Worst thing I saw all year? This Vazquez-Cabrera trade!

First! Kudos, Mark?

Happy Holidays to all!

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Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,
as are Vomit and ol’ Jock Strap,
Jeff Schultz tanning pool side near downtown Cabo,
and Matt Ryan is doing his best to learn how to rap.

Everybody knows a turkey and his traveling dog show
Help to make the jail cell his rite,
Clandestine Falcons Fans unconcealed,
as Arthur’s jester commands the slight.

They know that Dimitroff’s on the way,
he’s got Smith leading the Birds of Prey,
And every real Falcons Fan in town,
Knows we are 2011 Super Bowl bound.

And so we’ve got two more games to go,
lets kick some Bills and Buccaneer ass,
Jeff already said 9 and 7 is what we’ll sow,
Thank you Falcons Players and Brass!

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The Hawks will choke. Book it.

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The Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals? OH MY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I agree with the first 4. I just don’t know what would make you think #5 will come true. This team is no more talented than the 2007 team, which barely got into the tournament and lost in the first round. The difference in the first 5 years of the Hewitt era and the 4 years since are the assistants Deane Keener and Cliff Warren. But I would love to be wrong.

Merry Christmas, Mark and everyone.

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Storyline: Can the Hawks get the support of the Atlanta fans and put some butts in the seats.

They certainly deserve the support……..!!!

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Mark, I hope you are right about ga. We need someone who can come in and do it right. From one Kentuckian ( Bowling Green) to another – Merry Christmas. Keep up the great writing.

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No way GT goes that far in the Tourney. They don’t have the coach that can put all of the great pieces of the team together. They bring in bigtime one and done recruits who are on their victory lap to the Draft and have no incentive to learn an offense or defense because they know they’ll be gone next season.

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As long as Woodson is around, the Hawks will be one and done in the playoffs, Mark you could coach the Hawks to the playoffs with the talent they have on that roster. You know I’m right!

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Mikey…I think it could be divorce court.

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Ricky, you’re right on. Got myself an Xmas present to go see Bron and company play our boys next Tuesday night. Can’t wait, hope the fans do their part and show up.

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I’ll ghive this argument up soon but I think Peacock’s heroics deserve comment in the FSU game if we can put aside our Hewitt hate for a moment.
That is what the one and done players are missing.
Many of the one and doners will never develop that condifence to step up when the rest of the team has taken a step back.
I thought that was worth the price of admission for a night anyway.

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Hawks AND Thrashers make the Eastern Conference Finals.

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JAVIER VAZQUEZ TO THE YANKEES FOR MELKY CABRERA!!! WHAT THE F&CK!!!!!!

FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!
FRANK WREN IS A DISGRACE!!!

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Ol’ Jeff has gone back to LA to hang out with the old gang. What gang was he in, Mark?

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The University of Georgia IS and always will be the Number One sports story in the state. Others teams have their supporters but UGA is the one program that is vital to most Georgians.

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Mark, even if the Dawgs get a top coordinator, they have to break in a new QB and Spurrier has the Gamecocks playing good on both sides on the ball with an experienced QB ready to roll for next year.
Dawgs lose in Columbia I think

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Herchel, has one of your rebellious personalities taken over?

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Tiger will not show for Augusta.
That is a very conservative place that will look very negatively on his antics.

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Melky? Has the potential to have his own candy bar. Melky Way.

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Not many baseball players get their own candy bar. Baby Ruth, Oh Henry! We think EscoBar might come about someday. A team with EscoBar and Melky Way could be big time in the candy bar concessions.

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If that is the case then it is purely for salary reasons and shame on Liberty Media!!

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Good point, 1eyedjack- divorce court for sure will be his first appearance.

I still say he shows up at Augusta. No way he skips the Masters.

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Mark, thanks for you, Doug and Jeff Schultz for making blogging on the ajc fun this year. “Happy Holidays to all College Football Fans!”

Ramblin Wreck!

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No.6 Will the Braves ever make the playoffs again with Frank Wren and Bobby Cox running the show at Turner Field?

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Let me revisit #6 on my list. Thanks to getting Melky Cabrera and giving up Javier, the Braves will now be lucky to finish ahead of the Nationals. Why don’t the Braves trade for Len Barker again while they’re at it!!??!

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Some NYY fans on MLB.com hate losing Melky for Vazquez.

One even would have preferred Lowe instead of Vazquez!

Oh, the irony!!!!!

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Coach I think the answer is no. Trading Vazquez for a pathetic Melky Cabrera is one more example of the ignorance of Frank Wren…I had been holding off on getting my season tix til after Christams. I think maybe now I’ll just hold off period. No point wasting hard earned money on this.

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if that trade is for real, then I agree.

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Apparently the storyline in Columbia, SC, never changes: this is the year the South Carolina gamecocks compete in the SEC East. And then they don’t…going on 100 years now (of not competing; not just in the SEC East). Spurrier hasn’t made an impact on that program.

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Jackets2009: it’s for real, just check MLB.com.

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wiley – You are wrong. GT has more talent than Duke this year and just as much as UNC

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GT football has Clemson, Kansas, VT, UNC and GA on the road in 2010. Having said that, CPJ will find a way to win and improve on the 11-2 record because he doesn’t believe in losing, it’s against his religion. On his last call-in show, CPJ reminded fans he did not come to GT to win just the ACC title but a National Title as well.

On the other hand, the GT basketball program as we know it as ran its course. Time for a change.

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It was a salary dump /couldn’t resign him move! Vasquez was to make around 12 million dollars this season compare to Cabrera’s 1.5 million. All trade total = 10.5 million(including Logan salary too)

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1) Trade away best pitcher and bunter
2) Keep oft-injured 3rd baseman in rotation
3) Run the ballclub on the cheap
4) Allow Chip Caray anywhere near the team
5) ????
6) PROFIT!!!

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Vasquez for Milky Cabrera….I think I’m going to be sick!!!

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The Tigers traded Granderson to NY and they wanted Dunn included in the deal. Now Tigers have a hole in CF. Maybe we trade Cabrera and Dunn to the Tigers for the “other” Cabrera to play 1B.

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Holy crap! I just looked at Cabrera’s stats. If this is real, and it seems to be, this is SO wrong. Wouldn’t it have been better to get another year out of him and get prospects when he goes FA? I tend to give Wren some leeway because of the job he did rebuilding the rotation last season. But….holy crap!

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Merry Flippin’ Christmas suckers! BWA HAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Could the market for starting pitching suck so bad that it’s come to this?

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Tech is probably looking at an 8 or 9 win campaign in 2010. Maybe they win 10 games if the schedule is as soft as it has been the past two years. They will of course “almost” beat Georgia, which according to Tech fans should count as a victory. To the rest of the world however, its a loss. All in all it will be a satisfying season for the Techies. Maybe a Gator Bowl bid.

Georgia will go 9-3, maybe 10-2. The schedule is favorable. The defense will improve. Washaun will rush for 1,000+. A freshmen starting QB is generally good for at least 2 losses though bare minimum. Murray will be a stud eventually though.

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I’m in shock over this Vazquez trade. What an awful awful deal. Just awful.

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1. The hawks are playing as well as anybody, but they would have to go through boston, cleveland, or orlando to advance to the eastern conference finals. I don’t think they have the bench depth that these other teams have to do so. It is possible to make the run to the championship game, but not likely.

2. If the thrashers don’t keep Kovalchuk, they can kiss their hockey team goodbye and wish them well in canada. The thrashers are having trouble filling the stands with one of the best players in the nhl right now. If he leaves, so does the franchise.

3. As a Tech fan, I would love to see us get to a better bowl. However, because of the ACC tie in with the Orange Bowl, the only bowl that would be better is the MNC. I would love to see us there, but it’s going to be difficult to go undefeated with our defense. I can see us back in the Orange Bowl next year and eventually getting to a MNC, but not next season.

4. Unless cmr is going to run the defense, I would say they sign a dc sometime before spring practice. Who is anybody’s guess.

5. Hewitt needs to go if Tech doesn’t get to at least the Sweet 16. When our Full Court Press is the best thing about Hewitt coached teams, you know something is wrong. The only thing our offense is consistent at, is being inconsistent. We rely way too heavily on outside shooting and more often than not, it doesn’t pan out. When you have two stud big men on your team, Lawal and Favors, you need to feed them the ball as much as possible.

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On topic, with regards to number 2, if the Thrashers don’t sign Kovy they will lose a large chunk of their already small fanbase. I for one, will stop giving ASG money completely. They have proven time and time again that they cannot re-sign their star players, so why would I invest my time and money into a team that has done nothing to earn it in 10 years?

It’s a shame we ended up with these trash owners, and they are going to be the reason why hockey leaves Atlanta again. The fanbase is here but we are tired of giving money to the worst owners in sports.

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WonderDawg – if the money saved is used to sign a premier hitter or they flip Cabrera, then yes I think we’d all agree that the trade is not looking so bad. But if this is the end of it, then I disagree that Melky is a good enough hitter and OF to justify this basically one-for-one swap.

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Frank Wren is a doofus….

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another terrible term out there…”Golf Shot” as is often used by Tiger. Why not just “shot”.
Also, “Moving Forward” business speak has infiltrated our vocabulary & pretty annoying too.

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Anybody got a number for the Georgia Dairy Products Association?

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Wow. A top of the line pitcher for a “servicable” outfielder. I am F’in sick of “servicable” players. We can’t land one true talent. WTF are we gonna do with FW. Congratulations, Yanks!

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Vazquez for a fourth outfielder. I sure hope those prospects are good. ouch. hope wren has something up his sleeve.

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Merry Christmas, & safe trips to all…maybe Shumpert makes it a little easier to get the ball inside?

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FRANK WREN ABSOLUTELY SUX!!!

The only team in the majore with a glut of quality starting pitching and all he can get is Cabrerra. OMG!!! Just resign loser

Nobody gets worked like Wren

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So Milkey is the new UGA defensive coordinator, eh?

Who cares, dawgs are so irrelevant.

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This trade has GOT to be step one in a sequence of moves. It HAS to be. Melky Cabrera? MELKY CABRERA????
Mark, where are you? Help!

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If he CAN hit for average and power, why hasn’t he? Huh? Braves fans want to know. I hope you get that 14-10, 4.91 Vazquez back, because he didn’t get nearly what he’s worth.

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I thought that first comment was quite moderate. Oh well, no skin off my #%@$#^

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Once again Wren gets nothing for something.

JV would’ve contended for the Cy with ANY run support. So Wren trades him for a light-hitting utility outfielder??

DUMBA$$

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Story Line For The Braves:
Is it possible to make a worse deal than to give up one of the best pitchers in the league for what they received? Especially when the only possible way to win with Bobby Cox managing is to have pitching so far far superior to the other teams that it overcomes his incompentency and enables you to win the Division over the long 162 game schedule in spite of him. This is the way it has always been with Cox managiong. Of couse, even with the great, great pitching they had in the past, this was not enough to enable him to win in the short series as evidenced by one WS in 14 opportunities.

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Frank Wren “inhales vigorously”!!

Man, what a terrible trade. To top it off, Lowe, who has been alienated by ownership/management already and had a horrible season remains on the team? That’s going to be an absolute cancer in the clubhouse.

Fire Wren, Fire Cox and Fire Liberty Media.

With Kovy not looking like he’s going to re-sign, this had turned into a truly depressing week.

(P.S. Fire Waddell)

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“not really a big bopper?” He’s terrible. He’s a 4th outfielder. His bat won’t play in a corner spot. It barely plays in CF. He’s awful. Best case scenario for the Braves is non-tendering Cabrera and using the money to sign Holliday. And that’s unlikely.
They just traded their most valuable ‘09 player for a replacement level outfielder. Right now, Wren looks pretty stupid. But we probably have to wait to see what else he has up his sleeve before we start calling him Dayton Moore.

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Just Dang and Don…

Look at Vazquez’s career numbers. What makes you think he can duplicate his numbers from last season? Last season was the first and only time he ever had an ERA under 3 and in 12 big league seasons, he had an ERA under 4 only 5 times. He hadn’t had strike out numbers (238) that high since he pitched for the Expos in ‘03 (241). His WHIP, 1.03, was also a career best.

While pitching 4 seasons in the American League, he has an avg ERA of 4.54 with a high of 4.91 (Yankees), an avg K total of 187 with a low of 150 (Yankees), and an avg WHIP of 1.26.

Since the Braves have Lowe, Hanson, and Jurrjens, with Hudson coming back from injury, getting value for Vazquez after last season was a smart move. Vazquez had a great season, but history isn’t on his side to do it again.

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Today is a sad day for Braves baseball. Just when I thought Wren was on the right track he throws yet another curveball. O well Bobby this is your going away present!

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Like Dezi used to tell Lucy

Sombody got some splainin to do

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SHOCK and DISGUST at this “trade”

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ARGHHHH!!!! Wren! Why????

As a long proponent of the trade-Vasquez-and-keep-Lowe club, this is NOT how I envisioned this going. Couldn’t we have gotten a big(ish) hitter for Vasquez? What the hell? How is this team better than last year’s? Is Cabrera better than Francoeur? Numbers say “NO.” And we’re not even going to have LaRoche, either.

WOW. Just… WOW.

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Sonny: Milk’s name is now MILK-DUD. That should fit with his .255, 2 hr, 34 rbi season he will have at Jane Fonda park.

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I don’t know what you’re talking about Mark. This is exactly what the Braves need to energize the fanbase- a journeyman outfielder with no pop in his bat. Genius.

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Somewhere, Len Barker is laughing, and breathing a sign of relief.

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I don’t like this either, initially. We Braves fans need to see what is up Wren’s sleeve (assuming there MUST be something) before we make a call on this one. Not sure what to make of this, much like the rest of you. May have to take a look at Bay or Holliday, but even if they signed, where the hell would you put Cabrera? Scratching my head.

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Do we honestly think this is the last move the Braves are going to make? I don’t. You got a younger version of Garret Anderson and younger Boone Logan (why is everyone mad about this? Javy would have walked after 2010 for more $$. This frees up about $9M in salary to get a decent bat to help the lineup. Plus Javy might be down in 2010.

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I’m not really sure how you think this trade is a bad thing. We get 3 nice young players, including one who is an infinte upgrade over Ryan Church or Jeff Franceour, and also upgrades us defensively as well. We get a young hard throwing Lefty who could make a very solid starter. We get the #3 prospect in the Yanks farm system. We shedded one of our higher salaries on a guy who has never had back to back great seasons before. So we upgraded our lineup and freed money to upgrade it even further all while improving our defense and acquiring two of the Yanks better pitching prospects, including a mid 90’s mph fastball lefty (RARE). And this is a bad deal? Please, all of you, shut up. I am glad to be a Braves fan today and can’t wait until you all choke crow.

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I think Wren and Chief Knockahoma have the peace pipe out smoking it. Someone is on cloud nine to make this trade.

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Bah, Brit Massey. UGA will always be minor league, corrupt football. Don’t try to impose your UGA-verse on the rest of us.

Pro leagues have their issues but exploiting “student” athletes for billions of dollars isn’t one of them.

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Frank Wren= the Manchurian GM. We are fast becoming the Atlanta Expos.

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Now my turn………I will trade Frank Wren for any blind squirrel you have in your forest

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Atlanta Hawks have the best chance in franchise history to make the ECF. The future of this team rides heavily on what happens in the postseason this year. I hope we keep Woody & Joe, but I also think we have key pieces in place that will allow us to succeed even if both decide to go elsewhere… Joe Johnson is my dude, but he can be replaced…. So can Woody…

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F U Frank Wren! I hope he is fired soon. This trade makes less than no sense. Who negotiated this for the Yankees? George Costanza? Who did we have negotiating? Kramer?!

Next time just kick me in the nuts and make it easier!

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I now have that sick feeling in my stomach like I had when Chan Gailey was running the show at Tech

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“Frank Wren = Epic Fail.”

Bark Madley is officially the most interweb-savvy old guy I know.

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Joshua,

REMOVE HEAD FROM BUTT. 4th best pitcher in NL for absolutely nothing! Yeah..Great trade. Now go home you Yankee fan!

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WWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

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The Vazquez trade is a salary dump, pure and simple. Cabrera is another Ryan Church. The Dunn kid has some potential as a relief pitcher, but those two and $500,000 does NOT add up to Javier Vazquez. This MIGHT be an even trade if the $500,000 Yankee cash was $5,000,000 instead.

Well, now they have some money. I’d like to see them re-sign LaRoche and sign Jason Bay, but I think that’s wishful thinking. If they don’t plug first base and get a big time slugging left fielder they’d have been better off not making this trade, looking elsewhere or going into spring training overloaded on pitching.

Essentially, Wren and Cox decided they’d rather have Hudson than Vazquez. Big risk, even considering Javier isn’t likely to repeat last year’s performance.

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Is it Wren’s fault? Or is it Liberty Media deciding to cut payroll?

If Wren made the trade because he thinks it improves the Braves chances of winning in 2010, then he should go.

But I would bet it is more about payroll, i.e.:
- No attempt to re-sign Laroche…instead they sign the all time minor league HR king
- Sign old farts Wagner and Saito(?) instead of Soriano and Gonzalez
- Despite glaring need for power in the lineup, no moves to sign top power free agents.

Now that they cleared almost $12M from the payroll in this deal, will they attempt to sign Holliday or Bay?

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This just in: Frank Wren has been traded by the Braves to the Albuquerque Isotopes for 1 truck load of dirt for the infield

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I am really let down by this,this makes no sense what so ever!!! He better have a plan B to the plan A for a blockbuster trade that will open my eyes and have less doubts bout his managerial skills or i will make it a point to put my size 15EEE in his ass if i ever see him on the street!!!! stupid, just stupid!!!

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Joshua, I hope you’re kidding. If not, you’ve exposed yourself as the dumbest sportsfan in Atlanta history. My grandmother is an upgrade over Church. Who trades the best pitcher on our team for a utility outfielder… Wow the 3rd rated prospect from the Yankees farm system… the yankees always trade their prospects and their farm is bare.. who cares.. we want to win the series not wait for some cuban 19 year old to make the team in 2015

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This might be one of the worst trades I’ve ever seen…..give up quite possibly the Braves best pitcher for a guy that probably would not have started for the Yankees this upcoming season. Frank got himself in this position with his dumb moves last year…he gave deals to Lowe and KK that no one else would have because he panicked after the after 2008 season….then he tries to trade away Lowe and finds that everyone else is wiser than him and no one is going to take his mistake. Way to go Frank….you make one mistake and then make another to try and fix the ballclub.

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No wonder Bobby Cox wants to retire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No wonder Bobby Cox wants to retire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No wonder Bobby Cox wants to retire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No wonder Bobby Cox wants to retire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No wonder Bobby Cox wants to retire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No wonder Bobby Cox wants to retire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No wonder Bobby Cox wants to retire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No wonder Bobby Cox wants to retire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No wonder Bobby Cox wants to retire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Ouch. At least that’s what I feel when I look over this trade. Unless that prospect pitcher (Vizcaino, if I spelled it correctly) turns out to be a big future asset, this is an absolute steal for the Yankees on the scale that Scheurholz used to pull off during the early to mid-90s for the Braves. Cabrera is at best a stop-gap player; he is not the power-and-RBI type guy we need in that underwhelming outfield. My guess is that the Braves will use the remainder of what they would have paid Vasquez plus the $500,000 they got from the Yanks to go after a true starting outfielder, first baseman, or both. And I’m sure in the back of their heads they’re hoping Jason Heyward and possibly Mitch Jones will be able to step up and provide the needed pop (by the way, if Jones had hit 235 home runs in the minors, someone please tell me why he was still in Albuquerque after ten years? Is there something about his fielding or clubhouse presence that’s that bad?). But then again they might just fail to get the producer they are hoping for, just like they failed to find interest for Derek Lowe and his fat contract with suitors, and just like they failed to attract many potential contributors last offseason. If that turns out to be the case, we will all look back on this being one of those moves that would have been best left not made at all. Brett Butler and Brook Jacoby for Len Barker, anyone?

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It is kind of funny how our “top of the line” starter is going to be the #3 or #4 man in NY. You are all basing these absurd opinions on the fact that Vazquez had a good year last year without considering he HAS NEVER had 2 such seasons in a row in his career. Combined with the fact that he has a reputation for choking under pressure, he certainly is not worth $11 million. So this is a good deal. You are all mad because we didn’t get a 30HR guy out of it, which is beyond absurd. The Braves offense WAS NOT THAT BAD last year. We scored more runs than the Cardinals, and they won their division and 93 games. And if you think we aren’t going to upgrade even more, then it is no wonder you have these flagrantly idiotic opinions. WOW JUST WOW. Now we sign Roachy and hopefully Marlon Byrd and all of a sudden we are set. But I don’t expect any of you to understand that. Why don’t you go back to our 14 consecutive division titles and see how many times we scored more than 735 runs in a season during that stretch. We have the pitching and a solid lineup with few easy outs who will all work the count deep. This is a good baseball team that just got better. But yea, it is hard to understand all that so I am not surprised by the pissing and moaning here. Just know that the Yankees fans are as pieved about this as all of you, which means we must have gotten something decent here.

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I’m shocked with the trade…No, floored is more like it…Our best pitcher for an outfielder that hit 13 homers? Lame…Very lame….
Greg Norton may beat him out for the final roster spot….

Dawg Fan, you’re high…10-2 for UGA is a “pipe” dream allright. Maybe 8-4 or 7-5….

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I think Frank Wren must be secretly working for the Phillies

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Agreed, this is not a great move. Let’s face it, we signed Lowe to a deal he couldn’t pass up, and now we can’t get out of, without paying him to play elsewhere. Still, Vizcaino may be a nice piece in a couple of years.

http://timdix.blogspot.com/2009/12/odd-man-out-for-braves-not-lowe-as.html

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I have to tellyou the worst deal Atlanta made was to bring back CHIP CAREY. If u watch Bravos on TV u have to listen to this geek. ALL DAMN YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Worst signing ever.

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So let me get this straight Frank Wren traded 4 good prospects for a pitcher with a losing record and +4 ERA from the white sox………in return we trade a Cy Young possiblity for Melky Cabrera and a baseball to be named later.

What an idiot

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Jb— u are right sir.

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I could run on over to that OTHER blog where about a third of the people posting as well as the guy who hosts it are doing the typical Braves spin of “what a great deal we made.”

I ain’t buying that and thanks MARK for having the guts to call it!

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First Chip Carray and now Vasquez…………..what next………..new multi-year deal for Norton?
First Chip Carray and now Vasquez…………..what next………..new multi-year deal for Norton?

First Chip Carray and now Vasquez…………..what next………..new multi-year deal for Norton?

First Chip Carray and now Vasquez…………..what next………..new multi-year deal for Norton?

First Chip Carray and now Vasquez…………..what next………..new multi-year deal for Norton?

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Giambi and Dye. That’s a joke right?

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Shock! Total Shock! Think I will go back to the Yankees as a fan! Braves are a joke! Will never win anything again! Back to the 70’s and 80’s !

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wow, Frank Wren is taking the Braves back to the 80’s. Please bring back John Schuerholz

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First Chip Carray and now Vasquez…………..what next………..new multi-year deal for Norton?

First Chip Carray and now Vasquez…………..what next………..new multi-year deal for Norton?

First Chip Carray and now Vasquez…………..what next………..new multi-year deal for Norton?

First Chip Carray and now Vasquez…………..what next………..new multi-year deal for Norton?

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This would have been a good trade if it was lowe and not vazquez. Why wouldnt we eat any money from lowe. we could have eaten 12 million of the 45 left and we still save more money. Trading vasquez we clear 11.5 mill then with cabreas abritraion that goes down to about 9 million. So instead of clearing 33 million Wren decides to clear only 9. Wow what big bat we getting for 9 milllion. Vasquez was supposed to get us that not a overpriced fourth outfielder. Great job moron

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Greg Norton lol I would officially stop being a braves fan if they resign Norton.

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Come on guys, don’t beat me up too bad. I plan on bringing back Bob Horner and Dale Murphy. I wanted to make this a retro 80’s team..

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we have nate mcClouth matt diaz and melky cabrera,there will have to be a trade if you want bay , holliday jermaine dye. Matt Diaz has earned his everyday spot, melky will be a better center fielder than nate and nate will be good left fielder what bout jason heyward if he rakes in spring training?? i am just so confused!! If you were going to trade javier you could have at least got nick swisher would have been a little easier to swallow but melky you had to have one helluve brain fart!!! and i cant believe anyone else was on board or backing frank wren with this move.

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Gwinnett Braves > Atlanta Braves

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mark you fell to understand..this is business-ball…one pitcher cant be the team (its not as if he havent been injured), and you never know what can happen. his past performances doesnt ring as a top rated pitcher (how many teams have he been on). melky brings a outfield and extra bat who have been on that pressure platform. plus we need another outfield since schafer and the platoon brothers are the best we got (like nate though). for someone who gave mike woodson time, give wren some time and lets see. if i’m not misteaken we almost made the playoff last season. the only real problem i had was the treatment of glavine, he need to get glaive back in the team in some corporate position.

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I can’t believe we traded Javy V for Milkey. Makes me want to puke!!!! Will someone PLEASE buy the Braves from Liberty.

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Hey Norris.. why don’t we get rid of Escobar too.. that’d free up money also. Hey we keep only players that are paid under $1million.. that’d free up a lot of money.

Definition of solid outfielder– Avg player with limited talent and limited upside… oh boy Im so excited.. you mean like the outfielder (church) we just had that no one was interested in so we dumped him?

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This is the most ridiculous trade I have ever seen. Wren is a complete incompetent. And it is unfair Braves fans are saddled with him.

What was he thinking? Maybe he thought it was the other M. Cabrera???

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i am freaking out a little too, but before we crucify wren, remember that he got us Jurrjens for a washed-up Renteria, didn’t overpay to keep Smoltz, got us McClouth at a bargain, and he was the guy that brought us Vazquez in the first place.

let’s just see where the chips fall. patience is a virtue, supposedly

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A top pitcher for an blah outfielder who hit 13 home runs, and pitching prospects? Somebody ’splain this one to me! Vasquez was the Braves MVP last year, IMO–an absolute workhorse. This is the best that Wren can get for him–Melky “freaking” Cabrera?

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agreed Andy- it’ll be this time next year before we can tell who got the better end of the deal. Vasquez was great in the National League cause it was his first stint in the NL- he wasn’t so hot in the AL.

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pathetic artical mark. shoddy opinion. reactionary at best.

typical lawyer response when looking to create chaos to protect a guilty client.

didn’t even bother too capitalize to emphasize insignificance of this article.

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Opinion Ga tech was never a proud team.

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Frank Wren = Epic Fail – That was hilarious Mark, and yeah so much for watching baseball next year. What kind of idiots do we have over there that let Frank Wren do these stupid trades. Can’t wait to hear more talk about the Braves fans not supporting their team, cause we don’t want to watch a pathetic bunch of MLB players get killed everyday.

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All of baseball is the minor league system of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, didn’t you guys already know that. Major League baseball has become a joke. It is no longer worth watching unless they split the league into 2 divisions. 1)Yankees, Boston, Philly, and LA. 2) The rest of the teams in baseball. At least, that way only one of the four money teams (NYY, Boston, Philly, and LA) can win everything, every year. How would you like to be a fan of the KC Royals? Well, the Braves are quickly becoming the KC Royals of the East. No wonder Bobby is retiring. BASEBALL IS A JOKE!!!!!

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melky is only making 1.5 million. We just got rid of 11.5 million.
That is a lot of money guys!

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Bob- i cannot stand 790 the Zone, but it is what it is. just stating the facts and i highly doubt memorabilia sales and tv contracts make up for all the $$ paid to the players. What, you think FSS is paying top dollar for the Braves? Maybe you should be drinking the koolaid. It is us fans who pay their salaries. What do you think kept the 90s Braves around for so long??? We had a packed house every night and the best talent around. Logical right?

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Great deal! First, the Braves are shedding salary. This gives us room to spend on a bat. Second, the best part of this deal is Arodys Vizcaino. This guy is a beast. He was rated the Yankees #3 prospect. Go Braves!

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This will go down to one of those MLB network specials the ten worst trades of the decade of coarse you know who will be number 1 !!! Frank better have a plan with this move or i dont see him being back with the Braves. He will have to move out of state if this falls through,such a glorious franchise for along time until Frankenstien Wren! If he has a plan i dont see yet i will be the first to apologize for being short sighted I dont see anything on the horizon!!

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Reptard- read the fine print, you tell me what team is this city has a packed house win or lose?

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This trade makes no sense to me other than Frank Wren has bailed on the Braves for 2010. I for one will not visit the Ted this year. The only thing that this team needs is power– so Wren trades his best pitcher for a singles hitter?????? What a crock of crap. No wonder attendance keeps going down in Atlanta.

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I think we need to hold judgement until we see if this is a precurser to another BIG move or two

Now the Braves have about 10 million freed up

Maybe the Braves send a package of players to San Diego for Adrian Gonzales

Maybe they take that 10 million and give some of it to Laroche and use AND some more of it to Xavier Nady

Picking up LaRoche, and Nady OR Gonzales along with Cabrera is great so I am waiting to judge

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Habersham…the Yankees has traded away all their top prospects, so to be rated the 3rd best prospect for the Yankees is like being the 100 best prospect in the KC Royals farm system. The Yankees don’t need a farm system. They just steal everyone else’s best players. BASEBALL IS A JOKE AND NOT WORTH WATCHING ANY MORE!!!! PERIOD!!!! THE BRAVES ARE NOT THE KC ROYALS OF THE EAST!!!! WAY TO GO BRAVES!!!!

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Norris.. yeah who knows cabrera could win mvp this year..

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I think that this is a great trade, Mark. That is why you are a sports writer and not a GM.

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And in other news, the Falcons have just traded Brett Fay-vor to the Green Bay Packers for the 19th pick in the NFL draft.

Sigh.

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Talk about fail…consider the logic fail of every persons comment on this…including yours, Mark.

The trade was not Javy for Melky. The trade was Javy for Melky and a top 100 prospect and $9 Mil. A pithcer had to be traded, period. The Braves from office that includes Wren, Schuerholtz, etc. decided the great value was to trade Javy. I agree it’s a bog loss but the WARP between Lowe and Javy for 2010 is maybe a game. If we use the $9 Mil to pick up a bat that has a greater WARP that 1 game then the overal value works.

Most people on these posts love the Braves but are casual baseball fans and I believe Mark is too. For those of you who think we could have flipped some combination for AGon or someone of that level you are completely insane.

I say in 10 months that Lowe and Javy have similiar lines. 2011-2012 on Lowe will be a different story but that has nothing to do with Javy.

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REptillicide?? he was pretty good. OK. That is why the yankees didnt want to keep him the first time. That is why the white sox didnt want him anymore. He came to the national league to jump start his career. He did but it remains to be seen what he does from here.
We have needs on our team and by freeing up the money we can do something.
Now if we dont do anything then yeah your right it was a dumb move…

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The way I see it, this may just mean that Adam LaRoche will return to the Braves. Thank God. We finally have the money to bring back Roachy.

I can see it now…

An outfield of McLouth, The Melk-man, and Diaz (until Heyward is ready)…

An infield of Chipper (Thurston P. Howell III when Chipper’s hurt), Yunel, Prado, and Roachy…

Mac at catcher…

Folks, this is a World Series-caliber offense. Stop hating.

(Am I being facetious? I don’t know, but I just ate ten tacos and my stomach’s a-rumblin’.)

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I agree with Bob LaBlah (you were great in Joanie Loves Chachi, by the way).

If the whole point is to free up money AND win, simply giving up Lowe to a taker willing to pick up his salary would work. You could keep Vazquez, lose the big Lowe contract and spend it elsewhere, and your overall team is better. Eliminate the middle man with all of these prospects that seem to ruin the deals. So simple, yet somehow too radical for anyone in MLB to take seriously.

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I am done with keeping up with the Braves until someone with competence is hired to replace the bumbling Frank Wren….I mean, are you serious? Vazquez for Cabrera? Really? I wouldn’t have traded our worst starter for him. Much less our best one. I really wonder how a trade like this can be justified, even in Frank Wren’s mind.

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Think about this, Norris:

Vazquez was coming off a career-best year, and all we got for him was Melky Cabrera and a pitching prospect who probably will never make our roster. Even if you don’t mind that Vazquez got traded (which is insane) you still can’t ignore the fact that Frank Wren practically gave away our Ace with a bow on his head.

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Mark,

Did I use the words ‘to’ and ‘too’ correctly while insulting you?

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SOUNDS LIKE WREN’S MIND HAS FLOWN THE NEST!

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What the F@#k is wrong with Wren, what an idiot….Javier gone for Cabrera…I Don’t think this Team will ever be in the playoffs again, I hope I’m wrong buy I doubt it. Especially with Liberty Media as Owners and Wren as GM. I think were doomed.

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that would be my 1:12 post

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I guess I’ll join the ID 10 T group by adding in that even with Vasquez this year we were only a third place team. On paper, this appears to slant towards the Yanks AT THIS TIME. But we don’t play the game on paper. According to most (at least on this blog) Wren should be fired, hung, or castrated…but he did bring a respectable team back to ATL this year so let’s see what he can do with the money he saved. All must remember: God loves idiots, he made soooo many of us.

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Ugh, this disgusts me. It really does. I’ve been checking the Braves feeds 4 times a day for a month now waiting for us to make a move. Here’s a summery of this off season to this point…

1. We signed Wagner (38) & Saito (39) to replace Gonzalez (31) and Soriano (30)
2. Gave Soriano away for Jesse Chavez when he accepted arb
3. Continued our new tradition of poor player/management relations with LaRoche who we might still sign
4. Painted ourselves into a corner by tipping our hand and are now stuck with the newly disgruntled Lowe who has now been portrayed as a complainer/team cancer/jerk… guessing now it’ll go back to work horse/bounce back year
5. Traded our best pitcher from last year for… Melky Cabrera… WHAT THE EF YOU SEE KAY

We got prospects? Awesome. Lets trade Chipper and Hudson for some too well you’re at it.

This organization is falling apart. We’ve got overachievers in Prado and Infante who will undoubtedly jump ship for a pay day we’ll never provide. Yunel is a black sheep who will also cash in else where I’d assume. A .260 average leadoff hitter. McCann, our “star” seems to have hit some sort of ceiling. Ugh.

I’m being dire, but this was a horrible trade. Is this really all we could get for a pitcher who received Cy Young votes?

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Goal last season: build pitching staff….Goal this season: destroy pitching staff

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I see thsi coming FROM A MILE AWAY!!!! Liberty is goin to tell Frank we have to trade Cabreara for a couple of minor league guys……. I so see the them telling we have to cut more money and tell Frank we got what we got!! They take the money we saved and keep it for them….. Line up for 2010:
1. Nate
2. Melkey
3. Chipper ( Way Overated/ Sorry Guys!!!)
4. Mac
5. Schafer
6. Ecabar
7. Prado
8. Freeman ( just cause its his first year)
9. Pitcher ( Here is out power hitter)

I hate to be negative but we as ATL fans do need to get out and support our guys, but when managment puts us in GREY areas like this, its hard to get excited!!! My next question is what do Wagner and Saito thank about this?

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Maybe trading Vazquez frees up funds for Rochy…??? Does this lineup give us any more runs/wins than last year?

1. Prado – 2B
2. Escobar – SS
3. Jones – 3B
4. McCann – C
5. LaRoche – 1B
6. Cabrera – RF
7. Diaz – LF
8. McLouth – CF
9. Pitcher

McLouth hated leading off, but can you really push him down to 8th? Can Melky protect LaRoche better than Diaz? Doesn’t this lineup add up to about 120-150 homeruns max? Is Frank Wren asking any of these questions?

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Charlston Brave if they would have traded Lowe they would have signed Javier to an extension and it has alot to do with Lowe you dont hear bout any other players being traded complaining bout trade rumors like Lowe this tells me one or two things he will have a chip on his shoulder this up coming year or he will say something else to force the braves to trade him because he cant leave his feelings at home so to speak this is a business and Frank Wren sucks at it!!!!!

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Charleston,

Thank you for displaying a little common sense out the hundreds of ignoramuses posting on here…. People, do you really think Frank Wren is that inept? This is a precursor to another trade, or just a salary dump to sign Jason Bay. We had an excess of pitching so we moved the only player we could, and we still have one of the top 3 pitching staffs in the NL….

Wren is immeasurably smarter than you mouth-breathers, which still isn’t saying much…

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We were never looking for a big bat in a lowe or vazquez trade. The main reason we did this trade is the solid prospects. We got a future back of the bullpen lefty and a future top of the rotation pitcher. Considering the excess of pitching we have, the prospects we got, and the payroll we cleared in order to add a big bat this is not a bad trade at all. I wish we could have traded lowe or gotten a better big league outfielder in return but this trade needed to be done soon so the braves can get on with their offseason. Now as long as we don’t trade away two future all stars for a big hitting first baseman a la the teixeira I think it will have been an okay offseason for wren.

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word is that possibly trading outfielder for Uggla

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Ray,
When that trade is not made or that big signing is off the market. You need to write on the blackboard 500 times. Frank Wren is an idiot !!!!

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Braves are still saying Holliday and Bay too ’spensive. looking at Marlon Byrd, Nady, OR bringing back Laroche. Cabrera has played 4 years. He is a career .269 hitter. He has TOTALLED 36 HR, 228 RBI and 44 SB. This trade is MUCH worse than the Millwood-Estrada trade and that trade was forced on us because Maddux accepted arbitration. Even if we pick up either Nady or Byrd…is that the BEST we could get for Javy??????????

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bvillebaron

I think everyone realizes there are pluses to the trade. Signing Javy to an extension was probably a pipe dream, but it feels like Wren painted himself into this corner of having to essentially dump Vazquez for players we can use in 2 years. It feels like this organization is playing for 2012. If that’s the plan, then fine. We’re just all venting lol If we wanna play for the future then lets be bold about it. Trade McLouth for a 3B prospect.

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Frank Wren is turning us into the Baltimore Orioles! WTF!!!

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The Braves–as a have-not–do not need prospects, they need NOWS!! All we can hope is Wren has a deal working that can package the prospects and someone we can SPARE for a big popper.

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Ray Pugh you’re right. You’re the biggest idiot in Atlanta. “mouth-breathers”? wtf

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????,

That didn’t even make sense–go back to kindergarten, right around the day you learn to tie your shoes, and just start over…

Freddy,

Holliday probably, but we’re very much in the running for Bay: his asking price will go down because he has no suitors other than the Mets, who he obviously doesn’t want to play for. And yes, $15-16 mil a year is a lot to spend on a player like Bay, but he is worth it to us given our desperate need of right-handed pop in the middle of the order…

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If we are tradin for Ugglie then Matt Diaz better get in shape with P90X all over again. Gonna be doin alota back up work.

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have not been a faithful baseball fan over the last few years since TBS shafted the Braves but this strikes me as an extremely poor move by the Braves

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For Wren’s sake, I hope Cashman used Vasoline.

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This is like selling a $500,000. home for $20,000. I’m sure the world champion Yankees are celebrating and laughing their arse off. If I was any of the other GM’s out there, I would be ringing Wren’s phone off the hook. Who knows, next he might trade Brian McCann for Javy Estrada or Johnny Lopez.

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I bet fans in Baltimore are amused.

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“Frank Wren = Epic Fail”

Some of us have been saying that for a long, LONG time. The pitcher who was fourth in National League Cy Young voting for 2009 has been traded, essentially, for an outfielder who likely isn’t even as good as Nate McLouth was.

What makes it even worse is that it took this deal to get some people to realize what Wren is indeed a failure. The pitching staff in 2009 was nice, but it was a one-year arrangement. Too many arms and too much money potentially tied up to continue to 2010.

Then, Wren gets rid of Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez – replacing them with aging Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito. That was a big step DOWN at both spots.

Thanks for the Christmas present, Frank. Personally, I would rather have gotten a stocking full of coal.

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Great trade for both teams!! If you think Wren is done dealing yet then you have no clue!! This trade opens the door for your “big Bopper”. Not too mention when they had one of the best “big boppers”(Tex) they still couldnt win, Im a hugh Brave’s fan and live in NY. TO me this makes more sence then trading D Lowe for Juan Rivera! Think about it, who has a “big bopper” to get rid of? Because thats what would happen if they traded with Atl who already said they are not willing to deal any of the young studs !!!! They would get nothing but a Lowe or Vasques whom wich are both owed over 10 mill. No one wanted their salaries for one of their great hitters .Who would? Braves fans just be patient and Wren will wow you again just like he did to get Vasques last year. Has anyone heard from Tyler Flowers? Nope ..

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Is wondering what free agent big hitter is out there for us to sign at 8-9 million. I keep hearing bay or holliday but there both looking for at 15 million a year so where do we make up the additional 6-7 million to sign theses guys?

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Why Frank?! All I want for Christmas is for Frank Wren to be fired!

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I watched the show ‘Pawn Stars’ on History Channel last night. FW reminds me of a loser who went into the Pawn Shop wanting $3,000 for his appraised old coins, but when offered $100 he says OK.

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This only makes sense if they use the $ they saved to ink a deal with Laroche for 2+ years. Then essenitaly you are teading Vasquez for an everyday 1B with pop in his bat, a servicable outfielder and a nice minor league arm. If they can pull that off…

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Frank..WTF WERE YOU THINKING IF YOU ACTUALLY WERE? WE ARE NO BETTER TODAY THAN WE WERE YESTERDAY!!

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WTH, you let Ryan Church go and trade the one of your top 2 pitchers for his replacement. McClouth is better, Diaz is better. With a .280 something BA you better be hitting homers, but no only about a dozen and most of those were in the match box the Yankees play in. In to the wrong kind of holiday spirits Frank.

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Nice gut reaction Mark. How about looking at the big picture? We are now open for business to get a big bat. More important than an inconsistant preformer that happen to have a career year last year.

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Any chance that liberty media cut payroll?

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BAD move unless it results in a trade.

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Hea, keep me out of this. I never knew there where that many Braves fansthat cared based on the attendance after I arrived. Maybe I can sign with Gwinett.

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Frank Wren….someone should smack the taste out of your mouth.

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Amen…Unless the power-that be of the Braves are using this Melky fiasko as some other pawn for an even bigger trade no-doubt this trade will go down as one of the worst trades of we all know a many-a-bad-trade over the years for the Bravos. First all:Melky as a Brave is basically trading the 2009 left fielder Garet Anderson’s 13 big flies for the 13 big boppers of Melky 9not to mention Melky got his power in a field where most hitters virtually hit much more power playing 1/2 their home games in the new Yankee Stadium than most ballparks. Secondly to trade a picture with 15 wins should bring a hitter with 30-;plus homer power to say the least!

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I agree Mark , awful trade!!!!!! Another outfielder who cant hit for your best pitcher ????????????

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i get it i hate the yankees too but melky was the most clutch hitter for a team that lead the league in comeback wins, i sure wish we had him hitting 7-8 spot sometimes last year instead of watching kotchman whiff, and he’d be a good off the bench bat, hes young and has nothing but upside

hudson should probably be done in 3 years, about the same time this vizciano kid should be ready… or he makes great trade bait

vasquez won’t have back to back good seasons, especially in new york, and lowe will probably win 13-16 games again next year, considering the amount of money we’d have to eat of his contract we probably saved more moving vasquez

the braves have about what they need to sign bay and obviously wren has no problem giving a guy the extra year he wants just to beat the competition

but what i want to see if them sign orlando hudson to lead off and move prado to first then sign thome and tell roche to take his ten mil per and sarcastic delusions of hitting .400 and walk to what ever team he chooses (bet he tops out at 7.5mil per again)

if the angles and rays prove anything speed and clutch hitting can win games too, we could won 3-4 more games last year if anderson didn’t move like cement in the outfield

not the sexist move but i think it’ll work

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BAD BAD BAD. Wren is a FREAKIN IDIOT!!What an ASS.

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btw… gonzo = not gonna happen

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All I can say is this is a HORRIBLE trade! Wren needs to be fired! He only weakened the team by this stupid move.

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B-Ville Barron i hope you are right sir!!!

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Let me also ask, Is Matt Diaz an everyday outfielder? I dont think he is. Because he hasnt done it yet. Yes the man can hit leftys like no tomorrow but that does no good in the outfield where he isnt even avg. By May youll see Heyward in left McClouth in center and Melky in right. To me thats one hell of a young talented outfield. Now they only have to fill 1st base. (Uggla is a big option) slide Prado to 1st base and theres your big boppers. Or take the saved 9.5 million and go get a Dye or someone. Soo please stop calling Wren stupid names and wait …

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Hard to be a BIGGER BOOB than Bobby Cox, but Frank Wren has out-done the senile manager.
A prototype generic stiff, what the hell do you need Melky? There are at least 10 better outfielders availiable. Why don’t you just give class pitchers away? Free…Soriano to Seattle for a never-was. never-will-be….Now Vasquez for a bum, totally overrated because he was a Yankee….
Remember when Braves’ players were vaastly over-valued back in the 14-title-streak? Same exact thing here with Melky….
Congrats Wren…really thought you knew better than Cox….now that’s a parlay of waste…..

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Mark,
I had heard of Melky but never really payed attention to his body of work so I looked him up on You Tube and saw him and all of his glory chewing on some nuts w/a porn star,maybe Wren should have seen him w/his shirt off before making the trade.I also saw where he hit 13 HR’S last season I figure the bat must have been corked.SORRY A$$ TRADE.

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I defended Wren and liked the moves he has made until this one. Thanks for ruining my Christmas. Why?????????????? This is a joke. Reminds me of the feeling I had about the Brett Butler / Jacoby for Barker trade. Wow.

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Well fans, the so-called sports reporters have failed to mention that the Braves also picked up a multi-year option for use of the Pontiac Silverdome in the deal. I have just about completed the dismantling of the starting rotation and will now turn my attention to the farm system. I am working on a deal to send five of our top prospects for a power hitting, gold glove center fielder with the ChiSox. Can you imagine AJ and Melky in the outfield together with Lowe and Kawakami on the hill and Norton on the bench for late inning heroitics. After painting that picture, I hope you can appreciate why the Silverdome option is so crucila to the deal.

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Does spring training start tomorrow?? NOPE soo stop crying about the trade and wait to see what they have when pitchers and catchers report !!!!!!

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I know some of you may not like Frank Wren but look at the good move he did make he signed Derek Lowe instead of Jake Peavy who is injury prone.

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UMMM his #s are almost the same as Diaz !!! Who cant field !! and Melky is a switch hitter !!

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You guys let up. Frank Wren is a genius. He brought me back for another year. Need I say more??

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Why did Francour stay soo long ?? Cuz he had a gunn .. and gold glove! Give Melky a full season in the Braves big park and bet on him winning one !!

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I meant letting Yankees HAVE Javy.

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The Yankees raped the Braves with this move. This has to be one of the dumbest trades in the history or the Braves and baseball. Frank Wren should be fired for this.

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Sorry…Melky’s below average offense won’t allow his glove to be in the lineup enough to win a Gold Glove.

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I HATE IT!. Those are the same numbers we had in left field last year. What happened to getting a big bat. 13 homers are you kidding me. 278 ave! We have a roster full of people who can hit 13 homers. F@cking stupid!

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…..at least Len Barker threw a perfect game.

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5th place here we come.
I guarantee by All-Star break, one starter will be on the IR and one will be tanking badly and Wren & Bobby will be thinking, “wow, we sure could use another starter right about now.”

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Cry cry cry but did you all like the fact that they couldnt keep him past next year considering all the money they have invested in the rotation already. PLUS where is the money going to come from to sign their two best pitcher(Hanson, Jurjens)????

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Frank has lost his mind, where do we go from here,I wish he would look out for the team and fans the way he is looking out for Liberty Mutual.

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terrible move

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jason vivian…enlighten us on when we will have to re-up Hanson and Jair. I would’ve rather kept Javy for one more year, let him walk as a FA and get 2 draft picks than have Melky269Cabrera. I would rather trade Lowe and eat some of his salary than have Melky269Cabrera

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Vazquez for Melky = bad move

Vazquez and Logan for Melky, Dunn and Viscaino = Brilliant move

It sounds like most of you would have rather kept JV for another year and then not get anything for him.

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BravesfaninWis, how could you possibly fire him before the season starts? What evidence do you have that the team isn’t better before they’ve even played a game? What if Cabrera hits .340? What if Javier Vazquez blows out his arm in spring training? What if he trades for Adrian Gonzalez? What if Lowe goes 18-7?

Not saying any of that will happen, but you have to see how it plays out.

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Braves fans say hello to “The Melk Man”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOhvagw9O9Q

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It is time to take the keys away from Frank Wren. This guy has put together the worst deal in MLB for 2 years running. First, he signs Lowe. Then he keeps him. This is the worst of the worst.

If you are Braves management, don’t expect me or any one of about 1 million of my closest friends who are now convinced beyond all doubt that you have no desire to put the best possible team or effort out on the field..

As for Wren, you can only hope to have good contacts with other loser GM’s who will hire you as a charity case. For your own safety, please take your family, your dog, your functioning organs that you have left, and LEAVE!!!!! Do this before the eggs start to rain upon your little private booth above the debacle you have wrought!

Whisky, Tango, Foxtrot !!!!!

Frank Wren must be fired today, if not sooner. He should not be given a salary. He should be given a red kettle and a bell and put out in front of the stadium. What a complete idiot!!!!

Mark, is it possible to ask that we make a prisoner exchange and use Wren as the guy we want to give away???? If i didn’t know any better, I’d say Wren is campaigning for a run at Congress, or being the most hated man in the South, take your pick. How else can you explain this? You can’t make money unless you spend money.

WREN MUST GO NOW!!!!!!

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yes bubbly…I would’ve rather have the draft picks. I’ve seen too many overhyped Yankees prospects over the years not pan out.

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mark bradley…shut up. you have no idea what you’re talking, or writing about. as usual you bash the hell out of everything the braves do without considering any possible upside, not to mention the fact that the off-season is far from complete, and believe it or not, Frank Wren might actually intend to make another move or two. Wren may actually know more about the game and business than you do, Mark.

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once a bum always a bum

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i agree with brian…let’s give frank wren some time to see what else he is able to get with this 8 extra million bucks…do we have the money to try to sign bay??? 8 million from javy, plus…about 3 from rochey…plus…can we afford to offer a 5 year deal worth 75 million?

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bubbly

Don’t you realize are chances of resigning Javy to a long-term extension was actually likely on both sides. Javy would have taken a hometown discount to stay in ATL.

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I agree with everyone this is bad trade for me too! I leave the Yankees and World Champions for maybe 3rd best team in the NL East? I do not hit for high average and I am not big homerun hitter like A-Rod. I will be goof ball on the field and Bobby Cox will not like me. I will probably become best friends with Yunel since he makes fun on field too! Oh well I think at end of year I will make Boras my Agent and then I can get a candy bar deal!!!!

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Tards: it is equally unlikely that Vazquez repeats his uncharacteristically stellar 2009 as it is Lowe will repeat his uncharacteristically mediocre 2009. Next season, they will very likely be of equal value, and even thought Lowe makes more, we couldn’t move him so it’s a moot point… when we’re neck-and-neck w/ the Phils next season in August, all you fairweather fans will be calling him the best GM in the game…

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LOVE IT Ray Pugh ..Couldnt have said it better !!

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So Mark, you would rather have Vazquez over Hansen and Jair? Really? You’d take him over Hudson, too? Sure about that?

You said we traded our “best pitcher” away, but frankly I wouldn’t take him over any of the three I just listed.

He was OUTSTANDING last year. It was his best year ever. Why would anyone think he will repeat the same level of success in 2010? He might be even better but logic tells you he will regress a bit and that Lowe will improve, making them comparable pitchers. I’d take either as my #4 SP in a heartbeat going into 2010.

Clearly the Braves need to flip some prospects (and an OF like Schafer, Diaz, McClouth or Melky) including perhaps the best player they got in THIS trade to get a big bat and I hope it’s Adrian Gonzalez.

If this move is made with no secondary purpose, then I would agree it’s awful but you have to let the man play his hand before you can judge the success of the trade.

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Wow, Frank freaking Wren. not cool. Trade our best pitcher to the gayest team for a guy name Melky? What the heck is wrong with you? YOU SHOULD HAVE TRADED DEREK LOWE! Even if you traded Dan Kolb for him, but Javy? This pisses me off, I really despise my teams general manager and if we suck next year, we deserve to suck. How about we trade Frank Wren for someone who does what the heck there doing up there.

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Last Boy Scout and others:

Some of your comments are amazing. Do yourselves a favor and check out Vazquez’ career numbers and you will see that he had a CAREER year last year. You all are also apparently ignoring the fact that he becomes a free agent after this year and there was no guarantee that the Braves could sign him to an extension. I said it earlier and I will repeat it again, Vazquez NEVER WAS AND NEVER WILL BE AS GOOD AS TIM HUDSON who the Braves have for 3 more years at almost $3 million less per year (I also prefer Jurrjens and Hanson over Vazquez, particularly considering the age diferentials).

All of you are right, Melky does not get me all warm and fuzzy, but by most accounts Vizcaino is supposed to be a high end prospect (despite how much some of you all love Vazquez, the fact is the Braves have a 5 not 6 man rotation and I will take Hudson, Jurrjens, Hanson, Lowe and Kawakami over Halladay, Hamels, Happ, Blanton and Moyer (?) any day) and Dunn is deemed by my co-worker die-hard Yankee fan as someone who throw in the upper 90s and could be a good (left-handed set up man) if he gets more control (may happen since he is a converted OF).

As I also said earlier and some (only a few) have also pointed out, let’s evaluate this trade after all of Wren’s offseason moves have been made.

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The Barker trade is an interesting comparison.

A decent, aging starter for a young speedy outfielder (Butler) and two prospects (Jacoby and Behenna). I bet the Indians fans were all bent out of shape about giving up their stud for “nothing” (Granted – Barker did not have a career year in 83 like Javy did in 09).

I think most on here are missing the point. We’re getting a decent player (Cabrera) a great prosspect (Vizcaino). We also have the financial flexibility to make a run at Jason Bay or any number of infield players, including Uggla and DeRo.

I think Wren is playing pretty well with the cards he’s holding.

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Why don’t we get rid of Escobar while we’re at it, dipshlts.

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i know how to cirumvent the mute on those teleconferences. lets all get on there an harass em..

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SOOO UNKNOWN he was part of the Roy Halliday trade …

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Wren and Cox, the two biggest BUFFOONS in the history of baseball. 2010 is going to be worse than I originally predicted.

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Whos coming off the books soon??? Chipper three years 14mill … Hudson three year Lowe three years thaMcClouth three years .. McCann two plus .. Come on if you dont have a clue find another team !!

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Mark- when you go to the teleconference, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. He is the Great and All-Powerful Wren! Please call this inept comedian out for the fool he really is. If he only had a heart, a brain, and courage. At least he has a dog!!!! And it has fleas! and it has a name called MUTT!!! And we can only hope that the house called Turner Field falls on him!!!!

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Re”donk”ulous! What is Frank Wren thinking about? No wonder Bobby Cox is leaving after this year! Even Cox sees the writing on the WALL! I REFUSE to believe this was the BEST trade the Braves could find for Javy! On top of that, if you go and read the Atlantabraves.com website they make it sould like they just made the trade that will clinch the NL East! Give me a BREAK!

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Everybody calm down, calm down. Wait for the verdict until we see part 2 of this deal… There will be a part 2, right?

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OK vivian..what are his MLB numbers? Donnie Elliot was part of the Fred McGrigg trade. How good were Donnie Elliot’s MLB numbers? donnie Elliot was an UNKNOWN just as Vizcaino. I hope Viz turns out to be a stud, but if he’s the centerpiece of the Javy Vazquez trade…that’s not good.

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Do you all think they are going to spring training with the team the way it is?? NOPE … Cox was soo bad last year he won 86 games ….LOL you people are funny !!!

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McGriff

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Mark do you get to ask questions? If so can you ask why he non tendered Church yet traded for Melky? Check Baba O’reilly’s stats!

Baba O’Riley

December 22nd, 2009
1:54 pm
Melky Cabrera’s stats last 4 years 563games/269avg/36HR/228 RBI
Ryan Church’s last 4 years 416games/274 avg/41HR/194RBI

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Let’s give Wren a break and assume that there is another shoe to fall.

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Two years ago I read in one of the blogs how great it was to get Tex for a handful of prospects that might not pan out. Tex did not bring us a World Series, let alone get us into the playoffs. He now plays for the Yanks and we can only read about those now playing in Texas. I loved Javy, but he only had value now and even with him next year does anyone think we would have made the playoffs with so little money to spend? I am concerned about the trade, but will look to see how the rest of it plays out. (P.S. I remember last year the signing of Lowe made a lot of people happy because at least Wren was doing SOMETHING. Give him a chance to make all of us IDIOTS smile before you castrate him).

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Vazquez is avg pitcher who had a good year last year, I se last year as more of fluke then norm for him, career W 142 L 139 with a 4.02 ERA does not make a great pitcher. I’ll take Lowe over him next year. So would Yankee fans.

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And I’m sure Cox had no input on this deal, right Bradley? You will defend Cox to your last dying breath of air.

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I’ve got a solution: Lets get rid of Escobar, apply for a bailout, buy the NY Yankees….then let the governments health-care take care of us in the insane asylum.

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The verdict is still out on this deal. It’s shortsighted to see this as Vasquez for Cabrera. More like Vasquez for Cabrera and $9 million dollars. $9 million can still buy a good hitter these days. I’d be speaking to the Nationals about Adam Dunn ($8 million)and putting him at first base. I hate to lose Vasquez, but we’ve got pitching and need offense.

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how do you compare outfield stats??? Because Turner field is BIG …soo really Melky fits the Braves very well.. YES they did give up their best pitcher. But saying that I believe that he would have got rocked this year. He sneaked up on the NL east cuz it was his first year .. Next year with all the scouting reports on him theres no way a flyball HR pitcher shuts down the NL east again … Give me Lowe …He won the same amount of games did he not????

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Disgusting. I’ve been checking the baseball news several times a day, sure I’d see something worth getting excited about for the Braves. Today I see this. I’m not a baseball GM, but I have no clue what is going on inside Frank Wren’s pea-sized brain. I have watched him trade away talent and continue to make the Braves nothing more than a side-note in baseball news since taking over.
Frank Wren is an idiot and I “boo” this move by the team. Now will someone get LaRoche on the phone and at least offer him a 1 yr deal, please?

At least we’ve got Chip Caray back. (smothered in sarcasm…)

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Wren has earned the benefit of the doubt here. He has made some good moves, see what happens first before its lambasted…

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Jason,

Most of these people are the type that watch a few games a year and maybe make it to one–they’re not intimately familiar w/ the team, much less the fact that Frank Wren is one of the better GMs in baseball…

Mel,

He’ll make idiots out of most of the people on here, but not out of me…

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Signing LaRoche would be a smart move. Therefore Wren WON’T do that. However, the idiot will let him sign with another team and then decide to trade for him in mid-season like he did before. Wren is bumbling fool.

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vivian- Are you saying Lowe and Javy were comparable last year because of WINS TOTALS? Wins credited to a pitcher is the most misleading stat in baseball. Where did Lowe finish in the Cy Young race? What was Lowe’s run support compared to Javy’s? Strikeouts? “He sneaked up on the NL because that was his first year”. Are you serious? He played for Montreal and Arizona.

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None of you are GM’s None of you have a clue …Maybe some… But all of you will be voting Wren GM of the year after this year. ONE pitcher doesnt change the outcome of a season !!!! what were you all hoping for ?? Lowe,Vasques for a 30+ homer guy BE MORE REALISTIC !!!! Dont you think it would have happend sooner.. They had to wait for the pitching market to get antsy soo they could get something near what they want.

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MB,

Another good one by Wren, you trade the best pitcher on the staff for a player the Yankees wanted to unload. A guy with a bad attitude that has skills similar to Nate McLouth (but not as good). You could have signed Vasquez to 3 year deal instead of your buddy Hudson, when clearly Vasquez has a brighter future over the next 3 years. One of the top pitchers in the league last year and all you get Milkey. The Yankees would have released him in a couple of weeks and you could have picked him up. What happened to the power hitter you wanted? Wren your way over your head.

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Ray Pugh @ 2:50. “Frank Wren is one of the better GM’s in baseball”. bwahahahahaha

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Jason Vivian
aka
Mrs. Frank Wren

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find a new team then JB

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Vasquez, best Brave gone, Joe Johnson, best Hawk soon to be gone, Kovy, best Thrasher soon to be gone. The fans of Atlanta do not deserve this treatment by the management of these teams.

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plus were talking baseball …not some dumb ass’s thinking they funny

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Do your homework Bradley. This wasn’t about Melky straight up for Vazquez. The Braves picked up a top-tier pitching prospect in Vizcaino, Dunn is an upgrade over Logan, and they cleared about $8-10 million in payroll. If this was all the moves Wren planned on making, I’d say go ahead and toss your shoe at yonder wall. But put the shoe back on, another move is coming to improve the offense. This was merely a move to clear payroll, and in my opinion they got a some pretty decent value in return. I personally think this is one of those deals no one will appreciate until a year or so later when Vazquez returns to his career norms of being a .500 pitcher with a 4.00+ ERA.

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screw you all. you think I wanna come to atlanta? geeze, the way y’all talk its as if you’d think the braves are any good. you’re lucky I even agreed to come down and play in that half empty silent stadium with a bunch of fake fan, fancy wanna bees not even paying attention to the game….i was hoping to be traded to DC, at least in not a thousand degress in the summer there.

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The truth is that this trade is incomplete until we know what player (or players) the Braves get with the $10 mill that they saved.
If they sign Marlon Byrd, Jermain Dye, or Adam LaRoche with that money then the move the trade would look much better.

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asta la vista beeeches!! hahhaaaa…

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This is a flat out give away. Wren has zero patience and seems to pull the trigger out of desperation. If this was a money move then I’m done and will not go to any games this year. On second thought I am not going to any games no matter what the reason. They flat out just gave Soriano and Vazquez away for nothing of any quality in return. Add this with the Texeria trade and he’s flat out running this team in the ground. How soon before he trades Hanson for another utility player? Can’t have too many of those. Oh wait that’s completely wrong, you can’t have to much pitching.

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Reasonable trade. Don’t consider Vasquez more than a one-hit wonder. Remember Guillen in Chicago gave up on him and NY fans aren’t thrilled to have him back either since he wasn’t lights-out his first time there. I much prefer this over giving Lowe away for nothing AND paying part of his salary. Maybe I need to start writing articles here…..selah. Pepe Frias and Claudell Washington agree with me, too.

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Mark ….. uhmm clearly you couldn’t be more wrong. Seriously, you’re not even close to being right on this one. Your opinion is flawed! I normally don’t take issue with your posts. I had to on this one.
Here’s why, this wasn’t a Melky Cabrera for Javier Vasquez trade so much as it was a Javier Vasquez for Mark Derosa, or Xavier Nady trade. We had six starters and in this day and age of coveted draft picks we were not going to get much for Derek (my contracts too much) Lowe, or Kenshin (I only pitch well against Cy young award winners) Kawakami. We made the best deal possible. We got a decent outfielder with decent power who we will control until 2012. We cleared room to sign Dero, or Nady or some other stop gap big bopper until Jason and Freddie (We go big fly) get here. We made the best deal we could in the timeframe we were given. Get on our page why dont ya!!!!!! Geez!!!!!!!

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New Flash !
No one wanted D. Lowe’s salary.

What the point of trading him if the only condition is we still pay 1/2 his salary.

News Flash #2
Right handed power pitchers struggle in Yankee Stadium due it being 312′ down the foul lines.
All of those flyballs at Turner field will be homeruns at New Yankee Stadium. A ground ball pitcher, like D. Lowe and his sinker, may have been a better fit there.

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can i listen to the wren press conference anywhere online now?

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MARK YOU ARE RIGHT THE HAWK WILL MAKE THE EASTERN CON FINALS BUT I DON>T KNOW WHO THEY WILL BE PLAYING

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MB – you are one negative SOB. He was unable to get rid of Lowe, which actually may be a good thing in the long run. What did you expect to get for Javy? He was great for us, but has never had 2 good years back to back, and is a free agent in 2011. He will never be worth more on the market than he is now, and his history is that he will have a down year in 2010.
Why don’t you at least let Wren play all of his cards before you jump all over him. By the way, he knows a lot more than you or us fans about what the available options were for the Braves when he made this decission.

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Career stats
Javy ERA 4.19 WHIP 1.245
Lowe ERA 3.84 WHIP 1.291

Don’t give up on Lowe so fast. Javy had a career year last year. Don’t assume he will have another one this year. Lowe had a career bad second half. Don’t assume he will have another one either.

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The “BIG BAT” this DUMP should get us is not that big of a bat. It’s essentially trading Javy for a Marlon Byrd type.

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Scoots..

Worst trade ever? Easy!

Dominique Wilkins to for Danny Manning.

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Worse trade the braves ever made but it didn’t surprise me one bit, a complet rerun of last year but I for one won’t be watching until the braves get serious about winning and that won’t be until Cox and Wren are GONE-GONE-GONE-GONE.

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is this on online anywhere?

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Let’s see…we should have gotten Tex from the Yanks. Oh yeah we had him and didn’t win and he only won with the Yanks when they spent a Ka-Gillion dollars. Millwood? Philly didn’t win with him and neither did Texas. Sometimes trades do not pan out right away (think Smoltz). Speaking of Smoltz, earlier this year most were blasting Wren for not signing him and Glavine. He was smart enough not to sign either, Smoltz a bust in Boston and I didn’t see teams breaking down Glavine’s door to sign him. The ball may be in the prosecutor’s court and I too don’t foresee the Mets laughing at anyone, but one is innocent until proven guilty. I want to see the rest of Wren’s plan before I help burn him at the steak.

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AJC writers probably killed the Braves for trading Doyle Alexander for some kid named John Smoltz, too!?!

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So lets see about this Wren fella:

1. Trades Texiera away and we have nothing left to speak of.

2. Trades Francouer away and we have nothing left to speak of.

3. Essentially swaps 2 good young bullpen arms in Soriano and Gonzalez for a 2 washed up relievers in Wagner & Saito and a prospect in a cost cutting move. Problem is we could have kept either Gonzalez or Soriano for the same money we paid to Wagner and used Moylan to set up.

4. Commits a ton of money to Lowe, Kawakami and Vasquez in the same offseason a year ago. Struck gold in Vasquez and struck out with Lowe and Kawkami. Can’t sit tight and totally blows whatever leverage he had with his pitching riches and ships Vazquez for a fourth outfielder and a young arm we may never see (Logan/Dunn part is probably a wash).

5. Now we are stuck with Lowe who who we owe 15M for the next three years and who is pissed at the team for giving up on him after 1 season. We are also stuck with Kawakami who is grossly overpaid and who no one will take.

6. Still missing a power hitter that we needed and worse yet we have less ammo and less $$$ now to go after that hitter.

How is this team better? Why would Bobby come back for one more year of this?

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What if Viscaino is the next Mariano Rivera?

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JB: the organization knows more than you, that’s for sure…

Bradley: Prior to the Vazquez deal, we had around $87 million committed to ‘10, $10 million less than ‘09. Therefore, if all Liberty does is match ’09’s payroll, we have anywhere from $18 to $21 million bucks to spend, which is theoretically enough to get Holliday….

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Marvin Mangrum:

You think Vazquez is the best pitcher in the big leagues? I guess you never saw Tim Lincecum, Zack Greinke, Felix Hernandez, Roy Halladay or Johan Santana pitch huh? He also isn’t the best pitcher on the Braves, not based upon 1 career year (some of you also forget that the Chisox were willing to trade him last offseason because Ozzie Guillen lost all confidence in his ability to pitch in critical games and took him out of the rotation down the stretch in 2008). Let’s all CALM DOWN and see how all of this shakes out before we jump off the nearest bridge or tar and feather Frank Wren.

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