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
Shane
December 22nd, 2009
4:13 pm
STOP BEING DUMB, BRAVES FANS! I
You can forget that. 90 percent of Braves fans are morons. Couple that with the fact that the chief puppeteer has pulled the strings with his comments and well your seeing what the puppets will do
Barnacle Bill Bavasi
December 22nd, 2009
4:13 pm
Dion James > Melky
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
4:13 pm
Terry Harper>melky
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
4:14 pm
Oddibe McDowell> Melky
Opinion
December 22nd, 2009
4:14 pm
Surely with all these people being unemployed in this economy (me included) we can find someone other than Frank Wren to make better giveaways than this
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
4:16 pm
OK Shane…enlighten us. Tell us how to feel after we’ve been raped by the Yankees. Are we supposed to be happy because we got a Low A pitcher who MAY be good by 2013?
JackLackey
December 22nd, 2009
4:17 pm
Our pitching staff has been severely weakened. What happens when Hudson pulls-up lame? What happens when Lowe pitches like feces most of the time, AGAIN? We’re absolutely, positively, unequivocally, down-to-the-bone, SCREWED!
That’s what…
Ted M
December 22nd, 2009
4:17 pm
This stupid Melky trade also means its less likely we will see Heyward in the outfield next year
armchair
December 22nd, 2009
4:18 pm
I wouldn’t have traded Javy, period–the guy is a workhorse. This move makes ZERO sense unless Wren puts together something that brings a big bat to the team–and that doesn’t mean Jermaine Dye! Good grief. The Braves have gotten much WORSE this off season, thus far, not better. Wren resigns an aging Hudson–coming off major arm surgery; signs a 38-year-old closer, loses a live arm closer, trades his top pitcher for a middling center fielder, and the team right now has no first baseman. Man, the chips sure are falling into place!
David
December 22nd, 2009
4:18 pm
What a sorry trade for the Atlanta Braves??? Please get rid of this GM Wren!!!
He useless and a proven loser!!! Why is he the GM anyway!!!
You trade a proven starting pitcher for junk and the New York Yankees all said is
Thank you for this one side trade!!!
Any more starting pitcher you want to trade to the New York Yankees, Mr Wren
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
4:19 pm
oooooooh he’s a YANKEES prospect. That means he’ll be extra special good.
Ken Stallings
December 22nd, 2009
4:21 pm
We just traded the fourth best pitcher in the National League for a role playing outfielder and a A-ball prospect!!!!
Frankly Wren is a disaster!
Here’s his offseason resume so far:
1. Trade the best closer on the market for a setup man with dubious pedigree. Most experts considered it a knee-jerk reaction and the perception that Wren was in a rush to get rid of Soriano placed the Braves in negotiating from a position of weakness.
2. Traded the man who finished fourth in the NL Cy Young balloting (and would have finished far better had the Braves won their division) for a utility outfielder and a A-ball prospect. The two relievers were essentially an even swap.
Wren damn well better not consider his job done! He’s twice now given up a lot for damn little! He better pull off signing of someone like Jason Bay or Matt Holliday. Except now that it’s come down to this, he’s again negotiating from a position of weaknesses. The Yankees having unloaded a surplus outfielder will not make a move for Holliday. So, that likely leaves precisely one outfield bat the caliber the Braves sorely need — Bay!
Right now, the only thing Wren can do to pull his fat out of the fire is to sign Bay to a multi-year deal, then resign Adam LaRouche at first base. Adam wants a multi-year deal also and since Freddy Freeman is only a year away, signing LaRouche to a multi-year deal saddles the Braves with another surplus for the 2011 season. And we already know what Wren does with surplus talent in the offseason!
Len
December 22nd, 2009
4:21 pm
Lets see the Braves strength was starting pitching and their weekness was not enough power in the lineup. So they trade thier ACE for yet another week bat. Way to even things up Wren now are starters will be average just like our hitters. I am sure glad we dont have to worry about makign the playoffs as long as we did this season. Now we will know in May our playoff hopes are non existant. Thanks for looking out Frank.
saywhat?
December 22nd, 2009
4:22 pm
we all are too selfish.. we should be happy for Javy to get on a chance of being on a team with a payroll and a chance to win….. Liberty is going to cheapskate us on down till Ted Turner finally does buy the Braves and moves them to Montana to be winners again
oldfart
December 22nd, 2009
4:22 pm
With just a little bit of run support the guy is a 20 game winner and goes deep into the games. You get a mediocre at best bat and a good A baller in exchange? Mr. Wren we have an available seat in our weekly poker game and consider this a standing invitation and I also have some acreage in the Mohave you may be interested in, great prospect, you will only need to add water.
Jason
December 22nd, 2009
4:23 pm
This just in Frank Wren has accepted a job with the New York Yankees. He says “Now that I have my team in place I believe we can bring another world championship back to New York”.
Ted M
December 22nd, 2009
4:23 pm
David – Wren WILL trade another starter to the Yankee’s…it will be just before the trade DL though as the Braves 18 games back of the Philly’s
Jason
December 22nd, 2009
4:23 pm
P.S. Frank Wren is an idiot
Hef
December 22nd, 2009
4:24 pm
Lets see,weaken your team and strengthen an opposing team by trading one of your better starting pitchers,for a average outfielder/hitter, Frank give yourself a raise!
bert chollet
December 22nd, 2009
4:24 pm
How in the h*** does this improve the Braves on the field. With the premium on quality starting pitching, you would think he could have gotten a better bat! Cabrera won’t be hitting in the new Yankee stadium for 82 games next year!
Steve
December 22nd, 2009
4:25 pm
Yes and and his boss, he should hold Frank Accountable. I have yet to see it.
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
4:25 pm
Oscar Gamble> Melky
Jason
December 22nd, 2009
4:26 pm
Wren sold his soul and our best players to keep his job. So when we lose out next year too he can turn to management and say well I brought these young guys in so we can look towards the future we can win I promise I just need one more year.
Scoots
December 22nd, 2009
4:26 pm
The gap between the Phillies and Braves is getting wider
Ted M
December 22nd, 2009
4:27 pm
The Braves have enough payroll to win just not the right GM
Jason
December 22nd, 2009
4:27 pm
Question does Frank Wren have a boss? or does he just do dumb sh*t on his own all the time.
saywhat?
December 22nd, 2009
4:28 pm
payroll may not guarantee a winning team but I will take my chances with deep pockets over our pocket lent owners anyday
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
4:28 pm
I gotta buddy in the Cardinals media relations office that just texted me about the trade. They can’t believe it either.
Hef
December 22nd, 2009
4:28 pm
Frank-Please do not trade for Jason Bay! While he may add power to lineup his defense is terrible,there are other choices.
Mark Bradley
December 22nd, 2009
4:29 pm
Here, as threatened, is my Vazquez-for-Cabrera trade column. Frank Wren shouldn’t read until Christmas, if then.
Thank you Braves with help for # 28!
December 22nd, 2009
4:30 pm
Look at the big picture Braves fans you cleared up 10,000,000 of your payroll that gives Wren lots of room to go out and get a big bat at 1st. Wait and see how everything pans out before you jump to conclusions MARK! There is still time for moves to be made.
The Abs Man
December 22nd, 2009
4:30 pm
Melky for Javy….
As one sided as—this might date some of us–Milt Pappas for Frank Robinson…..?
##
Bob Horner
December 22nd, 2009
4:30 pm
SICKENING deal. Melky Cabrera isn’t as good as Jeff Franceouer. I guess the D-Lowe deal was freakin’ stupid in hindsight. 60-mil… DO SOMETHING!
I’m flabbergasted by this one. Next to go is LaRoche, I’m sure (which will effectively rob the lineup of all remaining pop). Let’s make a run at some washed up douchebag next. Wren — get on the horn and call Jeromy Burnitz, quick!
This is the worst deal of all time — just downright SORRY. Shouldda kept Javy over Huddy to begin with.
jayvee
December 22nd, 2009
4:31 pm
If the Braves stand pat and do not upgrade with a legit bat in the outfield and/or at first, the Vazsquez trade is awful. Carbrera is not as good a hitter as Matt Diaz. The highlight of last season was watching Javy pitch. I know he was at the peak of his powers, but it was a joy to behold. I’ll miss that. I hope there are more deals in the offing, and Adrian Gonzales seems like just the ticket.
GA30456
December 22nd, 2009
4:32 pm
I think Wren has lost all of his marbles and robbed the very franchise for which he works. How could you possibly trade Vasquez for a non hitting outfielder. I guess the other GMs know to wait on Wren to give them something and get absolutely nothing in return. What an impostor for a general manager. I guess now we will trade Hanson and Jurigens for first base to platoon with Norton.
Bob Horner
December 22nd, 2009
4:32 pm
And to the moron who said: “Look at the big picture Braves fans you cleared up 10,000,000 of your payroll that gives Wren lots of room to go out and get a big bat at 1st.”
We HAVE a pretty big bat at first. Do you want to subtract our only power guy and insert someone who will hit 5 or 6 more homers? We need to sign LaRoche, then ADD A STICK IN THE OUTFIELD, moron. We’ve got 10mil to play with now.. guess we’d better call Moises Alou.
Marc in FL
December 22nd, 2009
4:33 pm
A little piece of sky was on my doorstep this morning, must be falling
JackLackey
December 22nd, 2009
4:33 pm
If things go true to form, Wren will allow Garrett Anderson sign with another team, then trade Hanson to get him back…
NCBRAVE
December 22nd, 2009
4:39 pm
This is just one of a series of moves that make Wren look like an idiot. He signed Wagner and Saito to early, before knowing if either Gonzo or Soriano would except arbitration. He then had to trade Soriano with very little leverage after he excepted the braves offer and we get back a middle relief guy who is some what unproven. Then he sees Gonzo sign with the Orioles for 6 million a year plus incentives. The question is did he even attempt to resign Gonzo or did he just give up bringing him back. He then is forced to trade Vazquez because no one wants to take on Lowe’s salary (3 years 45 million). I find it hard to believe that he could not find any teams that would have given up something of equal value (Cabrera, Dunn, + prospect)to what we got for Vazquez. Hopefully this is the first step in aquiring a big bat via free agency or maybe getting the players together to make a run at Adrain Gonzalez, since we have made no other moves to fill our void at first base. You have to figure that we have several players that we could make available for trade, including
Jo Jo Reyes, Kris Medlen, (who I thnk we should keep since he can also start), Jordan Schaefer, Gregor Blanco, Melky Cabrera, Manny Acosta, and others. So far Wren has traded away Vazquez, gave away Soriano, lost Gonzo, signed Wagner and Saito, traded for Cabrera and Dunn, and managed to lose our first round draft pick in the 2010 draft. At the beginning of the off season Braves fans were expecting three (3) 1st round picks now our first pick is not until after the first round. It appears that Wren does not know what he is doing and it shows that he got taught a hard lesson so far this off season. Hopefully there is a silver lining in this dark cloud hovering over the Atlanta Braves.
Rick
December 22nd, 2009
4:39 pm
Melky Cabrera is a product of Yankee stadium, the short porches and the powerful offensive lineup. My prediction he will be out of baseball within 3 years. He is a below average defense player and a below average hitter who has been overshadowed and hidden within a huge offensive lineup. Now that he is out of that shadow he will be exposed for the below average player that he is. To think the Yankees were making him the center piece when they attempted to trade for Johan Santana a few years ago. Starting pitching is so hard to find and the Braves have an abundance of it. Kawakami should have been moved to middle relief and they should have kept the rotation the way it is.
JackLackey
December 22nd, 2009
4:40 pm
This is like Brett Butler and Brook Jacoby for Len Barker.
In-damn-sane!
Jack
December 22nd, 2009
4:40 pm
The Braves will be lucky to get 30 homers COMBINED from its outfield. This lineup will certainly stirke fear in the hearts of the Phillies!
Mark Bradley
December 22nd, 2009
4:43 pm
I understand that this-is-a-prelude-to-another-move thinking, but what exactly does Wren have left to trade? Hanson? Heyward? Jurrjens? McCann?
Erik
December 22nd, 2009
4:45 pm
Scoots,
from ESPN
They’ll now look to use that surplus on an outfield bat, a first baseman or possibly both.
Damon is one possibility, particularly because his home in Orlando is within minutes of the Braves’ spring training complex. Another option is free agent Xavier Nady, who could play first or the outfield and would come at a relatively low base price because he is recovering from his second Tommy John surgery.
Or the Braves could look to deal an outfielder — either Cabrera or possibly Jordan Schafer — for a bat. They’ve been linked in trade rumors to Florida Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla, who could potentially slide to first base.
Steve Holtcamp
December 22nd, 2009
4:47 pm
All I can say is that FRANK WREN MUST GO!!!!!
Erik
December 22nd, 2009
4:47 pm
Mark he could dump the farm teams like he did in the Tex Trade.
WTFrankWren!
December 22nd, 2009
4:47 pm
Frank Wren is a collosial idiot. our what, best pitcher maybe for a player that still needs to be in double A ball…the pitching prospect is cool, but it could have been done with D.Lowe…not Javy…someone please kill the guy before he kills the Atlanta Braves franchise single handedly with is horrbile moves
Traver
December 22nd, 2009
4:48 pm
Wow. I wondered how long it would take the idiot to make a Len Barker for Brett Butelr trade. What a debacle. So much for sending Bobby out in style. What an embarassment. Maybe Glavine and Smoltz weren’t the whining babies that everybody thought they were. Frank is just that stupid.
WTFrankWren!
December 22nd, 2009
4:48 pm
Is it possible to trade GM’s?
Mark Bradley
December 22nd, 2009
4:48 pm
Actually, Erik, Wren didn’t make the Teixeira trade. Schuerholz did.