Welcome Aboard: Javier Vazquez

The latest addition to the 2009 Braves pitching staff is a guy who once pitched for the Montreal Expos if you can remember those days. :) Vazquez comes to Atlanta from the Chicago White Sox in a deal that sent Brent Lillibridge, Tyler Flowers, and lefty Santos Rodriguez. In addition to Vazquez the Braves also received RP Boone Logan.

I think Vazquez will add some stability to the Braves rotation. Javy is a better pitcher in the NL and will collect his share of Ks. I think he suits the Braves better than most of the teams he has played for in the past. He's a solid #3 in the rotation although he might be used as a #2 during the season.

The rotation stands like this as of

-Jurrjens
-Vazquez
-Campillo
-Reyes
-Morton/James/Parr

You will notice that Glavine, Smoltz, and Hudson are not included. The Braves did not offer arbitration to either Glavine or Smoltz. That does not mean they will not return to Atlanta. They are both are currently going through rehab so they can find out if their capable of pitching next season or not. Hudson had TJ surgery and will not be able to return until the latter part of the year (August)? Right now, the rotation does not have much experience when it comes down to it. That is why Atlanta is heavily pursuing Mr. Burnett.

Burnett: A Brave or Not?

The winter meetings are coming to a close and the Braves are in the running for one of this winter's most sought after free agent pitchers; A.J. Burnett. Burnett is looking for a guaranteed 5th year from some team and so far the Yankees have met that demand. The Braves are not giving up as they are also preparing to give Burnett a 5th year. Atlanta has previously made Burnett two offers. The first one was a 'feeler' offer of 4/$64M and the second was 5/$80M. The fifth year offered was a vesting option which according to sources is easily attainable.

Money for nothin'...

For the second year in a row, a player sucking up about one-fifth the team's payroll will be sitting out the season. The entire season.

I'll cut Mike Hampton some slack for the 2006 season. Lots of guys sit out a year after getting The Tommy. It sucks, but it happens. Injury is part of the game and is something players, managers, and general managers are used to dealing with. But for a team to go two complete seasons- in a row- without a guy they're counting on, and to be paying the guy the kind of money Hampton makes? I don't think so.

There's now a big, gaping hole in the Braves' rotation. Mike is owed $14.5 million this year. Fourteen-five would help out a lot with the filling of said hole. My proposal to Mr. Hampton: forfeit your salary this year. Give the money back to the team. You certainly haven't earned it. The team certainly could use it. Be the team player-- take this one for the team, and then come back next year and earn the bucks Atlanta is paying you.

Hampton's Season is Over.....Again

The hopes of a healthy Mike Hampton return for 2007 have been vanished away. His season is now done as he will have surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in his elbow. The outlook is that he will not be able to throw again for atleast 6-9 months. Hampton is still due $15M for 2008. The reality is that Mike just needs to retire. He's tried coming back and it hasn't worked out. This is a big dissapointment for Braves fans yet again. Some people are fed up with the guy because he's making soo much money that could be used elsewhere. If Mike was bringing in $2M a year; it wouldn't be as bad, but he's taking up 16.5% of the entire payroll and that's what most people see.

Atop of the Division.....for Today

Toppled the Mets for the first time in a over a year Sunday. I believe it was the first time since April 6th, 2006 that a team other than the Mets were in 1st of the NL East. This was a good series that allowed the Braves to gather some momentum and say "hey, we can play with these guys, there not supermen."

Kyle Davies pitched better than most probably anticipated yesterday. Brian McCann and Frenchie came through in the 8th, while Wicky brought it home in the 9th. Today is an off day before Atlanta will host a three game series again the Nats before the weekend matchup with the Marlins. Here's your probables:

Tues: Hudson (0-0) 1.29 vs. Chico (0-0) 13.50
Wed: James (1-0) 1.80 vs. Williams (0-1) 6.00
Thurs: Redman (0-1) 7.94 vs. Bergmann (0-1) 9.82

From the looks of it, it would seem that this should be some easy W's for the Braves. Last year the Nats weren't very good, and this year there worse. Washington's SP is pretty sad. They have sent packing 3 of their starting 5 from last season: Armas, Hernandez, and Ramon Ortiz. Those guys have been the usual suspects the Braves have faced in recent history during the Montreal/Wash. era. Either way the Nats play the Braves tough, and hopefully we'll sweep right through them. Maybe in this series Andruw will find his bat.

Home Opener: Braves vs. Mets Preview

The titans will clash tonight at the Ted. We've just underway with the season and already the fight for the division is in full swing. The Braves sweeping the Phils yesterday was sweet and from that series we've seen some improvements in this year's team. The bullpen has been able to keep the team in the game while the bats came out to play yesterday. The Mets already have a big ego coming into the season and they took it out on the Redbirds whom as your already aware knocked them out of the NLCS last year. The Braves and Mets is a good baseball rivalry. We can't stand the Mets, and the Mets can't stand us.

Before the year nobody would have guessed that Mark Redman would be starting the home opener for the Braves in 2007, but he will be. Redman will take the hill against Oliver Perez. At one time Perez was a top pitching prospect for the Padres who as apart of the Brian Giles deal to the Pirates. Since his 2004 239K season, he's gone downhill. He's now become a pet project for the Mets. We'll see tonight if the Braves can turn this project into a failure!!

Saturday it's Smoltz vs. Glavine. This is a classic battle of old field generals. Many Braves fans hoped for a return of Glavine to Atlanta this offseason, but once again he stuck with the Mets. Regardless, the Braves have had more success against Glavine since he went to NY. Smoltz pitched well on Opening Day and hopes to keep it up against our divisional foes.

Kyle Davies is back replacing the injured Lance Cormier in the rotation. Davies will start Sunday against El Duque. This is a big game for Kyle. He's been working on a different delivery and hopes to gain the success again he found during his big league debut. Here's your probables:

Fri: Redman (0-0) 0.00 vs. Perez (0-0) 0.00
Sat: Smoltz (0-0) 4.50ERA vs. Glavine (1-0) 1.50ERA
Sun: Davies (0-0) 0.00 vs. Hernandez (1-0) 1.29 ERA

Is Francisco Rodriguez cheating?

I had to post about this. Around the world of blogs a story is going around about the mysterious substance under the bill of K-Rod aka Francisco Rodriguez's Angels cap. Apparently, the Texas Rangers have filed a complaint with MLB concerning this. If you haven't read about it already, K-Rod constantly touches the tip of his cap rubbing his thumb in that general location where the white area is. Camera evidence shows a white something under the bill. Is it rosin, sweat, something guey?

The guy's been pitching for about 4 years and is a pretty good closer. I wouldn't think anything would come out of this unless some team requests a cap change next time he's on the mound. What does everyone else think? Could this be something legit or is it just a stink raised by opponets that have trouble against him.

More Extra Excitement!!!

Atlanta does it again!! Another extra inning affair with the Phillies leads to another victory for the Braves. Brian McCann blasts one in the 9th, while Thorman teed off in the 11th. Tim Hudson pitched a good game only allowing 2 hits and 1 run while the bullpen stood strong throughout. I've got a feeling we won't be seeing Ryan Madson in the game today. Speaking of today, there's a day game on tap. Atlanta will send Chuck James to square off against Adam Eaton @ 3:05ET.

Miller's Annoyances

I couldn't help but notice for the 117th time that ESPN's Jon Miller keeps pronouncing Carlos Beltran's last name as Bel-tron. Has anyone told this guy it's Bel-tran! Or am I completely wrong and most people just mispronounce his name?

You may recall last year, Wilson Betemit was pronounced as Bet-a-meat from Miller. Once again is saying Bet-e-mit the incorrect pronounciation? Give me a break!

Stat of the day: Day 2 of this young baseball season has Edgar Renteria tied for the league lead in HR's with 2.

I just wikied Jon Miller and read this: [Jon Miller seems to take pride in pronouncing the names of players correctly. For example, when pronouncing Carlos Beltrán, he tends to put the majority of emphasis on the "A" of Beltrán, as the accent denotes. Instead of following how most announcers would pronounce foreign names, Miller takes the time to ask the player how his name is pronounced so that he can say it with the correct pronunciation.]

In the end, I guess Miller is right.

Opening Day Results: Atlanta 5 Philadelphia 3

Where the bullpen has fallen apart in times past became strong today as the Braves beat the Phillies 5-3 in 10 innings. Edgar Renteria blasted 2 HR's and had 3 RBI's including the game winning runs. Brian McCann also went yard earlier in the day off Myers. John Smoltz pitched threw about 100 times giving up 3 runs on 8 hits while striking out 7. Chad Paronto got the save while Wicky picked up the W. These two will square off again Wed.

Opening Day is finally here!

Yeah, yeah, I know; the 2007 season "officially" began last night. Not to me. For my money, today's the real Opening Day. The day baseball fans are compelled to skip school or work, plop down on the sofa, and watch multiple baseball games. All. Day. Long.

The Braves open in Philly with a three game series:

Monday, April 2: John Smoltz vs. Brett Myers, 1:05 pm

Wednesday, April 4: Tim Hudson vs. Cole Hamels, 7:05 pm

Thursday, April 5: Chuck James vs. Adam Eaton, 3:05 pm

Where's my DVD?

I've noticed that Major League Baseball over the last few years have been releasing DVD's commemorating World Series champions and certain team's most memorable games. What about the Braves? Where's my complete 1995 World Series dvd set? I've always wanted to have a monster dvd set of classic Braves games. You know, the ones that stand out the most especially over the last 16 years. Highlights would be okay, but I would like the entire game/series to be included in the package. That's probably too much to ask for, right? For instance, the 1996 NLCS Game 7 would have to be a must on my dvd. The Braves absolutely demolished the Cards 15-0, Andruw's 2 blasts against the Yanks, even Francoeur's first HR would be cool to see again. There's just too many moments/games to mention but certainly a dvd to reflect on these times would be nice. What does everyone else think?

Justice to enter Braves HOF

This year the Braves Hall of Fame will be inducting only one person and that inductee will be David Justice. The festivities will be held August 17th when the Braves play the D'backs. David Justice made some lasting memories while a Brave, the WS HR, NL ROY, etc. There's quite a number of Braves fans out there that still regret JS for sending him off. You may recall this statement coming from Justice:

"I love the Braves, so when John Schuerholz looked me in my face and told me "I bet my house and my family that you won't be traded" that's good enough confidence for me coming from a General Manager, 1 week later GONE."

Afterwards, Justice continued to have success with the Indians and Yankees before finishing his career in 2002 with the A's. I'm assuming the relationship between Justice and Schuerholz is for the better now. I'm glad to see DJ receive this honor. He definitely was a great strength for those early 90's championship teams.

Hooray Computer!

So I'm back online now after my trusty 'puter received a total beat-down from a storm about five weeks ago. The lightning strike caused actual physical damage to my hard drive and various other internal components. I was afraid I'd need to purchase a new one, but she's been rebuilt and brought back from the dead, much like The-Six-Million-Dollar Man (and at only a third of the price).

I've been out of the information loop for a while: I hear we've got some type of "spring" training going on? And a baseball season is about to begin in a scant few days?

Braves trade Pena to Royals

A favor between friends? The Royals are looking for a SS and the Braves come calling. Brave utility IF Tony Pena, Jr was traded from Atlanta to Kansas City this afternoon. In return the Braves received pitcher Erik Cordier. Cordier will not be available this year as he is just coming off TJ surgery. Pena isn't known for his offensive skills, but is a good defensive infielder plus he can snag a few bases.

Brian McCann is in for 6!!

Coming at rather a suprise the Braves signed Brian McCann to a 6/$27.8M deal yesterday. Signing players before there even close to touching free agency is something teams are favoring these days. This is good. McCann's contract consists of a $12M club option for 2013. Atlanta is trying to do the same with Jeff Francoeur.

Could have beens

I just want to get some opinions on who do you think could have been awesome as a Brave, but was either traded or released before their prime. I can already guess of whom some of you are thinking of.

Jason Schmidt **remember Denny Neagle
Jermaine Dye ** Tucker/Lockhart anyone
Tony Graffanino **released because he wasn't very good
Jason Marquis **Look Below
Adam Wainwright **Had to land J.D. Drew
Zach Miner **Needed to rent Farnsworthless for a year
Joe Borowski **penhand during tenure, but didn't emerge until '03 and reemerged in '06
Danny Bautista **Used as a fourth OF, but couldn't do much when played
Odalis Perez **Helped acquire G. Sheff

From the list, who would you have liked to remain in a Brave uni today?

Hampton throws and....

he feels pain free. Mike tossed a 50 pitch bullpen session yesterday and didn't find a pain in the world. He claimed to have felt real good. From here, Hampton will throw another session Saturday. More than likely he will make some rehab appearences in April before hopefully returning in May.

A Few Notes

The Braves will continue play tommorrow against the Nats. Get ready for a platoon in left, as their hasn't been a clear winner named yet. I'm guessing that Langerhans/Wilson will share the playing time. Langerhans has had a fantastic Spring and is the best defensive player of the bunch. Lance Cormier continues to be groomed for the rotation. He is 3-0 1.29ERA thus far, but I think is headed for Triple A to begin the year. The team should start announcing more assignments and cuts later this week. FYI, Steven notified me last week that his computer blew up and he's waiting for it to be repaired. That's why we haven't seen him post since the middle of Feb. He might be back this week for an update.

NCAA Bracketology

Well this past weekend my attention went towards the annual NCAA Tournament. After the weekend's games I have 12/16 teams in the Sweet 16. All of my Final Four are still in the hunt. For the final I have Ohio State and UCLA, with Ohio State winning it all. If I could go back now, I would have picked Kansas to be in the final 2. There looking tough to beat. The Xavier/OSU game was craaazzyy!! I hope that you were able to watch that one. Florida looks to have the easiest path to the Final Four, but will they make it? Who do you have going all the way?