Braves still have work to do

we should include kotsay in a trade for Bay and put blanco in center until schafer is ready. then we should use the money vacated by tex to sign sheets/cc/lackey. who could we get in return for ohman??

I say keep Kotsay, package one of the stud OFs, Schaeffer,Anderson, or Jones with Ohman to get a PWR hitting OF. I agree with the vacated $ though, CC or Lackey as a #1. Also dont be intimidated to let Francours name be thrown out there as trade bait for a #3 starter.

i agree. dont forget we will also have hudson coming back sometime and smoltz possibly but you never know what he might do. if hudson and smoltz are healthy and we sign cc we would have a dominant 1-2-3-4 punch with
1.CC
2.Smoltz (maybe, maybe not {health})
3.Hudson
4.Jurjjens
5.Campillo??
and then we have a dominant back end of the pen with gonzo and soriano but we have to resign soriano. of course, a lot of that will depend on the health of smoltz and hudson, who might have to have tommy john.
but we REALLY need to trade for bay-give up b.jones, lillibridge, 2 class-a prospects. we could have a dominant lineup too.
1.Blanco CF
2.Yunel SS
3.Chipper 3B
4.Bay LF
5.McCann C
6.Kotchman 1B
7.Francouer RF
8.Johnson 2B

First of all im a braves fans for life since i saw them for the first time since i was 5 at pro player stadium puttin a beating on the Marlins. But, John smoltz is the man but he needs to go (retire). he is a legit #2 starter at best but he has landed on the DL non stop, Hudson for now is the man he will bounce back. But we need to invest more on pitching than hitting. the braves made their run with pitching in the past. We have too much of a great farm system to try to invest on so much hitting when your bullpen overall is weak for the past 3 years. WE need pitching John Lackey will make a perfect fit in the rotation. and if possible they should get greedy and invest on Ben Sheets too. But we need to trade off Kotsay and try to receive a better hitting outfielder with POWER to back Chipper up thrown in Francour in the mix too we have plenty of prospects who can easily replace Kotsay and Francour the Braves have the money to Invest so they should get the spending.

Just give up Brandon Jones. We're desperate!

I think the braves should trade kotsay,b.jones,lilibridge for bay, grabow.

the pirates will want more than that if you include grabow

I dont know anout u braves fans bu tim feelin good about next season. CC or sheets and bay and a few minor leaguers. If Smoltz and hudson are healthy, and you can book us into the playoffs. Holliday might also be an option.

You never know what Andrew Friedman will do.
Maybe he will package a deal with Atlanta and Pittsburgh and move about 6 players.
Bay to Atlanta, with Franecour coming to the Rays.
Will Ohlman to Tampa Bay and send Jeremy Hellickson and Juan Salas to Atlanta.
And send Gabe Gross and Reid Brignac to Pittsburgh to seal the deal.
With Rocco also maybe coming back as soon as Sat., the Rays would be stacked pretty tight for the playoff run.

But this is just my dream deal.........................maybe

CC would be the best because the best need a consistent lefty, who knows if glavine will be back and jojo reyes has yet to prove to be a consistent starter at the major league level, but i feel like they are gonna get sheets instead, cuz he is gonna be the cheaper option. but with bay they are gonna have to really blow them out of the water to get past tampa bay. the pirates are still interested in lillibridge, who they developed on their own. jones is most likely gonna go because he is the most capable of replacing bay in left field. after that who knows

sounds good from my point of view (Braves). but i dont know if wren would be keen on moving francouer when he is only 24 and coming out of his slump. i dont know. pretty much any deal with bay coming to ATL sounds good. he could make up for the power lost in tex and hes cheaper. and i agree darion

bravesman218 got the lineup/rotation down perfect with 2 exceptions. smolts will not be starting for the braves next year. if he is healthy he will wind up as a reliever. and i have strong faith that schafer will be ready next year to play center field for atlanta but thats still 50-50. and dont give up on francouer, he is only 24 years old, won a gold glove last year and demonstrated good offensive power, all players go through a slump sometime throughout their career i know he'll figure it out. i think the braves should go and get a #3 type pitcher like roy oswalt for next year along with cc/sheets/lackey.

I hated to see Tex go but Kotchman will do great things in Atl. I think. Also I know that everyone believes that by trading him that the braves have waived the white flag. I have not seen ny phil or fla put us away for good just yet. We are 8.5 down howver there are 2 months left to play and we all remember the rockies effort a year ago and with a few weeks left not a few months. Im a diehard braves fan and Im realistic however despite hudson if we can get bmac and chip back and a possible jason bay do not count atl out just yet. It will be a monumental hill to climb but lets face it we are in a weak division and thats why we are still breathing. The only one officially out is washington and maybe i sound stupid but im not ready to give in just yet. Having said all that a starting pitcher would be nice to get to accompany jair and campillo which have been phenomenal and what about fuentes at closer for ohman and some prospects.

the brave will never trade jeff francouer i just joined this blog and most of the comments on the braves has been dump him this is very annoying to me the guys in a slump and people call him trash, look at his past numbers and his gold glove and his cannon arm he's 24 yearsold he's just having a slump his contract is up thats probley some of the cause and he's been pressing hard cause of all the injures to the team. as for jason bay i cross my fingers but rumer has it he might be going to the rays. we need pitching badley

Why don't the Braves fans push for the front office to bring Leo Mazzone back? The Braves haven't sniffed the postseason since 2005, which was Leo's last season. He said that leaving ATL was the biggest mistake of his life. Roger McDowell isn't getting the job done. Bobby Cox and Leo Mazzone worked well together. Neither won without the other after Leo left. He said he should have taken less money to stay with the Braves because he was happy there. Why not bring him back? Leo got more out of players with less talent that about anyone in baseball.

I say the Braves up the ante with the Bay deal by giving up Brandon Jones, Brent Lillibridge, class AA and A pitching prospects. The contracts of Hampton, Tex, possibly Ohman (trade/FA), Smoltz and Glavine (Retirement?), and maybe Kotsay (Trade???) equals out to 58 million. Thats good cash to get Bay (above), pitching in the offseason (Big time SP and some RP), and to sign a quality, starting 2B (Johnson will become a backup next year). I see Frank Wren going out and getting a quality starter, corner OF, and some mid-relievers. Second base is not a necessary position to fill, but if a guy like Orlando Hudson is available and you got the money I don't see why not. I have faith and hope (mainly hope) that Frank Wren will do better in the offseason than Schuerholz has in the past.

Oh i agree bring leo back! That was the biggest mistake weve made in recent years.

That may equal out to 58 million, but there are players that are due raises next year. Francoeur, Soriano, Gonzo to name a few are those that are getting more money. AtlantaBraves.com said that with those contracts up and them having to pay those players more, the Braves will actually have closer to 40 million to spend in FA, which is still a good bit of money. Bay would get around 7.5 million, sheets/cc/lackey would get a huge contract, maybe around 15-20 million. That would leave them with 10-15 million to spend, but I agree with going after Bay and an ace. Braves need a facelift.

i think the braves need to get bay and then use the money that we will have to get an ace during the winter. but we really need bay. we dont need fuentes because we already have a dominant lefty closer in Gonzo and a pretty good setup man in Soriano. all we need is bay, some middle relief, and then sign a pitcher during the offseason. i dont know why the braves wont budge on giving up b.jones and lillibridge for bay. we could resign bay and have him in left and there is no spot for lillibridge with esky getting it done. and i think mcdowells doing a great job with what hes got. with all the injuries he hasnt had a lot to work with this year and yet the braves are 5th in bullpen era this year.

i agree with you ryanw1814. i like kelly but if hudson is available go for it!! is he in the last year of his contract with AZ? but i do think smoltz will be back and i dont think the braves will give frenchy a huge raise if any raise at all

The Braves, yes, still need to trade more, for thje future of course. Unfortunately they will need to trade one of their best pitchers, Will Ohman, but they will get good players back. Now, if they include some of their own prospects, in addition to Ohman, man that is one heck of a package that the ATL Braves can receive. That would make the Braves' future far better that it did/does.
Braves, give up some of your prospects, like you were going to do for Bay, which was an excellent move, just add a little more and you have him. And, give up some other prospects, if needed, in order to get a wonderful package from another team, in the trade of Ohman.
Please Braves, DO NOT SCREW UP!!!!! GET GOOD PLAYERS AND PROSPECTS FOR THE PRESENT AND FOR THE FUTURE!!!!!

DO NOT GIVE UP ON BAY!!!!!

DO NOT GIVE UP ON BAY!!!!!

i agree bulldawgsfootball completely

I do think the braves should trade to get Bay They really need some power in the the OF and really excited seeing Kotchman a brave now and whoever brought up Kotchman being traded to the braves congrats u was right on the money. Please Bring Bay to ATL.

we have to get bay but it looks like a deal is already done to send bay to boston. whatever. big mistake by wren not getting bay. huge mistake. now we should at least look into holliday.

Yes we do need a little more power in our lineup. Bay would be a good player to bolster down left field to take away the platoon with Diaz and Blanco. If the deal does happen and Kotsay gets traded, Blanco is the logical option for center field in the case of Jordan Schafer not being ready for the majors. But about the Bay deal , we shouldnt give up 1 or any pitching prospects. With Hudson and Smoltz coming upon serious injuries and the sub par Hampton that " I HOPE" leaves with free agency... There is no telling what the main portion of the pitching rotation will look like. Jurrjens might be the ace by spring training if the braves dont sign an ace like C.C., Ben Sheets, or John Lackey. But OVERALL THE BRAVES DEFINATELY NEED A HUGE MAKEOVER.

I have been a braves fan for 34 years and I was very sad to see that Tex was traded, but I agree that the braves need to make the deal for Jason Bay, and as for Johnson being a backup, no way, he is a very good player and has come a long way. As for Frenchy, come on people he is just going through a slump, every player goes through them, I really think that Frenchy will get through it and be the productive player we all know he can be. I love the lineup that rblainea7 came up with. We all know that the braves really need a ace pitcher and possibly one other starter to get back to the post season.

I gave the wrong person credit for the lineup, sorry I guess it way bravesman218 that left that brilliant lineup.

Can anyone else say Michah Owings for Jeff Francoeur

I can, I again point out that we have too many starters, and we can't win a division with Alex Romero as our starter,(even after that ridiculous catch!!!) And Francour would fit perfectly as long as he plays right or Young goes to right.

Again i think i have a way that trade could work this year everything stays the same unless we trade Tracy(hopefully we do! for a big bat) That was an amazing catch but face it Alex Romero isnt starter material just yet good 4th outfielder. Our Lineup this year would be.
Drew SS
Young CF
Hudson 2B
Jackson LF
Tracy 1B
Reynolds 3B
Francoeur RF
Synder C
Pitcher Spot

Next year what would we do with Francoeur with Upton back and Bynres? Easy move Upton back to his original position of 2B which i think he used to play before the D'Backs switched him to OF because of Hudson. Well Hudson leaves via FA we use money to Get a BIG BAT and our lineup looks like.BTW Trade Brynes!
Drew SS
Young CF
BIG BAT 1B
Jackson LF
Reynolds 3B
Francoeur RF
Upton 2B
Montero C
Pitcher

now that would be the kind of line-up, and of course our rotation that will make us like the team of 2001!

Oh Ya with Scherzer instead of Petit

But Our Pen would blow all of our leads

Francoeur aint moving you people are nutz

well the braves are going to get a power left fielder bat via free agency or a trade, the talks could be bay or dunn or even maybe holliday(we can all pray), but bay is rumored like earlier said to be possibly heading to boston in a three team trade, also they are going to go after a ace like starter pitcher, the only thing is sheets gets hurt and cc is out of shape so ur pick between these guys and lackey and lackey has been hurt as well, so we will have to pray that all ends well with that situation, also with next year coming up we will have a dominant 8th and 9th inning guys with moylan and gonzalez respectively, i am not sold yet if they are going to resign soriano with his injuries, they may just try to trade for another guy, the weakness next year in the pen will be a lefty quality if they trade ohman, which they should do to get max value, and the lineup should be good, i mean guys francuoeur is 24, he had a slump the first in his life, i don't think this will continue cus he is working to fix it, i mean he is a heck of an outfielder, with a bullpen with moylan and gonzalez healthy is devastating, offense with names like chipper, mccann, escobar, francuoeur(he was like 2nd in baseball last year in two out rbis), and a guy the get in free agency in left (bay, dunn, holliday,???), sets up very well, then a rotation with either (cc, lackey, sheets,), with a healthy hudson(we can pray), jurrjens, campillo, (smoltz, glavine) who knows, we've seen weirder things, it looks bright, one thing i like is that frank wren has shown he is going to make an attempt all out to better the braves, i got sick of schuerholz sitting back and the fans never knowing what he was thinking

i agree, schuerholz was always givin the credit of being such a great GM i dont know where they got this idea... i like what wren has done so far to limit the damage that the teixeira deal with the rangers did and how he is getting max compinsation for ohman... hopefully he doesnt let me (and all other braves fans) down.

I wish the Nats were in selling mood about Tim Redding, I like to see him suit up in a Braves uniform. Maybe give a couple of prospects and hed be a descent no2 or no3 starter. I just hope the deal braves are doing about Ohman will bring some talent in but I really would hate to see him go.

I have been a Braves fan for almost 20 years. I hate to see the team return to the lousy form they displayed prior to the Smolz, Glavine, Avery, and Maddux years. I realize
that this year is a lost cause, but please do what you can
to make this team a contender in 2009. Pursue some decent piching during the Winter. This season has been
so disappointing. Hopefully, the organization will receive
a fair shake in the inevitable Will Ohman trade.

When does Mike Hampton's contract expire? Talk about a lousy investment!

Hampton's contract is up after this season so hopefully they will trade him before the sason is over.as for getting Jason Bay that would be great but if not maybe getting Holliday during the winter be nice also.getting good starting pitching is a key also,and sharpen up the bullpen is a must.

It doesnt make any sense that over the years that the braves havent been a high spending team and John schuerholz decides to go out and trade for mike hampton when he was with the Rockies. His contract was 8 years 151 million dollars!
I never even heard much about him before he came to the braves!

Bay is from Canada he doesnt want to stay in ATLANTA!?!?!?