As Rangers arrive, we say: The Teixeira deal wasn’t that bad
Back in the day: Elvis Andrus as a Rome Brave.
The Texas Rangers arrive at Turner Field tonight for a three-game series, and no Braves fan will ever think of the Rangers as anything but the organization that remade itself by renting Mark Teixeira to the local team for a year.
Of the five prospects the Braves sent to Texas, three are big-league Rangers today. (A fourth, Jerrod Saltalamacchia, is Boston’s No. 1 catcher.)
Teixeira arrived in August 2007, played 157 games as a Brave and was traded to the Angels in July 2008 and signed with the Yankees — doesn’t everybody? — that winter.
For the Braves, the trade was a considered mistake. They knew what they were doing; it just didn’t work. Teixeira’s presence didn’t lift them above the Phillies in either of his partial seasons here. He wasn’t terrible. He was actually pretty darn good. But one year’s rental didn’t yield the desired result, and it came at great cost. That said …
The trade didn’t bankrupt the Braves’ farm system, which has gone on to produce Tommy Hanson, Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman, with Julio Terehan waiting in Gwinnett. And the Braves will argue that the two key everyday players they shipped to Texas — Saltalamacchia and shortstop Elvis Andrus — were blocked in this organization. (Salty by Brian McCann, Andrus by Yunel Escobar, who was traded to Toronto last summer for Alex Gonzalez.)
Bottom line: The Rangers reached the World Series last season with Andrus as their shortstop and Neftali Feliz as their closer, but the Braves made the playoffs, too. As nice as it would be to have a lefthander like Matt Harrison in the rotation — he’ll start against the Braves on Saturday — the Braves’ problems haven’t been pitching. (There’s no question Andrus would be useful here, though. He’s 22. Gonzalez is 34.)
Neither party to the big trade has gone to seed. The Rangers are good. They lead the American League despite having lost their past five games. The Braves are good, too. They have the third-best record in the National League.
The Rangers got exactly what they wanted from the Tex deal and the Braves did not, which means the Rangers won the trade. But that doesn’t mean this was the worst deal in Atlanta annals. It wasn’t even close to being the worst. Len Barker for Brett Butler, Brook Jacoby and Rick Behenna and $150,000 — don’t forget the $150k! –will always be the worst. Always.
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167 comments Add your comment
todd grantham
June 17th, 2011
10:58 am
mark, recovered from the other night?
Mark Bradley
June 17th, 2011
10:59 am
Yes, but it took some doing.
Mark Bradley
June 17th, 2011
10:59 am
Kudos, FYI,TG.
todd grantham
June 17th, 2011
10:59 am
i couldn’t hang with that game, and after i saw your byline of 1.25am was glad i didnt try.
todd grantham
June 17th, 2011
11:01 am
That trade does rank up in the top few bad ones for the Braves. It is certainly the worst one with active players.
MLH
June 17th, 2011
11:01 am
First!
todd grantham
June 17th, 2011
11:02 am
I’d take Salty as a backup for McCann.
todd grantham
June 17th, 2011
11:03 am
Best trade in Braves history: Doyle Alexander for John Smoltz.
todd grantham
June 17th, 2011
11:04 am
Best free agent signing was Greg Maddux. Worst was Nick Esasky.
todd grantham
June 17th, 2011
11:05 am
Andy Messersmith second worst free agent signing. Second best was Fred McGriff.
chem
June 17th, 2011
11:06 am
more stats! less words!
todd grantham
June 17th, 2011
11:06 am
worst decision to let a player go: Phil Neikro.
todd grantham
June 17th, 2011
11:07 am
least loyal Braves player: Bruce Benedict.
Benjamin
June 17th, 2011
11:12 am
What’s the story behind Bruce Benedict, Todd? I used to love how the PA announcer introduced him to the plate as a kid, but I was a little too young at the time to know of his “loyalty” or “disloyalty.”
Good article, Mark. The gap on that trade has certainly narrowed, at least slightly, with time.
todd grantham
June 17th, 2011
11:14 am
Benny, think about the last name. a little joke. best, Todd
SimpleDawg
June 17th, 2011
11:16 am
Any comments other than ….. “It was a terrible, horrific trade for the Braves, who gave up the house for one rent-a-ho skank,” are just stupid.
4 young front-line major leaguers for a rental player is indescribably bad decision making.
Vomax
June 17th, 2011
11:16 am
Bradley:
I’m afraid that, if you’re at all insinuating that the Braves wouldn’t be better off today had they not made that trade, you and I have a fundamental disagreement.
In return for one year from one player, the Braves turned over what ended up being two superb young players (Andrus and Feliz) and one solid back-of-the-rotation left-hander (Harrison). Nevermind Saltalamacchia.
The only Braves trade that makes me even close to as mad as the Teixeira deal did was the Wainwright-for-Drew debacle; sure, we got a spectacular season out of Drew, but that’s all we got. And all the Cardinals have is one of the best pitchers in baseball, this injured year obviously notwithstanding.
Cobb Dawg
June 17th, 2011
11:18 am
Thinking about Len Barker makes my head hurt.
Cobb Dawg
June 17th, 2011
11:19 am
And my heart sad.
Paul H
June 17th, 2011
11:19 am
No Hanson tonight. Any chance our offense can do what it did last night?
eastbound and down
June 17th, 2011
11:20 am
it was a bad trade. escobar should never have blocked andrus. better off trading escobar for other players and keeping andrus, who has some speed and also appears to have his head on straght. and then the braves wind up making a “spite trade” for gonzalez.
if you are trading prospects for position players, you are better off trading for players that aren’t past their prime or for players that are under contract for a longer period of time. Of course, i supported the uggla trade and we can see how that turned out. and yes, the len barker trade was the worst. justice and grissom for lofton wasn’t too good either.
longtime braves fan
June 17th, 2011
11:23 am
doyle alexander to detroit for minor league pitcher john smoltz will forever be the best trade atlanta ever made.if i remeber correctly that tarde was made at the of that season. i am not sure how detroit fared with alexander.
John
June 17th, 2011
11:26 am
Worst trade in Atlanta Braves annals, maybe. The Nique-for-Manning trade will always be the worst Atlanta trade. It’s hard to conceive of a worse trade than trading your best player in the middle of your best shot to win a championship in the 20-odd years since the franchise arrived.
Terry Pendleton, JR
June 17th, 2011
11:28 am
Currently, our chances of getting a game-winning balk called are better than us being able to score 10 runs on another team.
FIRE LARRY PARRISH!!!!
Joshua Barlowe
June 17th, 2011
11:29 am
You’re crazy if you think this wasn’t a horrible trade. Andrus is a 22-year-old star, and is as solid is they come. Neftali is going to be an absolute stud pitcher – Salty wasn’t the great loss here.
It was a really bad trade.
Mr. Obvious
June 17th, 2011
11:32 am
If anyone is wondering why John Schuerholz got [ahem] “promoted” to Team President and OUT of the Braves General Manager’s role, all this talent he traded away for an 11-month Teixeira rental is the pivotal reason why.
Those who still can, do.
Those who suddenly can’t, get promoted.
Dr. Phil
June 17th, 2011
11:34 am
The trade in question was the worst of a number of mistakes made by Frank Wren, such as the Kawakami disaster, and the reverse Midas touch for McLouth and Uggla.
Curious George
June 17th, 2011
11:38 am
Did John Schuerholz get an A.L. Championship Ring from the Rangers for his direct and overwhelming impact on putting them in the World Series last year?
Mark Bradley
June 17th, 2011
11:45 am
Frank Wren didn’t make this trade.
Reggie Ball
June 17th, 2011
11:48 am
The Braves got taken to the cleaners and you can’t call it a bad trade? Or are you just trolling for large responses to yet another joke of sportswriting nonsense?
todd grantham
June 17th, 2011
11:49 am
Wren didnt make the Tex trade? i thought he did.
Biff Pocoroba Fan Club
June 17th, 2011
11:51 am
The Braves have won DESPITE making this awful trade, not because of it. How can you title your article “The Teixeira deal wasn’t that bad”?
Also the Braves trade of Michael Tucker for Jermaine Dye was worse than the Len Barker deal. Brett Butler had a decent career after the Braves, but Dye was an All Star player for a number of years after that trade.
Ray
June 17th, 2011
11:52 am
the Teixeira trade was an unmitigated disaster so pretending it wasn’t so bad is just wishful thinking.
how was the Barker trade worse ? Behenna was useless, Jacoby was decent for a while and Butler was good. Feliz and Andrus will likelly be excellent for a long time. then, add Harrison and Salty to the equation. even though Texieira was much better than Barker, but only for basically 1 full season, it doesn’t make up the difference.
Mike Jay
June 17th, 2011
11:53 am
This tired old dead horse…..
It was NOT a bad trade. You have to give up good talent to get a player of Texiera’s skills. The failure was in not resigning long term. If i am not mistaken Texeria gave every indication he was going to resign with Atlanta but either his agent or his greed changed his mind. Braves probably should have know better but still. Also, if the Braves had won a world series with him this conversation doesn’t even happen. Recall this trade was made before we all realized Escobar was nutjob. He was on his way to stardom so Andrus was expendable, as was Salty. When you have great talent in the minors with All stars blocking them on the major league roster you have trade bait. You trade the proven all stars or you trade the talent. Braves were close to title so trading talent made the most sense.
ATL Fan
June 17th, 2011
11:56 am
Will Johnathan Taylor be at the game?
ATL Fan
June 17th, 2011
11:57 am
It’d be great if he could throw out the first pitch.
Vomax
June 17th, 2011
12:01 pm
@Mike Jay…you’re not thinking clearly: several things, including the failure to re-sign Teixeira are what made the trade awful.
The failure to re-sign, when coupled with the productivity and high ceilings of Andrus and Feliz (not to mention the steady play of Harrison), makes the trade an awful exchange.
rich
June 17th, 2011
12:02 pm
Another bad trade was David Justice AND Marquis Grissom for Kenny Lofton and Alan Embree
melvin nieves
June 17th, 2011
12:03 pm
fred mcgriff wasn’t a free agent signing. he was traded for me and two other scrubs in july of ‘93.
P Rose
June 17th, 2011
12:10 pm
Smoltz for Alexander was of course the greatest trade in Braves history, but Jurrjens and Gorkys Hernandez for Edgar Rentería was pretty good. The Barker and Texieira deals were bad, but Adam Wainwright, Jason Marquis and Ray King for J. D. Drew and Eli Marrero was the worst. Adam would have been the Braves’ ace for a decade. Drew is a bum!
P Rose
June 17th, 2011
12:11 pm
Forgot about the Justice/Lofton deal, Rich. That was pretty bad too.
John Galt
June 17th, 2011
12:17 pm
But I’d rather have David Ross than Salty.
P Rose
June 17th, 2011
12:20 pm
John Galt, who are you? I agree, with McCann and Ross here, who needs Salty.
ijudgenot
June 17th, 2011
12:23 pm
The only good thing about that trade was that it set the “low water” mark for the Braves of what not to do in a trade. Wren in replacing JS has been more careful to keep and develope frontline prospects. Schuerholz and Cox were nearing the end of their reighn and were willing to mortgage the farm for a shot at one more championship. Wren has made mistakes, but they were in paying way too much for free agents(Lowe, Linebrink,Sherril, Kawakami) Uggla trade given his past numbers was not a mistake. The mistake was locking him up with long term deal instead of two year deal with an option year for both sides.
Peter
June 17th, 2011
12:30 pm
Jermaine Dye for Michael “I lost my contacts” Tucker? Remember that one?
Peter
June 17th, 2011
12:33 pm
I agree, the Teixiera deal was a bad deal, but it hasn’t exactly decimated the franchise.
TS
June 17th, 2011
12:37 pm
The “blocked in the organization” argument doesn’t hold water. All that means is that the Braves were going to trade those guys sooner or later, not that the Braves had to trade them for a one-year rental player.
bruce
June 17th, 2011
12:38 pm
Mark, I appreciate the perspective, helpful to me and now I am satisfied.
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
June 17th, 2011
12:40 pm
still like Ross over Salty- didn’t Salty go through an issue where he couldn’t throw the ball back to the pitcher?? Andrus & Feliz- would’ve like to keep, however, Kimbrel/Venters IMO, are better. Jury still out on Gonzo & Andrus..although age is a huge factor.
the real Old Gold
June 17th, 2011
12:44 pm
It was THAT bad.
athdog
June 17th, 2011
12:45 pm
Mark, you need to lay off of the sauce, my friend. This was a horrible trade. Not the worst trade of the Bravos history, by any stretch, but the worst. Certainly the worst of the Schuerholtz era, with Wainwright/Drew a not too close second. We gave up a stud pitcher in that deal, and we’re pitching rich now. We gave up a stud closer, shortstop and a nice young catcher who would’ve been available to package in a trade for, say, a left fielder?
HAL
June 17th, 2011
12:46 pm
who ever wrote this trash should be spin doctoring foir the pres lol
DawginLex
June 17th, 2011
12:49 pm
It was a horrible trade made worse by not resigning Mark T to a long term deal.
Let’s not forget signing Jody Davis who is now coming back to memory since Uggla is Jody Davis all over again.
Braves killer while in another uniform and Braves killer in a Braves uniform
Nostradamus
June 17th, 2011
12:51 pm
Another big trade coming in July…be ready!
the truth...
June 17th, 2011
12:58 pm
This reasoning is so faulty it is hard to believe you came up with it….
To begin with…they have three starting players plus the fact that both Andrus and Perez were All Stars in 2010….
Your reasoning about Salty and Andrus being blocked is faulty in that even if they were blocked that does not mean they were worth nothing….the fact of the matter is that they were available for other trades….
So we got zip from Tex….bottom line we got zip… he did not take us to the promised land; who can say the Braves would not have gotten to the playoffs without him…all that is conjecture.
What did they get?…
They still have three every day players PLUS they traded Salty for Cash plus 3 no names (kinda like the lottery-Cash Plus)….
I hated the trade then and I hate it now….
Sure we have pitching….but is it unreasonable to think that we could have gotten more than a rental future Yankee? Like a right handed 3rd baseman…or outfielder…..
I think the logic is faulty because bottom line it assumes that there is NO UPSIDE on the three Rangers….and there definitely is NO UPSIDE to our rental of Tex….
Sonny Clusters
June 17th, 2011
12:59 pm
Anyone being traded for should have his adductor checked before they trade for him. Bad adductors can bring a team down. When we was playing ball we didn’t even know we had an adductor. Heck, we didn’t know about adductors until Chipper hurt his last night.
Nostradamus
June 17th, 2011
1:02 pm
‘the truth” has spoken..Nostra agree 110%
realistic
June 17th, 2011
1:04 pm
Mark, weren’t the Braves once offered Lenny Dykstra, Howard Johnson and Rick Aguilera for Dale Murphy in his declining years and passed on it. That was the worst trade never made.
Hankie Aron
June 17th, 2011
1:05 pm
MB- you can’t really believe your headline, i think you just need some traffic on here knowing that is a lie. I was too young to know the Len Barker trade but for my generation, the worst JS ever made.
Vomax
June 17th, 2011
1:05 pm
The only sense this article makes is to create tension/controversy with an unsupportable position, thereby attracting page views and making advertisers happy.
Well done, Bradley. You’ve just made the marketing department very happy with the addition of more “unique visitors” to your page.
Trying to attact a sponsor? Pen more of this foundationless drivel.
Coop
June 17th, 2011
1:11 pm
I was in college when the Len Barker deal was made and I’ll never forget reading the headline in the AJC. That, Herschel leaving school early for the USFL, and watching in person as Lonnie Smith forgot how to find 3rd base in the 1991 WS are the worst sports moments of my life.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
June 17th, 2011
1:27 pm
Barker for Butler worst in Braves History?
No Andrus is a All Star for the next Decade…
Feliz is going to be the #1 Starter for the Rangers next season and possibly anchor the rotation for a decade….
Nique for Manning correct, was the WORST Atlanta trade…
Also at the time Detroit was smart for making that deal. Alexander closed that season out I believe 9-0 for them and was a pivetol for them getting to the ALCS.
That trade pales in comparison the Red Soxs made in trading a young Jeff Bagwell to the Astro’s for Middle Reliever Larry Anderson in ‘90 I believe. That was a bad deal….
IE80
June 17th, 2011
1:33 pm
From our (Braves) perspective, Alexander for Smoltz was definitely the best trade ever. But the Tigers got what they wanted out of the deal. In a very tight pennant race, they traded a minor-leaguer for a starter. Alexander went 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA and may be the biggest reason the Tigers won their division that year. A prime example of short-term vs long-term benefit. But I’m sure glad the trade was made.
seabass
June 17th, 2011
1:35 pm
I remember a trade for Bruce Sutter, the best closer in the game at the time. He stunk in Atlanta, then got hurt. I think the Braves having a six million dollar pitcher in double A is worst than all the trades or acquisitions.
cantondawg
June 17th, 2011
1:38 pm
Todd Grantham,
Mcgriff wasn’t a free agent pickup…The braves actually traded for him in 1993 for Melvin Nieves and a couple of more players. Arguably the best trade ever with Smoltz trade. I can remember that the Braves were 9 or 10 games out of first place with SF when the Braves made this trade.
cantondawg
June 17th, 2011
1:39 pm
Anybody remember the Mcgriff trade when we were about 9 games out from SF in 1993. The first night he was a Brave the press box caught on fire in atlanta-fulton co stadium…Soon after, the Braves caught on fire and caught up to the Giants and won it on the last day..
cantondawg
June 17th, 2011
1:41 pm
I still think that Grissom and Justice for Lofton and Embree was the worst trade ever in braves. People forget that Justice was a clutch player and Grissom was solid. I still believe that the Braves would have won a few more WS if they had kept them together
bvillebaron
June 17th, 2011
1:41 pm
Truth, Vomax and others:
You got this absolutely right; worse trade I can remember. I was furious then and still remain so now. All the clamor about Texeira being interested in signing an extension was just marketing by Boras. Anyone with half a brain knows (or should know) that Boras takes his clients to free agency and once that happens and the Yankees start bidding, the Braves had two chances of signing Texeira–fat and none.
Recall also that the Rangers obtained this King’s ransom from a desperate Braves’ team (JS thought Texeira could be the key guy to eke out one more playoff spot at a time when he should have been rebuilding because the core of the team, especially the pitching, was obviously getting old. The fact that the Braves recovered from that flat out fiasco to make the playoffs last year by finding capable replacements is a credit to the job Wren has done since. So what if the Braves now have capable replacements for these players; had JS kept them, he could have traded them for something of value rather than trading for what what everyone else seemed to know was a one year mercenary who wasn’t and still isn’t a difference maker.
J-Man
June 17th, 2011
1:41 pm
The only reason the Texieria deal was bad was because we didn’t resign him long term
Lowcountry Bulldawg
June 17th, 2011
1:44 pm
Sutter also was not a trade, he was a Free Agent signing. I believe he is still getting paid by the Braves….
J-Man
June 17th, 2011
1:45 pm
I hope we trade for Matt Kemp but only if we resign him long term
J-Man
June 17th, 2011
1:46 pm
@Lowcountry was that a Bobby Bonillia/Mets reference lol
Lowcountry Bulldawg
June 17th, 2011
1:52 pm
@J-Man,
Seriously, I was thinking at one point he was the 1st Million Dollar reliever so I Wiki’ed Sutter. This is a quote from the bio on Sutter..”
He was momentarily the highest paid player in baseball, although he agreed to have his Atlanta contract configured so that he was paid $750,000 for six years with the rest going into an insurance fund that was to be structured to pay him $1,000,000 for 30 years.”
Now it made no mention of him being the 1st million dollar reliever maybe that was Gossage or Fingers, but the Braves are still paying Sutter 1 Million Dollars a year! WOW!
“
Rakish Knave
June 17th, 2011
1:54 pm
Really looking forward to this series. As much as I initially disliked inter-league play (maybe still too many), it’s really become fun.
Man I hope the Mariners can cool off the Phils this weekend. BTW Mark, who do you think will pick up J.C. Romero?
Najeh Davenpoop
June 17th, 2011
2:01 pm
This is like saying the Kirk Hinrich trade wasn’t that bad because Jordan Crawford was blocked by Joe Johnson. The Braves got Tex to get them over the hump for the playoffs, and it didn’t work. Period. Those assets may or may not have contributed for the Braves on the field for any number of reasons, but at least they could have been used in a trade for a different player who might have stayed here longer or succeeded in putting the Braves over the hump that year. And compounding the mistake is the fact that in the subsequent Tex trade to the Angels, the Braves got jack sh-t.
ed simmons
June 17th, 2011
2:02 pm
Just ruins any day to think about it.
Najeh Davenpoop
June 17th, 2011
2:04 pm
Oh yeah, and I’d much rather have Andrus at SS than Alex Gonzalez right now, without question.
Oregon Brave
June 17th, 2011
2:11 pm
Can’t remember the name of that fat reliever that Letterman called a “fat tub of goo.” Was he in a trade or a free agent? Think his 1st name might have been Terry, not sure. My old age is really playing games with my memory. But I still remember Andy Pafko as my 1st Braves hero until Hank came along.
papadawg
June 17th, 2011
2:13 pm
Who are you kidding, the DA Braves management as they’ve done many many times have NOTHING to show for these players they gave up.
Mitchell
June 17th, 2011
2:18 pm
For the Braves, the trade was a considered mistake. They knew what they were doing; it just didn’t work. Teixeira’s presence didn’t lift them above the Phillies in either of his partial seasons here. He wasn’t terrible. He was actually pretty darn good.
Mark Teixeira in his two half seasons for the Braves didn’t come close to making the kind of total contributions Jason Heyward made in just his first two months in the major leagues.
He sucked then, he sucks now. He is a douche.
Terrible trade.
The Braves made the playoffs as well but the Rangers won their division. They won the pennant.
As terrible as losing four World Series was, and as terrible as a fifth would be, just making the World Series at this point for the Braves would validate all of the work done by Braves scouts and the front office since the Teixeira trade and really since the organization was a serious contender in the National League.
The Rangers at least got there and getting there is to not squander the vast amount of talent on your roster.
The Braves on the other hand have achieved the absolute least of any of the top teams in baseball over the past three seasons.
Since mid-July of 2009 the Braves have the third most wins in the majors and have almost nothing to show for it. One playoff victory. One win out of four post-season games in five years.
The Rangers and Braves are not as close as Mark Bradley would have you believe.
Not even.
DawgDad
June 17th, 2011
2:19 pm
Common problem with the Drew and Teixeira deals was the Braves failure to make the deals contingent on the players signing new contracts with the Braves. They wanted those players here long-term but took on all of the long-term risk. Stupid is as stupid does.
No Mas!
June 17th, 2011
2:29 pm
Didn’t we already know Escobar was a prima donna? Why rely on a guy that couldn’t live up to Bobby’s very lenient standards and trade away your top prospect at SS.
I’m ok shipping Salty b/c of McCann, but all the other players made Shuerholz look like a guy with short timers syndrome looking for one last hurrah. Oh right, he was a guy with short timers syndrome looking for one last hurrah.
We also knew we weren’t going to throw big time money at Tex.
the truth...
June 17th, 2011
2:33 pm
“Sign and Trade” …..that’s what they call it…. the trade is contingent on an actual signing and not some pack of lies by Boros and the like…..
If you believe that siimebag you’ve been smoking way too much green stuff….
I am always skeptical of these last minute trades especially when the player is in his last year and will be a free agent next year.
I do remember the Barker-Butler deal and it was abysmal as well-the Justice and Grissom for Lofton and others was horrible ….but the Tex deal topped them all…
I didn’t know that $1 mil a year thing with Sutter was still paying out…he really hit the lottery didn’t he…?
Top Dawg
June 17th, 2011
2:33 pm
What ever happend to Al Rhabosky, “the mad Hungarian?”
bvillebaron
June 17th, 2011
2:40 pm
J-man:
Didn’t like the Texeira trade even if they signed him long-term. However, as I mentioned above, JS was fooling himself if he thought he could sign him to an extension given (1) he was a Boras client; and (2) the reason why the Rangers traded him to the Braves in the first place is because he and Boras turned down a lucrative offer from the Rangers the year before to sign an extension (if memory serves the Rangers actually offered more than the Braves did to try to get him to sign an extension).
bfred
June 17th, 2011
3:10 pm
If nothing else, the Tex trade seems to have made two tremendously positive lasting impressions:
1. Build your team by sticking to your knitting – scout, draft and develop quality young players. Expensive free agents are risky (cough, Uggla)
2. Don’t deal with Boras.
Look at the current team. McLouth, Uggla, Gonzales – imports. McCann, Heyward, Freeman, Chipper, Marteeeeeeeeeeeeeen – home grown. Hanson, Jurrjens, Minor, Beachy, Medlen, Kimbrel – same thing. Hudson is the only major signing that has worked well; Lowe has been fine but not $15MM good. Almost every good thing about this team is the result of a superior scouting and minor league organization.
MatthewH
June 17th, 2011
3:17 pm
Oregon Brave,
His name is Terry Forrester
what of it?
June 17th, 2011
3:18 pm
Javier Vasquez for Melky Cabrera may have been the worst deal ever
Marc Schneider
June 17th, 2011
3:21 pm
It was bad in retrospect but I guarantee everyone was excited about it at the time. I think this actually looked worse a couple of years agon when the Braves pitching was struggling. They really aren’t missing Feliz–Venters and Kimbrel are just as good and, let’s face it, closers are a dime a dozen. Harrison is a decent pitcher but hardly irreplaceable and certainly not as good as what the Braves have now. Salty is mediocre and why would you want to hold on to a guy just to be a backup. Andrus is the real loss–but only because the Braves decided to get rid of Escobar. And it’s not clear that Andrus is THAT good. It was far from the worse trade the Braves have made–that would be Wainwright for J.D. Drew IMO.
There is a lot of criticism here of the Braves for various trades, but I would bet that the Braves’ trades stack up as well or better than most organizations. How about Renteria for Jurrjens? How about Dan Meyer, et. al for Tim Hudson? How many times did JS trade a pitching “prospect” for immediate help and the pitcher either ended up hurt or was lousy? People act as if the Braves are the Pittsburgh Pirates or something.
And I agree with someone above; if the Braves had gone to the World Series with Tex, no one would be complaining. At the time, they were close and it seemed logical to try to upgrade the offense.
bfred
June 17th, 2011
3:33 pm
Marc, I’m on board with that. It was a calculated risk that didn’t pay off. Only in retrospect can we say that it was a bad idea. If Tex had played the way he did before and after his time with the Braves it might be a different discussion. Plus we hadn’t had a true first baseman since Galarraga retired and our sure-fire prospects were petering out one after the next (e.g. Helms, Thorman). It met our biggest need and made us more competitive in a tight race. We also didn’t have the track record dealing with Boras clients at that point, a lesson the team has learned well.
fred
June 17th, 2011
3:49 pm
Mark,
Your logic, or lack therof, is flawed as usual. Just because they were blocked doesnt mean they should be thrown away. They could have commanded value in the form of other needed players(like an outfielder who can hit). The fact that the Braves still have a good farm system doesn’t make this trade any better either. It was an extremely risky trade even if Texiera had stayed, which we all knew wouldnt happen given he was a Boras client.
braves fan forever
June 17th, 2011
3:49 pm
Ross is a better catcher than Salty.I never like texeria.He always looked like a mule eating those health bars in the dugout.All he wanted was money,money,money.We should never give up that much talent to get one player for a season and a half.Right now we need a big righthanded bat to come off the bench.Just when I wanted to axe Conrad he comes up with a big hit.Uggla needs to go down to triple A to get his swing down.Despite Fredi lazy ass Gonzalez saying its too early its almost too late.We got to hit this weekend to stand a chance against the rangers and next week against toronto.Hicks is a waste of human flesh.SEnd him packing.
Joey
June 17th, 2011
3:56 pm
“Mark Teixeira in his two half seasons for the Braves didn’t come close to making the kind of total contributions Jason Heyward made in just his first two months in the major leagues.”
*********************************
Mitchell – now, I like Jason Heyward, a lot. But what does that mean? Look at the stats. It ain’t even close. Tex was head and shoulders above Heyward in every offensive stat, especially in HRs 37-18, and RBI 134-72, and the other stats as well.
Tex did what he was supposed to do here, nobody else much did. Plus our pitching was terrible while he was here.
Heyward has the potential to put up numbers like Tex has for many years, but his penchant for injury may prevent it.
bvillebaron
June 17th, 2011
4:07 pm
Marc:
Closers are a dime a dozen, huh? If memory serves me correctly that was pretty much the attitude that the Braves had when they recycled closers and managed to win 1 World Series while winning 14 straight divisions. Most people I talk to think that the lack of a dominant closer was the biggest weakness of those teams. Feliz is a dominant closer and even if Kimbrel or Venters are as good, the loss of him and Andrus (who is THAT good), prevented the Braves from trading them (or someone else) for something useful rather than a one year rental player who wasn’t good enough to get a team in need of rebuilding to the playoffs and wasn’t going to re-up with the Braves.
I agree that Schueholz was one of the great GMs and made many good trades over the years. However, that is irrelevant to the current topic which is an evaluation of the Texeira trade. I and many others thought it was a terrible trade then and think that various attempts to try to rationalize the trade now by claiming it “wasn’t that bad” because the Braves have managed to find and bring up suitable if not equivalent players in the meantime are nonsensical. It was a lousy trade then and remains a lousy trade now.
J-Man
June 17th, 2011
4:35 pm
@what of it? “Javier Vasquez for Melky Cabrera may have been the worst deal ever”…..well we have Vizicainio in the minors from it since neither guy is on their respective team now I’d say we won that trade
J-Man
June 17th, 2011
4:36 pm
Schueholts made that trade because he knew he was stepping down as GM and went for it and didnt think of long term effects
Rowsdower
June 17th, 2011
4:42 pm
doyle alexander to detroit for minor league pitcher john smoltz will forever be the best trade atlanta ever made.if i remeber correctly that tarde was made at the of that season. i am not sure how detroit fared with alexander.
Detroit won the East that year thanks to Alexander, so the trade worked out for both teams. Smoltz was an unknown commodity at the time. No way Detroit knew he was a 1st ballot Hall of Famer.
StingerSplash
June 17th, 2011
4:44 pm
Aside from Salty (who looks like he’s finding a groove with Boston … like they needed somebody else in that lineup), every one of those players dealt could help the Braves right now. Andrus or Gonzalez? Sorry, but Elvis is the king of that comparison. Feliz? Maybe not supplant Venters/Kimbrel as the closer but having another arm that can hit 98 consistently and know where it’s going is never, ever a bad thing. Harrison? He’d sure be a fifth starter option at this point, and D Lowe and Huddy aren’t exactly Maddux and Smoltz right now. Well, maybe the Maddux and Smoltz of right now, not the Maddux and Smoltz of 10 years ago.
Besides, Tex came to the Braves in 2007 – right after Heyward and Freeman were drafted. Can’t trade away what you really don’t have. 2007 was also Teheran’s first year in the Braves system. Sorry, Mark, but the math doesn’t work out. The deal for Tex depleted the Braves farm system at the time. They managed to re-stock it in the interim.
And what of Stephen Marek, whom the Braves acquired in the deal that sent Tex to the Halos? This is all they got for a perennial Gold Glove, All Star first baseman? In essence, they got a guy on the DL and gave the Rangers a gold mine. Yep. Great trade.
Worm
June 17th, 2011
4:47 pm
Andrus would make a great shortstop with Escobar playing second..That 60 million on UGGLA could buy Chipper’s replacement or a CF…
Time
June 17th, 2011
5:01 pm
Hunter Pence would look good in the Braves OF.
Mark Teixiera
June 17th, 2011
5:10 pm
Suckers.
choozer
June 17th, 2011
5:14 pm
There’s another way to look at players like Andrus and Salty. Sure, they were blocked by Escobar and McCann, but instead of trading Escobar for AGon, we could have traded him for an outfielder and promoted Andrus. Throw in Salty and you perhaps get us a better bench. And if we had had Matt Harrison, perhaps we wouldn’t have been so desperate to the point of signing KK. And then with all that money saved on KK, perhaps we could have signed help in the outfield, or wherever. My point is just because you had players blocking them, doesn’t mean there isn’t a net limiting effect.
BobWeiss
June 17th, 2011
5:18 pm
The Len Barker deal was by far the worst deal in Braves history. The Braves were a World Series contender until that trade. They spent the rest of the 80’s looking for a decent CF and 3B while playing lousy baseball. The Braves obviously traded Jacoby because they believed his development would be blocked by Bob Horner. What a joke. Brett Butler spent the next 20 years being one of the best defensive CF in the game while being a very good leadoff hitter.
Time
June 17th, 2011
5:27 pm
I get the feeling it’s the same people who don’t like the Tex deal that didn’t like the Julio Jones deal the Falcons made. It’s simple. While young high upside prospects are nice, if you’re looking to win now you always deal them to get that stud (Tex). Sure, Feliz panned out and Andrus has been pretty good. Salty is just now starting to look like he might stick in the majors. But for every Feliz we trade away, there’s 10 guys who once were great prospects that never amounted to anything. Andy Marte ring a bell anyone? If your the Braves and you know your farm system will keep producing young prospects as they do then you’re a fool to not trade some of them. Even if some of them turn out to be stars. Same with Falcons deal, if you know you draft well late then go ahead and trade that first rounder, and next years, and the year after next if you think you can get that one stud that helps you win now.
Bob
June 17th, 2011
5:28 pm
Chooser…I like your rationale, and I think your assessment is correct. Good, common sense approach to the game my friend.
I'm so smart, I'm an Idiot...
June 17th, 2011
5:31 pm
Yes the trade looks bad now. But, you have to give up something to get something. You’re not going to be able to give Brooks Conrad, Diory Hernandez, etc. and get a star player. Oh yeah, while Tex was here he hit 37 HRs and had 134 RBIs in 157 games. When is the last time a Brave put up those kind of numbers.
Time
June 17th, 2011
5:32 pm
And if there is a deal you want to look back on and say was really bad for the Braves it wasn’t the Texieria deal. It was the JD Drew deal, where we traded away Adam Wainwright, among other players.
Elliot
June 17th, 2011
5:34 pm
The Teixeira trade is probably the worst deal I can remember in 45 years of following this team. Trading Adam Wainwright to the Cardinals wasn’t so great either, and nobody has mentioned the Denny Neagle for Jason Schmidt trade. Neagle was good for a year but Schmidt was a stud for years and years after we traded him.
EastAtlantaBravesFan
June 17th, 2011
6:30 pm
While the trade has not worked out for the Braves, this wasn’t necessarily a bad trade.
1. Teixeira played some of the best baseball of his career in Atlanta, posting a .943 OPS, which is about 40 points higher than he posted in ANA or NYY. To get a player of this caliber — one of the top 5 offensive producers in the game — you have to give up something!
2. While Feliz was in the “All Star Game” (entirely devoid of actual worth when analyzing a player’s worth) and will be a very good to great closer for years to come, Venters and Kimbrel have both shown signs statistically of being much better than Feliz. Again, to get Teixeira we had to give up something. Fortunately here we had two pieces — plus one of Wagner’s greatest seasons — to fill in the gap. The closer role has not been a problem for us.
3. Andrus is a very good young shortstop. He is the piece that is most regrettable, but don’t forget how good Yunel was in the early stages of his career. Even with his horrendous 2010 year, Yunel’s career OPS is almost 100 points higher than Andrus’. Yunel carried the team’s offense in 2009, and in 2007, the year of the trade, he posted a .837 OPS. Again, Andrus’ highest OPS of his career is .702. And he got caught stealing 15 times last year! No thanks.
4. Salty is already 26 and has not shown much promise, in my opinion. I would take Ross over him as starting catcher any day of the week. And if you throw in BMac into the equation, no question. No regrets tossing him in this deal.
Overall, the trade to get Teixeira from Texas was not a bad trade at all. You give up prospects to get league-leading offensive talent.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t resign him. And we didn’t get enough from ANA. This is the part that is error on the part of the organization.
Dawgs Man
June 17th, 2011
8:10 pm
Gonzalez continues to strike out on the outside curves that are usually in the dirt. He is probably the worst hitter on this team.
Chipper's ACL
June 17th, 2011
8:52 pm
Ummm, yes this was the first of a two part trade with Mark T that rates as the worst in Braves history. The first with Tex was bad but unloading him to the Angels for basically nothing was awful. I’ve brought this up in other blogs so let’s look back at who the Angels drafted when Mark walked. Trout, who is rated the #1 prospect in MLB was picked in round 1. There were tons of pitching that could’ve been had with the compensation pick. So our departing GM that year blew the first part and our current stunk up the later.
EastAtlantaBravesFan
June 17th, 2011
9:05 pm
Exactly. Why would a team not simply keep Teixeira an additional two months and receive the compensation pick when he walks?
Kotchman’s about as mediocre as them come, and Marek has not pitched yet in the bigs despite putting up great numbers at AAA last year.
The TEX-ATL is reasonable. It seems bad only because Yunel had an epic breakdown in 2010. The ATL-ANA trade is what is really irrational.
rugburn
June 17th, 2011
9:13 pm
kotchman was no tex but he was an excellent fielder and a good contact hitter as i recall. no power at all. what’s he doing this year?
EastAtlantaBravesFan
June 17th, 2011
9:29 pm
He’s in Tampa, posting great numbers so far — getting on base almost 40% of the time. His OPS this year is about 125 points over his career numbers (a very mediocre .728, especially for a first baseman).
ET
June 17th, 2011
10:01 pm
I’m sorry, you just don’t make a blockbuster trade like that one where you are sending five of your best prospects for one player without first signing said player to a contract extension. Anything less is just plain stupid. Texas really screwed us. They knew that Tex’s agent would not let Tex sign a contract without testing free agency. We were used, abused & screwed by Tex & Texas. If any trade threw away a bevy of top notch ball players for nothing, then this was that trade. I’m ashamed that the ball club I root for allowed themselves to be taken advantage of in this manner & did not commit Harry Carey (yes it is a play on words) when the results were right there for the world to see the ineptness of the management. Except for that I thought it was a good trade…
don
June 17th, 2011
10:11 pm
I’ve got to hand it to Bradley. His description of the trade and its alleged outcome has to be the greatest job of spinning in history. Joe Simpson couldn’t have done better. Anthony Weiner needs Bradley as his public relations coordinator.
There is no way to find anything positive about that trade. It made the Rangers into contenders and, in reality, set the Braves as pretenders (which they remain).
The trade was a mistake before it was made. It never made sense to anyone familiar with the players the Braves gave up. While nearly all fans of the Braves and all of the management of the Braves heralded the move, a very few of us openly posted strong opposition. If you could check back, you would find that this is true. Of course, we were cursed and ridiculed for our opposition. After all, we were told, these were mere prospects and prospects don’t often pan out. And, of course, who needed Andrus when you had Escobar. And, naturally, “Big Tex” would give the “hometown discount” and sign long term after leading the Braves to glory immediately.
Well, it didn’t happen. It never was going to happen. Escobar was and is no Andrus. Teixeira’s hometown wasn’t Atlanta and he led the team to an early off season.
The sad thing is that all of this should have been obvious to Schuerholz, Wren, Bradley, and the rest of you before it happened. Truly a dumba***d move made by dumba**es.
Kerry Litenberg
June 17th, 2011
10:24 pm
Picking me up for a bag of balls worked out pretty well.
don
June 17th, 2011
10:25 pm
Good grief. EastAtlantaBravesFan has drowned in the Koolade. Is there any intelligent objectivity in East Atlanta?
gcs
June 17th, 2011
10:35 pm
Hate to say it but the Braves are gonna get swept.
.
EastAtlantaBravesFan
June 17th, 2011
10:58 pm
don,
Objectivity? If my initial post was anything, it was objective. I compared the players involved in the trade using statistical analysis, like OPS, which is one of the best indicators of offensive production.
Your post? ” Escobar was and is no Andrus.” In 2009, both players had their highest years in terms of WAR, while Andrus posted a 3.5 fWAR, Escobar was a full win ahead of him. In Baseball Reference’s WAR, the gap is even larger (5.5 to 2.4). Escobar is still outperforming him this year in almost every meaningful statistical category.
Before you use words like “objective,” you may want to check on their meaning.
Also, you assertion that the trade was directly responsible for the Rangers being “contenders” and the Braves “pretenders” is equally laughable. Not only did the Braves have a better record last year, they do this year as well. The Braves played last year’s champs a lot tougher than the Rangers did. A few injuries/outs/umpire’s calls here and there and the Braves would have been playing the Phils — not the Giants.
Despite what you think, the Braves were contenders last year and still are this year. Unfortunately, we have dealt with more than our share of injuries. This team is a championship contender — any team with our starting staff would be.
Worst trade ever
June 17th, 2011
11:56 pm
Mark, awfully smart to write this piece of mularky before we play the Rangers this weekend. It’s would look even more ridiculous after we get swept this weekend. Neftali Perez throws the ball 98 mph and throws strikes! Elvis Andrus has the most stolen bases in baseball. His name is Elvis! How can you trade a guy named Elvis, for God’s sake? And don’t even get me started on that sell your soul to the highest bidder, Tex. Did we make it to the playoffs with Tex? Nope!
don
June 18th, 2011
12:03 am
Oh no. EastAtlantaBravesFan is also an excuse maker. His belief is that the failure of the Braves was caused by injuries and umpires. How about a plague and a tornado or two? EABF is all “coulda, shoulda, woulda”.
All your OPS, WAR, and BS doesn’t change the fact that the Teixeira trade was an absolute disaster. Andrus is an all-star, a very, very young all-star. Feliz is an All-star, a very, very young all-star (He looked good in the 9th inning tonight, didn’t he?). Both have unlimited upsides. Harrison is a young and upcoming starting pitcher held back only by injuries ((which happen to all teams). Saltalamacchia is coming along nicely in Boston. Beau James is still a decent prospect moving through the Ranger farm system (A farm system rated superior to that of the Braves). Escobar was a malcontent who was dumped to Toronto for a mediocre Gonzalez. Teixeira led Atlanta to nothing and soon escaped for the big city and big wampum. All these are facts- not excuses. No “coulda, shoulda, woulda” here.
Braves are history
June 18th, 2011
12:46 am
When will the Braves get rid of TP as hitting coach? Oh, they did? Well who do we blame now?
Atticus
June 18th, 2011
7:19 am
It was a BAD trade if they knew they weren’t going to re-sign Tex, which they weren’t. Yes those players were blocked but they were players that could’ve been used to go after other trades. This organization is constantly struggling with the budget and that is why we have no superstars who hit .300 and have 35 HRs and 120 RBIs while we compete with teams who do. Even the Cardinals have 3 in Pujols, Berkman and Holliday. Brewers w Braun and Fielder, Votto, Kemp, Howard, CarGo and Tulo in Colorado. Its obvious we have to develop our own and that will hopefully be Heyward but that is a few years away.
don
June 18th, 2011
8:10 am
EastAtlantaBravesFan, you are full of “coulda, woulda, shoulda” and “if not for the injuries and unpires..”. Why not throw in the recession, tornadoes, plagues, and other such excuses. You, too, could be of help in rehabilitating Weiner.
Throw all your excuses away. The Teixeira trade was still a monumental disaster. You don’t need “coulda, woulda, shoulda” to figure that out.
Do you really think anyone other than his mother would take Escobar (let alone Gonzalez) over Andrus? But, I admire your blind loyalty.
bob
June 18th, 2011
8:49 am
This was a bad trade, period. The one point being overlooked is that 2007 was a year the Braves should have been sellers instead of buyers. By 2008 they were a 90 loss team even with Teixeira on the roster most of the season.
MM
June 18th, 2011
9:19 am
Trying to gloss over a mistake is typical of Loserville. Yes, the Tex trade was a terrible mistake but Len Barker is the all time dumbest mistake ever.
Braves@Atlanta.com
June 18th, 2011
9:28 am
If the braves pitch well and lost 6-2 to a team that cannot by a win, what does this tell you about the status of the team? Can you spell or say SUCK. Will this team lose 62-3 if it pitches average or 109-1 if pitching badly? Will KC be the next dynasty in the AL since they have all of he braves’ young player?
Braves@Atlanta.com
June 18th, 2011
9:29 am
If the braves pitch well and lost 6-2 to a team that cannot buy a win, what does this tell you about the status of the team? Can you spell or say SUCK. Will this team lose 62-3 if it pitches average or 109-1 if pitching badly? Will KC be the next dynasty in the AL since they have all of he braves’ young player?
Braves@Atlanta.com
June 18th, 2011
9:30 am
Open your eyes boys, the worst has yet to come.
reckingball
June 18th, 2011
11:17 am
testing
reckingball
June 18th, 2011
11:28 am
I think that the Barker–for–ButJacBe trade, was a very terrible trade, made by a GM that had no buisness being a GM.
The Tex–for–the Farm trade was just as terrible, or worse, made by a GM that was suppose to have superior intellect and baseball knowledge.
JS made a few bad trades in my opinion, getting rid of Dye, rid of Grissom, etc.
But, the Tex deal did get JS promoted to President.
extremus
June 18th, 2011
11:42 am
Whatever may have come from the Texiera trade, what cannot be argued is that the Braves gave up some good hitting prospects to make it happen. A few years removed and what do the Braves need most that they simply don’t have much of at any level? Hitting (and speed, obviously). While that trade isn’t single-handedly responsible for the current situation, it sure contributed toward it.
Speaking of trades, I’d have to expect the Braves to be discussing some potential big ones involving some of their (current) surplus of great pitchers at the MLB level as well as in the minors for some impact position players, perhaps even at Second Base ; let’s face the possibility that the Braves just lost $62 million in the Dan Uggla trade (another trade worth mentioning in the “worst of all time” list). Without some decent hitting, I seriously doubt the Braves will even make the Wild Card this year despite their great pitching.
Navigator
June 18th, 2011
11:57 am
What it means was the Braves were desperate and the Rangers were not. The Rangers played in the World Series last year and the Braves did not. We have an over the hill short stop and Yunel Escobar is the starter for Toronto over the next 7-8 years. Let’s not forget the giveaway of the allstar second baseman, the second basemen to San Francisco who just happened to be the son of our previous GM, and on and on. The Braves will work their way down to the basement where they used to reside and well those other team just get rich off the incompetence of our present GM.
FACTS
June 18th, 2011
11:58 am
Andrus is 22 yrs old & has already played in a world series….we have Gonzalez at SS & he acts like he is daydreaming out there, nuff said…..oh yeah Andrus does bring a bit of speed to the table something that the Braves are totally lacking & what Braves fan would not love to hear Elvis’s name being announced over the PA every single game!!!
Dawgdad (The Original)
June 18th, 2011
12:56 pm
Wainright for JD Drew rental was the worst Braves trade ever.
Blue
June 18th, 2011
1:13 pm
Can any one name me a player who is not pitcher that has came to the Braves and had years better than before that got here and then left and had better years. The Braves are poison to free agents and supper stars that they trade for
don
June 18th, 2011
2:25 pm
The Wainwright trade was even worse than you suggest, Dawgdad. The Braves also gave up Jason Marquis in that disaster.
The Barker trade was terrible giving up Bret Butler and Brook Jacoby. The Drew trade was worse. The Teixeira trade tops them all. It was one of the worst in baseball history. It never made any sense before or after the tr5ade was made.
John30456
June 18th, 2011
3:20 pm
Hindsight is 20/20. If Scherholz had any one of the many crystal balls used by the posters here, life would be grand. He dealt with what he had at the time not with shoulda, coulda, or woulda that many of you speak about.
Boob Horner
June 18th, 2011
6:35 pm
Even at the time the trade was made, it appeared to be a rather desperate grab at one more ring to elevate Mr Shurholtz’ and Cox’ legacies. We had just been burned by Mr. Borass(sic) in the Drew deal and should have avoided the same type of mistake(both players had Ga connections). It’s the missed alternatives that really tell the tale, plus the additional stop gap moves to plug up the other holes this move created the next few years throught to the present. Salty was blocked by McCann, but he could have yielded a corner outfield prospect, which we are still waiting on. With that player in house, we leave Prado at second and save $15 Mil/yr for a .170 hitter. Wagner was excellent last year, but no better than Feliz, and his $6 mil could have netted a good leftfielder. Harrison perhaps could have blocked the Kawakami or even Derek Lowe signing, saving another chunk of change. If we kept both SS, then we could have traded the head case for another pitching or veteran firstbaseman. You never know how those moves might have panned out, but it is obvious that this despiration move not only didn’t produce immediate results, it set up a chain reaction of other bad moves to cover up the holes it created. We are currently spending over $20mil/season to cover the gaps, plus we lack the depth and solid young core we could have had.
Dirty Jacket
June 18th, 2011
7:38 pm
WTF are you talking about? Neftali Feliz is an elite level closer, Elvis Andrus is a protypical leadoff hitter, good OBP, top tier speed, good arm at SS…but okay.
Rick D.
June 18th, 2011
7:51 pm
Bradley needs to shut uo. Always has his foot in his mouth. Last time I checked. The two teams previous teams that Mark Tex. played for both went to the World Series and Tex. has Ring. The Braves were too stupid to keep a winner like Tex. and they needed him badley. Bradley is nothing more than a whiner and fair weather sorry commentator.
reckingball
June 18th, 2011
8:18 pm
Boob Horner…………….You put the hammer on the head.
Your comment, raps it up in a nutshell.
I thought that it was a bad trade at the time, and it turned out to be the worst trade in ATL Braves history.
Like you said, it was an act of desperation.
M10
June 18th, 2011
8:23 pm
The Braves are a poor excuse of a baseball team.They suck
Robbie
June 18th, 2011
8:23 pm
Is there an unwritten law that prevents Brave’s players from going to an ophthalmologist?
Their eyesight must be in question, otherwise they wouldn’t be swinging blindly and wildly like the do!
How many Mendoza batters will we end up with at year’s end?
don
June 18th, 2011
8:49 pm
One fact that we all can agree on is that the Braves desperately need some speed. It is interesting to note that, in addition to his 3 hits, Elvis stole his 20th base today. The entire Atlanta team has stolen 19 bases.
Harrison gave up one earned run on three hits in 6 1/3 innings (even with the extended rain delay which may have factored into the one earned run). He out pitched Lowe. So much for Bradley’s thesis that the trade “wasn’t that bad”. No. It was terrible and gets worse with each passing day.
TechMate
June 18th, 2011
9:30 pm
Enter your comments here
TechMate
June 18th, 2011
9:33 pm
It was the trade that made Scherholtz realize he needed to retire. Gave up way too much for a rental unit.
don
June 18th, 2011
9:49 pm
Trifecta! Feliz just dispatched the Braves one, two, three with two strikeouts to gain another save.
Surely Mr. Bradley is reconsidering his take on the Teixeira trade. As I said, it was terrible and looks worse each day.
don
June 18th, 2011
9:52 pm
Of course, EastAtlantaBravesFan is still around to help others drown in the Koolaid. Is EABF actually John Schuerholz?
Honestly
June 18th, 2011
9:53 pm
I have to laugh at your column after the performance today of the three players the Braves traded for Teixeira. Your argument fails to factor in the future losses that the Braves would incur. We are BARELY winning these days and the Rangers, thanks to three players that the Braves could surely use, are one of the best teams in baseball. Please don’t forget that Feliz was a starter and Andrus could play elsewhere or would have been nice to have once Escobar ended up sucking. It kind of sounds like you had nothing to write about but you had to produce something so you dropped this nugget on us. I would have preferred to read nothing at all.
daddydog
June 18th, 2011
10:33 pm
The reason the Butler/ Barker trade was the worst, is it wrecked a good season!
Sage of Bluesland
June 19th, 2011
12:20 am
Some of Bradley’s pitiful excuses over the years–for ALL local teams and their buffoonish GMs–from Babcock to Waddell to this spinning-gem on Schuerholz does make you wonder what and how he benefits for sucking up like he does….
Do the math, folks. There IS a very good reason for these neverending excuses–and lack of responsible journalism…
gcs
June 19th, 2011
12:52 am
Your recollection of Mark Teixeira’s time in Atlanta is different from mine. Yes, his stats were good, but I don’t recall him getting too many Fred McGriff-like BIG hits. Can anyone recall him getting any game-winning hits? Is there any video of him being mugged at home plate by Braves teammates? If there is, please fill us in.
He would hit a HR in a 8-2 game (either winning or losing) and make the highlight reel. But he rarely won games. I remember him failing in big spots many times.
Unequivocally, the worst Braves’ trade ever.
.
Pete*
June 19th, 2011
1:25 am
todd grantham: “Andy Messersmith second worst free agent signing. Second best was Fred McGriff.”
McGriff was not signed as free agent; he was acquired in a trade.
Buzz me
June 19th, 2011
8:57 am
Hey MARK, what are you smoking…the Tex deal was awful. They have three first line players and we dont have anything to show for it. BY the way…can I get some of whatever it is you are smoking…you are way out there
dap01
June 19th, 2011
9:31 am
It was a horrible trade and any justification of that trade is stupid. Texera abused us. Boras abused us. Schurholtz screwed up.
One of the worst trades ever.
dap01
June 19th, 2011
9:31 am
You should have written the column after this series.
HEY BRADLEY
June 19th, 2011
9:48 am
Dumbest article you’ve written in a long list titled “Bradleys dumbest pieces” (with that smug picture of yours on the back cover, you could easily sell four or five). To say that the braves weren’t utterly bent over in that trade is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Andrus alone makes it a flop, especially bc tex was just a rental, but throw in felix and harrison, and we looked like fools. Andrus would be tbde leadoff spark we need and be our shortstop for the next 10 years. Your point about salty was the only accurate one, there was no room for him. But consider our Kimbrel,Centers, Felz at the end of games… that would be best bullpen in history of the game. But hey, at least we rented that Techy need Texiera and got no pennents, your right, Bradley, the braves got a good deal. Your crazy Bradley and I hope you move to Winnipeg.
HEY BRADLEY
June 19th, 2011
9:50 am
**Felix
** the
** Centers
** pennants
HEY BRADLEY
June 19th, 2011
9:50 am
**FELIZ
ET
June 19th, 2011
10:02 am
This one trade undid every other good trade that Sureholdshiz (yes, it’s a play on a word) made in his career at Atl. We was used, abused, screwed & we losed… on this one. (Bad grammar intended)
james pittman
June 19th, 2011
10:33 am
the best trade ever made by the braves was doyle alexander for john smotlz, but the second best trade was a trade that was very unpopular at the time was dale murphy for pitcher jeff parrett and ss victor rosario of philadelphia, but it paved the way for a young brave named david justice to play everyday, and a first baseman named brian hunter. and we all know what happened next: in 1991 the atlanta braves went their first world series. followed by winning an unprecedented 14 straight division titles, but the climax of that trade came in 1995 when the braves won that world series 1-0 on a home run by david justice and great pitching by tommy glavine and mark wholers.
Keeping it Real
June 19th, 2011
11:44 am
Mr. Bradley: I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but this is, IMO, the dumbest column you have ever written. There is no way that you can look at that trade in hinesight and not think it was a horrible trade for the Braves. Just imagine having Feliz, Andrus, Harrison, and Saltalamachia either on the team or traded for real value. I really can’t believe that you really believe what you wrote.
John3:3
June 20th, 2011
7:38 am
No amount of spin can change how bad that trade was.
Shug
June 21st, 2011
9:59 am
Worst trade: Torre for Cepeda.
joemoedee
June 23rd, 2011
12:24 pm
Tex was solid when he was here, but you can’t neglect the SECOND Tex trade to Anaheim for… Steve Marek and Casey Kotchmann.
The initial move was risky. The second move would make the Pirates GM say “Wow, that’s a bad move”.
I can’t see how anyone could say trading away 4 major league players and ultimately getting a AAA reliever is anything but a terrible series of trades.