 -0000

Mark Bowman passes along this quote from Atlanta Braves General Manager Frank Wren:

"There's a certain chemistry and feeling that every team has and when you feel like you've reached that right balance, you are a little hesitant to make a change," Wren said. "I know the guys on this club feel good about this team right now and that's a positive. That doesn't stop you from inquiring and seeing if there are other things that you can do. But we've done quite a bit already."

I don't know that the Braves have a lot of flexibility -- both financially and prospect-wise -- to make any more moves without moving a significant piece of the current team. Besides, hitting is at such a premium around the league, and there are other teams that can afford to pay more than we can. That reality makes the Nate McLouth trade, and to a lesser extent the Ryan Church trade, great moves.

The one thing the Braves might need down the stretch is some additional bullpen help. I've been saying that bullpen help is what we would most likely trade for, but the more I think about it the more I think we don't need to. We've got several guys coming back from injury who should be able to spell some of the tired arms in the pen. The combustible amateur wall-boxer Jeff Bennett should be back within a month, and well rested could provide some good relief. Buddy Carlyle and Jorge Campillo should be back at some point this year, and of course Tim Hudson could certainly provide help in the pen if he is not needed in the rotation. Add to them other guys like Jo-Jo Reyes, the recently demoted Luis Valdez, and maybe a hot hand between Bueno, Nunez, and Gomez -- though we might be in more trouble if it came to those guys.

The story here is that we're probably okay to stand pat with the team we have right now. It also seems that the players are okay to head down the stretch with the current team, whereas in years past they would usually expect a move to be made before the deadline.

Atlanta Braves May Aftermath: MVPs and LVPs

gondeee — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:59:32 -0000

The Braves went through some ups and down in May and ended the month at .500 on the season by winning one more game than they lost during the month. A lot of the inconsistencies that were there in April were still there in May, but we got several players back from their nagging injuries and several guys started to turn it around.

Hitting MVP: Chipper Jones was the April MVP and he had another good month in May. Yunel Escobar also had a good month, continuing his good work on the year. But the guy who seems to have pulled the Braves lineup together is the catcher with the improved vision. Brian McCann got some corrective vision glasses and responded by hitting almost .400 in May, hitting .394/.481/.576. If it wasn't already obvious, McCann's importance to the Braves cannot be understated.

Brian McCann

#16 / Catcher / Atlanta Braves

Height: 6-3

Weight: 230

Bats: L

Throws: R

Born: Feb 20, 1984

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Brian McCann	34	111	15	34	6	0	5	18	19	12	2	1	.306	.414	.495

Hitting LVP: There were not as many contenders for this dubious award as there were last month, but there were two obvious front-runners. The runner up is our golden boy, Jeff Francoeur. He hit a pitiful .229/.243/.284 in May, with 23 strikeouts verses just 1 walk -- back to the old bad habits. But the unfortunate winner of the LVP is our young center fielder Jordan Schafer who ended his awful month with a demotion to the minors. Schafer hit .158/.239/.188 with 40 strikeouts -- a strikeout once every 2.5 at-bats. With Nate McLouth just acquired, Schafer will now have more time to develop in the minors.

Jordan Schafer

#24 / Center Field / Atlanta Braves

Height: 6-1

Weight: 200

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Sep 04, 1986

Pitching MVP: It was another terrific month for Braves pitching, with our top-4 starters each putting up ERA's under 4.00. Both Derek Lowe and Javier Vazquez had ERA's of 3.76, putting together solid performances almost every time out. Kenshin Kawakami turned things around in May, recording a 3.03 ERA. Both Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano continued their good work at the end of games, though each blew some saves. The pitching MVP for May goes to Jair Jurrjens. He's become the ace of the staff and turned in another stellar month with an ERA of 3.38 and 3 wins.

Jair Jurrjens

#49 / Pitcher / Atlanta Braves

Height: 6-1

Weight: 200

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jan 29, 1986

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Jair Jurrjens	5-2	11	11	0	0	0	0	66.0	58	20	19	4	23	40	2.59	1.23

Pitching LVP: Like the hitting LVP, there are really just two contenders for this award. Buddy Carlyle was used as the mop-up man several times during the month and played the part to dubious perfection by continuing the blood-letting while in the game. As bad as he was, the most disappointing pitcher in May was the once-hopeful young starter for Atlanta, Jo-Jo Reyes. Jo-Jo gave up more than a run per inning in his three May starts, then didn't do any better once moved to the bullpen before being put on the DL with a strained right hamstring. With Hanson taking over in the rotation, Jo-Jo's window of opportunity with the Braves may have just closed.

Jo-Jo Reyes

#37 / Pitcher / Atlanta Braves

Height: 6-2

Weight: 230

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Nov 20, 1984

Once again there were not too many bad performances and several better performances than last month on the team. Our pitching continues to carry the team, and the addition of Nate McLouth should help the offense.

Braves insterested in Mark DeRosa

gondeee — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:56:57 -0000

Via the latest Bradley Buzz, the Atlanta Braves are apparently interested in Mark DeRosa, or so says Jayson Stark of ESPN.com:

You can add the Braves to the list of teams with interest in their old buddy, Mark DeRosa. Cleveland wants pitching back, and the Braves are one club with a pitching surplus. But teams that have spoken with Atlanta say the Braves' entire prospective rotation (including Tommy Hanson) is off-limits. And they would want a significant return for Jo-Jo Reyes, Charlie Morton or Kris Medlen.

The Braves would obviously talk about dealing young arms for an impact bat, a la Matt Holliday. But they've been telling clubs that if they give up young players for any hitter with a hefty paycheck, they would expect the team they're dealing with to pick up a major chunk of the salary.

I've been on the fence about the whole acquiring a "bat" thing. There's no doubt we definitely need better production from our outfield, that's for damn sure, but the "who" to acquire is the real question for me. I like Mark DeRosa, but I don't think he's the everyday impact player who will definitively turn around the Braves offense. Then again, I'm not sure a Matt Holliday would either (see his home/away splits from his time at Coors).

If the Braves want any sort of impact bat in return, they're going to have to part with something of value -- do Reyes and Morton count as value?

Don't get me wrong here, Mark DeRosa would be a substantial upgrade over either Garret Anderson or Jeff Francoeur, and in my mind is worth more than either Morton or Reyes (or Francoeur, but the Indians need pitching). Speaking of Frenchy, Stark says this:

As for those reports that the Braves are looking to move Jeff Francoeur, clubs we've talked to say they're mostly listening, in part because they need to add bats, not subtract them, and in part because no one is too sure of Francoeur's true value anymore, including the Braves themselves.

Isn't adding the bat of Francoeur kind of like subtraction by addition? I keep telling myself "we need to give Francoeur one more month to turn it around, one more month, one more month. I've gotta stop that. Francoeur is an utter drag on our offense, and I'm about ready to completely give up on him. Rowland's Office has obviously had enough of him already, as they have been referring to him as the Lilburn Flash in the Pan.

The question in trading Francoeur becomes, "who then plays right field?" Who will be this year's Jason Perry? The homerless Brandon Jones? Brian Barton, Gregor Blanco, ... Joe Borchard? Do we have anyother D-caliber outfielders with a name that starts with a B? Matt Diaz is a B-caliber outfielder with a name that starts with a D, and he has played some right recently, but we're sacrificing a significant amout of defense with Matty in right.

After all that rambling I'm still stuck. DeRosa would be a decent addition. I'm not as hyped about Holliday. And I'm ready to see Jeff Francoeur put on a uniform other than that of the Atlanta Braves. The bottom line in all of this talk is that we need more production out of our outfield... but, then again, we've known this since last season, and all the team did about it was sign Garret Anderson. The Braves need to wake up and do something while we're still only 4-games out.

Game 45 Recap - Giants 4, Braves 0

bigjoe — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:33:48 -0000

More photos » by George Nikitin - AP

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I'm sure we all feel like Kris does over there right now. The Braves got owned by Tim Lincecum, plain and simple. There was nothing anyone could do to stop the Timmy Train. The Braves had a couple of opportunities to get some runs across, but 2 of those opportunities with RISP came with the pitcher's spot in the order up, and we know how that turned out due to the lack of Infante.

Kris Medlen pitched better last night. Not great, but better. His horrible second inning really doomed him, and he's pulling a Reyes in the fact that he seems to not be able to pitch effectifvely with runners on base. Heres a fun little stat: with men on, Medlen is allowing a OPS of 1.333, while with the bases empty, the number drops to .345. Very small sample size yes, but its telling. Jojo Reyes's splits aren't as telling, only a 140 point spike, but the numbers are horrible either way.

In news bound to please many people around here, the Braves placed Buddy Carlyle on the 15 day DL and brought Jorge Campillo off. Carlyle has been a disaster lately, and hopefully Campillo can help provide some long relief to the pen that has strugged with it lately.

Final - 5.26.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta Braves	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
San Francisco Giants	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	4	5	0
WP: Tim Lincecum (4 - 1) LP: Kris Medlen (0 - 2)

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Crumbling Rockies continue east coast trip in Atlanta

Poseidon's Fist — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:53:10 -0000

I'm going to try a new tactic here. The Rockies cannot win this series. There's no reason to believe they can. Colorado has won 2 series in 13 tries this season, and to pull out number 3 vs Atlanta on the road, they would have to win at least 3 of 4. That streak has only happened twice this year, with the help of the hapless D-Backs and Padres. And Coors Field.

Am I honestly scared of a .500 team? Oi vay.

Atlanta Braves (18-18, L1, 3rd, 2.5 GB)

Monday-Thursday : 4-game series at Turner Field

Unlike the Rockies, whose commonly fell into a win-one-lose-one scenario this season, the Braves have been streakier than an '05 Hawpe. Atlanta has won 5 of 6 three times on the season but also owns two 4-game losing streaks. As they are now, they have won 7 of their past 10 to reach .500. The Rockies have won 7 games each at home and the road, so maybe visiting Turner Field isn't so bad, especially considering Atlanta is 3 games better on the road than at home.

The Braves won the season series 4-3 last year after Colorado won the first three in early April. The Rox have lost their last 5 games at Turner Field.

The Braves are ranked 20th in wOBA, 24th in runs, 7th in starter ERA, and 16th in reliever ERA. Their 6 blown saves is 11th highest.

LINEUP	Avg	HR	RBI
Kelly Johnson	.234	3	11
Yunel Escobar	.303	3	18
Chipper Jones	.314	4	14
Garrett Anderson	.238	0	8
Brian McCann	.275	3	12
Casey Kotchman	.296	2	15
Jeff Francoeur	.252	3	19
Jordan Schafer	.220	2	4

Omar Infante will also likely get time in place of Kelly Johnson at some point.

Probable Pitchers:

Tonight, 5:00 MDT

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jason Marquis	4-3	5.40	1.40	20	15

Bad Marquis has made his appearance. Touted by some as a possible alll-star amongst the purple paupers, his ERA and WHIP no longer induce intense pride. Unfortunately, it's not much of an aberration. He was unlucky with several BABIP singles in his last start, but his season BABIP is now at career levels, and while his ERA is unfairly high, his 4.78 FIP is still high enough as is.

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Derek Lowe	5-1	3.80	1.33	34	19

Derek Lowe has won four consecutive starts, despite being outpitched by Jorge de la Rosa in that span and raising his ERA by over a half run. Lowe is walking hitters at a career high rate, but his HR allowed is near the bottom. The Rockies, 3rd in the NL in HR, might be able to change that. Interestingly, Lowe's fastball has lost 1mph from last year and is at its slowest since 2003 - he appears to be throwing his slider more often in response.

Tuesday, May 19, 5:00 MDT

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jason Hammel	0-2	4.62	1.70	16	8

Hammel is allowing an disappointing but not unprecedented .359 BABIP against. Unfortunately, that's well withing career averages when throwing out 2008. Hammel got shafted with the loss Thursday, thanks to Garret Errorkins, in spite of allowing just one earned run. His defense IS mistreating him, but he also has a 5+ FIP. Consider this another audition to stick with the rotation, and dream of Frisco.

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jair Jurrjens	3-2	2.06	1.17	24	17

Jair Jurrjens is pitching very well in his second full season. The Dutch righty has won just one of his last six starts but has allowed just 8 runs in those 6 starts. Note however, that his low BABIP (.244) and very high LOB% (85%) point to a rising ERA. In fact, his ERA is lower than FIP by the 2nd largest margin in the NL. He is 2-1 with a 3.48 ERA against the Rockies in his career.

Wednesday, May 13, 5:00 MDT

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jorge De La Rosa	0-3	3.16	1.17	45	16

Life is unfair, starring Jorge de la Rosa. DLR ranked #2 in May strikeouts thanks to 22 in his past two starts and has allowed 3 runs or less in all 6 starts since his 2009 debut. Even his ERA has been higher than his FIP this year, which is below three. Yet no wins. It will come on this day. It will!

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Javier Vazquez	3-3	3.71	1.13	67	13

While Lowe has been a celebrated addition to the rotation, Javier Vazquez has been even more valuable. The former White Sock is not only 2nd in the NL in K's, but he is 3rd in K/BB, behind just Dan Haren and Johan Santana. Good company. On top off that, his FIP is lower than 3 as well, a top ten ERA/FIP margin in the league. Vazquez is well on his way to his 3rd consecutive 200-K season. It's a tough draw for DLR.

Thursday, May 14, 5:00 MDT

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Aaron Cook	2-1	5.71	1.63	21	20

Aaron Cook lasted just 1.2 IP in his last start Saturday...thanks to rain, but he may not have lasted long anyway. Cook is suffering from a stiff back, which will be monitored. This will be the storyline of Cook's start, as losing Cook as an innings eater at least would be a huge loss. His last start broke a string of four consecutive quality starts and two consecutive starts allowing just one earned run.

AAA Stats*	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Kris Medlen	5-0	1.19	0.80	44	10

Kris Medlen is slated to make his major league debut Thursday against the Rockies, pushing Jo-Jo Reyes to the bullpen. Medlen was drafted in the 10th round in 2006 and has rocketed as a dark horse through the minors. This year, he has dominated AAA in eight appearances. Scouting reports here and here and here. The Braves have an absolute find after converting the shortstop to a pitcher with three plus pitches and exceptional control.

Chipper Jones (.412/.522/.750 in last 7), as usual, is performing well of late. Garrett Anderson (.400/.375/.450), Brian McCann (.333/.391/.429) and Omar Infante (.357/.357/.429) are also heating up a bit.

Jeff Francoeur (.087/.120/.087 in last 7) seems to always be struggling these days, and rookie Jordan Schafer (.158/.304/.158 ) and Kelly Johnson (.250/.318/.300) also have been doing Garrett Atkins-impressions of late.

Pitchers Tom Glavine and Jorge Campillo are on the 15-day disabled list, and Tim Hudson (elbow) is on the 60 day DL

The NL West Report will be updated later in the day.

NL West Report

Arizona (14-23, 5th, W1, 11 GB)

Last Week: 0-3 vs Reds, 1-1 @ Braves. Sunday's game against the Braves was postponed due to weather.

This Week: 4 game series @ Marlins, 3 game series @ Athletics

News:

Arizona Diamondbacks Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Tom Gordon	hamstring	05/04/2009
Yusmeiro Petit	shoulder	05/09/2009
Conor Jackson	other-illness	05/12/2009
Tony Clark	other-excused	05/06/2009
Brandon Webb	shoulder	04/07/2009

Los Angeles (26-13, 1st, W1)

Last Week: 2-1 @ Phillies, 2-1 @ Marlins

This Week: 3 game series vs Mets, 3 game series vs Angels

News:

Los Angeles Dodgers Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Eric Stults	thumb	05/17/2009

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Hong-Chih Kuo	elbow	04/30/2009
Jason Schmidt	shoulder	03/30/2009
Hiroki Kuroda	oblique	04/07/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Doug Mientkiewicz	shoulder	04/17/2009
Claudio Vargas	elbow	04/05/2009

San Diego (16-22, 3rd, W3, 9.5 GB)

Last Week: 0-3 @ Cubs, 3-0 vs Reds

This Week: 3 game series vs Giants, 3 game series vs Cubs

News:

San Diego Padres Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Shawn Hill	elbow	04/26/2009
Luis Rodriguez	ankle	05/14/2009
Cliff Floyd	shoulder	04/05/2009
Walter Silva	forearm	04/14/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Cha Seung Baek	forearm	03/30/2009
Mark Worrell	elbow	03/27/2009
Mike Adams	shoulder	03/27/2009
Everth Cabrera	hand	04/20/2009

San Francisco (19-18, 2nd, W1, 6 GB)

Last Week: 2-1 vs Nationals, 1-3 vs Mets

This Week: 3 game series @ Padres, 3 game series @ Mariners

News:

San Francisco Giants Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Noah Lowry	shoulder	03/27/2009
Andres Torres	hamstring	04/28/2009
Sergio Romo	elbow	03/27/2009
Joe Martinez	concussion	04/10/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Juan Uribe	other-excused	05/17/2009
Edgar Renteria	hamstring	05/17/2009
Nate Schierholtz	ribs	05/17/2009

Poll

How many wins can we steal in the ATL?

0 - Didn't you see the game yesterday? This team is a mess, and Hurdle's seat really will get hotter

27 votes

1- Surely they won't get swept

53 votes

2 - The Braves aren't that great..and we've split 100% of even game series. Weak sauce

20 votes

3 - Surprise series win to save Hurdle's job!

6 votes

4 - What can I say? I'm an indefatigable optimist and masochist

12 votes

118 votes | Poll has closed