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
Opinion
December 22nd, 2009
3:45 pm
Can’t wait to see Arthur blank buy the braves and get Wren the heck outta there
Mel
December 22nd, 2009
3:45 pm
Let see, we could have kept Javy next season and hoped his stats would mirror what he did this season, if not we let him go FA and get draft picks and not prospects. We trade Lowe and eat how much of his salary….10M, 12M, more? What would be left….5M, 3M, less? What exactly does that get us? Not sure how much would be left, but we could always re-sign Anderson. At least we could watch Javy pitch next year be we get nothing of value…draft picks? Come on.
willie martinez
December 22nd, 2009
3:45 pm
the great bambino just smiled on the yankees.
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
3:46 pm
Our pitching will not be as good as last year and our offense IF we sign a first baseman will be about the same. So instead of losing a bunch of 2-1 games, we will now lose 3-1 games.
Troy
December 22nd, 2009
3:47 pm
WREN = DUMBASS!
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
3:47 pm
Yeah Mel, who needs draft picks????sarcasm off
jim
December 22nd, 2009
3:48 pm
Yuk. disgusting. terrible
frank wren needs to turn in his resignation immediately and go into the witness protection program.
Trey
December 22nd, 2009
3:48 pm
Sonny, you forgot about the ol’ Chipper Jones candy bar.
Sid Bream's Leg
December 22nd, 2009
3:48 pm
Dear Mr. Wren. I hope the only reason to trade Vazquez for Cabrera is so that you can free up money to build a time machine and bring back a young Hank Aaron. We need a home run hitting outfielder and you get Cabrera? Seriously? You trade our number one starter for a role player? You see, in the mart of competitive trading you try to get a more equal trade, not just to unload players. True that Vazquez was going to be a free agent that we probably wouldn’t resign, but still you could have done better. Derek Lowe for Cabrera would have worked OK. Did Brian Cashman confuse you with all the big city GM talk and get you to write down Vazquez instead of Lowe? I keep hoping for better days with the Braves, but you keep stomping on my tomahawk.
Eric
December 22nd, 2009
3:48 pm
PS THERE WAS SOMETHING DEFINIETLY DONE UNDER THE TABLE TO COMPLETE THIS TRADE. WELL I WOULD N’T EVEN CALL THIS A TRADE. A TRADE WOULD IMPLY THAT WE GET SOMETHING TO THE EQUIVALENT TO WHAT WE GAVE UP. CABRERA FOR VASQUEZ. IF THIS WAS A TRADE JETER OR A ROD OR SABATHIA SHOULD BE A BRAVE
Avery
December 22nd, 2009
3:48 pm
Frank is obviously a boy among GM men. He got his pocket picked yet again. Eesh.
Nauseated
December 22nd, 2009
3:49 pm
Which planet do i have to move to in order to make this trade a good trade, cause it’s sux here on Earth. Frank Wren, Really? Really? Melky Cabrera for J. Vasquez, REALLY? I don’t care how good the A-baller is you got in the deal, that other lefty, Dunn, you got, is terrible even compared to Logan, and Vasquez was a SUB 3.00 ERA pitcher, and you got what? A 4th outfielder and a salary dump? Hey news flash, there ain’t nobody out there to get who’s worth Javy Vasquez genius!!! You still can’t afford Bay or Holliday, so what are we landing in this deal? Jermain Dye? Please tell me you got something more up your sleeve Wren, cause right now this one is just like Bradley said… EPIC FAIL. Plus you helped the Evil Empire you jerk.
Ted M
December 22nd, 2009
3:49 pm
Melky will be lucky to have 5 HR at the break, Cox won’t take him out. the Braves will be out of the race as the trade DL approaches as sellers the Braves will trade Lowe and get someone to take all of his salary and we’ll likely get a couple decent prospects in return. But the Braves could have done that AND played to win in 2010.
tiger#1
December 22nd, 2009
3:49 pm
i would love to see this lineup but it would never happen what yall think because liberty has said they will up payroll some
c mccann
1st dye or delgado
2nd prado
ss escobar
3rd jones/glaus
of mclouth
of heyward
of uggla
utility melky
utility derosa
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
3:50 pm
Erik- yes, something was done under the table to complete this trade. Literally and figuratively
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
3:51 pm
If this was 1999, I would say yes on glaus, but it’s not so I won’t.
Marty
December 22nd, 2009
3:51 pm
Let’s look at this from Javy’s perspective: Hey, at least now he will get some run support!
That said, if our promised “big bat” is Jermaine Dye / Giambi / Vlad Guerrero and not Jason Bay or at worst Juan Rivera / Marlon Byrd then please somebody fire Frank Wren. NOW. Maybe he and Bobby will get put out to pasture together. That would be nice.
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
3:52 pm
Did vivian and the other Wren apologist disappear after Wren said Melky wasa “perfect fit”?
saywhat?
December 22nd, 2009
3:52 pm
When Javy first got signed sports talk radio were saying Javy would be only an innings chewer…. boy was he!! chewed the innings up and sat players back on the bench… JAVY you ROCKED the Braves have a much weaker pitching staff now… lets face it no one wanted Lowe after how he performed last year no matter what he is able to do this year good or bad… and everyone would have wanted Javy.. including the Atlanta Braves fans,, Frank is trading junk for junk like “Mr Haney from Green Acres”,,, (no disrespect to the late great Pat Buttram)… Frank patched together something ok last year. but you would think having a chance at dominate pitching would be the goal and not go backwards…
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
3:53 pm
Marty- I think our ceiling is someone from the Derosa, Byrd, Nady level.
Thad Mumau
December 22nd, 2009
3:54 pm
I agree with Mr. Bradley … this trade stinks! It almost seems as if Wren felt he HAD to get rid of Vazquez, like it was some sort of fire sale. Or perhaps he wanted to get a deal done before Christmas. In the process, he gift-wrapped the Braves’ best pitcher for the Yankees.
And Atlanta didn’t even get the right-handed hitter with pop the club is seeking.
Here, the Braves are dealing from a position of strength — holding aces — and they give one of them away.
Terrible. Terrible.
I just hope Mr. Wren’s health is okay. Based on today’s “event”, I think it must be in question.
Merry Christmas to all!
Kbrab
December 22nd, 2009
3:55 pm
I like O’Brien’s idea of parlaying some of these youngsters (Schaffer, Dunn) to SD for Gonzalez. That would certainly kill a couple of birds with one stone.
Troy
December 22nd, 2009
3:55 pm
Wren if i get the chance i will throw beer in ur face this year at a game, worth a few days in jail for sure you dumb sack of bovine scatology.
Bushwacker
December 22nd, 2009
3:56 pm
It’s not exactly a “what was his name” for Fred Mc Griff type deal is it?
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
3:57 pm
Vincent Moore, Donnie Elliot, and Melvin Nieves.
daddydog1988
December 22nd, 2009
3:58 pm
Wren got good marks for what he did last year. Remember, some of the moves were “last minute”.
This year everything seems rushed,panicky.
Soriano and Vazquez, each could have brought more near beginning of season, when teams have to realize their pitching shortcomings.
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
3:58 pm
Tony Tarasco> Melky
Ed
December 22nd, 2009
3:58 pm
Is Cabrera the big power hitter that the Braves’ have been looking for?
NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Marty
December 22nd, 2009
3:58 pm
Baba – only one BIG bat in that bunch…Nady – the Untier. But I think he will be too expensive. Isn’t he a Boras client?
Jalb3rt
December 22nd, 2009
3:58 pm
WTF?!!
Scoots
December 22nd, 2009
3:59 pm
Where is all this Uggla talk coming from?
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
3:59 pm
If Wren had his way…we would be sitting under Furcal’s 10M contract as well.
Jalb3rt
December 22nd, 2009
4:00 pm
W T F is Frank Wren smoking?
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
4:01 pm
Marty- I’m not sure. My point is that all these “wait and see what the next move is’ fans will be disheartened when that “Big Bat” we traded JV to free up money for is a Marlon Byrd type player.
kurula
December 22nd, 2009
4:02 pm
i was looking forward to the season. WAS. this is the biggest lump of coal the local sports teams have given us. it is exasperating to root for the home team here in GA. the front offices make it brutal for the fans.
Erik
December 22nd, 2009
4:04 pm
Scoots, ESPN said the Braves would turn Melky to Fla. for Uggla so they could dumb payroll.
LIBERTY MEDIA
December 22nd, 2009
4:04 pm
STOP BLAMING LIBERTY MEDIA FOR FRANK WREN’S DUMB MOVES !
Marty
December 22nd, 2009
4:04 pm
Baba – Agree Byrd is over rated and his production was helped by his ballpark and strength of line up. It just hit me that Melky is moving to a place that is really the polar opposite of NY. Very little press, empty ball park and apathetic fans. Maybe he blossoms outside the spotlight with no expectations. Let’s hope.
JackLackey
December 22nd, 2009
4:05 pm
If these were the good ol’ days, Wren would be dressed in tar and feathers and dumped outside the Fulton County line…
Ted M
December 22nd, 2009
4:06 pm
Wren was very lucky last year all the players he really wanted had crappy years and the Braves still finished in 3rd place.
Now we are a lot worse and the Philly’s are a lot better…so its already “wait til next yr (2011)”
saywhat?
December 22nd, 2009
4:06 pm
oh so Liberty is giving Frank Wren free range with money?? NOT… they are cheapskates we are screwed as long as they own the team and Frank Wren has to snake oil trade to make up for their cheapness no matter now bone headed his moves are it still wreaks of cheap @@@ owners….
Scoots
December 22nd, 2009
4:07 pm
Do you have to be an Insider to see whatever page that story is on – I didn’t see that?
Avery
December 22nd, 2009
4:07 pm
If you think this was a bad trade, wait until you see what the resident dunce Waddell gets for Kovalchuk in two months.
Opinion
December 22nd, 2009
4:08 pm
The only way I would ever be happy with Frank Wren is if he decided to bring Chief Knockahoma out of retirement and put his Tee-pee back up in the empty seats of the upper deck!!!
The only way I would ever be happy with Frank Wren is if he decided to bring Chief Knockahoma out of retirement and put his Tee-pee back up in the empty seats of the upper deck!!!
The only way I would ever be happy with Frank Wren is if he decided to bring Chief Knockahoma out of retirement and put his Tee-pee back up in the empty seats of the upper deck!!!
The only way I would ever be happy with Frank Wren is if he decided to bring Chief Knockahoma out of retirement and put his Tee-pee back up in the empty seats of the upper deck!!!
hawesg
December 22nd, 2009
4:08 pm
It will all come down to whether Meh-lky is a Brave in April. If he is it will be as a starter – for which he would produce less offense that Garrett Anderson – or as a fourth OF, stealing ABs from Matt Diaz, who is a better hitter. And if you want a good defensive OF to platoon with Diaz, you already have Gregor Blanco.
If Meh-lky stays, he will be drawing $3M. That means we did not clear near enough money to buy a legit RH clean-up hitter.
Wren made an OK trade if he was trying to meet an existing payroll and build a competitive team in 2013 when the young pitchers get ready.
But this trade makes us demonstrably worse for 2010.
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
4:08 pm
Marty- Look at how much Yankee stadium aided Melky’s offensive output. Given his numbers, the only way he should be starting is if his team doesn’t need his offense. He started because the Yankees had enough bats. We don’t. Offense will be expected from him. I don’t think he can deliver. It sux being one of the Yankees many farm teams.
The Abs Man
December 22nd, 2009
4:08 pm
Someone called Melky clutch….?
Closest he gets to clutch is if car has 5-speed transmission…
Other than an above-average glove, he’s a rat….
Either Wren is a double-agent for another team in the NL East, applying to be Cashman’s gofa’ or this is some sick parody of a major-league trade…
This is worse than weak….worse than Bobby Cox sticking with Anderson and his who-me-hustle defense or Norton endless strikeouts as a pinch hitter….
Joshua
December 22nd, 2009
4:10 pm
For all of you whining about bringing John Schuerholtz back, just so you know, he is Frank Wren’s boss. So now what?
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
4:11 pm
ReMax agent needed at the Wren residence.
Barnacle Bill Bavasi
December 22nd, 2009
4:13 pm
Michael Tucker > Melky