I have seen quite a few people comment on the need to improve the bullpen.  What about J Grabow, if he was cheap in terms of prospect return.  Not sure that I agree with adding bullpen help but he would be an improvement.

Who would we be willing to give up for Grabow?  I think Jo Jo Reyes is a player without a future in this organization and makes a good candidate to trade.  However is there an off-season trade possibility for a power bat that he would be more suited to as a chip?  Now or later?  I don't see the Braves keeping this guy. 

Any suggestions.

Looking ahead at the next series the Braves face a good team from the NL West.



Hanson vs Sanchez

Sanchez is 3-8 4.59 and an above average WHIP.  I like us to win this game because we are playing good baseball right now and I beleieve that Sanchez will suffer a let down following the no-no.  10 days off and trying to repeat the feat will be too much for him and cause mistakes.  Lately we have capitalized on mistakes and I really think that will continue.  Hanson has not been all-world yet but he has done enough to keep us in games and we have scored runs for him. I call this a win.

Lowe vs Sadowski

Sadowski is 2-1 1.00 and a good WHIP.  However after two straight scoreless apperances he gave up 2 runs over 5 innings.  He has walked 8 and struckout 10 over 18 innings pitched, so his sample size is very small.  Young pitchers usually give us fits but I think we are patient enough to get to this guy.  Lowe had a decent outing last start but he has not been good for a while.  If he is the Lowe with the good heavy sinker and we are patient at the plate we should win this game.

JJ vs Lincecum

Lincecum is 10-2  2.27 and a good WHIP.  What can I say this guy is the goods.  JJ has been solid all year and I expect this to continue but we don't score many runs for him.  Lincecum is stingy with runs and gets a lot of K's, great pitchers beat fair to good hitters.  This is a loss unfortunately.

KK s Zito

Zito is 5-10 4.89 and an above average WHIP. This is not the same Zito that played in Oakland.  KK has done enough to keep us in games and I think we will reward him with a win.  There are grumblings all around the Bay that the Giants should dump Zito and I think this will cause him to make mistakes.  Again lately we have punished mistakes by opposing teams.

I think we can win this series 3-1, but I don't think we will do any worse than split.  If we get three wins we could be building a little momentum and put pressure on the Phillies.  If we split we will need help from others to keep pace.  I think we can give the Phillies a run but I don't think we can sustain it without some changes or damn good luck.  This next 5-7 days will determine if we are in it.  If we don't play better than .500 the sale will begin and we will get them next year.  

Diory should be sent back to AAA.  He does not posess the moxie to be a long term contributor off the bench and probably would benefit from playing everyday.  Chris Burke with ML experience is down at Gwinnett playing good ball and should be given the opportunity to come up and see what he can do.  Greg Norton on the other hand has not contributed anything to this team and should be released.  I would like to see Barbaro get a chance to platoon at first with Kotchman and see if he could hold down the fort until Freeman is ready.  The Braves need more pop and I understand that Kotchman has good numbers but we need some power and need it badly.  The fact that he is right handed is not a bad thing either.  We dont have the money to go get a big bat so it is time to address the hitting woes as best as possible from within the organization.

The Braves have a good young nucleus of talent.  However, that said this team is not realistically going to compete until 2011.  Remember back in 1990, the organization was loaded with minor league talent that was blocked by some of our favorite players.  Dale Murphy (Mr. Brave) realized this and asked to be moved and people crucified the FO.  What really happened is Murph knew he had taken this team as far as he could and made the ultimate sacrifice for the team. Murphy was right, blow this thing up like 1990.  Move Chipper and Javy for minor league depth, cut Garrett, Norton, Diaz, and Johnson, get what you can for Soriano and Gonzales, fire Cox and staff, do whatever it takes, but it is time to reinvent this team and let the kids take their lumps without pressure to win.  Hire Clint Hurdle he is good at developing young players and will not have a preconcieved notion to be loyal to underperformers because they are his guys. The Braves need change and should look back at the classy example set by Murph.