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
DP
August 1st, 2010
9:40 am
Looks like the guy got in the article below got it right about a week ago, the Royals brought Ankiel up from the minors to showcase him for a trade.
I think it’s quite a stretch to point at this trade as some kind of major signal that the Braves are willing to ante up to try to win the division. This trade looks to be pretty minor to me. There’s a center fielder who can’t play on each side and a last guy in the bullpen thrown in by the Braves. It looks to me like the meat of this trade is a young reliever with some promise traded for a 34 year old rental relief pitcher who can help down the stretch. I suspect the Braves wanted Farnsworth and the Royals made them take Ankiel as part of the trade. With McLouth, that gives the Braves two left handed hitting whiff machines who can’t play center field.
I can’t imagine that the Braves would want to have both Ankiel and McLouth active on the 25 man roster at the same time since they’re basically the same player. Maybe this trade means McLouth is going to spend the rest of the season in the minors or even be released.
http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/4441/ankiel-returns-for-no-apparent-reason
“Craig Calcaterra on a (typically) puzzling move by the Royals:
The Royals are about to call up Rick Ankiel from Omaha, where he has put up a batting line of .270/.281/.556 in 63 at bats while rehabbing. Meanwhile, Alex Gordon is batting .315/.442/.577 in 260 at bats since being sent down, presumably to learn left field.
Query: given Ankiel’s injury history and his own defensive limitations, why on Earth isn’t Alex Gordon getting the shot in Kansas City’s outfield instead of Ankiel?
The only reason I can possibly think of is that the Royals think they can trade Ankiel and want to showcase him for a bit, but that’s a bit delusional, ain’t it? Guy hasn’t played in the majors for nearly three months.
Delusional? Yeah, probably. Because he hasn’t played in a while, but also because, you know, he’s not real good. In his last 141 major league games, Ankiel’s got a .228/.283/.392 line. Oh, and he’s not exactly a Gold Glover in center field. (Actually, if you believe the Ultimate Zone Ratings he’s downright terrible out there.)
Ankiel probably takes over in center field from Mitch Maier, who’s just as good as Ankiel but suffers from a significantly smaller salary.”
Fan since 1977
August 1st, 2010
9:48 am
@ Matt the Brave –
If I appeared to be regurgitating Schultz’s article it was not my intention, but I had no idea those 4 players ate up half our corporate ownership imposed limited payroll. That was an eye opener. And my opinion is Wren has screwed up so bad I am glad his last 2 deals have helped this club.
And you are right no one is going to take on those hefty contracts, so why don’t we designate KK for assignment and see if he’ll agree to go to Gwinnett, cause he needs work and is just collecting dust right now. McLouth accepted it — who says KK won’t? If he gets in a good rhythm down there and dominates he might help the 40 man roster in September. Just like if McLouth starts hitting .500 down there (but I ain’t holding my breath on that one).
If he doesn’t accept and we have to give him his unconditional release and eat the $$, well, lesson learned and sayonara. Maybe we can negotiate a buy-out.
Ted M
August 1st, 2010
9:55 am
Ankiel is hitting over .300 against righties. His defense is great. He’ll help us a lot.
Jeff – So where is Ankiel going to hit in the batting order?
nobody
August 1st, 2010
9:56 am
Well said Fansince1977. KK needs work and he isnt going to get it here. Send him down our way
steve
August 1st, 2010
10:01 am
This trade is good because it is an upgrade, our problems stem from having the least productive hitters in the 3 hole (chipper) and the 4 or 5 hole whichever Glaus is in, unless those 2 start contributing more we are in trouble because Prado, Infante, Heyward and McCann cannot be the only run producers on this team. The starting pitching has been great and if we had any clutch hitting with the bases loaded we would have won 3 more games on this road trip.
Marty
August 1st, 2010
10:03 am
It has been a long time since I have seen a blog this filled with idiocy. Oh, wait — it was yesterday afternoon leading up to the trade deadline.
Folks, we just traded an awful reliever with great stuff, a low-grade pitching “prospect,” and a 26-year old fringe major-league outfielder (Blanco hit .228/.326/.279 in a full season at AAA last year) for a reliever with a 2.42 ERA in 44 2/3 innings this season and a guy who can play CF and has massive power. Basically, we just gave up junk for a solid bullpen arm and a guy who COULD be an upgrade in center. If it works, great; if not, they’ll both be gone at the end of the season, and we’ll have given up little to nothing for the pleasure.
Now, let’s back up and talk about how awful Wren’s trade/acquisition history has been. Seriously, let’s do that, since you all seem to have a very selective memory. Here are a few you missed:
1. 10/29/07 – Braves trade Edgar Renteria (and his large salary) to Detroit for Jurrjens and Gorkys Hernandez. Renteria had one year left on his contract at the time, and in case you were wondering, his OPS has been .699, .635, and .709 in the three seasons since the trade.
2. 12/4/07 – Braves trade Jose Ascanio to the Cubs for Will Ohman and Omar Infante. I will not re-state what Omar has done for us, since I would hope you at least remember that, but Ascanio pitched a grand total of 22 innings (poorly) over parts of two seasons for the Cubs before being unloaded on the Pirates. Ascanio has not pitched in the majors since sometime in 2009 and is currently on the 60-day DL having undergone right shoulder surgery.
3. 11/20/08 – Claimed Eric O’Flaherty off waivers from the Mariners. This looked like a non-factor at the time, but Eric has posted ERAs of 3.04 and 2.30 in 119 games since we picked him up. Yeah, I’ll take that.
4. Just this past offseason, Wren re-signed Hudson for 3 years, $27 million with a club option of $9 million for 2013. Yeah, that looks awful now.
5. Is anyone complaining about the signing of Billy Wagner right now?
6. How about Eric Hinske? Yeah, that has worked out ok for us as well.
That’s just what I could come up with in about 5 minutes without looking at anything. Come on guys, get a clue.
nobody
August 1st, 2010
10:08 am
Ive always remembered Ankiel to be a decent fielder. Am I crazy? and Mclouth was an ok defender. That was not the problem. He got to a lot of balls no one else would have been able to. He never threw, which Ankiel, being a former pitcher, should be able to scare some runners.
Brave Dawg
August 1st, 2010
10:10 am
This defines the term trade. It’s a swap. I swap you three that I don’t want for two that you don’t want and are willing to throw in a little cash to get someone to take. Good trade or bad doesn’t matter. Doing something by the deadline is what’s important. Makes us both look like we are active and neither of us can afford the better players. Neither of us wins the trade but we don’t lose it either, it’s just a swap.
nobody
August 1st, 2010
10:17 am
I like todays lineup. I would have switched Conrad and Infante, but overall it is pretty solid. I would not mind to see Conrad start taking more starts at 3rd base to keep Chipper freshish
J-Smoove
August 1st, 2010
10:23 am
Ankiel is a better pitcher than Chavez…. I’m so glad we finally got rid of that bum. It didn’t even matter who we got for Jo Jo Reyes and Jesse Chavez, as long as we got rid of them! GO BRAVOS!!!!
Farnsy
August 1st, 2010
10:28 am
Just wait til I throw at you, Princess Fielder. I dare you to charge the mound!
BigCaliDawg
August 1st, 2010
10:29 am
Have y’all paid any attention to the fact that Wagner’s blowin’ saves lately?
Farnsworth was important. We just might end up using him as our closer.
As far as CF goes, it’s like the Bermuda Triangle. Prospects go in there and washed-up has beens come out the other side…………..
Ted M
August 1st, 2010
10:39 am
nobody what is today’s lineup? Where do you find it?
Around The Diamond: More Post-Trade Deadline Aftermath « TheUpperCardNetwork.com
August 1st, 2010
10:41 am
[...] Farnsworth are the type of deal the Braves needed to send a right message to their fans, writes Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Neither player has to be a centerpiece, but will perform well in their complimentary [...]
ET
August 1st, 2010
10:42 am
OMG…Reading through this thread one would think that the Braves are in last place and have nobody on the club that can hit. I do have a problem with the Texeria trade several years ago, but that wasn’t Wren. Sure, Kelly Johnson is doing well in Arizona, & Escobar seems to have gotten the message that you have to play all the time, but hey, the Braves are 3 games up in the standings. We are not in last place.
The same guys who were saying in spring training that the Braves were a last place team are still preaching that garbage. Wake up fools, we are in first place in the NL east. I guess you guys don’t let the facts get in the way of your hatred of Wren and the Braves owners… And you call yourselves fans…BS.
Idot
August 1st, 2010
10:42 am
Enter your comments here
Reece 12
August 1st, 2010
10:46 am
Ankiel is good, when he’s healthy. Very strong arm; very good going to the ball. He can hit for power and average – in 2008 he had 25 home runs and was hitting 290 when he was developed a sports hernia in July – out for the rest of the season. In May of 2009 he took a header into the center field wall at Busch – out another 45 days – never really regained his timing – platooned with Rasmus – then when the Cardinals got Holiday – he was basically a bench player for the remainder of the year.. 2010 with the Royals, injury again. If he stays healthy, Braves fans will be pleasantly surprised.
Ankiel will hustle . . . on every play, both offensively an defensively.
stew
August 1st, 2010
10:47 am
We still need a righty bat. If we face a lefty, we’re in deep trouble. Time to bring up Freddie. Anyone remember Glaus’ problem in April was a timing issue. I always thought Melky was a decent outfielder. He’s too slow. We traded away the only centerfielder that played decently (Blanco) this season. I wonder if they play Ankiel will they sit Melky? I think we lost out on the recent Wren deals. Vasquez for Melky/ Yunel for Gonzo/ Blanco for Ankiel just don’t make it. Why do we need Farnsworth making 5 mill a year. I thought we had the best bullpen in baseball.
stew
August 1st, 2010
10:52 am
Andruw’s last year with Braves 26 hrs/94 rbis/ .221 avg and everyone wantedto get rid of him. Melky’s first year with Braves 3 hrs/29 rbis/.260 avg and everybody loves him. Who do you think is the better defender?
PMC
August 1st, 2010
11:22 am
Hmm, a mostly garbage hard throwing Right handed pitcher… and a converted pitcher who is now an out fielder who had one good season.
No I don’t mind that Chavez and Collins are gone… that’s a lot of hope to put on Ankiel to do something in CF. They needed a bat. They got ANOTHER PROJECT and or bucket of hope and dreams.
Farnsworth might as well be a warm body, but he’s got to be better than Chavez.
Ankiel… I have no idea. I hope he can hit 10 homers or so and have a respectable BA.. that should help… drive in a few runs maybe. As I see it they gave up virtually nothing and they got back… virtually nothing.
TennesseePaul
August 1st, 2010
11:23 am
Nate McLouth (three years, $15.75 million).
But for Braves payroll purposes this is only $5.25M a year…
PMC
August 1st, 2010
11:25 am
They did make a trade though. So there’s something. Here’s hoping the move recharges Ankiel and Farnsworth can be a good warm body in the dugout.
With Prado hurt… we’re going to need all the hope we can get at the plate. Really and truthfully the only guy up with RISP close and late that you really feel great about is Heyward. Mac is next and that’s about it.
Chipper is hitting the ball much harder of late so here’s hoping they start to fall this week and his slugging numbers come up. We need every run we can get.
TennesseePaul
August 1st, 2010
11:26 am
Expensive mistakes hamstring general managers. Lowe, Kawakami and McLouth represent $27 million of an $85 million payroll (31.7 percent) this season.
$85M which is actually, technically more than the previous season’s payroll, because there was no budget cut… when adjusted for inflation last year’s $97M payroll was actually less than this year’s $85M.
PMC
August 1st, 2010
11:27 am
At the very least they got a tad bit better and gave up virtually nothing to do that. Let’s hope Ankiel can stay healthy for a couple of months.
peter nincompoop
August 1st, 2010
11:29 am
Jeff, wow I like how you have no opinion at all on this trade and you can switch from wren being exec of the year to a diatribe about how much money he has wasted on lowe, kk, mclouth, and you threw in a little chipper there at the end. Way to throw some guys under the bus there shultzeeee.
PMC
August 1st, 2010
11:33 am
On the good end they get a stronger outfield arm and hopefully a better overall outfielder than what they had if he’s healthy and he can hit for some power so they got a little better.
In the bullpen where they are already better than most teams they were able to add depth so they don’t have to wear out pitchers like they have of late.
It’s not like adding Fred Mcgriff but it’s not terrible.
don
August 1st, 2010
11:34 am
Marty. You must be Wren’s wife. I’ll trump all your small time successful/lucky deals with the Teixeira trade. That trade dwarfs all others. And, the Soriano trade, the LaRoche trade, the Lowe signing, the Kawakami signing, the Glaus signing, the Francoeur trade, and a host of others add to the overwhelming fact that Wren is in over his head. I’m sure other GMs don’t avoid his telephone calls. For them and their teams, it can often be Christmas Day during the baseball season.
PMC
August 1st, 2010
11:37 am
Kawakami was the only mistake. They didn’t need to make that move. Lowe was a necessity and they knew they were vastly overpaying for an average starter… they needed guys who could get tot he 7th inning. They had none. McClouth was exactly what they needed at the time…. he just faceplanted once he came to this team. Not really a mistake logically he’s just lost all ability to play baseball at a major league level. If it were in the budget they could have had Nady or someone like that.
This move still allows them to go after Jason Werth next year in Free Agency. That’s good.
Clay
August 1st, 2010
11:38 am
Thanks for making my point even better . . .
southerndawg
August 1st, 2010
11:39 am
The jury is still out on ankiel. Farnsworth was good when he was here the last time. Philly is still a threat, but I think everyone is going to find out that oswalt is not going to automatically make them the best team in the NL. He is 0-3 against us. I still like our chances against them.
Clay
August 1st, 2010
11:39 am
……Marty
PMC
August 1st, 2010
11:44 am
Don… Wren didn’t make the Texiera trade.. Scheroltz did and Sherholtz took a golden parachute to the presidents office when the bugetary constraints took effect. That’s one reason he’s been so public over the handling of aging pitchers and the shenigans with the Furcal deal. He’s defending his own legacy. Sure he handed the keys over to Wren to a pretty decent car…. but he’s had to drill his own oil and refine it. The Texiera deal set the competitiveness of the team back 3 years because the owners wouldn’t pony up the money to resign him and they lost thier high end prospects in the process. Combined with the total flame out of Francouer Wren has had to rebuild the starting pitching, the bullpen and he’s still working on the outfield. The next problem will be 3rd and 1st…. and he still doesn’t have enough money to do it quickly no matter what McGuirk spouts off publically. It’s not all Frank Wren’s fault. Considering the situation they were in and the budget constraints… Frank is doing REALLY WELL to have built a team that is in 1st place in August when none of thier “stars” are really playing well at all.
Clay
August 1st, 2010
11:44 am
stew, it was Vasquez for Mike Dunn, Viscaino, AND Melky. Melky was the throw-in. Damn, do some research before you post! Dunn is in Atlanta, Viscaino was the Yankees’ number one pitching prospect in their entire farm system!
peter nincompoop
August 1st, 2010
11:44 am
That being said, I hope Chipper does get run over by that bus!
don
August 1st, 2010
11:45 am
After watching the first two games in Cincinnati, I have concluded that:
1. Chipper Jones should have retired last year.
2. Glaus and Hinske should be a tag team in the WWE. They could be called either “Slow and Slower” or “Clumsy” and “Clumsier”. Glaus looks ill at ease at first base. Hinske needs a bushel basket and roller skates in left field. Both are a dream for an opponent in need of a double play.
3. No one would remotely consider taking McLouth or Cabrera in a trade. Both are overpaid. The Braves are stuck with them. Blanco is superior to either of them. that’s why the Royals grabbed him.
4. Lowe and Kawakami. Need I say more. These two define the term “overpaid”. The Braves couldn’t give them away.
5. With no real hitting out of first base, third base, left field, and center field, I have concluded that Old Bob must be a genius.
Clay
August 1st, 2010
11:46 am
don, just stop posting, please. You are making yourself look foolish. And you can’t “trump” anything. Jeez . . .
Dirty Jacket
August 1st, 2010
11:46 am
Seems like a trade just to make a trade. I don’t trust Farnsworth. Ankiel has had one good season an OF and one good season as an SP. I’d rather have Diaz-Hinske/Melky/Heyward than whatever cluster Ankiel will now cause. Getting rid of Chavez is nice, but he was barely being used anymore anyways. I don’t see this helping or hurting, just seems worthless.
Clay
August 1st, 2010
11:49 am
There’s always the dry cleaners, Dirty Jacket! I guess you missed Chavez “barely being used this past week” losing the Fl game, while not recording a single out. If Wren had traded him for some used cups, I would have given him a standing ovation!
don
August 1st, 2010
11:52 am
I was wrong. PMC is Wren’s spouse. The Teixeira trade set the Braves back five years. Not because Teixeira wasn’t resigned (Who really thought Atlanta could resign him? that “hometown” crap was silly. He went to GT. Big deal. that sure didn’t make Atlanta his “hometown”. He was always going to end up with the bright lights and big dollars. That aint Atlanta.). And, the truth is that resigning Teixeira wouldn’t have been a cureall by any stretch of reality. Losing players like Andrus, Feliz, Wainwright ill-fated Drew trade), et als. That is what put5s an organization back five years.
And, yes, your spouse was involved in the Teixeira trade.
don
August 1st, 2010
11:54 am
Clay. The truth hurts, doesn’t it. Are you still supporting the captain of the Titanic?
PMC
August 1st, 2010
11:54 am
Don. Sherholtz made that trade. Not Wren. Your argument is with John Sherholtz who was making an all in effort to get one last playoff push out of that group of players.
Wren was not in charge of making that trade.
peter nincompoop
August 1st, 2010
11:55 am
Bring up Freddy!
PMC
August 1st, 2010
11:56 am
They aren’t going after any big name players because the ownership has no desire to go sign top level talents. They are running this major market club like a small market club because they have to.
Clay
August 1st, 2010
11:57 am
Titanic? don, the Phillies lost again last night, so ………….look at the standings – the Braves are in first place with a 3 1/2 game lead.
will
August 1st, 2010
12:01 pm
The only way this deal could have been considered a proactive win now move would have been if we could have somehow also gotten Arizona to give us micah owings to play left field for us. This is completely rediculous, we could have at least gotten jose guillen, at least hes a proven major leaguer. Ankiel has essentially had 1 good year, and wasnt he roiding? he struck 99 times with next to no walks in something like 374 at bats. This is a farce. In bobby cox’s last season this is who we give him? Why dont we just re-sign todd hollandsworth and we can party like its 2005. Anyone who thinks this is a sufficient move to move forward in the pennant race especially in light of the phillies recent acquisition is completely diluted.
Clay
August 1st, 2010
12:01 pm
Wren can’t help it if players perform under their career numbers, whether it be hitters or pitchers. what else can yougo on when making a decision? Yeah, 2 years down the road, we can say that Lowe, KK, and McLouth are overpaid. Wren didn’t have a crystal ball . . .
cattle dawg
August 1st, 2010
12:01 pm
All I know is today is a BIG game . Im hoping Hanson can shut em down. We really need this series win.. About the trades. I think we didnt give up much , and didnt get much back. Id say its about 60/40 our favor on the trade.
Clay
August 1st, 2010
12:04 pm
cattle dawg, somebody’s got to hit today too. We need to get that run production back up to 4 or 5 per game and everything will be fine.
SC
August 1st, 2010
12:05 pm
They don’t want Freeman to be the next Shafer.
Tim
August 1st, 2010
12:08 pm
This trade just makes our weakness at first base all the more glaring. Unless Ham can start hitting again, thats basically an automatic out in our lineup. And even when he gets on base, moving him from one station to the next is like passing an act of Congress.