Atlanta Braves Trade Deadline Report

The Atlanta Braves had quite a busy trade deadline. They made a huge move in acquiring Texas Rangers' 1B Mark Teixeira. For the Braves this is the biggest mid-season trade since 1993 when the Braves acquired 1B Fred McGriff from the San Diego Padres. The Teixeira trade goes down on paper like this:

Braves Acquire
1B Mark Teixeira
LHP Ron Mahay

Rangers Acquire
C Jarrod Saltalamacchia
SS Elvis Andrus (Minor Leaguer)
LHP Matt Harrison (Minor Leaguer)
LHP Beau Jones (Minor Leaguer)
RHP Neftali Perez (Minor Leaguer)

I really like this trade. Teixeira will be placed into the cleanup spot in the lineup and is a force and should get Chipper Jones some more pitches to hit. He will also allow Andruw to get some more pitches to hit. The Braves lineup is clearly the best in the NL now with this trade. The Braves lineup will look like this now:

Braves Lineup
1. Willie Harris LF
2. Edgar Renteria SS
3. Chipper Jones 3B
4. Mark Teixeira 1B
5. Andruw Jones CF
6. Brian McCann C
7. Jeff Francoeur RF
8. Kelly Johnson 2B

Another trade made was this trade:

Braves Acquire
RHP Octavio Dotel

Royals Acquire
RHP Kyle Davies

I like this trade also. Kyle Davies gets a chance for a fresh start with the Royals and will be placed into the starting rotation right away. Dotel has postseason experience and is a flame thrower that will serve in a setup role in the 7th or 8th inning. And third and final the Braves made this trade:

Braves Acquire
LHP Royce Ring

Padres Acquire
LHP Wilfredo Ledezma
LHP Will Startup (Minor Leaguer)

This was another good trade by John Schueholz. Ledezma was acquired for Macay McBride back in June in hopes that the Braves would be able to use him in a starter's role hoping he would be more effective. That never happened has the Braves didn't have the chance needing his left arm in the bullpen to try to get out lefties. He struggled mightly giving up runs in half of his 12 appearances and was designated for assignment last Sunday. Will Startup had around a 2 ERA at Triple-A Richmond this year and seems likely to become a very good bullpen guy in the future. The Braves received Royce Ring who had a 1.99 ERA for the Padres at Triple-A this year. Ring has big league experience with the Mets and Padres and could help the Braves in Atlanta later on this year if the situation calls for it. For now he is gonna serve time at Triple-A Richmond.

Atlanta Braves Trade Rumors

I visit http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/ to find all the trade rumors I can involving the Braves. Some trade rumors are completely bogus and some are more believable. The trick is to find out which ones to believe and which ones to ignore. Here are some trade rumors involving the Braves.

• The Braves apparently won't give up Yunel Escobar or Jarrod Saltalamacchia to get Mark Teixeira. Neither of 'em. No doubt John Schuerholz will spend the next ten days trying to get Jon Daniels to settle for less.


• Beyond the Cubs, Graziano lists the Braves, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks as teams interested in pitcher Zack Greinke. If the initial asking price for Octavio Dotel was as high as reported, I can't imagine what Dayton Moore would want for Greinke.


• The Braves are trying to deal for southpaw reliever C.J. Wilson of the Rangers. The 26 year-old has an undeserved 2.81 ERA right now. His control has been worse this year, so he'd have to remain unhittable to be effective.


• Zack Greinke is admittedly a long shot to be traded, but that doesn't mean teams aren't asking all the time. The Braves connection is obvious. Stark says John Schuerholz is getting very aggressive and creative trying to improve his team. Two prospects on the block are Elvis Andrus and Dan Smith.