Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
5,421 comments Add your comment
SilverKey
December 10th, 2009
8:14 am
Piedmont…They could have afforded to keep him, that was the whole thing…Soriano would have gotten a new agent had the Braves kept him all year.
O.J.
December 10th, 2009
8:15 am
Ohhh, Royals are going to release Mike Jacobs, maybe we can get him for the bench, what do you guys think?
O.J.
December 10th, 2009
8:17 am
Ron H, reports say they would have to throw in Hamels as well in the deal.
sidslidkid
December 10th, 2009
8:17 am
The winter meetings are over. Now things are going to get real boring for a while. I just don’t see Lowe’s trade or our “big bat’ coming anytime soon. 70 days until pitchers and catcher report.
O.J.
December 10th, 2009
8:18 am
Oh, and more on Jacobs, the guy did have 19 homers last year, after hitting 32 the year before.
OldBravesBag
December 10th, 2009
8:18 am
How come the Braves never end up with any leverage?????
DHD
December 10th, 2009
8:19 am
I’ll take Jacobs if he doesn’t cost much.
SilverKey
December 10th, 2009
8:20 am
I still don’t understand the swap of one year of Halladay for Happ. Happ’s era was under 3 last season, how much better could Halladay do (especially for the extra money)?
O.J.
December 10th, 2009
8:20 am
sidslidkid, Sabathia and Burnett signed last year on December 18th, thats only 8 days away. I think we can guess that Lackey will sign by then as well. I heard a lot of guys like to get things done before Christmas so they can enjoy time with their families and not worry about were they are going to play. Plus, all the GM’s take time off during the holidays so no one will be in the offices to talk contracts
abwright
December 10th, 2009
8:21 am
I had gotten the impression that the Braves had a deal in the works and were just waiting til S & G turned down arbitration to finalize. Soriano’s potential $8M was too much to gamble on clearing before the end of ST. So, he had to go at the first opportunity.
Let’s see what the Braves do in the next week before condemning Wren for moving too quickly.
O.J.
December 10th, 2009
8:22 am
Jacobs made 3.25 million last year, and if the Royals are going to release him, maybe we can get him cheaper.
sidslidkid
December 10th, 2009
8:22 am
O.J., Jacobs struck out 132 in 128 games last year. He’s got some pop, but I’m not impressed. I think we could do better.
O.J.
December 10th, 2009
8:24 am
Yeah, I was hoping we would get Gload for the bench, but the daggone Phillies came in and stole him from us, lol
Danga
December 10th, 2009
8:24 am
My favorite Mike Jacobs articles by Posnanski:
http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2009/04/17/the-curious-case-of-mike-jacobs/
http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2009/09/05/the-intentional-walk-revisited/
DAP
December 10th, 2009
8:25 am
i think mike jacobs would be a good pickup fopr the minimum. definitely.
Mid Town Joe
December 10th, 2009
8:26 am
1606th
Ron H
December 10th, 2009
8:28 am
yeah, i don’t understand getting rid of Happ, unless they plan on signing Halladay for a long term contract…Happ is a good, young pitcher that turned out pretty impressive numbers even though he pitched at that launching pad of a ballpark…
it’s be rape-age to get ride of hamels and happ for a one year rental…
Baba O'Riley
December 10th, 2009
8:28 am
Jacobs struck out a lot with the Marlins. I didn’t pay much attention to him in KC.
O.J.
December 10th, 2009
8:30 am
Not sure if he has been signed yet or not, but why not Matt Stairs for the bench. He had an OPS of .864%
VP
December 10th, 2009
8:32 am
Rule 5 draft starts at 9 AM. So don’t expect official announcements on the Soriano trade anytime soon.
sidslidkid
December 10th, 2009
8:33 am
I wonder what kind of money Fernando Tatis will be asking for. He’d be a helluva guy off the bench and a decent starter. He’s not the all mighty “Big Bat” we’re looking for, but could be worth a look at.
Jay212033
December 10th, 2009
8:34 am
My whole issue with the Soriano thing is Wren jumped the gun by signing Wagner and Saito before knowing if Gonzo or Sori would accept.
sidslidkid
December 10th, 2009
8:38 am
“My whole issue with the Soriano thing is Wren jumped the gun by signing Wagner and Saito before knowing if Gonzo or Sori would accept.”
No he didn’t. He knew Wagner and Saito were cheaper than Gonzo and Soriano and just as talented. He also knew that (no matter if they chose to accept arbitration or not) they would get something in return for both of them. He never had any intention of letting either Gonzo and Soriano pitch for the Braves in 2010.
ugasucks
December 10th, 2009
8:40 am
o.j. how about this just a suggestion
c mccann
1st dye
2nd prado
ss escobar
3rd jones
of cameron
of heyward
of mclouth
utility man derosa infield and corner outfield
bschro3000
December 10th, 2009
8:41 am
How did Wren jump the gun? He knew what he wanted and got it for a cheep price. Soriano wants a multi-year deal – or he will accept arbitration for a potential more then Wagner makes.
With Wagner you get what the braves see as a better closer, for cheaper, for one year – so we can develop a long term closing option from within the farm system. I think Wren and Sorianos agent both did a good job of taking care of business and they both will come away with what they want. Kudos to both for working the system to get the most out of a situation.
The Type-A = draft pick needs to be addressed in the next CBA.
Bill
December 10th, 2009
8:41 am
Braves traded Soriano to Rays for Jesse Chavaz? MLB.
DHD
December 10th, 2009
8:46 am
It’s funny to hear people talk about Wren jumping he gun. If he hadn’t signed anybody by now, they would be saying that he hasn’t done anything. I bet he knows more than we do so let the man do his job.
Braves 4 Life
December 10th, 2009
8:46 am
Piedmont Blues- “Soriano’s agent is a genius. He knew the Braves couldn’t afford to keep Soriano but also understood that he’d have a hard time getting his client signed as a free agent because of MFIKY’s Type A status. This way, he got Soriano traded to a great organization where he can close immediately.
He beat the free agent compensation system. Genius.”
Genius? Maybe that talk is a little premature. Soriano got traded to an organization that just said they are not going to give $7MM a year to a closer. So this genius agent had his client accept arbitration which then sent him to the payroll limited Rays. Now Soriano and his agent have to negotiate with only one team for his services instead of the Yankees, Redsox, Os, and Rays that were all interested in him as a FA. Maybe I am wrong but it just does not seem that he is going to get a better deal with just the Rays in contention for his services. Can’t wait to see how this turns out though…
Ron H
December 10th, 2009
8:47 am
Yeah, I just saw it on CNNSI…
“Rays find closer in Soriano
The Braves have traded reliever Rafael Soriano to the Rays, SI.com has learned. The deal will be complete after medical data is reviewed.
Soriano will approve the deal. He accepted arbitration, but the Braves didn’t have a spot for him after signing Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito.
Soriano, who turns 30 on Dec. 19, should make about $7 million in arbitration.
Soriano saved 27 games in 31 chances last season with a 2.97 ERA, and struck out 102 in 75 2/3 innings.”
Ron H
December 10th, 2009
8:47 am
I don’t see any details about the trade, though…
Ron H
December 10th, 2009
8:47 am
Surely, we got SOMETHING for him…
NC Braves Fan
December 10th, 2009
8:48 am
SilverKey and others: the Phillies wouldn’t trade for Halladay unless they negotiated an extension with him beforehand. And Toronto would not want a Hamels most likely – they want young, cheap talent and prospects.
Phillies with a front three of Hamels, Lee & Halladay would be quite filthy.
Lexington BBQ
December 10th, 2009
8:49 am
Ron H, we got reliever Chavez from the Rays. Read back a few pages…
sidslidkid
December 10th, 2009
8:51 am
Phillies with a front three of Hamels, Lee & Halladay would make me pout like a 5 year old.
ace
December 10th, 2009
8:51 am
Maybe this is the plan coming together:
-free up some cash with dumps of Church, Loaf, KJ, Norton
-dump Soriano’s salary, get an arm which is always needed. Not like we had great bullpen depth at the end of last yr
-dump Lowe’s salary, get a prospect or whatever – maybe a back up SS, since Infante is really better elsewhere
-get a IB for 2 yrs, someone with some pop and good D, someone who will not block Freeman but allow him 2 yrs to develop (maybe $6M per yr for LaRoche)
-go with Diaz in RF til June, when Heyward should be ready and in the correct place regarding arb time table. If Heyward wins the job in ST, great. Diaz becomes a fine 4th OF. Let Jordan S. have a full yr. in AAA. then see what we got.
-spend what seems to be a tidy, resulting sum on a high profile FA LF clean up guy. Who would sell some tickets and excite the fan base. Someone probably has already estimated what the available $ amount would be after the dumps, gotta be significant.
I wonder who for LF? I wonder if this is Wren’s logic and if he has an early read on who that basher might be? Does he need to get the Lowe thing done in a timely manner before all the bashers are gone? Many say Bay would never fit in Atl. due to cost, but I wonder if this scenario provides enough $? Any likely candidates other than Bay?
HomeofdaBrave
December 10th, 2009
8:54 am
I really hope Wren gets the starting lineup squared away first before he starts throwing even more money to bench players.
And O.J. Sorry, but no way I’d put Jurrjens/Vazquez(or Lowe)/Hudson over Halladay/Lee/Hamels.
Bluestreak
December 10th, 2009
8:55 am
Everyone complaining about the Braves ‘jumping the gun’…how can you jump the gun when you sign the two guys you wanted in the first place? The Braves were in ‘moving on’ mode when they offered arb to Gonzo and Sorry, er Sori, and had no intention of bringing them back.
Don’t say they jumped the gun…because they made a decision to sign someone else regardless of what their FAs did. They had to know this was a possibility and were willing and ready to deal with it if/when it happened.
I think Wren showed that he was ready to improve the team and wasn’t going to wait around to do it.
Ron H
December 10th, 2009
8:57 am
Thanks L BBQ…
DHD
December 10th, 2009
8:57 am
I still think we’re going with Schafer, McLouth and Heyward in the outfield. Really, the only thing we’re missing is a first baseman and I am hoping for Dye there. So, if we can get infield prospects for Lowe, I’m all in. I can see Escobar taking over third base when Chipper leaves so a SS works fine.
glord1
December 10th, 2009
8:58 am
Ron H
December 10th, 2009
8:47 am
Surely, we got SOMETHING for him…
Yes we did. We just traded him for a decent bullpen arm and $7 million in cash.
Not a bad haul since we already have a very good bullpen and he was not needed. It amazes me that alot of people dont understand the economic side of baseball. Example – Derek Lowe is very valuable. He is an innings eater and keeps you in almost every game. he makes 15 M which is probably 2 mil more that he is worth. That means he has a negative 2 mil value. The braves will be lucky to move him for nothing but some will complain if Wren moves him for no return saying he won 15 games and they should have got a starting bat. It does not work that way. If they put Lowe on the trade block and picked up 15 mil over his contract(giving him value as a 10 m a year pitcher) teams would be lining up to get him and trade good prospects. Its all about value and budgets.
bravofan
December 10th, 2009
9:01 am
who are we getting in return for Soriano??
DAP
December 10th, 2009
9:01 am
id offer jacobs what we gave norton last year. he would be a pretty good bat off the bench, i think, and if you had to start him, at least he could give you some quick runs potentially.
Salamander
December 10th, 2009
9:03 am
Looks like the collective blog opinion is mostly behind Wren’s spinning of Soriano, with several notable exceptions. Personally, I think it was a solid move by Wren, and more importantly, the matter is resolved in a timely fashion, early in the offseason.
Some have made the legitimate argument that Wren didn’t even bother waiting to see how the reliever market shaped up as the winter progressed (to see if he could get a better deal). While Wren could have gotten more down the road, he decided to cash in with what he had and move on to fixing other parts of the team (some bats plz). Who knows, maybe Soriano will make $8+ mill in arb, and that would’ve scared off some teams. Too many unknowns with the Soriano situation – for a guy that Wren just wanted gone in return for draft picks.
Not a great swap, but adequate given the circumstances.
ace
December 10th, 2009
9:05 am
DHD, not that you have a bad plan, but with that low cost OF, combined with an affordable Dye at IB, don’t you use a good bit of available payroll cash unused?
Bill
December 10th, 2009
9:05 am
I still believe Wren knows what he’s doing . Jesse may turn out to be deadly at 95-97 mph etc and played in70 plus games for the bad Pirates.
Now lets get that hitter and move Lowe….GOD BLESS THE USA.
DAP
December 10th, 2009
9:06 am
im happy wren got a major league player for soriano. better than draft picks, in my opinion, since this guy can help us right away. the picks might never make it out of A ball.
David O'Brien
December 10th, 2009
9:07 am
Here’s Soriano trade story I posted on website, with more to come obviously after announcement:
By David O’Brien
Indianapolis – Less than 48 hours after Rafael Soriano accepted an arbitration offer from the Braves, they traded him to the Tampa Bay Rays for right-handed reliever Jesse Chavez.
The teams agreed to terms Wednesday night on a trade expected to be announced today after medical evaluations are completed.
Chavez was 1-4 with a 4.01 ERA in a team-high 73 appearances for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who traded him to Tampa Bay in November for second baseman Akinoria Iwamura when the Rays needed to dump Iwamura’s salary.
Now, he’s been traded again when a team needed to dump a salary. The Braves scrambled to trade Soriano after he surprised a lot of people by accepting the Braves’ arbitration offer just before Monday’s midnight deadline for free agents to accept or decline arb offers from their 2009 teams.
The Braves had already signed closer Billy Wagner and setup man Takashi Saito, and made the offer to Soriano only to assure themselves of draft-pick compensation when Soriano signed with another team as a free agent.
But his agent gauged the free-agent market and determined it was best to take the higher salary –- probably more than $7 million – that Soriano would be assured through arbitration.
The Braves had very little leverage in trade discussions with several teams this week during the Winter Meetings, and agreed to the deal with Tampa for Chavez, 26, who’ll provide some bullpen depth.
Chavez has a 4.48 ERA in 88 appearances in the majors over two seasons with the Pirates. All but 15 of those came last season, when the hard-throwing middle reliever had 63 strikeouts with 31 walks and a .276 opponents’ average.
He has a 93-95 mph fastball that he complements with a slider and changeup, and it’s the latter pitch that allows the righty to have more success against left-handed hitters.
Lefties hit .228 with a .288 on-base percentage against him last season, and righties hit .299 with a .356 OBP.
He didn’t fare well in the late innings of close games, allowing .327 average and eight home runs in 104 at-bats in those situations.
Chavez hasn’t been overly impressive in his brief career, and might not be what some fans expected the Braves to get in a trade for Soriano, who had 27 saves and 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings pitched last season.
But the important thing for the Braves was to get something of value in return for shedding a salary that would not fit into their payroll for 2010 after they already filled the closer and setup roles with Wagner and Saito.
ChipChop
December 10th, 2009
9:07 am
I wouldn’t call myself the biggest Frank Wren fan but the outcry at every single move the GM of the Braves makes by posters on this blog is ridiculous. These aren’t the NY Yankees who have deep enough pockets to buy any player they want and buy their way out of a mess. You have to put pieces into place. To this point, Wren has had to make moves due to the actions of players and agents. Now let’s see what happens from this point. Would I have liked to see a slugging outfielder or first baseman who hits 30 HR and drives in 100 runs in exchange for Rafael Soriano? Sure. Any Braves fan would have. Is it realistic to expect that when the Braves were put in a compromising situation by Soriano’s action and not Wren’s? No.
Jeff R
December 10th, 2009
9:10 am
Pretty much a nothing trade, in terms of a return for the Braves (personnel), but Wren got rid of Soriano’s salary, which has to be a “relief.”
bravofan
December 10th, 2009
9:11 am
Rafael Soriano does not =Jesse Chavez look at the kids numbers the Rays get the better end of this one folks Wren eat the 8 mil and keep him Chavez is not going to come anywhere close to bolstering our bullpen. look at his stats http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=445926 he pitched in 67.1 innings last season and had 69 hits against him. he was however selected in the afl all prospect team and rising stars
O.J.
December 10th, 2009
9:11 am
HomeofdaBrave, you said pitching staff, as in entire pitching staff, from starters to bullpen. And like I said, it has been rumored that the Phillies might give up Hamels as well in a deal for Halladay. SO yes, a rotation of Jurrjens, Vazquez/Lowe, KK, Hudson, and Hanson is 10 times better than Halladay, Lee, ?, ?, and ? Its even better than Halladay, Lee, and Hamels, ?, ?
And look at our bullpen compared to theirs, 10 times better.
DAP
December 10th, 2009
9:11 am
All but 15 of those came last season, when the hard-throwing middle reliever had 63 strikeouts with 31 walks and a .276 opponents’ average.
this sentence makes it sound like chavez had 63 Ks last year. dude only struck out 47 in 67 innings. maybe he will improve? i guess he is a good guy for depth.
Long time Braves fan
December 10th, 2009
9:13 am
Braves minor leaguer, Edgar Osuna, went to the Royals in the Rule 5 draft just now. The Royals sure do love the Braves’ mediocre players.
bravofan
December 10th, 2009
9:14 am
Ken Rosenthal reports Angels and Phills are in running for Halladay if the Phis get him were screwed with a 1 2 3 and 4 punch of lee, halladay, Hamels and Happ
JReeves
December 10th, 2009
9:16 am
Royals take Edgar Osuna from us with the 4th pick in the Rule 5 draft.
Seriously, this Royals obsession with our guys is getting annoying. I know they have knowledge of our system, but do they not even BOTHER to look around at any other club???
VP
December 10th, 2009
9:18 am
MLBRumorCentral:
The Twins are interested in free agent Mark DeRosa to fill a void at third base.
richbrave
December 10th, 2009
9:18 am
O.K., the head-ache is gone. And the payroll is gone. AND we got someone in return, and I mean someone, as in a breathing body. JESSE CHAVEZ, middle-reliefer with a very checkered past. I’m guessing AAA after ST unless he blows the BRAVES drawers off with that 95 m.p.h. heat.
Ron H
December 10th, 2009
9:19 am
If Soriano makes $8M in arb, this will have been a GREAT move…
I’m glad we don’t have to worry about it now…the two prospects would have been a nice commodity, but a MLB ready BP arm is just as good…
richbrave
December 10th, 2009
9:20 am
The BRAVES are interested in MARK DeROSA, but I don’t see his payroll fitting into a bench slot.
Chop Chop
December 10th, 2009
9:21 am
Jesse Chavez is the Chosen One. You heard it here first.
Versiroth
December 10th, 2009
9:21 am
It’s obvious that we will get nothing good for Lowe and we may even have to eat some of his salary in the process. Vazquez, on the other hand, would likely get us a good bat and still leave us with a great rotation. I like Vazquez, but it’s not like his normal numbers equate to what he did last year. He had a career year and history says that he is very unlikely to repeat. Lowe on the other hand had the worse year of his career and history says that he is unlikely to repeat as well. So, if we trade Vazquez, we could potentially end up with a Carlos Pena type player (similar salary and number of years) and we may end up with the better pitcher next year if both pitchers go back to what they’ve done over the course of their careers. We would then use the money saved on Soriano to sign a Mike Cameron type and we’d be set up perfect for a playoff run.
I mean, in my eyes, it’s either Lowe, Pena (or similar) and Cameron or Vazquez, LaRoche and Cameron. One of those scenarios gives us a potent clean up hitter while keeping our rotation in excellent shape and the other gives us a couple # 6 or 7 hitters while keeping our rotation in excellent shape. It seems like a no brainer to me.
RC
December 10th, 2009
9:21 am
1 2 3 and 4 punch of lee, halladay, Hamels and Happ
That sounds like a law firm.
Jeff R
December 10th, 2009
9:22 am
I doubt Chavez remains a Brave very long. Who knows? Wren may package him with Kelly Johnson (if he can unload Johnson) or Lowe.
O.J.
December 10th, 2009
9:23 am
bravofan, really, do you bother to read all of the rumor or just part of it?
Here’s what Rosenthal reported “Philadelphia is prepared to offer a package that will likely include J.A. Happ, plus either Michael Taylor or Domonic Brown”
and then another source said this “”Don’t rule out them including Cole Hamels” in a potential Halladay deal.”
So that means their rotation would be Halladay and Lee, then no one else. And even if they dont include Hamels, they have to give up Happ, so give that up as well.
Sheesh man, read the blog.
RC
December 10th, 2009
9:24 am
Speaking of law firms, trading Soriano also means the Braves don’t have to spend the legal fees associated with taking their case before an arbitration board. I know it’s a relatively small cost compared to $8 million, but it still can be easily in the 5 digit range.
Voice from the past...
December 10th, 2009
9:24 am
Perhaps Jesse Garcia can be the next Rudy Seanez, a guy who was certainly not very exciting, but with a rubber arm that carved out a decent ML career as a middle reliever. His arm probably saved the arms of alot of more valuable bullpen pieces along the way.
bravofan
December 10th, 2009
9:24 am
RC: haha sure does man I hate it when we have to face those guys
Jeff R
December 10th, 2009
9:24 am
Vazquez would certainly fetch more than Lowe, but how much more? He’s got only one year left on his contract. For the Braves to get a healthy return, Vazquez would have to be receptive to an extension or, more likely, a new deal.
Voice from the past...
December 10th, 2009
9:25 am
Ha! Freudian slip… not Jesse Garcia, another former Brave, but Jesse Chavez.
Ha ha ha ha….
Daybed Wagmoe
December 10th, 2009
9:25 am
Glad that Wren took care of the Soriano situation. Now he can focus on his Lowe-for-Pujols trade.
bravofan
December 10th, 2009
9:25 am
richbrave:im sure the Braves would love to have Dero as a bench player but in my opinion the Braves are not willing to do that
bravofan
December 10th, 2009
9:26 am
daybed wagmoe: you are real funny.
Noah
December 10th, 2009
9:27 am
Why would a team sent a star to the Braves for Vasquez when Vasquez is in his last year before free agency. Lowe is tradable once the pitching market settles down, those that don’t get Holiday or don’t want Lackey or his high contract will go after Lowe especially if Braves pay a few million/yr and the new club is only paying him say 12/yr
MZ
December 10th, 2009
9:27 am
reading some of these disappointed and angry posts about who the Braves got in return for Soriano is pure comedy gold, man!
Voice from the past...
December 10th, 2009
9:28 am
We lost Edgar Osuna to the Royals in the Rule 5 draft.
Yawn…
bravofan
December 10th, 2009
9:28 am
MZ: are you happy with who they got?
Buzz Meat
December 10th, 2009
9:29 am
Bad Trade, I would have at least waited to see other offers. Guess the Angels talks for Lowe/Soriano was not true.
Lew
December 10th, 2009
9:30 am
Night shift in great form yet again. Tyger? Yeah. Right.
Noah
December 10th, 2009
9:30 am
How can you not be happy with what they got. First, Braves fans say they screwed up by not letting Soriano go for nothing (not offering arb) and now your upset they only got a middle reliever, albeit a young guy who was a rookie and may get better or may be a bust, worth the try though.
Mike
December 10th, 2009
9:30 am
We still will not have a cleanup hitter with Laroche…Cox will bat him in the lower 3rd of the order.
Mike
December 10th, 2009
9:31 am
Enter your comments here
stynes
December 10th, 2009
9:31 am
Has anyone confirmed the financials of the trade? That we are, in fact, not paying any of Soriano’s salary? And what is Chavez’s salary?
Mike
December 10th, 2009
9:32 am
Laroche will not be the cleanup hitter we desire…because Cox will bat him in the bottom 3rd of the order…Don’t get me wrong, I still want him.
keylargo
December 10th, 2009
9:32 am
Here’s something to ease the pain: Horacio Ramirez traded for Rafael Soriano traded for Jesse Chavez. It looks like we are about where we started or maybe slightly ahead.
Lew
December 10th, 2009
9:32 am
Works for me if the Phillies trade Happ and Hamels to get Halladay. Then they’ll only have two decent starters. Not so sure how dumping two good pitchers who cost diddly and are under control for multiple years to get one very good pitcher they’ll have to TRY to sign long term makes them a stronger team.
Noah
December 10th, 2009
9:32 am
Chavez’s salary should be close to league min so not a factor at all if he makes the team.
Chop Chop
December 10th, 2009
9:33 am
I’d rather have Soriano than Wagner. Wren pulled the trigger on Wagner because he thought he wouldn’t be able to keep Soriano. It turns out that he was wrong.
(Of course, Frank Wren is never wrong. He implanted a nano-buzzsaw in MFIKY’s right elbow. All Wren has to do is push a button and, well, we’ll never hear from MFIKY again.)
Lew
December 10th, 2009
9:34 am
Let’s see now-We get a rookie who we don’t know how he’ll turn out or we get a draft choice we don’t know how he’ll turn out. Yeah. We lost big time. Move on people.
Voice from the past...
December 10th, 2009
9:34 am
Bad trade? The Braves were willing to let Sori and his 2010 salary walk for a pair of picks, later than pick 15 I should remind you, that would for sure cost a few $$$ in signing bonus and who might never see one inning at the ML level.
As it is, they get a guy for no $$$ who is already a ML reliever and logged 67.1 innings last season.
I kinda see that as a positive outcome.
MJ in NY
December 10th, 2009
9:34 am
DOB
Regular reader on here but do not post much. But you are right on in your assessment of the trade. The Braves dumped all of Soriano’s salary, received some pen depth, end of story. Time to move on. Who cares what they received back in return and at least Chavez can come in and compete right away unlike the draft picks. Either way, it will not make or break this team.
By the way, I was at the Garden last night for the UConn/Kentucky game. John Wall is ridiculous!!! Unreal atmosphere for such an early season game too, one of the best college basketball games I have been to in a while here in NYC. Great stuff!!
Nick C
December 10th, 2009
9:35 am
I’ve read a lot of the posts regarding how bad a trade this was Soriano-Chavez, and how you all thought they are not equal players…..WELL OF COURSE NOT! Wren needed to dump Soriano and his saary and had to get something valuable in return (you honestly think he would get some top prospect for one year of soriano)????? I get so angry reading the posts by uneducated fans who a) don’t take the time to know whats going on, and more importantly b) have NOO idea how to run a baseball team.
I’m not a Frankie fan, but I know he’s doing a pretty darn good job so far this offseason. He just needs to trade Lowe for prospects, sign Mike Cameron, re-sign Laroche in January when the market dies down, sign Mike Jacobs for the bench, and then when that is all said and done give Javi a contract extension.
Jeff R
December 10th, 2009
9:35 am
I believe Vazquez wants to stay in Atlanta. I think he’s comfortable pitching for Cox and generally fits well in the Braves’ clubhouse.
I think there will be a market for Lowe, maybe not until January, though.
Noah
December 10th, 2009
9:35 am
I’d take Wagner oer Soriano. Remember Soriano has had a lot of trouble staying healthy, more so then Wagner and Wagner came back strong from his surgury and is one of the best closers ever.
Heath
December 10th, 2009
9:37 am
In a perfect world, the Braves would get more in return for Soriano, but in reality, Wren did do a good job getting ’something’ for him at all. If you think about it, if the Braves would never have offered arbitration, the Braves wouldn’t have gotten anything at all. So, I am not upset at this trade because the Braves really ended up with something as opposed to nothing. The most important part of the trade is dumping the entire salary to allow the Braves to get offensive help (the team’s weakest link since the relief corps has already been addressed).
O.J.
December 10th, 2009
9:38 am
I think the Phillies have a better staff with Happ and Hamels on their squad instead of Halladay.
richbrave
December 10th, 2009
9:38 am
EDGAR OSUNA at MYRTLE and PEARL in 2009. Great change-up and control. Fastball, slider, curve not so much. Had a 4.03/1.273 year. Even split of IP between both teams. Mixed improvement after advancement. 77.1 IP in MISSISSIPPI, ERA, WHIP, SO/BB ratio, and H/9 all showed improvement. HR/9 worse, BB/9 also. 22 year old lefty. Overall good prospect.
Jeff R
December 10th, 2009
9:38 am
Once Wren moves Lowe, I think he’ll move quickly on negotiating a new deal with Vazquez. I don’t think he’s going to wait to obtain a power bat or resign LaRoche, if he does so.
Lew
December 10th, 2009
9:40 am
Nick C-Dude, we can only hope that’s how it shakes out. Cameron, LaRoche, an extended Vazquez and Mike Jacobs pinch hitting works for me.
Voice from the past...
December 10th, 2009
9:40 am
Remember, too, that Sori spent an awful lot of time on the DL in 2008 with a mysterious elbow ailment that a battery of doctors had a hard time diagnosing. Then he had “nerve transposition” surgery that reportedly didn’t sit too well with teammates and brass alike as they felt it may not have been necessary.
Oh, and that was right after signing a handsome contract.
No way the Braves were going to reward that with another deal…
Travis
December 10th, 2009
9:40 am
I think (notice I said I think not that I know) that the market for Vasquez is highly over rated. Just because the guy had one good solid year in the National league does not make him the next coming of Nolan Ryan. Bloggers keep saying how much the Braves could get for Vasquez in a trade for a bat but when you go over his stats he isn’t an ace. We already have Hudson, who is more solid than Vasquez or Lowe so either is expendable. You want a real ace, trade JJ and Medlin and Freeman for Halladay with a contract extension. What ever happened to the Braves when they were the team to outbid for the best players in baseball.AKA Arod. Few remember that Arod was coming to Atlanta before Texas outbid them. Come on Liberty. You wanna make a splash and improve the value of the team? Go after the real difference makers out here.