Melky’s gone, which tells us much about the Braves and Wren
"As long as I'm managing, you're on this team, Melky." (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Sooner or later we’ll start to ask ourselves, “How in the world did the 2010 Braves make the playoffs?” And I’m thinking that time is …
Right about now.
The Braves dumped Melky Cabrera and Takashi Saito on Tuesday, eight days after the former had made the 27th out of Game 4 of the Division Series. These were two of the bigger acquisitions Frank Wren made last winter — others were Billy Wagner, who has retired; Troy Glaus, who had nothing left after July, and Eric Hinske, who kept pinch-hitting home runs — and now they’ve been tossed aside.
The Saito move was expected. The Cabrera one was expected if you’d watched him play. And that’s kind of the point: The 2010 Braves had a lot of guys who didn’t do much — Cabrera, Nate McLouth, Yunel Escobar, Matt Diaz, Rick Ankiel, Glaus in April and August and September — and lots more who got hurt. And somehow they qualified for the postseason, same as the Phillies and the Yankees.
To say that every Wren move of the last offseason and this regular season panned out would be incorrect. Most of them didn’t. But the sum total of his tinkering was just enough to bleed out one more victory than San Diego, and that was enough. We can critique individual trades and signings, but we cannot carp about the overall effect. This team shouldn’t have been good enough, but it was, just.
Which is why the guy who traded Javier Vazquez for Melky Cabrera should be named executive of the year. Seriously.
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468 comments Add your comment
Nut Job
October 20th, 2010
11:19 am
JDHGT
October 20th, 2010
9:17 am
We really just need one bat. McLouth would be fine as the 8th hitter (he’s a good LF or CF). If you can get a solid bat, this lineup would look pretty good come April:
1. Prado
2. Heyward
3. Chipper
4. McCann
5. Freeman
6. Infante
7. ONE MORE BAT
8. McLouth
How about this sense Freddy G. has no reason to place Chipper in the 3 spot…
1. CF Add somebody
2. 2B Prado
3. RF Heyward
4. C McCann (McCann and Chipper could flip flop depending on righty or lefty on the mound)
5. 3B Chipper
6. SS Gonzalez
7. 1B Freeman
8. LF Infante
Lorenzo
October 20th, 2010
11:20 am
Crazy idea, Prado 3B, Infante at 2B, and a somewhat healthy chipper at either LF or RF. That would open up a lot more possibilities.
Ted M
October 20th, 2010
11:21 am
McLouth – unbelievably is going to make $7.75 mil next year. That ranks up there as one of the worse trades even tho Morton flopped big time.
coach smith
October 20th, 2010
11:23 am
JEB
maybe you didn’t think your rebuttal through very well
Wagner – replaced by Kimbrel (already here)
Saito- replaced by Venters/Moylan (already here and getting O’Flahrety back)
Melky was a 5th outfielder there are plenty here already and this is a place the Braves need an upgrade
Glaus/Lee -replaced by Freddie Freeman (was alrady here and CHEAP)
You think Ross is going to get 6 or 7 million LOL?
14 miilion for Crawford
3 mil for Ross
1 mil for AJ
there is no reason why that can’t be done
BRAVES29
October 20th, 2010
11:23 am
Jurrgens and Mclouth for Colby Rasmus. Get on the phones Wren, and make this happen!
We have our team already
October 20th, 2010
11:24 am
Prado is our 2nd base man…he only played 3rd cause he hurt is finger and could turn the DP the way he needed to with the fingers wrapped.
moorman
October 20th, 2010
11:27 am
lol. the REASON the braves aint crap is over in TEXAS. THEY RUN THE BASES. They have our shortstop and one of our closers. ( all lost in the texeria trade).
nelson
October 20th, 2010
11:28 am
JDHGT
October 20th, 2010
9:17 am
We really just need one bat. McLouth would be fine as the 8th hitter (he’s a good LF or CF). If you can get a solid bat, this lineup would look pretty good come April:
1. Prado
2. Heyward
3. Chipper
4. McCann
5. Freeman
6. Infante
7. ONE MORE BAT
8. McLouth
this lineup sucks !! … mc clouth? no way !
Cf : H.pence
2b : prado
3b : chipper
1b : dunn
c : mc cann
rf heyward
lf : Scott Podsednik or Xavier Nady
ss : gonzales or another ss i like : Miguel Tejada
this is a better team ..
out , mc clouth, lee.
southern hope
October 20th, 2010
11:30 am
AntiMe at 9:39….here’s a great line from that Philly.com article that you sent:
“Let’s keep this simple: If the mighty Phillies, with their rings and trophies and huge contracts, can’t score a few runs off Madison Bumgarner, they have no business being in the World Series.”
Lew
October 20th, 2010
11:41 am
Mark-Don’t know about you, but I talked to Frank Wren at SApring Training and he specifically stated that the main focus of that deal was to get Arodys Vizcaino – and then he proceeded to rave to myself and other Braves’ fans about how good the kid was.
Braves4ever
October 20th, 2010
11:42 am
A healthy Chipper and Prado would have us in the WS against the Rangers; it is what it is though. Infante carried this team during the last weeks of the regular and the playoffs, he needs to be an everyday player, the Braves need to find a spot for him. Nate McLouth, Yunel Escobar, Matt Diaz, Rick Ankiel, Glaus, Lee, thanks for your services but you are no longer needed.
1. Prado (2B)
2. Heyward (CF)
3. Chipper (RF)
4. McCann (C)
5. Coco Crisp or Damon (LF)
6. Infante (3B)
7. Gonzalez (SS)
8. Freeman (1B)
Brave New World
October 20th, 2010
11:43 am
deb October 20th, 2010 9:01 am Where are all the Phillies trolls now? And how can we find them on their blogs?
Deb: Go to Philadelphia Inquirer web site, Phillies will be found in sports section. The devoted Philly fans are getting ready to jump ship and placing blame every where. BTW, didn’t Chase Utley look alot like Brooks Conrad yesterday?
typical poster on this blog
October 20th, 2010
11:45 am
heres what we kneed to do . trade maclouth to texas for josh hamilton. then trade kinshine kockami for roy halladay. then trade ankeel and diaz and heenskee for joy vottoe. then sign cliff lee and jason worth as free agense. then we will win games.
Bill M.
October 20th, 2010
11:45 am
We have beat this to death about Carl Crawford. He’s not coming to the Braves. He says that he doesn’t want to play CF or lead off. He doesn’t want to steal as many bases.
NEW CARS
October 20th, 2010
11:47 am
The Tex deal didn’t work out, but I have no problem with the first deal. We may have overpaid a little and been able to hang onto 1 of the prospects we sent, but Salty obviously didn’t turn out and Harrison and Jones weren’t going to make impacts in our organization. That leaves you with the 2 we gave up. If we hadn’t went after Tex, who must would agree was the best everyday player to be on the market in the last few years, then JS and Wren would have been torn apart.
My problem with the transaction is that we sold low on him when we dumped him the next year. I find it hard to believe we couldn’t get better than Kotchmann and Marek, even though Casey had played better up to that point than he’s shown since. If we had taken a flyer on Kendry Morales, a guy with more upside but less achievement, I think that all you monday morning qb’s wouldn’t be calling that the worst trade the braves ever made.
The 2 worst trades the Braves made were giving up Justice and Grissom for Lofton and Embree and trading Dye for Tucker and Lockhart.
We got quality for potential in the Tex deal, we just didn’t have pitching to make the difference. It’s just what we got on the backside that stunk.
We basically got a year of Tex, a year of Casey, half a year of Laroche and Marek for all those guys. If we still had Kendry Morales under contract, then we wouldn’t have gotten Glaus or traded for Lee and this tema could have been a lot better the past 2 years.
Phillistein
October 20th, 2010
11:48 am
deb
October 20th, 2010
9:01 am
Where are all the Phillies trolls now? And how can we find them on their blogs?
****************************************************************************************************
They left – along with your playoff hopes
Ted M
October 20th, 2010
11:49 am
deb October 20th, 2010 9:01 am Where are all the Phillies trolls now? And how can we find them on their blogs?
Ha Ha Ha… I was wondering that very same thing.
Disbott 3000
October 20th, 2010
11:49 am
I think Wren did a good job with the limited budget that he had to work with, but I think their post season appearance owes a lot more to number 6 than to the GM. Cox won this season despite the acquisitions Wren made; not because of them. I hope Fredi’s as good at making a silk purse from a sows ear as Bobby was.
Phillistein
October 20th, 2010
11:52 am
Brave New World
October 20th, 2010
11:43 am
deb October 20th, 2010 9:01 am Where are all the Phillies trolls now? And how can we find them on their blogs?
Deb: Go to Philadelphia Inquirer web site, Phillies will be found in sports section. The devoted Philly fans are getting ready to jump ship and placing blame every where. BTW, didn’t Chase Utley look alot like Brooks Conrad yesterday?
***********************************************************************************************************
We are?
Jumping ship?
Really?
As usual you and clueless are best buddies.
And sorry, but you could roll Utley out there in a full body cast on a stretcher and he could play better then Conrad.
How bout them Falcons?
Reid Adair
October 20th, 2010
11:52 am
Frank Wren’s moves have been pitiful. He told us that Takashi Saito and Billy Wagner were so much better than Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez; they weren’t. He told us that Melky Cabrera was a significant improvement for the Braves’ outfield; he wasn’t.
Throw in Troy Glaus (did nothing other than May/early June), Kenshin Kawakami, Derrek Lee and Rick Ankiel (.210 average as a Brave). Mark, you want to give Wren credit for the Braves’ having one more win than San Diego; I say the credit goes to Bobby Cox, the coaches and players who overcame some horrendous personnel decisions to make the playoffs.
Big Bad Brave
October 20th, 2010
11:52 am
MArk, Javier Vazquez was traded also for the prospect not Melky. Come on you know that.
Big Bad Brave
October 20th, 2010
11:53 am
Mark, Javier Vazquez was traded for the prospects not Melky.
StingerSplash
October 20th, 2010
11:58 am
It’s no surprise that a team of spare parts breaks down just when it’s time to step on the gas pedal.
Granted, the Giants also have their share of odd pieces to fit in — Pat Burrell, for one, perhaps Aubrey Huff as well, who had a disappointing 2009 after a good 2008 season. But the Giants also didn’t lose two starting third basemen out of the middle of their lineup, making the reliance on rebuilts or junkyard parts that much more important.
sfbllump
October 20th, 2010
11:59 am
Frank Wren should go after Don Uggla, for 2B; Put Infante in LF or CF and Chipper on 3B whenever he is healthy, and Martin Prado at SS. Let Gonzalez be the utility replacement for Chipper or whoever needs a day off.
curtis jones
October 20th, 2010
12:01 pm
Infante’s not an everyday player? Who posted that, Bobby Cox? I think most teams would be happy to have one of the league’s top 2 or 3 hitters in the lineup each day. Especially one who started at SIX positions in 2010. He’s the Braves 2010 MVP, easily.
Brave New World
October 20th, 2010
12:01 pm
Phillistein: Did Utley put the body cast back on when he left AT&T Park with his tail between his legs?
Kashi
October 20th, 2010
12:03 pm
Lets sign Vazquez for nothing and trade him again for top tier minor leaguers. We all know he can pitch in Atlanta.
BooBoo
October 20th, 2010
12:04 pm
Let us not forget the trade that brought us the magnificent shortstop Gonzales, who made memories of the last year Andruw Jones come back – swinging and missing EVERY curveball in the dirt thrown to him, while taking every first pitch fastball down the middle for a strike. How many errors did he make in 50 games? 20?
Jim
October 20th, 2010
12:05 pm
We have to be willing to trade an arm for a bat. It’s like we have two of each property in Monopoly and WILL not trade any two to get hotels on Boardwalk……It’s business man.
Necromancer
October 20th, 2010
12:05 pm
If we only had owners who would spend money, we could go after top-of-the-line players. Liberty’s cheap. Playing a team with dollar menu talent is not going to get us far.
I’m praying that since next year is supposed to be Liberty’s last year of required ownership, that they will sell to a REAL local owner…like Arthur Blank….or even Ted Turner, if he’ll come back from Montana!
Rufio
October 20th, 2010
12:06 pm
Is Scott Thorman still available? maybe we could get him to play some LF…
Brave New World
October 20th, 2010
12:06 pm
Phillistein: Here’s some simple math for you:
Blanton = 3-1 advantage Giants
The Giants will chew up and spit out Fats Blanton like a greasy old Philly Cheese Steak!
NJBravesFan
October 20th, 2010
12:09 pm
By your reasoning Mark, the lack of production from most of the players Wren acquired in the offseason doesn’t show that he should be GM of the year. If anything, it shows that Cox should be manager of the year. This year the Braves obviously played better than the sum of the parts Wren brought together and their success was not a product of their quality so Cox should get the credit.
Chris
October 20th, 2010
12:09 pm
For the last time… Wren did not trade for Tex. That was JS… Everyone always points to the Tex trade as Wren’s crowning moment of stupidity when he wasn’t even the one who did it. Yes teh trade sucked but stop blaming Wren for someone else’s mistake.
Brave New World
October 20th, 2010
12:11 pm
Wren has done a pretty good job so far with a limited budget. We went from a losing record to a playoff team in 2 years.
Phillistein
October 20th, 2010
12:13 pm
Brave New World
October 20th, 2010
12:01 pm
Phillistein: Did Utley put the body cast back on when he left AT&T Park with his tail between his legs?
***************************************************************************************
?
That was uh…………some comeback there Sparky
CraZyTraDeMaN
October 20th, 2010
12:14 pm
Frank Wren should go after Don Uggla, for 2B; Put Infante in LF or CF and Chipper on 3B whenever he is healthy, and Martin Prado at SS. Let Gonzalez be the utility replacement for Chipper or whoever needs a day off.
Prado CAN NOT PLAY SS, Gonzo is the SS for 2011. Prado will play 2B and Chipper will play 3B. We will get someone to play LF or CF possible two starters for OF. Mclouth will be in the mix to start and be a 4th OF’er. Infante will do what he does best play 4 or 5 times a week at LF 3B SS and 2B. Let’s not overcomplicate things.
face palm
October 20th, 2010
12:15 pm
Vasquez for Melky?
You’re an idiot, Mark.
Phillistein
October 20th, 2010
12:16 pm
Brave New World
October 20th, 2010
12:06 pm
Phillistein: Here’s some simple math for you:
Blanton = 3-1 advantage Giants
The Giants will chew up and spit out Fats Blanton like a greasy old Philly Cheese Steak!
********************************************************************************************
Yawn
Well, ok then Sparky
I’m going to go clean out my paper clip holder.
Which, from an intellectual standpoint, will far exceed what I’m getting from you.
Adios muchacho
Chop Chop
October 20th, 2010
12:18 pm
Can’t win exec of the year when your team only improved its win total by 5 games over the previous season. I don’t care what Wren’s circumstances were. Reds GM Walt Jocketty (13-win improvement) or Padres GM Jed Hoyer (15-win improvement) should win it.
Robert
October 20th, 2010
12:19 pm
Will someone tell me which executive at Liberty Media made the decision to pay a total of almost $13,000,000 to Kawakami and McLouth next year?
I read a lot of criticism about the fact that Liberty Media won’t spend the money on payroll. Well right there is $13,000,000 wasted. Was it the President of Liberty Media? The Chairman of the Board? Who was it? I sure would like to know.
Tom in ATL
October 20th, 2010
12:19 pm
Let’s be real – we need outfielders that are affordable, productive, and hopefully bring some speed to this team. I would get on the phone with Oakland – they have a glut of outfielders with similar skills. Either Coco Crisp or Rajai Davis would fit perfectly in Atlanta. Both are 30 years old – Hit around .280 – .285 – Crisp stole 32 bases in 290 AB’s and is a very good defnsive CF – was paid 5 mil in 2010. Davis is not as good defensively – but stole 50 bases in 500 AB’s – and was paid 1.5 mil in 2010. We have a history of trading with Oakland – and they are always looking for young players being a small market team. Bring in either one of these guys and it will help and not break the budget.
BooBoo
October 20th, 2010
12:24 pm
The Braves need to play half their home games in Peurto Rico in 2011. Release all veterans and go with the Gwinnett lineup for 5 years. In 5 years, they can do away with having a AAA farm team and move into the Gwinnett stadium. They could play to SRO crows 10 nights a year!
Horner's Corner
October 20th, 2010
12:24 pm
submariner – I like your idea of getting Uggla. Right-handed pop is what the Braves need. Unfortunately the subsequent step is not moving Prado to LF, but rather 3B. Chipper is doing the Braves no favors by sticking around. He is no longer a middle of the line-up hitter and he’s no longer a serviceable defender.
The Braves need to improve dramatically on defense and regrettably Uggla would not help in this regard.
LostCause
October 20th, 2010
12:24 pm
I wouldn’t want Milton Bradley either, but if he could swap Kawakamie for him … would it be worth it? I mean another switch hitting non-producer can’t have too many of those … can you?
Robert
October 20th, 2010
12:25 pm
All I know is that all a lot of these names sound great, but when you’ve foolishly got $13,000,000 in payroll next year tied up in two worthless players, you’re gonna have a harder time getting the bats you need.
I don’t want to hear anymore complaints about Liberty Media as long as team management stupidly wastes the precious payroll they have.
NJBravesFan
October 20th, 2010
12:26 pm
The assumption that Chipper will return and be a legitimate 3-hole hitter isn’t very comforting. He hasn’t played a full season in years and his success directly prior to the injury came on the heels of a terrible first few months of the season. The Braves will be in the same situation as they were the end of this season unless they acquire at least 1 quality bat in the offseason, if not 2. That is unlikely to happen so unless Freddie Freeman in his rookie season plays like Fred McGriff, Fredi Gonzalez will have trouble fielding a quality lineup.
SF Braves Fan
October 20th, 2010
12:26 pm
Any chance of us signing Andruw Jones as a third outfielder? I know some fans would be horrified by that, but last year he would have been 2nd on the Braves in HR and would have been close to the team lead in slugging, all for less than a quarter of what Melky made. I’d like to see and outfield with Heyward, Colby Rasmus/Cody Ross, and Andruw Jones with McClouth as a backup/pinch runner until he proves he can keep his OPS above .350 for more than a week and a half.
Robert
October 20th, 2010
12:27 pm
What does Dan Uggla have in common with Michael Jackson? Uggla also wears a glove on one hand only for no apparent reason.
Horner's Corner
October 20th, 2010
12:32 pm
NJBravesFan-
Couldn’t agree more on Chipper. He is doing the Braves no favors by continuing to play and if does return, he just can’t assume the 3-hole belongs to him. Of course if the Braves don’t get addtional pop for the line-up then what other options are there.