Braves, Wren send right message with deadline trades
Rick Ankiel, a converted pitcher, hit 25 homers in 2008 and will fill the Braves' void in center field.
Sports fans scream for a championship every season. But really all most expect is for somebody in the executive suite — whether it’s the person who’s making trades or clutching the checkbook — to care as much as they do.
As a general rule, “We’re building for next season,” just doesn’t play well with the guy in the $6 seat.
Given that, the Braves should be commended today. They’re being as passionate and proactive off the field as they have been on it. They’re trying to win now, not sitting back and praying for unicorns.
Maybe Philadelphia’s acquisition of Roy Oswalt spooked them a little. Maybe they see something special in this team. Maybe they’re intent on trying to send Bobby Cox out with a championship.
Kyle Farnsworth excelled as a closer for the Braves in 2005.
Does it matter?
Drink this up Atlanta: You have a team going for a championship.
Faced with a tight trade market and a thin budget, general manager Frank Wren managed to improve the team anyway. This is the way things are supposed to work with playoff contenders at trade deadlines.
Trade deadlines highlight the serious players and expose the pretenders.
The Braves made a five-player trade with Kansas City. Outfielder Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth come this way. Gregor Blanco, Jesse Chavez and prospect Tim Collins go that way. If you break this deal down by player, Chavez’s exit will result in the loudest single cheer. At some point, the question became not whether he would make it as a Brave, but whether he would make it to the parking lot.
He had a 5.89 ERA. He had given up six home runs, 40 hits and 12 walks in 36 2/3 innings. Torch-carrying villagers were starting to wait for him outside the stadium.
But Ankiel and Farnsworth provide immediate help. Ankiel can fill the Braves’ black hole in center field. He brings some power (having his 25 homers in 2008), even if he’s currently hitting only .261 with four homers. Farnsworth, who was briefly a lights-out closer for the Braves in 2005, has been strong out of the bullpen this season (3-0, 2.42).
Neither is a centerpiece. Neither has to be.
They fit what the Braves need and what this team has become. The roster lacks star power, but makes up for it in depth, aggressiveness and chemistry. They just needed a boost lately, with Philadelphia rising, the lineup settling and Troy Glaus looking more and more like a one-month wonder.
Credit Wren. If this and other recent moves lead to the Braves’ first postseason berth since 2005, he may have just sewed up Executive of the Year honors.
Approaching the trade deadline, Wren had to feel like he was duct-taped to a lamp post. Dead money was killing the budget. Fact is, for all of Wren’s success in rebuilding the roster over the past three years, he still was paying the price for three significant miscalculations: Derek Lowe (four years, $60 million), Kenshin Kawakami (three years, $23 million) and Nate McLouth (three years, $15.75 million). The three read like a bad 401k portfolio.
Lowe was signed to be an ace. He quickly become a fourth starter making $15 million a year. Kawakami was signed to be a second or third starter. By midway through this season he couldn’t even hang on to the No. 5 job and was jettisoned to the bullpen.
Nobody has seen him since. He’s like D.B. Cooper.
McLouth, acquired from Pittsburgh, was expected to be the perfect bridge to Jordan Schafer. That’s an “oops” to the second power.
Expensive mistakes hamstring general managers. Lowe, Kawakami and McLouth represent $27 million of an $85 million payroll (31.7 percent) this season. Factor in Chipper Jones’ $14 million contract, and that’s $41 million for four players (48.2 percent).
Wren suggested in recent days that he likely wouldn’t do anything. The market was too tight. The budget seemed blown. He also kind of liked his team.
“We’re talking to teams,” Wren said a few days ago, “but we’re not putting a full-court press on.”
Either he was being less than truthful then or something changed. Doesn’t matter. He chose not to sit back. Serious teams don’t do that. The message about this season seems clear.
♦
You don’t need no stinkin’ DVR: Last 3 posts
♦ Dwight Howard opens up on LeBron, Shaq and Josh’s wedding (sssh)
♦ Roy Oswalt going to Phillies, and Braves need to respond
♦ Blank says Falcons are playoff team again (and maybe more)
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490 comments Add your comment
Peter
July 31st, 2010
10:07 pm
Folks this WAS a trade on the cheap…… Serious about winning ???????
NOOOOOOOoooooooo
Bill D.
July 31st, 2010
10:08 pm
How in the heck can we expect the Braves to continue to win when the No. 5 hitter has not gotten the ball out of the infield in his last 10 times at bat(at least) . Continuing to play Glaus is absurd. Will one of you beat writers please ask Cox why he still does this
TheAntiMe
July 31st, 2010
10:10 pm
I’m sorry but anyone who thinks that someone named Hayward is the Braves starting RF has immediately lost any credibility they may have had in their comments.
Dave
July 31st, 2010
10:12 pm
The Braves have been playing over their heads all year. They have mediocre talent. They traded for more mediocrity. Since their glory days, they have gotten what they’ve paid for.
stachemoney22
July 31st, 2010
10:14 pm
Good article on Farnsworth outside of the game and in the clubhouse….
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCI/is_4_67/ai_n25379616/
cattle dawg
July 31st, 2010
10:19 pm
The Braves tried to sign me a few weeks back while I was at the game.. It seems a scout saw me hit 65 mph on the radar at baseball pitching cage.. Nothing like getting hammered and throwing your arm out.
Craig
July 31st, 2010
10:20 pm
Who is this guy we got from the Tigers for cash and a player to be named later?
JOE
July 31st, 2010
10:21 pm
quick facts:
Production from Our Center Field position this year: 102 Games, .229 BA .324 OBP .325 SLG 3 HR
Production from Rick Ankiel this year: 27 Games, .261 BA .317 OBP .467 SLG 4 HR
We’ve gotten 28 Rbi’s from our Center Field position this year in 102 games. Rick ankiel has 15 RBI’s in 27 games! Come on!? Why is there even a discussion?!
Notso Fast
July 31st, 2010
10:21 pm
WE got two player that might help for three that would not help at least this year. WE now need to rest Glaus for several days until his legs , knees or whatever is hurting can recover. He is of no value like he is.
Mathman
July 31st, 2010
10:22 pm
Ryan Zimmerman’s walk off 3 Run HR leaves the Braves with a 3 1/2 game lead.
Craig
July 31st, 2010
10:24 pm
Glad no one snagged Zimmerman today. We needed his bat against Philly.
TheAntiMe
July 31st, 2010
10:27 pm
Where are all of those Phillies fans talking smack now?
Plate Appearance
July 31st, 2010
10:28 pm
SOMETHING TRULY PRODUCTIVE
Had Wren wanted to make a move that would have be truly productive for the Braves OF, he should have traded for Ryan Ludwick, who currently has an OPS better than A-Rod, for RF and shifted Heywood to CF.
I was stunned to see that Ludwick was available! What a steal for the Padres!
Largo
July 31st, 2010
10:33 pm
I guess I was dreamin’.about Farnsworth giving up those home runs when he was here before, Jeff. Maybe I’m also dreamin’ when I say this is the only year he’s had an ERA in the twos. Maybe also about his career ERA being over four. I just know I looked forward to him being here before, but it wasn’t long until I wanted him gone.
Bob Horner had a big fro
July 31st, 2010
10:44 pm
Jeff, solid take on the trade. Too bad all the greatest GMs in the world are too busying blogging on your article and not working in MLB. Anyway, this is a step forward. I think you are on to something when hinting that a future trade for a 1B player might be in order, but until then, we really need for Chipper and/or Glaus to get hot.
PhillyJim
July 31st, 2010
10:45 pm
@AntiMe I’m a Phillies fan. i haven’t been talking smack.Let’s agree there are idiot smack-talkers
for all teams , all sports. Am i glad we picked up Oswalt? Of course, who wouldn’t? But I’ve been saying for awhile we need a closer. Lidge was “lights out” in ‘08. He was hurt for several stretches but, I just don’t think he has “it” anymore. IMO the Braves made as good of a trade today that Wren could make with his bosses being Liberty Media. I’ve lived in Atl. for 20+ years and you guys deserve
better then them. Let’s all just enjoy the next 2 months of baseball. Remember, there are much more important things to worry about. Anybody but the MUTTS!
Mike Honcho
July 31st, 2010
10:45 pm
Hey Jeff,
Since we all kinda figure Chipper is gonna retire after this season. Why do you think the front office didn’t make a trade for an up-and-coming third baseman? I’m pretty sure we don’t have a 3B in the minors that’s tearing it up so if Chipper does hang it up it will definitely leave a hole there next year. I totally understand making a move for this year and I’m all for that but still, its never too early to look that far ahead.
Grandpa Right, formerly of Cochran
July 31st, 2010
10:55 pm
Good grief, no wonder Atlanta is thought of as a town full of pathetic sports fans. The Braves are in 1st place, we upgrade our bullpen significantly and we upgrade CF (we had Cabrera, Blanco and McLouth, for goodness sake, not Willie Mays), and 99% of these posts are whines from a bunch of crybabies.
Frank Wren has to play with the cards he’s been dealt. With a limited budget and the three inherited mistakes (Lowe, KK and McLouth) I can’t imagine how he could have done any better.
If 1st place and 2 slight upgrades doesn’t please you people, just acknowledge that you can’t support a mid-level budgeted team and GO AWAY.
Grow up, kids!!
ben
July 31st, 2010
10:55 pm
We made a bad trade with the Escobar-Gonzalez deal. Even without looking at individual statistics, the Blue Jays and the Braves are going in opposite directions.
This trade was about stopping the bleeding. Blanco was one of the few highlights we had when he was called up. Now the Braves ship him out and we get a player who was injured most of the year and a pitcher who is known to be unable to pitch in big games. This really didn’t make us much better.
Wasn’t our bullpen our strong suit?
savannahdawg
July 31st, 2010
10:55 pm
Freeman is hitting .295 with 14 hr and 63 rbi. It’s time to bring him up for the pennant run. Glaus could use some rest here and there. There has got to be a way to give Freeman quality at bats.
Gene
July 31st, 2010
10:56 pm
I saw the Braves in Cinci today. The 7th inning was pure T ball. They may stumble into the post season, but the Yankees or White Sox will eat them up, if they somehow get there. Glaus is a black hole. Freeman is batting ;296 with 14 homers, and he can run.
Mathman
July 31st, 2010
10:57 pm
Honcho, they did make a deal for a 3B/OF. Wilkin Ramirez, #8 prospect on Detroit , started his career as a 3B, and now plays LF as well. We got Ramirez for a player to be named later or cash. Has a lot of power potential. Has already hit 1 HR in the majors and had 4 hits in 11 AB in the majors.
sid's bream
July 31st, 2010
10:58 pm
so jeff, I can see where you’re coming from if you mean that FW is trying to send the message that he is committed because he is doing whatever he can to make the club better; even FDR tried several things that did’t work to get us out of the recession, but people loved him because unlike Hoover, he was doing something. However, the nation didn’t have an owner like the braves do that sets the payroll. They would be the ones who send a message or not, and having a payroll $57.5 million lower than the phillies and $48 million less than the mets is not sending a message of wanting to win. If they wanted to send Bobby out in style or show us fans that they want to win, they would have picked up a REAL outfielder over the winter even if it boosted the payroll by $10 million instead of relying on a McClouth who wasn’t good last year or in spring training either.
FW may want to win, but he’s handcuffed by those that send a very clear message, and it isn’t that they want to win. Except for the occasional fluke, every year the majority of the teams to beat are those that spend the money to get there. Phillies, Yankees, Rangers, they sent messages and picked up some salary in the process. we shifted some players, improving our great bullpen even more, but time will tell if Ankiel is better than Blanco. Gonzalez certainly doesn’t seem better than Escobar.
Ray Parker Jr.
July 31st, 2010
10:59 pm
So all this praying for unicorns I have been doing is a waste of time?
DangerousDan885
July 31st, 2010
11:00 pm
I’m sick of all of these poser Braves fans — go back to New York or Chicago or where ever the hell you came from,
robdawg08
July 31st, 2010
11:00 pm
Maybe just maybe they will play Hinske at 1B now. I like the Braves chances with Ankiel in CF and Hinske at 1st. This will eliminate all the achilles heels (McLouth,Chavez,Glaus).
steve
July 31st, 2010
11:00 pm
Jeff, Different guy same obvious question. Is not 6 quality innings all you want or need from a starter in modern day baseball? Bobby is still back in 1991-1995 with his strategy. It is basically what the Yankees have done successfully for years. First sign of trouble 6+ the Yankees starter is outta there, not 5 hits later.
Braves20
July 31st, 2010
11:01 pm
All in all, a positive trade for the Braves although a right handed bat would have been more help. Farnsworth was lights out down the stretch in his first stint with the Braves saving, I believe, 10 for 10. He certainly will be better than Chavez in the 6th or 7th or in extra innings.The final verdict on this trade hinges on whether we were seeing a career month from Blanco. There are baseball people who believe that to be true.
MichaelATL
July 31st, 2010
11:01 pm
I’m sorry, but if we were going to deal with Kansas City then the player we needed most went to the Dodgers. As much as I want this year to be the year, Ankiel is just not the answer. Blanco would have been just as good (if not better) in CF. The gaping hole we have is still at first base. Unless Glaus has a replay of his fluke month, this deal isn’t going to get it done.
Ray Parker Jr.
July 31st, 2010
11:02 pm
savannahdawg – Freeman won’t come up until Bobby is gone. Too young and Bobby doesn’t know how to manage young players. Heyward made the team to sell tickets. I’m sure Cox thought he needed another year of Triple-A.
Chip Shot
July 31st, 2010
11:03 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM_1hLbkW00
Coach (2011 or Bust)
July 31st, 2010
11:05 pm
Hey, I like Ankiel as an athlete, I really do. But Schultz, who the F*** are you kidding here?
Prado just went down and Scott Podsednik was there for the taking a week ago. Frank Wren dropped the ball and failed to be proactive in meeting the needs of this team before hand.
The Braves offense cannot survive the loss of Prado coupled with the massive slump that Troy Glaus is currently in. As Prado and Glaus go, so go the Braves. One is injured, the other is missing in action.
I know Infante is a great back up, but he’s just that… a back up being pressed into everyday duty. Farnsworth is a solid addition and I applaud the effort by Frank Wren, but it’s a little late to be putting the proverbial band aid on a gaping wound.
sid's bream
July 31st, 2010
11:07 pm
@dan885
are you saying that a “real braves fan” wouldn’t care about what the owners/ management did, or that they would just always agree with whatever they did?
What do you think this thing is for? so everyone can spend their saturday nights saying how we all agree about everything?
robdawg08
July 31st, 2010
11:07 pm
So Jeff, can you ask Bobby if he plans to play Glaus everyday when he continues to go 0-4 ? Does Glaus have naked photos of Bobby or something ?
braves70
July 31st, 2010
11:18 pm
Frank Wren did not inherit the mistakes of McLouth,Lowe, and KK. Frankie boy made those all by himself. No one else to blame for that.
TheAntiMe
July 31st, 2010
11:19 pm
Hey, PhillyJim, I realize that most Phillies fans are just good fans that root for their team and, like yourself, conduct themselves with class.
Unfortunately, this past week I have seen more than a couple who, no doubt were carried away by the impressive hot streak lately, and were really arrogant and obnoxious. That’s life in the blogworld, I realize that.
That’s where I was coming from, however, absolutely no offense intended to the rest of you good Phillies baseball fans.
Alpha9
July 31st, 2010
11:21 pm
has anybody ever considered some of the additions Frank Wren made he wouldn’t have had too.Had John Shuerholz not sold the farm for Texiara….I’m sure Salty at first base right now would please Braves fans along with Andrus at short and Feliz as a starter,,Wren has made some bad moves but they pale in comparison to Big John raping the Farm
TheAntiMe
July 31st, 2010
11:24 pm
How will we ever get by without Gregor Blanco? He was carrying this team.
Alpha9
July 31st, 2010
11:24 pm
Also if i recall correctly the 2 big names were Lowe and Aj Burnett..Lowe looks like Cy Young compared to Burnett…Also went hard after Furcal he used us..Tried to get Jake Peavy but wouldn’t give up Hanson..Hanson is still pitching this year Peavy isn’t….Does any actual think about what they say before they post
PhillyJim
July 31st, 2010
11:26 pm
Right back at you AntiMe ! Everyone have a great night ! Remember to tell your kids and family you love them EVERY DAY! A couple of funerals in as many weeks will remind us all of this! GOD BLESS Y’ALL !
savannahdawg
July 31st, 2010
11:28 pm
Our trade was better than the Phillies. Oswalt is done, is best years behind him. Philli has the offense and we have the pitching. I’m not going to knock Wren’s trade. We didn’t get the true power guy we might have needed. But we did improve some. Hopefully, “TP” can do something positive with Ankiel. I still think it’s time to get Freeman up and find a way to use him enough to give him quality at bats. Keeping him at triple “A” any longer is stupid. We need another bat with some pop and Freeman has it.
robdawg08
July 31st, 2010
11:29 pm
Can the Braves trade Bobby Cox for Tony LaRussa ? By the way, why do managers wear uniforms ? They don’t play. Basketball,Football,Hockey head coaches don’t wear uniforms.
Philco
July 31st, 2010
11:46 pm
Alpha9, I could not agree with you more!!!! The Texiara trade set the organization back 5 years!!! Cox hopefully will realize Chipper is NOT a 3 hole hitter anymore, I don’t care what he has done in the past!! I’m not a fan of Diaz, but he needs to play everyday with his hot bat, and like others have said, Hinske can then play more at 1st.
chris
July 31st, 2010
11:51 pm
Come on Jeff……..Granted I am not sad to see Chavez go but saying Ankiel makes this team better is a stretch. You are basing it on 2008 numbers because the guy has been hurt almost all year. Wren has built the hopes of this team on guys being able to come back from injuries. Hudson has done it….Glaus did it for a month and a half. Now your hoping Ankiel can go the rest of the way injury free and hit like he did almost 2 years ago.
I almost feel like Wren made this move because the Phillies and Padres made moves and he felt like he couldn’t be the GM that stood pat. This trade is just Wren hoping to catch lightning in a bottle.
TNBravesFan
July 31st, 2010
11:51 pm
Decent trade. Some idiot asked why we didn’t trade McClouth instead of Blanco: Have you ever heard of Mike Hampton? You’d have to pay a team (even KC) to take a Multi-Million dollar concussion case off your hands.
Blanco was fast, and the type of guy you like to have at backup CF. Good fielding, but pitiful at the plate. Sub-400 slugging. Ankiel, by contrast, has a lower OBP, but decent slugging. About even on OPS. You’ve traded a great fielding plate liability for a decent hitting defensive liability. At least we’ll have an all-liability CF with Milkman and McClouth, now.
Gonzalez trade: Picked up a steady producer for a mercurial phenom. No Jeter-esque plays from the hole, no routine force-outs winged into the 4th row, either.
Ankiel trade: Picked up a potential producer for a good fielder. Jury is still out.
I am in the “who did you expect” crowd. The CF market is dreadful this year. Not sure what losing Blanco will do for team chemistry (always thought Yunel was a drag), but we shall see. Just don’t see how the sky could be falling, not yet anyway.
Bravesfan54
July 31st, 2010
11:58 pm
Nothing in this trade suggests any “game changing” of the Braves’ current position. Happy they got of Chavez, sorry to lose Blanco (really sorry!). Farnsworth has the potential to be a dsclubhouse downer- i.e. , to Braves’ baseball what Gordon Liddy was to the Nixon White House. That’s harsh, but true. Ankiel adds nothing of significance, period.
This was a move simply to say “we made a move”. I really, really, hate the expression: it (the team) is what it is”. In this case it is true. We changed the chemistry for the worse (Farnsworth – and I will never forget his two grandslams!), and received – what? Rick Ankiel- oh, he, of the game-changing dynamic of a Fred McGriiff? (No, say!).
Change for the sake of change? Ok – at that level I can understand it, but this is a sophisticated fanbase, and you can’t sell this.
Bravesfan54
August 1st, 2010
12:03 am
Jeff – please share with me whatever you’ve been smoking! Your take was pure, unadulterateld drivel!
Born2Buzz
August 1st, 2010
12:04 am
The trade is OK. I see Ankiel as a little better 4th outfielder and we needed another arm for the pen.
Now the real message should be having Glaus finally get sent down or dropped and Freddie Freeman brought up. Glaus has been just as bad as McClouth was. I know he gave us a great May and carried the team but right now he is huge hole in the lineup that is killing the team.
Robert Dean
August 1st, 2010
12:04 am
As a season ticket holder and a life long Braves fan, I must say I like Frank Wren making a move that will give us a chance at winning the division. Farnsworth will have an immediate impact. He will be a great set up guy. With Venters and Moylan and Wagner closing I feel great about are chances as long as we are winning after 6. I really wish we could of kept Blanco and got rid of Mcclouth or Schaeffer but the Royals are not totally dum. Ankiel is a possibly awesome pick up and evenif he doesn’t start hitting bombs like 2008, he will play a good center and drive in some runs. Ankiel is just getting healthy. Thanks Mr. Wren for giving us a shot. Now lets all boo Glaus again so he will start hitting. Go Braves
keith
August 1st, 2010
12:15 am
Honestly, this trade wasn’t a bad deal at all. I think we all agree that Blanco was a fan favorite for the sparkplug he provided the offense for a few weeks there when we were hot. I can understand that…however, we needed some extra pop.
Ankiel is definitely a risk as he hasn’t done well this year, even though he has been out almost 3 mos for an injury. Since he’s been back from the injury, he’s hit for 1 HR and 6 RBI in 8 games. Pretty good production. THat’s what their hoping for. The 2008 year of 25 homers. I figure that our pitching/bullpen just dramatically improved by dropping Chavez and picking up Farnsworth….and the upside of Ank is better than the upside of Blanco….
Overall, I give the trade a grade of B.
Oh, and we were still able to keep our A prospects in Minor/Teheran.