it doesn't appear that the kotsay trade is done just yet. he has to -fail-(*ahem, sorry) pass a physical today for it to go through. rumor has it atlanta is going to be giving up another player as well.

but the funny thing is yahoo is reporting that atlanta gets kotsay, oakland gets devine and CASH wtf?
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-braves-kotsay&prov=ap&type=lgns

Quote :

"The Braves reached a tentative deal Saturday to acquire the oft-injured Kotsay from the Oakland Athletics for reliever Joey Devine and cash, according to several media reports. The trade is contingent on Kotsay passing a physical and the commissioner's office approving the money involved in the deal. "

1/14/2008 6:27:21 AM

Quote :

"I wouldn’t have taken this loser for free. Giving up Joey Devine and paying him whatever the Braves wind up paying — even if it’s “just” $2.5 million or whatever — is just excrement icing on the crap cake. Let us ignore his 2007. We’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that his abhorrent, nay Langerhansine, .214/.279/.296 line (a 57 OPS+) was entirely due to injury. We are still talking about a 32-year-old outfielder who has been declining, as players do, ever since he was 28, who has never made an All-Star team, was never a great centerfielder and who now appears to be below average, and whose career slugging percentage is below the league. This is a player who if he’s lucky gets a guaranteed contract and a platoon job, if he’s unlucky a minor league deal and an invite to spring training. What’s more, the Braves are probably going to hit him second, or even leadoff. At least Margor Blanderson would have hit eighth. Kotsay was the Marlins’ #1 pick in the 1996 draft, out of Cal State-Fullerton, where he’d won the Golden Spikes in 1995. He tore up the minors, and was in the big leagues to stay in 1997. The Marlins used him mostly as a right fielder, even though he didn’t have the bat for an outfield corner, and even some at first. After a couple of subpar seasons, he had a decent year in 2000, just as he was entering arbitration, and you know the Marlins — time to trade him! Sent to the Padres for mostly Matt Clement, Kotsay switched to center and had two fine seasons in 2001-02, followed by a slightly below-average 2003. The A’s traded Ramon Hernandez and Terrance Long to get him before the 2004 season, and locked him up on a long-term deal. He played well that year, was mediocre the next, bad in 2006, and subhuman in 2007 before they shelved him with a back injury. In a good year, he’s a .285-.295-range hitter with some walks, not too many, a .337 career OBP, career high .370. Suboptimal power, slugging percentage below the league despite good batting averages, and a career HR high of 17… No platoon split to speak of. In his defense, he’s played his entire career in pitchers’ parks, and these medium-range power guys often are the hardest hit by tough HR parks. 59 career homers on the road, 44 at home, but his overall stats are actually a bit better in home games… Caught 59 times in 140 career SB attempts. In other words, he’s less valuable on the bases than a guy who doesn’t run at all. Rotsay’s most-similar player is Garry Maddox. Maddox was a good player, but Kotsay isn’t within a league of him on defense and is playing in a far hitter-friendlier era, and Maddox’s last good year was at 32, Kotsay’s age last year. Marquis Grissom is next, and more promising, but Grissom hasn’t had Kotsay’s injuries and again was far better defensively. Next is Jimmy Piersall, whose last good year was at 31, though we can assume Kotsay won’t go insane. But he’ll hit for a higher average than Andruw, maybe, and isn’t that all that counts? Our only hope is that he fails his physical. Anyone want to pull a Gilooly on him? Get one Braves fan (with any sense) on the jury, and you’ll never be convicted."

1/14/2008 11:34:24 AM

^ ha ha pretty good read

Can't believe this trade. I don't care if we need a CF. You do not trade good young arms for garbage unless you are Steve Phillips. Fuck I am already missing JS.

1/14/2008 4:22:30 PM

Braves avoid arbitration with Teixeira and sign him for $12.5 mil next season - wooooooo!

1/18/2008 1:39:51 PM

weird that he got just a one year deal

i can't imagine he'd have won arbitration for much more than $12.5m

1/18/2008 1:42:42 PM

also,

willy aybar and minor leaguer chase fontaine were sent to the rays for jeff ridgway

Quote :

"Ridgway, 27, made his Major League debut with the Rays in September after spending seven seasons in the Rays' Minor League system. He made three relief appearances for the Rays and went 0-0 with a 189.00 ERA."

awesome

1/18/2008 4:07:01 PM

Quote :

"189.00 ERA"

lol

1/18/2008 4:08:34 PM

Wow, Tex turns down $140mil from the Texans and signs a 1 year deal with the Braves? He better pray to god he doesn't have some serious injury in the next year. $140mil is a lot of money to just leave on the table.

1/18/2008 5:12:22 PM

he is probably going to sign with the red sox in 2009

1/18/2008 5:20:36 PM

probably

it's a very strange deal

1/18/2008 5:24:19 PM

If the Braves don't sign him to a long term deal, after what they gave up to get him, I am done with them for awhile. That team has been run like complete shit the past 5-10years and not signing him long term would just be the icing on the cake.

lol I just noticed I put Texans instead of Rangers.

[Edited on January 18, 2008 at 5:58 PM. Reason : .]

1/18/2008 5:57:07 PM

let me pick a new favorite team for you then....hmmm......

the detroit tigers

1/18/2008 5:58:25 PM

speaking of which

Quote :

"[Omar Infante is] the third member of the 43-119 2003 Tigers that the Braves have imported, following Adam Bernero and Fredo Ledezma. Steve Avery was also a member of that team, and Mark Redman had left after the prior season. Your guess is as good as mine as to why the Braves are so intent upon bringing in members of the worst team of the last 40 years."

1/18/2008 6:01:20 PM

well considering they arent the worst team in 40 years, the article failed to mention that they got smoltz from the tigers

1/18/2008 6:03:08 PM

what? he was talking about the 2003 tigers, which were the worst team in the past 40 years, and of which smoltz was not a member

i wasn't dissing your tigers, i was just posting something relevant to the tigers-braves tradefest of late

1/18/2008 6:04:38 PM

Quote :

"worst team of the last 40 years"

i thought he meant collectively

1/18/2008 6:18:01 PM

I honestly cannot figure out what the Braves are doing this off season.

They trade Renteria for a good young arm, but probably could have got more. They give away Ascenio for garbage in Will Ohman and Omar Infante, trade Devine for nothing and give away cash in the deal, and now they avoid arbitration with Tex by ponying up $12.5 mil, but cannot avoid arbitration with Soriano and Diaz?? WTF?? And now they trade for some 27 year old douche in a deal that helps nobody. The Braves are going to suck huge next year.

Oh well atleast they re-signed Mike Gonzalez even though he won't be back until after the All Star break.

1/18/2008 11:09:29 PM

The braves did sign Diaz.

http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080118&content_id=2350763&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl

1/19/2008 1:02:55 PM

Yeah the Rentaria trade really pissed me off. I still have no clue what they were doing there.

1/19/2008 4:35:22 PM

^^ Good. I saw an article saying that they did not reach an agreement with him and would be going to arbitration.

1/19/2008 6:03:38 PM

baseball prospectus ranks francoeur as the top candidate for a breakout season

Quote :

"Take a player who has top-tier tools (save speed), who has lots of experience at a young age, and who has clearly improved the biggest hole in his game—that’s a player who projects for a significant leap forward. It Francoeur merely redistributes his XBH and adds 10 walks and five singles, you’re looking at a .300/.350/.500 player with plus defense. If he takes a leap forward—which is what I can see happening—you’re talking about a mid-ballot MVP candidate."

1/20/2008 2:53:23 PM

Quote :

"he is probably going to sign with the red sox in 2009"

Yankees... they have a ton coming off the books after this year, including Giambi.

1/20/2008 3:04:32 PM

Braves signed Soriano to 2 year deal. $2.4 Million for 2008, and $6.1 millon for 2009. It includes a 500k signing bonus, so deal is $9 Million for 2 years.

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/braves/entries/2008/01/23/three_weeks_unt.html#comment-16023102

http://www.rotoworld.com/Content/playernews.aspx?sport=MLB

[Edited on January 24, 2008 at 7:14 PM. Reason : .]

1/24/2008 7:10:24 PM

Francoeur still has a ways to go before becoming a top-tier player (terrible OBP, only average power), but I do like the fact that he's improved every year and is still only like 24. Since Chipper is in the twilight of his career and no one knows what will happen with Teixiera after next year, Francoeur is the most likely candidate to become the face of the franchise over the next decade.

1/24/2008 7:43:31 PM

Good to have the closer back. If that's what Soriano is gonna be?

1/24/2008 11:59:49 PM

It should also mention that BP has Smoltz leading the league in wins this year. If only the games were played on paper.

1/25/2008 12:38:36 AM

Mike Hampton checks his email

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAfSAOEvvM8

2/11/2008 2:54:01 PM

that was funny ha-ha

not funny queer

2/11/2008 3:02:03 PM

Mike Hampton got fat.

2/11/2008 5:40:10 PM

from the Old School Thread:

Quote :

"hey have a pretty sweet deal this year for season tickets in the 2 sections. Buy 2 season tickets, get 2 free. I am talking to my work to get them to buy in but if they dont (or maybe even if they do) I might be interested in splitting this with some of you... it would come out to about $3600 to $4300 total for 4 seats to every home game, which comes out to $11-$13 a game... anyone interested?"

2/11/2008 5:48:01 PM

they had that a few years back and two of my friends bought (2 full 2 free) them to try and sell and make profit (sell the other 2/4 during the season), didnt work and they lost their ass lol, bc cmon who actually goes to braves games

2/11/2008 6:34:51 PM

3/30/2008
@ WSH
8:05 PM
ESPN

plz to win

2/12/2008 8:00:30 AM

Michael Hampton, Lord of the Dance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYhwVGgR5SY

2/12/2008 2:05:05 PM

I regret to inform you that the Braves are no longer the biggest rivals to the Mets and their fans. That has been replaced by the Phillies. There is always Florida or Washington fans to argue with, though, so that should give you solace.

Thank you.

2/21/2008 10:52:55 AM

This because we don't have seriously retarded ballplayers to call your team out? I seriously doubt your POV just given the more recent history of the Braves destroying the Mets in the late 90s, early 2000s. Just because the Mets choked their shit last season and the Phils won doesn't mean anything. Any loud mouth can call people out. Too bad the Braves keep most of it out of the media.

2/21/2008 11:54:31 AM

I never disliked the Mets or their fans because they were winning (because they so rarely were). I dislike them because they are the Mets. If they win 30 games this season, they will still be the Mets and I will still hate them and their greasy, delusional fans.

2/21/2008 11:57:10 AM

I got tix to the April 5 ATL v. NYM game... GO BRAVES!

2/21/2008 12:27:21 PM

If teams can just change who their rivals are like that, does that really make them rivals? It just seems the definition of a rival is used too loosely these days.

2/21/2008 1:18:43 PM

To be fair, the Mets and Phillies are only 80 miles apart and the cities can't stand each other. The Rangers biggest non intracity rival is the Flyers and the Giants the Eagles... It makes sense. The teams have never been good at the same time and now they are and the Phillies players fucking HATE the Mets so it makes for a rivalry.

I was just kidding though. Don't feel bad. I still hate the Braves.

2/21/2008 1:20:24 PM

thanks we hate you too

I don't want to be the red headed stepchild in another rivalry. NCSU has already given me that in football and basketball.

[Edited on February 21, 2008 at 1:22 PM. Reason : .]

2/21/2008 1:21:46 PM

Don't Philadelphia fans hate everybody???

2/21/2008 6:02:14 PM

Scrimmage tomorrow v. GT

IT BEGINS

2/26/2008 9:05:41 PM

A team with 10,000+ losses shouldn't be anyones rival.

2/26/2008 9:17:50 PM

^ ha ha

Chuck James apparently has a shoulder injury and will start the season in Richmond. This makes me because he is a Mike Hampton clone that throws garbage and pitches like a girl.

As far as I can tell our rotation will be:
1. Smoltz
2. Hudson
3. Glavine
4. Hampton (if healthy)
5. Jo Jo Reyes or Jurrjens

I am rooting for Jurrjens to win that spot. Reyes just got worse and worse last season as more teams scouted him and figured him out.

2/27/2008 12:27:22 PM

what are the chances the braves will go with a 4-man rotation to start the season? I really hope it happens because I have tix to the first saturday game, their 5th game... and I'd rather see Smoltz pitch.

2/27/2008 12:45:27 PM

I'm pretty sure Hudson will be our #1 -- that's what Smoltz said last week, at least

Quote :

"4. Hampton (if healthy)"

lolololol

2/27/2008 12:49:56 PM

^ AJC earlier in the week said Smoltz looks likely to be the opening day stater. Doesn't really matter anyway whether he is the 1 or 2 except Smoltz might matchup better against other 1s than Hudson.

2/27/2008 2:30:15 PM

I think it would be kinda cool if they made Glavine the opening day starter.

I can't wait to see him in a Braves uniform again.

2/27/2008 2:40:17 PM

Grandpa glavine?

2/27/2008 2:48:27 PM

Hampton: pleasant surprise says mlb.com:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080222&content_id=2384243&vkey=spt2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Quote :

"LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- After the first week of workouts, Mike Hampton has been the most pleasant surprise in Braves camp. His twice-surgically left repaired elbow has remained sound and his right hamstring passed its latest test when he had to react to two batted balls during Friday's workout at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. When Scott Thorman lined a Hampton pitch back against the protective screen in front of the mound, Braves athletic trainer Jeff Porter said "that was a good test for the hamstring." A few minutes later, a batted ball to the left side of the mound prompted the 35-year-old veteran pitcher to instinctively react in the same manner he would if he were in a game. Once Hampton finished throwing 10 minutes of batting practice, he walked off the mound and provided a sincere "Thank you" to Thorman and the three other Braves hitters who were the latest to realize why the coaching staff has been so impressed with this veteran pitcher. "

2/27/2008 3:04:20 PM