Braves Net Lee From Cubs To Shore Up First Base

BRAVES GET:

1B Derrek Lee (475 PA, .251/.335/.416, 16 HR, 63 R, 56 RBI, 94 OPS+)
Cash

CUBS GET:

RRP Robinson Lopez (A Rome - 92 2/3 IP, 84 H, 51-45 R-ER (4.37 ERA), 43 BB, 70 K, 1.371 WHIP
RRP Tyrelle Harris (A/A+/AA - 49 2/3 IP, 38 H, 17-16 R-ER (2.90 ERA), 22 BB, 60 K, 1.208 WHIP
LRP Jeff Lorick (A/A+ - 52 1/3 IP, 43 H, 25-13 R-ER (2.24 ERA), 21 BB, 43 K, 1.223 WHIP)


With the platoon of Eric Hinske and Troy Glaus not totally cutting it at first base (507 PA, .238/.339/.413, 19 HR, 80 RBI) and with Glaus going on the disabled list, Braves general manager Frank Wren decided to pull out the stops for a waiver claim.


The Braves traded three minor league relievers to the Chicago Cubs for first baseman Derrek Lee and cash. Lee, a 14-year veteran, has battled back problems this season. Still, he has posted a .251/.335/.416 line in 475 PAs with 16 home runs and 56 RBIs, effectively matching the production of Glaus and Hinske.

Old Buddies Become Trade Partners

BRAVES GET:
CF Rick Ankiel (101 PA, .261/.317/.467, 4 HR, 14 R, 15 RBI, 103 OPS+)
RRP Kyle Farnsworth (44 2/3 IP, 40 H, 13-12 R-ER (2.42 ERA), 12 BB, 36 K, 1.164 WHIP)

ROYALS GET:
RRP Jesse Chavez (36 2/3 IP, 40 H, 24 R-ER (5.89 ERA), 12 BB, 29 K, 1.418 WHIP)
CF Gregor Blanco (66 PA, .310/.394/.362, 0 HR, 9 R, 3 RBI, 107 OPS+)
LRP Tim Collins (AA Mississippi - 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R-ER (1.12 ERA), 3 BB, 14 K, 0.875 WHIP)

The Braves have traded outfielder Gregor Blanco, reliever Jesse Chavez and pitching prospect Tim Collins to the Royals for veteran outfielder Rick Ankiel and reliever Kyle Farnsworth.

I can only imagine the amount of venom some Braves fans have placed into their posted words this afternoon and evening when learning about the trade. Frank Wren traded for the very same Kyle Farnsworth that single-handedly lost the NLDS for the Braves five years ago?! Has he lost his mind?!

Not quite. In fact, on this trading deadline day, Wren has kept his mind quite sane by not giving up any of Atlanta's prized prospects. In the days leading up to the deadline, worries abounded that Wren would trade any of Freddie Freeman (Baseball America's #32 pre-2010 prospect), Arodys Vizcaino (#69), Mike Minor or Randall Delgado to beef up the Braves' outfield production. That is one way to look at the day's work.

Another way is to compare Rick Ankiel directly to the Braves' previous center field producers before this afternoon's game in Cincinnati:

Nate McLouth - 216 PA, .160/.275/.254, 3 HR, 20 R, 14 RBI
Melky Cabrera - 135 PA, .305/.381/.432, 0 HR, 14 R, 11 RBI
Gregor Blanco - 62 PA, .291/.371/.327, 0 HR, 8 R, 3 RBI

Cabrera's line looks strong because he has been the Braves' latest center fielder. But, the rest of his lines, including .242/.289/.325 (128 PA) as a left fielder and .222/.286/.317 (72 PA) as a right fielder, drag his stats down to .265/.328/.366 before today's game.

That doesn't fully prove my case, but the anecdotal evidence of Cabrera committing a bizarre throwing error in today's game might help the idea that the Braves could do better in center field.

Rick Ankiel, who may be the Braves' starting center fielder for the remainder of the season, spent more than a month on the disabled list with a right quad strain. Once again, the Braves have acquired a player with more home runs than the previous player(s) at the position (Ankiel 4, Braves CFs 3). He is better in the small sample size (11 XBH in 101 PAs to Cabrera's 23 in 346 PAs), so he could improve the Braves in that department if he keeps the same rate.

While some Braves fans still haven't forgiven Farnsworth for surrendering a game-tying home run to Brad Ausmus, the likelihood is that he's not going to get the opportunity to screw something like that up. In 37 games with the Royals, Farnsworth was relied upon heavily, pitching 44 2/3 innings. His ERA (2.42) was mostly helped by pitching more than one inning in eleven appearances (1.29 ERA in 21 innings).

However, out of the 99 relievers that have 200 or more appearances since 2006, Farnsworth has the 19th-worst ERA (4.19) and has given up 37 home runs over that span. Fortunately, he has only allowed two this year. and hasn't given up a home run in nearly two months.

In my opinion, I think Ankiel and Farnsworth can improve the Braves in center field and middle relief at the minimal cost to the club's plans (Tim Collins).

An Early Christmas Present For The Braves And Yankees

BRAVES GET:
OF Melky Cabrera (.274/.336/.416, 540 PA, 28 2B, 1 3B, 13 HR, 68 RBI, 99 OPS+)
LRP Mike Dunn (0-0, 6.75 ERA, 2.000 WHIP, 4 G, 4 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5/5 K/BB)
RSP Arodys Vizcaino (2-4, 2.13 ERA, 1.157 WHIP, 10 GS, 42 1/3 IP, 34 H, 18 R, 10 ER, 52/15 K/BB in A-SS Staten Island)

YANKEES GET:
RSP Javier Vazquez (15-10, 2.87 ERA, 1.026 WHIP, 32 GS, 219 1/3 IP, 181 H, 75 R, 70 ER, 238/44 K/BB)
LRP Boone Logan (1-1, 5.19 ERA, 1.731 WHIP, 20 G, 17 1/3 IP, 21 H, 12 R, 10 ER, 10/9 K/BB)

The plan at the Winter Meetings failed, so Frank Wren and the Braves had to settle for Plan B.

With the Braves unable to move Derek Lowe due to salary concerns, the team opted to trade ace starter Javier Vazquez to the Yankees for outfielder Melky Cabrera, reliever Mike Dunn and top starting pitching prospect Arodys Vizcaino. The Braves also sent reliever Boone Logan in the deal. Both Vazquez and Logan came to the Braves in a winter deal with the White Sox last year.

A lot of people have already said and will continue to say that this trade was horrible for the Braves. The common refrain is to boil it down to two players. Thus, it becomes: Atlanta traded the ace of their staff the previous season for an outfielder that isn't even particularly good. Of course, the picture above is not that of Cabrera; it's of Vizcaino. I'll explain why later.

First, there is an important thing to establish:

The trade is not as bad as it looks.

The Braves still have a potentially formidable starting rotation. Tommy Hanson will be entering his first full major league season of starting. Tim Hudson should be healthy, Jair Jurrjens should perform around what he accomplished in 2009, and Kenshin Kawakami will look to improve on his respectable rookie season.

The wild card here may be starting pitcher Derek Lowe. He'll want to improve on some of his worst statistics from last season, including an NL-high 232 hits allowed and a 1.515 WHIP, his worst WHIP since the 2004 season, and a career-worst 88 Adjusted ERA+. Some may see it as a problem that Lowe was unhappy with the idea of being traded because of his contract. However, with Vazquez gone, Lowe's spot in the rotation is secure and he can lose it only by getting hurt or having so many bad starts that Braves manager Bobby Cox moves him to the bullpen and inserts long reliever Kris Medlen in the starting role.

The only player the Braves netted in the trade that has a chance of making the team next season is Melky Cabrera. The outfielder may even be the regular left fielder next season, replacing Garret Anderson. But, the problem is that Cabrera usually provides the production of last year's version of Garret Anderson:

Cabrera, 2009: 540 PA, .274/.336/.416, 28 2B, 13 HR, 68 RBI, 99 OPS+
Anderson, 2009: 534 PA, .268/.303/.401, 27 2B, 13 HR, 61 RBI, 86 OPS+

Essentially, this means that the Braves are back to square one when it comes to their outfield production. The only player that can improve it right now is top prospect Jason Heyward.

The first pitcher obtained in the trade are a young left-handed reliever who wasn't particularly good in limited major-league action last year, but he has a live fastball (98 miles an hour tops) and a hard slider (90 miles an hour). I guess he should be a better left-handed live arm than, say, Jeff Ridgway.

However, the crown jewel in the haul is starting pitcher Arodys Vizcaino. Formerly the top pitching prospect in the Yankees organization and third overall, the soon-to-be 19-year old righthander has a huge heater (98 miles an hour tops that he can consistently throw) and a plus curve and changeup. As mentioned above, he posted a 2.13 ERA in 10 starts with a 52/15 K/BB ratio in 45 1/3 innings. The Braves may very well have found a new Neftali Feliz-type prospect to replace the fireballing reliever they traded to Texas more than two years ago.

***BONUS ENTRY***

While composing this post, which took me the better part of the day, Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution decided that the trade meant the Braves are more concerned about the bottom line than winning baseball games.

The Braves just traded the man who might well have been their Opening Day starting pitcher for an outfielder who might not start on Opening Day. Think about that.

Oh, he'll start on Opening Day. As it stands right now, his only competition is Matt Diaz, since Nate McLouth is in center field and mega-prospect Jason Heyward virtually has the right field job all to himself.

Think also about this: The Braves just traded a man who finished fourth in the National League Cy Young voting because he was making too much money. And here’s how much Javier Vazquez is scheduled to make in 2010 — $11.5 million. That’s not even half what CC Sabathia, his new Yankee teammate, will earn.

The Braves traded Javier Vazquez only because they couldn't find any takers for Derek Lowe. The only other option was Vazquez. Also, I don't particularly see the point in mentioning what Sabathia makes. All that says is the Yankees have big wallets.

And that tells us all we need know about the Braves.

Does it?

They keep making noises about contending for division titles, but it’s just noise. They can’t afford to do real business any longer.

"Real business", huh? Does real business involve, oh, I don't know... utilizing the resources available to you as best as you can? Isn't that what the Braves are doing?

From the day the 2009 season ended they were looking to dump a starting pitcher, ostensibly to add a power hitter, but Melky Cabrera isn’t a power hitter.

No, he's not. In fact, as I mentioned earlier, he's not any more better than Garret Anderson.

He was the eighth-best position player on the Yankees. He might not beat out Nate McLouth in center field here. He might wind up in a platoon. And he’s what the Braves got for the man who was their best pitcher last season.

Cabrera isn't supposed to beat McLouth out for center field. It's natural to believe that Cabrera will be in a platoon with Diaz in left field; in fact, that's what I expect.

The Braves got Cabrera and two pitchers. It's so easy to forget that when you want to focus on the most recognizable names.

“A perfect fit,” Frank Wren called Cabrera, speaking on a teleconference Tuesday, but the only thing perfect about this trade was how completely it detonates the Braves’ claim to being serious players. You don’t trade an ace unless you get a big bopper in return. The Braves got a guy who hit 13 home runs with 68 RBIs last season.

Yeah, you usually trade aces for prospects. I can't even remember the last time that an ace was traded for a slugger. That just doesn't happen in today's baseball world.

Yes, there’s more to the trade than Cabrera. Mike Dunn should help in the bullpen and Arodys Vizcaino is a young power arm, but the cold truth is that the Braves just played what they deemed their trump card — a surplus of starting pitching — without improving their run production one whit.

All Vizcaino is to Bradley is "a young power arm". There's something to be said about that; it tells me he doesn't understand just how good of a prospect he is to the organization. I truly believe Vizcaino partially makes up for trading Neftali Feliz to Texas.

The Braves actually DID improve their run production one whit. Cabrera is an improvement on Garret Anderson when it comes to getting on base. A whit's improvement.

And don’t fool yourselves: That $11.5 million they saved on Vazquez won’t allow them to splurge on Jason Bay or Matt Holliday. Those guys are out of price range, out of sight.

Actually, it'll be around $8.5 million because Cabrera is due to make about $3 million in arbitration. Besides, who says the Braves have to go after an outfielder with that extra money? They could easily sign one of the free-agent first basemen now. Candidates include Troy Glaus, Russell Branyan, Carlos Delgado, or even Adam LaRoche. A full season of better first-base power (Casey Kotchman slugged just .409 mostly during the first half of the year) should help the Braves.

“We’re very fortunate to be able to make a deal like this,” Wren said. Then this: “We’ve been focused on [finding a run producer] all offseason, and we were waiting on the right match. And we’re still waiting.”

Well, obviously that means that he's going to try another trade avenue. If Bay and Holliday are off-limits, that means Wren's going to go back to the trade market.

But Vazquez is gone. Can’t trade him twice. And the Braves can’t trade Derek Lowe because they’re down to five starters. So the best that can be reasonably hoped is that they find a Marlon Byrd or a Xavier Nady or — knowing as we do that the Braves love recycling old favorites — a Mark DeRosa or a Jermaine Dye.

Marlon Byrd - NO. He'll wilt outside of The Ballpark in Arlington.
Xavier Nady - He'll be a cheap first base option because he's coming off surgery, but he wouldn't be that good.
Mark DeRosa - He can't exactly play first base or left field on a regular basis.
Jermaine Dye - I would actually love to see him play first base.

Except none of those players will make them better in the way that losing Vazquez makes them worse.

Losing Vazquez actually doesn't make the team that much worse. The rotation goes from this:

1. Vazquez
2. Jurrjens
3. Hanson
4. Lowe
5. Kawakami

to this

1. Jurrjens
2. Hanson
3. Hudson
4. Kawakami
5. Lowe

It won't necessarily be in that order, but it's still not a drastic step down. Jurrjens or Hanson could very easily step into the vacuum created by Vazquez's absence and Tim Hudson takes the "vacant" spot. Since Lowe and Kawakami should improve from their previous seasons, the mystery player becomes Tim Hudson. That's a good luxury the Braves still have.

As someone who has defended Wren in the past, I have to say I’m stumped. Obviously the Braves’ salary constraints are worse than we’d been led to believe if they had to make this sort of deal so soon — Santa Claus hasn’t yet come and Javier Vazquez has left the building — but even more puzzling is Wren’s contention that this enabled him “to improve our club.” Maybe it improves it in 2012, when Vizcaino is ready to join Tommy Hanson and Jair Jurrjens. But the way the Braves operate those pitchers will have been sold off by then.

Bad joke if you're joking, pure idiocy if you're not, Mr. Bradley. Trading Hanson and Jurrjens in their cheap arbitration years. Please.

Nothing about this offseason suggests that the new Braves are any better than the ones who finished third in the NL East. Is Billy Wagner an upgrade over Rafael Soriano? No. (But he’s cheaper. And also older.) Is Takashi Saito better than Mike Gonzalez? No. (But he’s cheaper. And also older.) Is the new first baseman … oh, wait. They don’t yet have a new first baseman.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Wagner and Saito being "older" than Soriano and Gonzalez. This is simply a symptom of what many baseball organizations see as the proper way to build a baseball team. Closers and set-up men go through teams like a hot potato in some cases.

When it comes to first base, there's this guy that complicates things a little and his name is Freddie Freeman. The Braves have to walk a fine line with their second-best prospect. They don't want to sign someone to a big contract and block him, but they also want someone for "insurance" in case Freeman has a hard time advancing past Mississippi.

For all this motion — Wren is forever in a hurry — the Braves will enter January 2010 a lesser team than in September 2009. That’s not the way it’s supposed to work. But that is, sad to say, the way it works here, where $11.5 million for a big-time pitcher is considered too much, where the drive to win is trumped by the need to scrimp.

If the season started in January, I might share your concerns displayed in the first sentence. Also, just because an ace was traded for a couple of prospects and someone who isn't particularly helpful doesn't mean the Braves are "scrimping". This is only part of Wren's gameplan. He knows that the Braves still need a first baseman and/or someone who can actually hit for power. This isn't the end of the off-season, this isn't the time to be declaring the Braves' demise in the 2010 NL East race, and it is certainly not the time to call this trade a symptom of penny-pinching.

Dumping On The Rays: Braves Trade Soriano For Chavez

RAYS GET:
RCP Rafael Soriano (75 2/3 IP, 53 H, 23 ER, 27 BB, 102 K)

BRAVES GET:
RRP Jesse Chavez (67 1/3 IP, 69 H, 30 ER, 22 BB, 47 K)

The monkey wrench has been pulled out of the works.

According to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times, the Braves agreed to trade former closer Rafael Soriano to the Tampa Bay Rays for relief pitcher Jesse Chavez. The medical records and other things were examined and the trade will be announced Friday.

Soriano pitched in the closer's role for most of the 2009 season. He was 27-31 in save opportunities while garnering a less-than-sparkling 1-6 record. The Dominican, who thrives on his fastball and slider, held opponents last season to a .194 batting average and a career high in strikeouts (12.1 K/9). The most lasting impression of his final year may be a couple of key blown saves:

• August 6 at Los Angeles: With the Braves leading 4-2, Soriano allowed an infield single to Juan Pierre, a groundball single to right field to Rafael Furcal and a game-ending home run to Andre Ethier.
• September 9 at Houston: Soriano took the hill for Tommy Hanson, who pitched eight innings of shutout ball. Michael Bourn struck out swinging, but then allowed a single to Kazuo Matsui and a double to Lance Berkman. Carlos Lee was intentionally walked, but Miguel Tejada singled up the middle to win the game for the Astros.

Regardless, Soriano stabilizes the Rays' closing situation; he should inherit the role from J. P. Howell.

Jesse Chavez, who has been shuffled through the Rangers and Pirates systems, is known for a live fastball that can reach 95 miles and hour and has a plus curve and change-up. However, he usually has trouble locating the pitches for strikes. Last season, Chavez had his first taste of extended action in the majors. The fact that he proved he can pitch in 73 games seems promising; that means that he can handle a potential heavy workload in a Braves bullpen used by Bobby Cox.

Because of the nature of the situation, this trade amounted to a salary dump. The Braves had to get rid of Soriano because he accepted arbitration. As such, the reliever was due to make about $7 million with a slight raise in arbitration. The Braves needed that money to pursue a first baseman and outfielder. Thus, he couldn't be peddled off for much because the Braves had nearly zero leverage. The fact the Braves were able to get Chavez without having to pay any of his 2010 salary was a small miracle in and of itself.

EDIT: Frankly, when push comes to shove, I could have cared less who the Braves got back from the Rays in this trade. I hope that Sanchez has the talent to continue his career in the Braves system, but the only thing I cared about was getting rid of Soriano. That objective was accomplished. Bring on the rest of the off-season!

SECOND EDIT: Added title

Photo by AP's Gene J. Puskar

I'm Running Out Of Good Titles For Bisher's Stuff

You have to say this about the old man: he can still churn those articles out. It doesn't mean those articles are good, but he can churn them out. His latest foray into the blogdom of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's website: Brace yourselves, but Braves should put Chipper on market.

Wow, a controversial subject. Not bad for a start. Let's see where Mr. Bisher goes with this:

OK, now it’s the Braves’ turn. After all those seasons of shoring up their roster with blockbuster trades in mid-season, at the expense of raiding the farm system, consider this: (Are you sitting down?) Tell the world they’re putting Chipper Jones on the open market. Anybody out there in need of a third baseman, or, on the American League side, a designated hitter?

Actually, I'm not sure what "blockbuster" deals he's talking about that came at the expense of "raiding the farm system" at the trading deadline. Let's take a look at the Braves' past deadline deals (deals made in July) that involved a significant amount of prospects (two or three):

• July 31, 1991: Traded Matt Turner (AAA Richmond) and a PTBNL (Earl Sanders, AA Greenville) to the Houston Astros for Jim Clancy
  
• July 18, 1993: Traded Melvin Nieves (AAA Richmond), Donnie Elliott (AAA Richmond) and Vince Moore (A+ Durham) to the Padres for Fred McGriff


• July 30, 1998: Traded David Cortes (AAA Richmond) and Mike Porzio (A+ Danville) to the Rockies for Greg Colbrunn


• July 31, 1999: Traded Micah Bowie (AAA Richmond), Ruben Quevedo (AAA Richmond) and Joey Nation (A+ Myrtle Beach) to the Cubs for Jose Hernandez and Terry Mulholland


• July 12, 2000: Traded Bruce Chen (AAA Richmond + MLB Atlanta) and Jimmy Osting (AA Greenville + AAA Richmond) to the Phillies for Andy Ashby


• July 31, 2000: Traded Trenidad Hubbard (MLB Braves), Fernando Lunar (MLB Braves + AAA Richmond) and Luis Rivera (AAA Richmond) to Baltimore for Gabe Molina and B. J. Surhoff


• July 31, 2005: Traded Roman Colon (MLB, AA and AAA) and Zach Miner (AA Mississippi) to the Tigers for Kyle Farnsworth


• July 31, 2007: Traded Elvis Andrus (A+ Myrtle Beach), Matt Harrison (AA Mississippi), Jarrod Saltalamacchia (AA Mississippi and MLB Braves), Beau Jones (A+ Myrtle Beach) and Neftali Feliz (Rookie) to the Rangers for Mark Teixeira and Ron Mahay.

There are many other trades that the Braves did using their prospects. Some of them may even be considered "raiding the farm system", like obtaining Denny Neagle from the Pirates in August of 1997 for four prospects, including Jason Schmidt. Also, there's Bisher's much-maligned trade in the 2003-04 off-season, where the Braves sent Adam Wainwright and Jason Marquis, along with Ray King, to St. Louis for J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero. However, according to the parameters that I've set, the list above contains the only trades since 1991 where the Braves traded away two or more prospects when dealing in July. Most of them aren't particularly franchise-shattering, so I guess my ultimate point is that Bisher's painting with a broad brush when it comes to deadline deals.

As for there being teams needing third basemen or designated hitters, I'm not quite sure about that. A more accurate question would be: what contending team would need a third baseman or a designated hitter AND be willing to give up two or three top prospects to take on Chipper's below-market, but very high contract?

I can hear all the gulps, and the screeches, and calls for my scalp.

People have called for your scalp for lesser offenses, like implying that the Braves' farm system is dry because there is no immediate help in Lawrenceville (AAA Gwinnett County Braves), and saying that the Braves need to show more patience with Jeff Francoeur because John Smoltz and Tom Glavine were shown that courtesy (or so he says).

First place, forget where you saw this. This is not my choice at all, but considering the direction the Braves have taken the past four years, the lock is running low on sentimentality.

Considering the fact that you wanted to show patience for Francoeur and seemed to support the idea of giving Smoltz and Glavine as much time as they needed to get back into form, I think you were being quite sentimental then. However, I don't blame you for changing your mind.

Sure, Chipper is the face of the Braves. And the voice. He speaks for the team when anyone is looking for an opinion, or reaction to a news event. All of us seek him out, and he responds in his even baritone voice. He never lets you down. So to offer him for trade, hang him out there like a piece of meat for swap. A dreadful thought.

So why spend all those words describing how great Chipper is to the franchise, then say the Braves need to trade him? Get to the point!

But think again.

I'm already thinking of stopping this blog post right now, but I have an obligation to keep going.

He deserves one more chance at a World Series, or postseason play, and he’s not going to get it here.

No, he's not, and he has been vocal about how he has been frustrated with the Braves' inconsistent offense. He's really echoing most of the Braves' fans. It's more of a "I want this team better" frustration, rather than a "I want to get out of here!" frustration.

Also, I don't deny that it would be good feelings-wise to see Chipper get a shot at a World Series with Contending Team X. However, that's not what matters to me as a Braves fan. What I want, if Chipper Jones is traded, is to get two, maybe even three, prospects that can help the Atlanta Braves immediately or as soon as 2010 without compromising or blocking any of our young prospects (Tommy Hanson, Jason Heyward, Freddie Freeman, etc.).

He just signed a fresh contract, so that much is done, but the front office was rather slow getting around to that. This front office hasn’t been distinguishing itself, anyway.

A little slow in getting around to a contract extension? I'm sure there are a lot of things to do when it comes to that, and you know it. I could care less if the front office is "rather slow" when it comes to those things. The only thing that matters is getting it done, regardless of when it happens.

From that last sentence, I sense the start of one of one of Bisher's patented diatribes. Get your armor on and shields ready. You might need them.

It has been making trades for Gary Sheffield, Mike Hampton, J. D. Drew and Mark Teixeira and shredding the farm system in the process.

It's hard to believe that this one sentence has so many errors in it, but when looked it in context with the last paragraph's sentence, it does.

The Braves have a different front office than the one who made those trades. John Schuerholz made the decisions to import those players; Frank Wren had nothing to do with any of them. I consider him as a different "front office", even with Schuerholz as the president of the team.

Now, as for the players mentioned, two of them didn't cost the Braves much in terms of prospects, which is what Bisher has been complaining about in the first place. Gary Sheffield was obtained from the Dodgers for Brian Jordan, a young pitcher named Odalis Perez who was, I believe, out of prospectdom at the time, and a prospect named Andrew Brown. Sheffield gave the Braves two superb seasons before leaving to sign with the Yankees. In turn, the Braves traded away a league-average outfielder in Jordan, an inconsistent and oft-injured starter who turned in just two above-average seasons since the trade (Perez), and a pitcher who is now retired from baseball after playing two years with the Oakland A's (Brown). That's not a deal that fits Bisher's template.

Mike Hampton was obtained for a remarkably cheap price: reliever Tim Spooneybarger and minor league pitcher Ryan Baker (who never reached the majors) and the Marlins and Rockies pick up the tab for Hampton's astronomical salary for a few years. Hampton did his job for the Braves in the 2 1/2 years that he pitched for them. Now, everyone remembers him for the 2 1/2 years that he DIDN'T pitch for Atlanta, AND the Braves were on the hook for his salary. I think that's why his name is mentioned here.

The Teixeira deal was the most destructive of all, literally re-stocking the Texas Rangers’ roster. Check the standings of the American League West.

I beg to differ. The Rangers don't owe the majority of their resurgence in the AL West to Saltalamacchia, Harrison or Andrus. In fact, only Andrus is producing as expected (.265/.328/.381, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 87 OPS+). Harrison (currently on the DL, 10 games, 4-4, 5.43 ERA, 82 ERA+, 1.559 WHIP) and Saltalamacchia (.247/.297/.388, 6 HR, 25 RBI, 79 OPS+) have little to do with it. Quite frankly, Jarrod's just lucky that Taylor Teagarden stinks; otherwise, he'd be out of a job.

I'd have to say that Ian Kinsler, Michael Young, Nelson Cruz, Hank Blalock and even Andruw Jones have more to do with the Rangers occupying first place in the AL West for now.

By bartering Chipper, what the Braves might be able to do is re-stock its own roster with fresh talent.

And we only base that on his name. Chipper still has an injury history and that makes me question what kind of value the Braves could get for him. The Braves won't get any quality major league players for him, that's for certain. They could get two, or even three quality prospects for him, as I mentioned before. The problem here is that the Braves would take a major PR hit if they traded the face of their franchise. Considering the way the FO has been perceived in treating John Smoltz and Tom Glavine by people who aren't even Braves fans, a Chipper Jones trade could be catastrophic.

True, Chipper is 37 years old, but so is Raul Ibanez, the fresh personality who has brought so much to the Phillies’ lineup.

I'm not sure I'd call his personality "fresh". For what it's worth, Ibanez is riding an extremely flukish year (an ungodly 20.6% HR/FB rate that's pretty much impossible to maintain). I'd like to see what he can bring when he has more "normal" stats. Congrats to Ibanez for being so productive right now, though.

And Chipper is a young 37, keeps himself young hunting and ranching on his acreage in Texas. He was the leading hitter in the National League last season, so the years haven’t been weighing heavily on him.

Yes, he has been able to keep up, but if I'm a team that wants to trade for Chipper, my first question would be about his durability. I know that he wants to stay healthy and be out there to play, but sometimes, he just can't be. For years, Chipper's goal has been to play in 150 games. He hasn't played in that many games in five seasons (153 games in 2003). The good thing is that Jones is on pace to play in at least 150 games (He has played in 58 of 67 games so far, so he can play in 153 games maximum).

I don’t know what his contract arrangement may be, whether it includes a non-trade agreement or not. I doubt that he would stand in the way, with the right deal, with the right team.

The right deal is what the Braves want, and what is the right team? What contender needs a DH or third baseman? At this point, it's all conjecture.

He only has to take a look around at what has happened to some of his old Braves pals. John Smoltz, for instance, tired of hemming and hawing and went his own way.

Smoltz went to the Red Sox, who gave him the chance to earn more money. I still contend that the Braves are better off not taking the chance on him.

And Tom Glavine’s rejection has been heavy on the minds of Braves fans lately.

But Tommy Hanson, with each start, has made the pain of Tom Glavine being "mistreated" go away. It's a wonderful feeling to see Hanson do what we think he's capable of doing. He almost makes me say, "Who's Tom Glavine again?"

A deal for Chipper might go a long way toward re-stocking the roster, but it would have to be more productive than a lot of swaps that have been made lately.

A deal for Chipper would only ease Bisher's mind about the "barren" minor league system. The fact remains that even if the Braves obtain quality prospects, the possibility remains that they won't be able to contend.

And what about those recent swaps?

Except for Jair Jurrjens, and to a degree, Omar Infante, those transactions have not been richly productive, including such as Royce Ring, Josh Anderson, Mark Kotsay, Will Ohman, Jeff Ridgway and Mike Gonzalez, and a lot of them are history. Not a pennant-building haul, you might say.

............

I've had to stare at this paragraph and discuss it with others, but I think I understand what Bisher's trying to say here. He says these are ill-advised trades because, for the most part, they didn't work out, or these players aren't with the team anymore.

What I find very peculiar is the nature of why some of these players are on the list. It's funny how Josh Anderson is mentioned in this list; in an earlier blog post of his, Bisher thought that Anderson was the top leadoff prospect of the Braves due to his penchant for hitting a .300 average . I mentioned in that post that because Anderson can't walk, his production will disappear if he can't hit .300. That's exactly what happened: as of the time I wrote this post, Anderson has a .254/.288/.325 line with just six walks in 133 PAs.

Mark Kotsay was, naturally, part of what some Braves fans called an ill-advised deal that sent Joey Devine and Jamie Richmond to Oakland for the center fielder with back issues. He provided solid production (.289/.340/.418, 6 HR, 47 RBI, 99 OPS+ in 345 PAs), but it certainly wasn't worth giving up Joey Devine for him, even if Devine has been shelved with an elbow injury this year.

While Royce Ring and Jeff Ridgway were part of the parade of LOOGYs until Eric O'Flaherty came along, I question adding Will Ohman and Mike Gonzalez to this list. Those two players have done their jobs with Atlanta. In fact, Will Ohman was one of the Braves' best left-handed relievers since Mike Remlinger. That distinction, though, wasn't hard to obtain; the Braves have had a parade of lefty relievers since Remlinger left.

Mike Gonzalez, though he had to have Tommy John surgery, has performed as expected as Atlanta's closer. Plus, Brent Lillibridge helped net Javier Vazquez, and the 32-year old pitcher could easily be shopped at the trading deadline.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals, Rangers, Rockies and Rays enjoy the fruits of some of the Braves’ misjudgments.

The Rangers may be enjoying the Braves' misjudgements the most, but the Cardinals may not particularly care for the fact that Wainwright is somewhat injury-prone right now (I'm not denying that he's not a good pitcher; he hasn't been able to stay very healthy).

As for the Rockies, I find something wrong with including them. Jason Marquis, as I type this, is leading the National League in wins (9) and has his highest ERA+ in years (123 in 97 IP) at this point in the season. The problem with including him is that the last time Marquis had an ERA this high was in 2001, when he was a 22-year old with Atlanta (128 ERA+ in 129 1/3 innings pitched; also with the benefit of 12 unearned runs). Thus, Bisher seems to imply that to reap the benefits of Marquis' current breakthough, the Braves would have had to hold on to him for eight seasons. There's no telling what would have happened in his career had he stayed here in Atlanta that long.

Plus, what's with mentioning the Rays?... oh, that's right. Willy Aybar, the super-sub that helped the Rays win the 2008 AL pennant. It's wonderful that Aybar was able to get his head on straight and that he was able to be on a pennant-winning ballclub. It's also clear that the Braves sold low on him. The thing is, I'm not at all worried about that trade. Omar Infante was putting up similar OPS numbers to Aybar before his hand was broken (.349/.389/.430 in 97 PAs, to .268/.375/.411 in 152 PAs). Yes, the only difference is batting average, but you can find a quality backup that plays multiple positions if you look hard enough.

Time to make a move while Chipper is still a major commodity.

Why's this sentence even here, given that this follows:

They can’t close the gap left by all those absentees, so skillfully scouted and carefully nurtured. Not that dealing Chipper Jones can come close to making up for them all, but he could wipe out some of the damage, and in the long run, have a good closing run for himself.

That is only if the mystery prospects pan out. The possibility remains that the Braves can trade for the best prospects in the world, and they may not amount to squat.

And again, Chipper having a good closing run for himself is ultimately only good for Chipper Jones. Yes, we will be happy for him if he wins a World Series with another team, but it will be a fleeting happiness; one minute later after we see Chipper celebrating with the new champions of baseball, we'll turn off the TV and stew over how the Braves need to improve themselves so that they will be the ones celebrating on a cold November night.

If the thought of this offends you, let me remind you that this is the team that traded Henry Aaron and Dale Murphy, and allowed Phil Niekro to take a hike, and Smoltz and Glavine to go adrift.

Hank Aaron was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers by his own request. Dale Murphy was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for pennies on the dollar because he told the Braves he wanted to move on. Letting Phil Niekro walk was a true mistake; Pascual Perez fell apart and Craig McMurtry, Ken Dayley and Zane Smith never panned out. Refer to what I said above about Smoltz and Glavine.

There, I’ve said it. And I’m not sorry.

Well, I'm not sorry for what I've said either, Mr. Bisher, so we're even.