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Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
122 comments Add your comment
BusterBrave
July 31st, 2012
2:15 pm
@ Columbus,well said my friend,well said……………..:-)
BusterBrave
July 31st, 2012
2:17 pm
Great trade,got to give credit to Frank Wren and crew for this move……….
jim
July 31st, 2012
2:23 pm
These designation 1 -5 mean nothing now until the playoffs. After April, the rotations get upset so that team’s #1 s are not necessarily facing one another. What is important now is how well each of the 5 starters performs each time they pitch. If Minor pitches like he did last Sunday for the rest of the season, does it matter if he is only a 5? The way I see it is that Hudson, Sheets, Minor, and Maholm all have the possibility of being our most effective pitcher for the last two months of the season.
gcs
July 31st, 2012
2:51 pm
I recently heard that Simmons might be out another 3-4 weeks. Ugh.
Janish is a slick fielder but he cannot hit a lick. Yes, that blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then but overall his bat is a liability. Hitting .184, 0 HR, 1 RBI
I don’t understand why they don’t give Pastornicky a start.
Ron M
July 31st, 2012
2:56 pm
I really like this trade and the Braves are in good shape for this year and next. I wouldn’t give up on Hanson just yet, He can rest a little and make a few adjustments and be right where he needs to be. I like Maholm, he’s a true “Braves Country” guy growing up in Mississippi and going to Mississippi State. Reed Johnson is an excellent addition to the bench.
NL East
July 31st, 2012
3:07 pm
Interesting to see the Phillies as sellers on July 31st as they get a jump start on re-tooling for 2013. They unloaded enough in contracts today to move under the luxury tax threshold, which is bad news down the road for the Braves – guarantee they’ll make a huge run at Michael Bourn this off-season, who still has friends there.
Largo
July 31st, 2012
3:11 pm
Good trade and good reporting. Thanks to all who participated.
just stay hot
July 31st, 2012
3:19 pm
Tuesday morning rennaisance….Nice Monday night win Braves….just before the calendar hits August. I’d say it’s about time, but that would be an obvious understatement.
huh?
July 31st, 2012
3:21 pm
F the phillies…they’re toast for at least the next few years….older, injured and time has passed for their little run.
T-SPLOST failed, SO MOVE NOW...HURRY! GET OUT!
July 31st, 2012
3:26 pm
move back to philly and the rest of the 5 gazillion transplants with ya….this town needs to lighten its load and take a big transplant dump. then it might be nice again.
Scott from Fairburn
July 31st, 2012
3:27 pm
Lot of players with last names ending in ez and other vowels being dumped from the Marlins
too many uninvited guests....time for you to leave
July 31st, 2012
3:29 pm
Delta’s been ready when you are……..get the heck out of town…Forever!!
Let's Go
July 31st, 2012
3:35 pm
Love the Maholm trade and have felt all along this guy was equal or better of a player than Dempster and was going to be available for less. It’s never a bad day when you can add a quality LH starting pitcher to your rotation.
In regards to Tommy Hanson, for the last couple of years I have felt if he was going to stay in the major leagues 10 years he would have to convert to a closer because the guy throws too many pitches to be anymore than a 4 or 5 man on a staff and his mechanics are just where every single or walk is an automatic 2 bases becauses everyone can steal on him. Since his agent is Boras it will not shock me if the Braves include him in a off season deal this winter.
LAG
July 31st, 2012
3:42 pm
In other news, the Phillies’ OF for the rest of the season will most likely be:
LF – Mayberry
CF – Pierre
RF – Schierholtz
I like it.
Braves’ trade for Maholm and Johnson was strong | Atlanta Braves
July 31st, 2012
3:44 pm
[...] GM Frank Wren pointed out last night, adding him will allow the Braves to give center fielder Michael Bourn and left fielder Martin [...]
Quicherbichin
July 31st, 2012
3:47 pm
I wouldn’t have minded seeing another deal made.. but with 17 minutes until the deadline, I doubt that will happen. That being said, i am not unhappy seeing as we acquired Maholm and Reed Johnson.
DawgDad
July 31st, 2012
4:00 pm
“Victorino to the Dodgers and Pence to the Giants. Aint life wonderful!”
Not so sure. These are teams the Braves are in direct competition with for a playoff spot, and they just got better.
The Maholm-Johnson trade should prove to be HUGE, but perhaps in subtle ways. The Braves were a VERY fragile team; if Chipper or Hanson (or any other starter) went down all bets would be off on the playoffs. Uggla or Janish go down and there is no MLB-caliber replacement. Now, Johnson provides the solid RH bat in the outfield, backstopping all three starters and enabling Prado to backfill around the infield. And when he isn’t playing, he’s a .300 hitter coming off the bench. Similarly, Maholm (with Delgado in-hand) provides starting pitching depth the just wasn’t there before. Much less likely this team will do a September 2011.
Stumps O Reilly
July 31st, 2012
4:26 pm
Bones Jones has to be pleased with these new players He might just finish his career with anotherr WS ring
Bill in VA
July 31st, 2012
4:34 pm
I like the trade!
Around The Horn
July 31st, 2012
5:54 pm
FRANK’S UNWISE TRADE
I don’t like Frank’s trade and here’s why:
Wren had a reasonable and workable solution staring him in the face for the rotation ills by putting Medlen into the starting rotation.
But he didn’t ultimately choose this solution!
Had he done so, surely then Frank could have found a right handed bench bat and another bullpen piece without giving up a quality arm and a potential long term star like Vizcaino.
But instead he foolishly and unwisely traded away Vizcaino.
You don’t trade away potential stars — unless you’re getting a star caliber player in return! You simply don’t do it!
But Frank did so — again, foolishly!
I’m having a very difficult time thinking positively about Frank Wren these days — in spite of what was a good decision in signing Ben Sheets.
For every good decision, Frank seems to make two terrible ones.
Around The Horn
July 31st, 2012
6:26 pm
KEITH LAW OF ESPN ON THE TRADE
Law writes,
“Atlanta gets marginally better for this year with the additions of Maholm and Johnson, but the Cubs land the best prospect they’re likely to obtain in this year’s trade market in exchange for two players they didn’t need.” — End quote.
Backdoor Slider
July 31st, 2012
6:50 pm
FRANK GAVE UP FAR TOO MUCH
Consider the comments of Jay Jaffe of Sports Illustrated:
“… the Braves gave up quality in the form of the 21-year-old Vizcaino, who came into the year ranked 40th on Baseball America‘s Top 100 Prospects list — and an eye-popping 14th on Keith Law’s list — but who underwent Tommy John surgery in late March after pitching through a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament since 2010. Undersized at 6 feet and 190 pounds, and with an unorthodox delivery, he throws a 92-96 MPH fastball that can touch 98 out of the bullpen, and a power curveball that’s also an out pitch. His command issues, injury history and failure to develop a third pitch may make him a permanent reliever, though. Chapman is a reliever as well, a 25-year-old righty who was striking out 10.1 per nine at Triple-A Gwinnett on the strength of a plus changeup that complements an 89-92 MPH fastball.” — End quote.