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Posted 06/05/2009 at 12:27 PM
It was quite a busy Wednesday for the Atlanta Braves.
Release the winningest active pitcher in baseball? Check.
Trade for an All-Star and Gold Glove center fielder? Check.
Call up one of the top three pitching prospects in all of baseball and stick him in your rotation? Check.
Indeed, the Braves, currently third in the National League East, have at least changed things up on a team that has been hovering around .500 all season.
The first move Wednesday was a shocker, as the Braves cut Tom Glavine, the two-time Cy Young Award winner. That caused quite a stir among many in baseball, saying Glavine deserved to at least end his career with the franchise he helped turn into one of baseball’s perennial winners.
Now, Glavine pitched just 13 games last year before injuries caught up to him, and he has yet to pitch in the majors this season as he rehabs from elbow and shoulder surgeries. If he had been activated by the now-cost-conscious Braves, he was due a $1 million roster bonus and an additional $1.25 million each after 30 and 60 days on the roster. But the Braves say their decision to not even give him a look with the big club was because his performance in the minors didn’t warrant it.
"Our evaluation was that he would not be successful at the major-league level," general manager Frank Wren said to reporters. "Our view over the course of the last month was that he has not improved."
Another reason for the move, no doubt, was so Glavine wouldn’t be taking up a spot the Braves wanted to give top pitching prospect Tommy Hanson. He will make his major-league debut Saturday against the Brewers. In Triple-A, Hanson’s stats were just silly: 1.49 ERA,.169 opponents’ batting average, 90 strikeouts and just 17 walks in 66 1/3 innings.
So, yes, he probably is a better option than a 43-year-old Glavine would have been.
And the Braves weren’t done. They acquired 2008 All-Star and Gold Glover Nate McLouth from the Pirates in one of those annual Pittsburgh salary dumps. McLouth will be a major upgrade for arguably the worst outfield in baseball. Rookie Jordan Schafer wasn’t cutting it in center and was sent down, while McLouth is hitting .256 with nine homers, 34 RBI and seven steals. His nine home runs are more than fellow outfielders Garret Anderson and Jeff Francoeur combined, and he has the best stolen-base percentage in baseball since 2005; Atlanta has an MLB-worst 12 steals this season.
Last season, McLouth hit 26 home runs and stole 23 bases, had an NL-leading 46 doubles and led NL center fielders with a .997 fielding percentage. No doubt the Pirates asked for Hanson in the trade (he’s untouchable), but Atlanta got McLouth for three good but not stellar prospects.
So what does this mean for the Braves? They definitely have the pitching to contend, but other than Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, maybe Yunel Escobar and now McLouth, the offense still is lousy.
Watch to see how Hanson fares in his first start or two before forming any long-term opinions on this team's future, but Atlanta remains the third-best team in the division and will be in a large number of low-scoring affairs.
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