BJ and the Barves

I love this signing.I don't care what anyone thinks about this deal. I don't care if you think we overpaid. I don't care if you think Upton strikes out too much. I don't care if you (stupidly) think BJ has attitude problems. I don't care if you wanted Bourn instead. I don't care what you think because you're wrong. BJ Upton fills a ton of holes in the Braves' lineup and immediately improves the team without costing a hundred million dollar contract. But forget all that. This is the best deal Frank Wren ever made for one reason:

WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO SIGN NICK SWISHER NOW.

Welcome to Atlanta, Bossman Junior.

UGGGGGGG

You know what the best part of this trade is?

We don't have to face the sonuvabitch anymore.

Career splits against the Braves: 
.287/.343/.558 BA/OBP/SLG for a .900 OPS
23 homers, most against any team.
62 RBIs, most against any team.
25 doubles, tied with the Natsies for most against any team.

Dude killed us with the bat, now he can kill us with his glove (kidding).
We needed a RH power hitter to hit cleanup, Wren gets us a RH power hitter to hit cleanup.
Good job, Frankie!

So long Omah, we hardly knew ye....

Braves sign a bat

Woooo! we got Crash Davis!


Any of the Albuquerque faithful know anything about this guy?

The 'ole Billy Barou

WELL THAT WAS QUICK.

Two days after I conjectured that Wagner would be closing for the Bravos in '10 (anybody else subconsciously refer to next year as oh-ten? My brain is weird) Wren ran out and signed Billy. I didn't even have time to MSPaint an A on his hat! Nice pickup to lock down the bullpen and I'm glad there won't be a repeat of last year's "You'll get nothing and LIKE IT" start to the Braves' Hot Stove Season.

And yes, at the start of many a ninth inning in 2010, I shall be chanting Ooooh BillyBillyBilly... This is a big one... Don't let me down Billy...

So Frank, who's gonna be playing First? And batting cleanup? and playing Left Field? Well?

WE'RE WAITING.....

Three more years!

Huddy's on board through 2012, with an option for 2013 assuming the world doesn't explode on December 21st. David O'Brien says 9 million per year, which ain't bad at all for a potential Ace. With 6 legit starting pitchers on the roster and Kris Medlen and Jojo Reyes options in case of injury, it looks like the Bravos have some trading chips. Personally, I'd like to see 'em just keep them all. Howzabout a rotation of Hudson, Vazquez, Lowe, Jurrjens and Hanson? I don't even care it we're paying Kawakami 8 mil to come out of the pen, THAT'S A FRIGGIN ROTATION. 2010 is looking bright...

Hot Stove on Fire

Trades are flying early on the Hot Stove...

The Red Sox picked up Jeremy Hermida from the Marlins for a couple of minor league lefties. Ho-hum, once again the Marlins dump someone as soon as he makes more than 2 mil a year and the Sox are stockpiling a bunch of cheap contracts just because they can. Also:

The Twinkies snag shortstop JJ Hardy from the Brewers...

for centerfielder Carlos Gomez. Looks like Orlando Cabrera and Mike Cameron are unemployed again.

In other news, half the league filed for free agency. Here's a list of the players who have filed from your favorite team. Now that you've looked that over, here's a shopping list grouped by position so you can play GM and replace them all! Hmmm... I'll take Adam LaRoche, Carl Crawford, Chone Figgins and finish up with Rafael Soriano.

What do you mean my credit card is over the limit?!?

It Begins...

The Hot Stove League is officially underway!

The Royals shipped off Mark Teahen to their division rivals in exchange for infielders Chris Getz and Josh Fields. I didn't know Chris Getz existed until about an hour ago. Josh Fields is best known in baseball card circles as one of the prospects who got a super stealth short printed variation card in 2007 Topps Series 1 Wal-Mart packs. Anyone who has opened a pack of cards in the past 4 years knows exactly who Mark Teahen is. He's the Royal not named Grienke or Gordon. Now he's a Sock.

Nope, I didn't forget about Aki, traded to the Pirates for a rookie reliever. Awww yeah, let the filings and tradings and signings begin!

HE SIGNED

Thank the Maker, he actually signed. He didn't use the offer to squeeze half a million more out of the Angels. He didn't decide to start anew in Japan and sign with the Nippon Ham Fighters at the last second. He didn't completely reassess his life and run off to become an organic goat herder in the Ukrainian steppes. The dotted line is autographed and the physical is passed.

Thank you Garret Anderson for being professional and not causing another embarrassing debacle for my team.

Garret's no Manny, but then again he's no Manny. He goes out and produces and plays a solid left field and does it with class. I'll be happy with a line like this from Anderson in 2009:

130 games - .280 average - 15 homers - 25 doubles - 80 RBIs - .770 OPS

We also might get to see hit #2500 in a Braves uniform. I'll take it. Maybe Frenchy can look over to left field and learn a little about leadership. Just as long has he doesn't take any tips about drawing a walk from Anderson. Welcome to Atlanta Garret!

UPDATE: Captain Canuck, a fellow Brave-obsessed fan, posted a legitimate question in the comments.

are we really excited about a clean up guy who will maybe hit 15 homers?

It's interesting that you ask that. Here's why I like the move or at least don't hate it. First, go here. Take a look at the regulars in the Braves outfield last year. Frenchy, Kotsay, Blanco, Jones, Diaz, Infante, Norton, Anderson, Perry.

Now you tell me. Does penciling in a .280 - 15 - 80 line sound good to you? I'd rather have a second Kelly Johnson in the lineup than Blanco or B. Jones looking lost again. If the kids end up putting it together, then we have more depth and an outfield competition for 2010. If not, GA puts up steady numbers and we wait for Schaefer and Heyward to develop. Plus we don't trade off prospects for Swisher or Nady. Win-win. It's not the best move ever but if you think back to what the roster looked like in late October, picking up Lowe, Vazquez, Anderson and Kawakami wasn't too bad. Time to let things shake out in Spring Training now.

Decision Day

Most likely by the end of the day Ken Griffey Jr. will either be a Mariner or a Brave. Things look hopeful for the Braves as Atlanta is close to Griffey's home in Orlando, the Braves have more money to spend, Atlanta is in a better position to contend for a playoff spot and Griffey reportedly initiated the talks with the Braves though a phone call to Chipper Jones. I'm terrified of jinxing it though so I don't want to seem overconfident. There's a very good chance he could sign with Seattle and that would be ok. He's probably going to sign there anyway. He started his career there and it would be a nice homecoming. Nope. not gonna get cocky and jinx it. Nope. Not gonna.

Oh who am I kidding.


Fuck You

Fuck You

Fuck You

Aaaaaaaand...

Fuck

You.

Griffey a Brave?

Spring training officially kicks off for the Braves in 12 hours but the Hot Stove is still warm. After looking like he was going back to Seattle a couple of days ago, Ken Griffey Jr. is being targeted by the Braves as a platoon partner for Matt Diaz in left field. Nothing is certain right now as there were rumors Seattle was close to signing him just yesterday. Frank Wren has confirmed the interest though, and David O'Brien has spoken to sources today that believe that Atlanta is Griffey's first choice. It makes sense for both the Braves and Junior. The Braves desperately need a veteran bat in the outfield, and the payroll is too tight to take on any huge contracts. Griffey gets steady work and will be close to his Orlando home. His son is playing football this autumn and his daughter plays basketball on a team in Atlanta. Until the contract is signed you can't trust any of these rumors flying around especially not in this offseason. It would be really cool to see Junior with the A on his cap even though he won't have a Manny-type impact on the team. Then again that kind of impact can go both ways.

I'm sure Mariners fans out there will be just as infuriated with the Braves if Griffey signs with Atlanta as I was with the Dodgers for filching the fink Furcal. It would be a nice story for Griffey to go home to Seattle, but this wouldn't be the first time Junior has sported a Braves uniform...

Don't forget his pops played here, and Bobby Cox was the guy who traded for him.

Dirty Lowedown

Awwwww yeah bitches, WE GOTS US A ROTATION!!!

(called it!)
(eventually!)

Kenshin Kawakami in Atlanta?

Japanese pitcher Kenshin Kawakami might be close to signing a deal with the Braves. The thirty-three year old righty has won the Sawamura award for the best pitcher in the Nippon Professional Baseball League in 2004 and came close to winning it a second time in 2006. He projects to be a back of the rotation type in MLB.

Now, the way this offseason has been going, I won't believe none of it until he signs on the line which is dotted, but there is a whole lot of smoke out there about this. Even the Wikipedia crazies are getting into the act. Mark Bowman and David O'Brien seem to think a deal is close, so I'll remain cautiously optimistic.

Oh who the hell do I think I'm kidding?

YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

SOMEONE WANTS OUR MONEEEEYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!

IT'S PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!!!!!!@!!

I really shouldn't drink Red Bull before reading MLBTradeRumors.com. Gee, I hope I didn't just jinx it...

No Comment

Until the deal is finalized. If/when it is, then I will have a comment. Hoo-boy will I have a comment.

New Knucksie

Famous Braves knuckleballers:

PHIL NIEKRO

JOE NIEKRO

LANCE NIEKRO

Wait... what??

Kris from Cards in the Attic gave me the heads up on the Braves signing of Lance Niekro last night. I figured they were looking for some Triple-A depth at first base or something now that Thor's gone. What I did not expect was that they signed him as a pitcher. Lance has been out of baseball for a while now and is trying to return as a knuckleballer. He learned the pitch from his pop Joe, and Phil will be working with him in Spring Training to see if he can make it in the bigs. Wakefield ain't gonna be around forever, we need some more knuckleballers in the league! Lance is 30 however, so he will only be able to look forward to a 17 or 18 year career if he is able to pitch in the bigs.

In other news, Frank Wren is pissed.

John Schuerholz is REALLY pissed. Pissed enough to ban Furcal's agency for life.

Arn Tellem, gentleman that he is, left one last parting "fuck you" to the Braves as he prepares to try to use some other poor schmuck to get more money for Randy Wolf.

Ugh.

Well there's one silver lining to all this, I don't have to be obsessively refreshing MLBTradeRumors.com for a while because for the first time in months the Braves aren't deep in the chase for a player. I don't know what I'll do with myself in the meantime.

A.J.'s a Yank

Five years, 82.5 million.

Ya know what?

I'm relieved.

That's not sour grapes either, that's just too much for A.J. in my opinion. Still, it's back to the drawing board for Frank Wren. Hopefully there's a trick up his sleeve. Here's some reaction. Dave O'Brien's Braves blog should be interesting tonight.

In other news Chuck James got dumped, which does make me sad. Good luck Chuckles, wherever you are...

Omar Minaya is a Quantum Physicist

Well, it just seems that way after he pulled off this wacky three team, twelve player megatrade to get J.J. Putz. I'll say one thing, the Mets have a helluva bullpen now. Meanwhile, Kevin Towers can't seem to get anyone to trade him anything for a Cy Young winner. Yeah, I'm bitter.

That's not the only crazy news I heard, Scott Thorman is a Brewer! When the hell did that happen? Scott actually needed a change of scenery as he was never going to crack the lineup again, but I don't think he's going to bump Prince out of the lineup.

Other than blockbuster trades or signings, the fun at the Winter Meetings today is the Rule V Draft. Teams are already clearing out roster space to pick up another organization's unprotected players. The players in the draft are usually former prospects who have worn out their welcome or are really far down the depth chart. However, some gems like Josh Hamilton and Johan Santana occasionally fall through the cracks. Oh, and some guy named Roberto. Just like Madding, I'll be hitting F5 on MLBTradeRumors.com pretty much all day today.

UPDATE: Rule V Draft results. The Braves didn't take anyone and no Braves were taken outfielder Carl Loadenthal was taken by the goddamn Mets in the Triple-A portion of the draft. Donald Veal is the only guy I recognize on first glance.

Also, the Cubs/Peavy deal is dead. Jim Hendry got tired of Kevin Towers' crap too.

Dominos are falling

Stuff is finally happening at the winter meetings in Vegas. I guess the GMs have blown all their cash at the poker tables and have nothing better to do than work. Here's some of the stuff that's gone down so far:

Captain Cheezburger goes to New York

7 year deal, CC can opt out in 3 years and try to cash in again. The deal is for $161 million dollars (cue Dr. Evil) so really, how much more can he cash in? I tried to envision CC in a Yank uni and I think I did a mighty fine job if I say so myself.

Mets get another Closer

K-Rod to the Mets, 3 years, $37 million with a vesting option for a fourth. The Phillies are terrified.

Indians trying to get some Wood

Kerry still needs to take his physical, which should be an adventure. Funny how the closers are all jumping off the table while the starting pitching market is still constipated. None of the big bats are really moving either.

Peavy deal is still a Trainwreck

Now the Phillies are supposedly involved. Yeah, they'd want to help improve the Cubs' chances at taking the Pennant away from them just so they can get Mark DeRosa. Give me a break.

As far as the Braves go, we're now in a bidding war with the Yankees for A.J. Burnett, so yeah, we're screwed. The offer has reportedly gone up $20 million and added a guaranteed 5th year, so yeah, we're totally utterly screwed. The Yankees just got a $40 Billion dollar bailout from Congress too, which doesn't help. On a happier note, there is a reported Chipper sighting on the AJC's Braves blog (look for U Kno Who) which is quickly devolving into a trollfest since the AJC's commenting system sucks. If anything interesting happens I'll try to let y'all know.

Winter Meetings Kick Off

The Winter Meetings are finally underway in Las Vegas. There's already been one trade and one wild rumor. Players have declined or accepted arbitration so we know who the free agents actually are. Time for the free for all. Things might be clogged up for a while until that first big move happens. Sabathia to the Yankees? Burnett to the Cardinals? Peavy anywhere? Who knows what it will be or of it will even happen. We might be in for a long week of nothin'.

Two things will happen today though: Greg Maddux will announce his retirement and the Veterans Committee will announce the results for their 2009 Hall of Fame ballot. There are two committees voting, one for pre-1943 players and one for post-1942 players. A maximum of four players can get elected per group, and they require 75% of the votes from the committee members to get in.

Since these are groups of people hashing it out instead of a straight ballot I couldn't even begin to predict who might get in. Both groups have worthy candidates but due to the nature of the beast, it's anybody's guess who might get elected if anyone. On the pre-1943 side I don't have a clue as to who might get in. The last such vote for pre-war players was for the Negro Leager ballot, and I was absolutely certain Buck O'Neil and Minnie Minoso would get in and they didn't. So really, it's anybody's guess. The committee consists of only 12 voting members so we'll probably see someone getting in due to a consensus in the small group. The post-1942 I see four obvious cases for enshrinement with Jim Kaat, Ron Santo, Gil Hodges and Joe Torre, although I like all the players on the ballot in their own way. This group has to get 48 out of 64 votes so it's very possible that noone gets in at all if voting splits among the worthy candidates. All we can do now is wait and hope that the guys voting are as passionate about this stuff as the fans.

Sickness is...

continually checking on MLBTradeRumors.com and other baseball related sites for Hot Stove League news even though I know the chances of anything happening on the Sunday before the Winter Meetings is about as likely as the Electoral College voting Chipper Jones into the presidency.

In other news, I don't know who to write a Hall of Fame profile for today. Here's your choices:

Jay Bell
Mark Grace
Ron Gant

Why them? I have cards ready for them. First one mentioned in the comments will be written about today.

Well, They're Doing Something at Least

WE HAVE A BACKUP CATCHER!!!

Actually, I really am this excited... did you see Corky Miller try to hit last year?

Fearless Frank went all out and offered catcher David Ross a TWO year deal to be Big Mac's understudy. Dave's no fool and jumped at the opportunity. Considering Tyler Flowers in A-Ball was our most accomplished hitter at the backup position (why the hell did we give away Brayan Pena for nothin' again?) a decent backup was desperately needed. Ok, so Dave has a .222 lifetime average. He sure can hit homers in the Great American Ballpark! Plus it means that this refractor I got out of a pack of 2007 Heritage is no longer a lousy pull.

In other news, I finally found a Javier Vazquez insert to show off:

Yeah, a 2004 Fleer Ultra Update Gold Medallion card of him in an Yankees uniform. Pretty pathetic, eh? I was certain I had a bad jersey card of him somewhere.