Worst thing I saw all year? This Vazquez-Cabrera trade!
I guess it’s not a bad a year when it takes until Dec. 22 to happen across something really awful. And that was our lot in Atlanta sports. Even with Willie Martinez and Dave Wommack misdirecting defenses; even with Jason Elam developing a case of the yips; even with Greg Norton whiffing and Paul Hewitt wrangling timeouts … even then, it took until the penultimate week of the calendar year to find something that made you throw a shoe at yonder wall.
And here it is, and here goes said shoe.
Javier Vazquez for Melky Cabrera. The Braves’ best pitcher for the Yankees’ eighth- or ninth-best player. The anchor of a good rotation for a guy who isn’t really a big bopper.
I’ll have more to say on this later and at greater length, but for now I leave you with these words:
Frank Wren = Epic Fail.
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797 comments Add your comment
JB
December 22nd, 2009
3:30 pm
Braves have just signed 9 year old Johnny Smith to a 20 year deal.
Braves believe he is a good “prospect” and should be ready in 2024.
Brian
December 22nd, 2009
3:30 pm
Bruce Jones, saying “pursue a power hitter using their depth of starters” is different from “trading a starter for a power hitter”. Either the money freed up or the added minor league depth (or both) will be used to continue building a team for 2010.
saywhat?
December 22nd, 2009
3:30 pm
Javy the fans know Frank Wren is an imbecile… .. what a genius move giving up Javy! move for and NO UPGRADE. and now we keep Derek Lowe who NEEDS A CONDITIONING COACH. He was gassed after an inning or two in the ATL heat. He may have been a great pitcher (not in 2009) Thanks Frank,, Braves are doomed being low ball nothings thanks to the loser owners. Arthur Blank or any ONE owner PLEASE buy the Braves and save us from this mediocrity
willie martinez
December 22nd, 2009
3:31 pm
i thought the oldest adage in baseball was you could never have too much pitching.
Opinion
December 22nd, 2009
3:31 pm
I say lets just sell off everybody and move the team outta Atlanta, im tired of Frank Wren’s unfulfilled dreams for this team making the playoffs and contending for championships
Snoozin'
December 22nd, 2009
3:31 pm
They say they are going to trade Cabera for Dan Uggla. That might be worst trade possible. This is a guy that hit sub .250.
I guess you haven’t noticed that he AVERAGES 32 home runs a season with a .344 OBP. BA is a fairly worthless stat to measure the total value of a hitter. There is NO WAY the Marlins would do that deal because Uggla is FAR more valuable.
Ripped Again
December 22nd, 2009
3:32 pm
Seemed to me Vasquez liked Atlanta ,just another bone head move made by the Braves …YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH PITCHING !
Fire Frank Wren
December 22nd, 2009
3:32 pm
heres cabreas stats away from yankee stadium. how is this a perfect fit.
AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB HBP SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
230 29 64 16 1 4 24 18 2 26 5 0 .278 .336 .409 .745
Opinion
December 22nd, 2009
3:32 pm
BREAKING NEWS:
AS OF 2011 BOBBY COX WILL TAKE OVER FOR THE FORMER GM FRANK WREN (KNOWN AS THE LITTLE BLIND SQUIRREL)
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
3:32 pm
How did Brian Cashman stop from laughing out loud long enough to finish this deal?
Furman Bitcher
December 22nd, 2009
3:32 pm
Argh!
JDUB
December 22nd, 2009
3:32 pm
STOP BEING DUMB, BRAVES FANS! I agree, Cabrera for Vasquez is not even trade, for THIS SEASON. However, what if they traded Lowe, then Vasquez leaves next year. Then you’re out TWO pitchers and have nothing in return. This trade means they get Lowe (quality pitcher) for 3 more years, along with an outfielder that can actually play defense and is serviceable at the plate, and he’s young and will probably be in town for at least a few years. Stop looking at the talent, and start thinking money. Of course Vasquez is top-notch, but we had great pitching last year and NO HITTING. See how far that got us. NOWHERE! Let’s try something different, huh? And to the guy that said Frenchy is better than Cabrera: He may be, one day, but if Frenchy stayed in Atlanta, do you honestly think he could’ve turned it around? He had a year and a half, and got WORSE! He had to go. Plain and simple. Of course Lowe would have been the best move if someone would take his entire salary, but that wasn’t going to happen, so we got something out of nothing. Even if they did trade Lowe, they would have had to eat alot of his salary, and then turn around and outbid the Yankees and Red Sox for Vasquez next year. How often have the Braves been successfull in outbidding anybody? NEVER! Stop complaining and realize that we dumped Frenchy, kept Lowe for 3 more years, got a couple prosepects, and an outfielder that we don’t have bite our nails every time a pop-fly is hit to him! AND….he’s played with a winner. We could use a little winning attitude around here, FOR ONCE!
JB
December 22nd, 2009
3:33 pm
WWTMS?
What would Terence Moore say?
Opinion
December 22nd, 2009
3:33 pm
ATLANTA BRAVES = UGA FOOTBALL, can only seem to win one championship
Run To The Other Blog
December 22nd, 2009
3:33 pm
Snoozin?
“Too many people here WAY overvalued Javy Vazquez.”
Like who? Frank Wren when he signed him and now has to dump his salary to fill other needs?
TW3A
December 22nd, 2009
3:33 pm
AGREEY
Nova Scotia Steve - Fight Like A Brave
December 22nd, 2009
3:34 pm
Merry bleepin Christmas
willie martinez
December 22nd, 2009
3:34 pm
there once was a gm named frank
who’s trades quite often stank
asked “who’d you trade for?”
don’t remember any more
my mind is just a blank
Savannah Seer
December 22nd, 2009
3:34 pm
Mark-
I’m wondering if there is a 12 step program to get Frank Wren cured of whatever he has. This man is a menace and must be stopped at all cost! How can JS sit by and watch this thing unravel without lifting a finger?
We need to put Wren on one of those King Crab fishing boats without a rope or a life preserver!!!!
Don’t the Braves understand that they are killing the gate for this year, yet again? Seriously, are they just in this business to get a tax write-off? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this is one of the biggest money laudering schemes of all time!
Why do I care
December 22nd, 2009
3:34 pm
First Wren gives the house away to an over the hill pitcher, then he lucks up on a good one who turns out to be the best the Braves had, and then Wren trades him away for a body who will be released as soon as his contract is up. What is it about Wren and NYC. He traded Francouer for a body he let go as soon as possible. Look, it’s obvious, the facts are all there. Wren is hell bent to destroy the Braves.
Opinion
December 22nd, 2009
3:35 pm
first John Smoltz and Now Javier Vasquez what next???????
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
3:35 pm
JDUB- “Stop lookig at talent and start looking at the money”. HELLO PITTSBURGH!!!!!!!!!!!
Bruce Jones
December 22nd, 2009
3:36 pm
Thanks Brian for clearing that up. Still say we will be looking for an additional starting pitcher before the All Star break as the result of injury or lack of performance. I just want a legitimate power hitter, not a one yr. wonder or retread like I stated earlier.
willie martinez
December 22nd, 2009
3:36 pm
opinion: chipper jones and brian mccann for nationals prospects.
Guthro
December 22nd, 2009
3:36 pm
At age 24 Cabrera is an average MLB hitter and above-average fielder, good enough to play center field for the World Series winner, with lots of upside, all for less than $1.5M. Braves now $10M more to go get a powerhitting first baseman and powerhitting outfielder. The trade looks good.
Ram
December 22nd, 2009
3:36 pm
Can we trade Frank Wrenn? He keeps screwing up year after year.
This trade is absolutely the worst.
Opinion
December 22nd, 2009
3:36 pm
This just in: Frank Wren is secretly employed by the Philadelphia Phillies !!!
This just in: Frank Wren is secretly employed by the Philadelphia Phillies !!!
This just in: Frank Wren is secretly employed by the Philadelphia Phillies !!!
This just in: Frank Wren is secretly employed by the Philadelphia Phillies !!!
This just in: Frank Wren is secretly employed by the Philadelphia Phillies !!!
IlliniBrave
December 22nd, 2009
3:36 pm
Hey Mark: Have you put a call in to Chipper yet? What does he think about this? He always seems to have an interesting (and very frank) assessment of these moves the Braves office make.
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
3:37 pm
Was Frank Wren GM of the Vikings for the herschel Walker trade?
JB
December 22nd, 2009
3:37 pm
First the Fat Boys break up…and now this.
I think some of the comments out there are ridiculous, but we’re all here, we’re all Braves fans, and we’re all here for another long season. Semper Fi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Erik
December 22nd, 2009
3:37 pm
Dan Uggla sucks. He has protection in that line up and still can not hit 280.
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
3:38 pm
Guthro- He was good enough to play CF for the WS champs because they had ARod, Tex, Cano, Jeter, etc. That ain’t us.
willie martinez
December 22nd, 2009
3:38 pm
said the manager named bobby
frank i’ll meet you in the lobby
dont get the trade
today you made
dismantling a team’s your hobby
jon
December 22nd, 2009
3:39 pm
you get the Melky Cabrera Boner!
Abner Doubleday
December 22nd, 2009
3:39 pm
Bad week for the Braves – First Derick Lowe crying, then Chip Carey coming back, and now this train wreck of a trade. Pitiful! I have to believe that there is a second part to this deal, because NOBODY would be stupid enough to trade a top line ACE for an average outfielder.
This has been a December to forget. Let’s Go Hawks! – if they can last long enough into the spring, we can just count the days till Falcons training camp opens and forget the Braves altogether.
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
3:40 pm
Uggla> melky x 3
Opinion
December 22nd, 2009
3:40 pm
BREAKING NEWS:
After finding out about the trade, Bobby cox has been involved in another domestic dispute, way to go Wrenny
saywhat?
December 22nd, 2009
3:40 pm
JDUB I agree with what a lot of what you are saying but your line “Stop looking at the talent, and start thinking money”,,, thats why the Braves have been going downhill for years.. ever since Ted Turner bailed out its been downhill and IS only because they have cheap @@@ owners who will not spend money or have no money to spend.. its the fans as usual that get hosed because of no money.. Frank Wren has to try to make a quilt out of the scraps the cheapskates give him to work with… but seriously Javy gone and Derek staying…. maybe if he gets out in the heat and gets in shape he will be back to his former pitching shape. I bet he would have faired better in 2009 in a colder climate… Javy was sweating and hitting higher gears late in the game .. also it would be nice for the owners to have a little winning attitude (with greenbacks) to help support the team and fans
gcs
December 22nd, 2009
3:41 pm
I am DONE with the Braves for a good 14 months. Someone let me know when 2011 spring training rolls around.
Cox will be gone and hopefully Wren will be gone. And Freddy, Heyward & Barbaro will be ready for the majors.
/////////
willie martinez
December 22nd, 2009
3:42 pm
yeah, bobby slugged wren
bwell
December 22nd, 2009
3:43 pm
This make me SICK!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE H is Wren doing, thinking did he even think on this trade or what. Bring John S back please. I’m pissed!!!!! Happy Holidays.
Abbott n Dville
December 22nd, 2009
3:43 pm
Frank Wren got his pocket picked…this trade will go down in Braves history with the Brett Butler deal…both blunders. Did it improve the Braves? No. Were there better deals that could have been had later? Yeah. Wren panicked.
saywhat?
December 22nd, 2009
3:43 pm
gcs Bobby will be gone and Frank will probably trade Freddy , Heyward & Barbaro for some mediocre outfielder
Troy
December 22nd, 2009
3:43 pm
Frank Wren your surely the most ignorant gm is baseball history. Can someone just bring back public hangings and lets let Wren boy go first. What an imbecile.
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
3:44 pm
Barbaro Canizares ready in 2011? How old will he be then?
Jack
December 22nd, 2009
3:44 pm
Joshua, yo mama’s a fluke.
Mike T
December 22nd, 2009
3:44 pm
Definitely a very bad trade. The Braves management seems to be dedicated to the mediocrity of the 80’s. They’ve forgot the pitching of the 90’s that won all those championships with an average team at the plate. The combination of Vasquez, Hanson and Hudson could have matched the Smoltz, Glavine and Maddox decade. But I guess that’s history now.
Eric
December 22nd, 2009
3:44 pm
ARE YOU SERIOUS! GIVE THE FANS SOMETHING TO LOOK FOWARD TO BESIDES LOSING TO THE NATIONALS DURING CRUNCH TIME AND GETTING RAPED BY THE PHILS ALL YEAR LONG. SIGN LAROCHE AND DONT GIVE UP VASQUEZ… OOPS TOO LATE.
JDUB
December 22nd, 2009
3:45 pm
BABA OREILLY: I wasn’t saying stop looking at talent COMPLETELY. But would you rather keep Vasquez, trade Lowe for somebody like Cabrera, and also pay about 80% of his 45Million dollars we owe him, then lose Vasquez to the Yanks or Red Sox next year? It’s simple. Lowe was not worth trading. We’d get about the same return as Vasquez did, PLUS we’d have to pay a ridiculous amount to the team that got him. THEN, we’d have to give Vasquez about the same amount (or more) that Lowe is making now, plus we’d be paying for Lowe (who we don’t even have). How would you like to pay Jurjjens, Escobar, and Prado when they are free agents in a couple years. Not to mention the raises those guys get through arbitration. If you DON’T think about money over talent, you end up with the same team you had 3-4 years earlier, just paying the same players (who almost all get raises every year) to be mediocre, or also known as THE PITTSBURGH PIRATES.
Gamecock Tony
December 22nd, 2009
3:45 pm
It’s not Frank Wren – it’s Frank BIRDBRAIN!!