Here are the results of the Braves recent arbitration activities:
Signed to a Minor League Contract with the Braves players include: J.C. Boscan, Luis Durango, Dusty Hughes, Adam Russell, Josh Wilson, Drew Sutton.
Signed to a Minor League Contract with Other Teams: Brooks Conrad, Diory Hernandez, Wil Nieves, Wilkin Ramirez, Antoan Richardson, and Matt Young.
Signed to a One Year Contract with Braves: Martin Prado and Jack Wilson.
Signed to a One Year Contract with Other Teams: Alex Gonzalez, Nate McLouth, George Sherrill.
Club Exercised Option: Eric Hinske.
Non-Tendered: Peter Moylan.
Released: Wes Helms and Julio Lugo.
No Movement Yet: Scott Linebrink.
Abritration Avoided/Deals Reached: Michael Bourn, Jair Jurrjens, and Eric O’Flaherty. Read more... (126 words, 1 image, estimated 30 secs reading time)
When Jason Heyward burst on to the Atlanta Braves baseball radar fans were treated to a 3 run homer and dreams of a new power hitter. Little by little though that dream faded and Heyward struggled mightily.
Heyward was just 20 years old at the time. He came from Henry County High School just a few miles south of Turner Stadium. He was part of the East Cobb Baseball Program. He was the hometown boy made good. He was compared to Hank Aaron on a multitude of levels. The fans were all over him from the moment he put on a Braves uniform. The expectations were massive and growing. It was a lot to take in. Read more... (530 words, 1 image, estimated 2:07 mins reading time)
The rumors have flow fast and furious. The trade scenarios have been numerous. It looks like though, in the end, the Braves will be standing pat.
Martin Prado, the subject of about a million trade rumors and scenarios, has now signed a new deal with the Braves for 1 year and a little over 4 million dollars. That puts an end to any and all trade rumors and scenarios that have been talked about for weeks now regarding Prado. He is officially with the Braves for another year. Read more... (291 words, 1 image, estimated 1:10 mins reading time)
The Braves management continues to talk a good game about things like progress and optimism but little in the way of actual moves has been made by the team so far this off season.
Braves GM Frank Wren came out of the winter meetings saying he was encouraged by progress and had optimism regarding talks with other MLB teams about possible trade scenarios, but there was no actual progress. The team has made no aquisition moves so far in this off season despite a lot of talk from the front office. Read more... (467 words, 1 image, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)
The Braves are said to be shopping 2 players in hopes of saving some more money and perhaps spending it on things they think they need.
In looking at who they are shopping arguments can be made for both letting them go and for keeping them. There are those who see the possible loss of Jair Jurrjens and Martin Prado as a good thing. It would free up salary and open up options for the Braves in possibly obtaining more power for their lineup. The Braves are said to be in the market for a shortstop and some power hitting for the outfield. Read more... (410 words, 1 image, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)
I have been an Atlanta Braves fan for a long time. And by that I mean on the order of 39 years. I have seen it all with this team and I am still a fan. This week though, I have lowered my expectations considerably.
I have been through the Hank Aaron era. I have been through the years of drought where the Braves were the worst team in all of baseball. I have been through the 90s where they were one of the best teams in baseball. I have been through the great players like Glavine and Maddox. I have been through the not so great players and those whose names you can’t remember or wish you could forget. I have been through the pennant and world series highs. I have been through the finishing last in all of baseball, not just the division or the league. Read more... (561 words, 1 image, estimated 2:15 mins reading time)
The Boston Red Sox aren’t the only ones clinging to life support.
The Atlanta Braves, who are still leading an NL wild-card race they already should have clinched, just made matters worse for themselves today when they suffered a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Washington Nationals.
To add insult to injury, Atlanta‘s offense was shut down Saturday by Chien-Ming Wang, who also drove in a run with his first career hit for the Nats. Wang’s RBI single off Brandon Beachy (7-3) capped a three-run fourth that put the Nationals ahead 4-0. Wang (4-3), who was making his 11th start since returning from a two-year layoff after shoulder surgery, was dominant on the mound, allowing one run and four hits in six innings. He struck out four and walked none. Read more... (295 words, 1 image, estimated 1:11 mins reading time)
My last write on the Braves has generated a lot of comments sent to me that make it clear that the meaning of the article was completely misunderstood. I obviously wrote it wrong. But I am not here to set the record straight.
Firstly, I am not bipolar, nor have I ever been. The Braves, the team, is bipolar. They play bipolar baseball, win, lose, good, bad. They are completely inconsistent. It has nothing to do with my mental state, which as I said does not include being bipolar.
Secondly, I am not in any way responsible nor do I feel responsible in any way for the Braves performance on the field. The wins, losses, good, bad belongs solely and entirely to the Braves team. They alone are responsible for how they perform on the baseball field. I certainly have no responsibility in it whatsoever nor do I feel that I do. Read more... (486 words, 1 image, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)
The Braves have 15 games left in the regular season and the way they have played of late they need every single one of them. They were swept by the Cardinals this weekend, which moved them the Cards to only 4.5 games back of the Braves for the wildcard.
The Braves are now a full 12 games behind the Phillies and have just about zero hope of making up any ground on that score. They do however have to fight to keep the Cards at bay and to not play their way right out of the playoffs. It would be travesty to win 90 games, which the Braves most likely will and to miss the playoffs by losing at the end. That would be taking bipolar to the next level. Read more... (387 words, 1 image, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)
Dan Uggla is quietly going about his business and in Friday’s game vs the Cubs he has the chance to extend his hit streak to 32. Quietly, Uggla sits 25 games from DiMaggio’s record. Because he is Dan Uggla and because he plays for the Braves and not the Yankees or Red Sox, quietly is how he is being covered.
On MLB.com news page, Uggla’s hit streak is 7 stories down. If he were ARod or some similar player on a similar team, it would undoubtedly be the top story. I have watched several hours of SportsCenter today on ESPN and for the entire times that I have been tuned in I have heard Uggla’s name a total of…zero times. Read more... (368 words, 1 image, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)
Here are the results of the Braves recent arbitration activities:
