Braves' News Tidbits

[ATLien]

Should not trade Betemit.

[General]

Especially for Proctor/anyone on the Yankees.

[General]

Jason Shiell surrendered three runs in five innings Thursday in a loss to the Marlins.
All three runs scored in the second, an inning which featured Matt Treanor's second career homer. Shiell, who is 0-7 with a 7.00 ERA, might make one more start before John Thomson comes off the DL next month.

Jorge Sosa left Thursday's game in the ninth inning with an apparent back injury.
Ken Ray replaced him. Sosa retired the first hitter he faced before leaving in the middle of an at-bat.

Chipper Jones is out of the starting lineup for Thursday's game because his strained left oblique is more of a problem when he's swinging from the right side.
The Braves have Wilson Betemit starting at third base against left-hander Scott Olsen

Kyle Davies (groin) took fielding practice on Wednesday for the first time since he injured his groin in May.
Davies is scheduled to throw a two inning simulated game on Friday and then begin a several game minor league rehab assignment. He is expected to return to the Braves' rotation around mid-August.

Andruw Jones and Adam LaRoche hit solo homers in the bottom of the eighth to lead the Braves to a 6-5 win over Marlins on Wednesday night.
Jones' homer off Logan Kensing tied it, and LaRoche delivered the go-ahead blast off Taylor Tankersley, making a winner of John Smoltz. LaRoche finished 3-for-3 with a walk in the game. He's hitting .386 with seven homers and 18 RBI in 18 games during July.

Ryan Langerhans went 3-for-3 with a double and was walked intentionally Wednesday against the Marlins.
Langerhans was 0-for-17 since the break before collecting two hits yesterday. With five hits in two games, he might be on his way to earning himself more playing time in left field.

[General]

Jarrod Saltalamacchia homered twice and drove in six runs Thursday for Double-A Mississippi.
Salty is swinging the bat much better since returning from a hand injury on July 15, making us wonder just how much trouble the problem was giving him before he went on the DL last month. If he can finish strong, he'll continue to be viewed as the game's top catching prospect entering 2007

Chipper Jones, who sat out Thursday's game to rest his sore oblique, will play all three games of this weekend's series against the Mets.
Jones ended his 20-game hit streak on Wednesday. During the streak he hit .512 (42-for-82) with 18 extra-base hits (eight home runs) and 24 RBIs.

Jorge Sosa was forced from Thursday's game in the ninth inning due to flu-like symptoms.
Sosa has been sick for several days and the 90-degree heat was more than he could take. He's day-to-day.

[General]

Kyle Davies (groin) said he feels ready to begin a rehab assignment following a two-inning simulated game on Friday.
Davies will probably throw two innings in a game in a few days. He'll probably require at least three rehab starts before rejoining Atlanta's rotation.

[General]

Chipper Jones is again day-to-day after aggravating a strained left oblique in Friday's game.
The Braves let Chipper rush his return on Wednesday, though he actually wanted to return on Tuesday. He'll probably give it another try this weekend, but he could be day-to-day for quite some time.

Horacio Ramirez was hit hard for five runs on seven hits in just 3 1/3 innings against the Mets tonight.
He walked five and struck out one. The outing could have been worse for the left-hander, but reliever Chad Paronto stranded a pair of runners after Ramirez left in the fourth. Tonight's acquisition of Danys Baez will help the club make a run at the wild card, but there are six teams that have as many or more wins than Atlanta and aren't currently slotted for a playoff spot. They certainly have an uphill battle, and a run at the division title seems quite unlikely.

Willy Aybar was traded from the Dodgers to the Braves in a three-player deal.
Aybar will replace Wilson Betemit as insurance at second and third for the Braves. He's a downgrade defensively, but he can hit and he will hold his own if he's needed to play regularly. The negative is that he can't serve as a backup shortstop. Pete Orr also isn't much of a shortstop, so the Braves will have to go to Tony Pena Jr. if they ever lose Edgar Renteria. Aybar is a weaker play in NL-only leagues with the trade.

Braves acquired RHP Danys Baez and infielder Willy Aybar from the Dodgers for infielder Wilson Betemit.
A mistake from Braves GM John Schuerholtz. Baez has been mediocre at best this year and the Braves are only likely to have him for two months. It is nice that they get some added Chipper Jones insurance in Aybar, but they're still likely to regret losing Betemit, both in the short- and the long-term. Baez isn't going to have any additional fantasy value while setting up in Atlanta. He's no more likely to close than he was in Los Angeles.

[General]

Braves recalled shortstop Tony Pena Jr. from Triple-A Richmond.
This could be just a one-day move until Willy Aybar reports. With Chipper Jones sitting out because of a strained oblique, the Braves couldn't afford to play shorthanded in the infield.

[General]

According to Braves broadcaster Skip Caray, Chipper Jones could miss a couple of weeks after aggravating his strained left oblique in Friday's game.
Well, it's a good think they have Wilson Betemit backing him up. Actually, Willy Aybar should be OK in that role, though it is a downgrade. If Chipper goes on the DL, then the Braves will probably keep Tony Pena Jr. in the majors after Aybar reports Sunday.

[General]

Chipper Jones will go on the DL prior to Sunday's game in order to rest his strained left oblique.
Jones originally sustained the injury on July 21 and had missed four of the previous five games before aggravating the injury on Friday. Willy Aybar will take over as the Braves' starting third baseman, and Tony Pena Jr. will hang around to act as a utilityman.

The newly acquired Willy Aybar is likely to play regularly at third base for the next couple of weeks as Chipper Jones rests a strained oblique.
Aybar should be well worth using in NL-only leagues while Jones is out. He plans to report in time for Sunday's game.

[General]

Tim Hudson gave up a career high-tying nine runs in 5 2/3 innings Saturday in a loss to the Mets.
Hudson allowed nine earned runs in a game two other times, most recently on May 4, 2002. His ERA is back over 5.00 now, and he hasn't allowed fewer than four runs in a start June 10. Odds are that he's going to remain a mediocre pitcher for the rest of the year.

[General]

Willy Aybar went 4-for-6 with two RBI in his Braves' debut on Sunday.
All four hits were singles and he was caught stealing in the game, but it was an encouraging debut. The Braves' hit Aybar leadoff today, followed by Marcus Giles, Edgar Renteria, Andruw Jones, Jeff Francoeur, Brian McCann, Matt Diaz, and Adam LaRoche. Since Aybar entered the game just 1-for-15 against left-handers on the season, it was quite the surprise to see him batting leadoff versus Tom Glavine. His value would increase a good deal if he continues to bat atop the order with Chipper Jones out. Make sure he's owned in all NL-only formats.

Chuck James was rocked for seven runs while recording just three outs against the Mets on Sunday in a game the Braves would eventually lose 10-6.
Good thing the Braves traded for Danys Baez, who did an excellent job of keeping the deficit at three runs by pitching a scoreless eighth today. The loss means the Braves were swept by the Mets this weekend, the first time that's happened in a series of three or more games since 1985. Considering that the Braves usually dominate the Mets and that Atlanta is now 16 games out in the NL East, this series could be seen as the definitive moment in which the Braves' amazing run finally ends.

Braves placed third baseman Chipper Jones on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 29, with a strained left oblique.
Jones aggravated his injury in Friday's game. Atlanta will go with Willy Aybar at third base for the next two or three weeks.


Braves transferred outfielder Brian Jordan from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list.
Jordan will be eligible to return from a fractured clavicle in mid-August, but he probably won't be activated until September and he shouldn't have a significant role then.

Braves designated RHP Jorge Sosa for assignment.
It's hard to imagine Sosa clearing waivers. He'll probably be traded to a non-contender. That he went 13-3 with a 2.55 ERA in 2005 remains fresh in some teams' memories.

[General]

Braves acquired RHP Rich Scalamandre from the Cardinals for RHP Jorge Sosa.
Scalamandre, 25, had a 4.43 ERA in 44 relief appearances between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis. His stuff is no better than average, but he's had enough success against left-handed hitters in the minors to suggest that he might of some use in the middle innings.

Andruw Jones won't be traded to Boston with the Red Sox uninterested in giving up Coco Crisp, Jon Lester and Craig Hansen for him, says the Boston Globe's Gordon Edes.
There have been no additional discussions between the team, according to Edes. A rumor that had Jones going to Boston for Crisp and Mark Loretta appears to be bogus.


The Braves were offering Andruw Jones to the Red Sox for Coco Crisp, Jon Lester and Craig Hansen, the Lawrence Eagle Tribune's Rob Bradford told WEEI radio.
That's far too much for a year and a third of Jones. The Red Sox would likely be willing to move Crisp for that kind of upgrade, but they can't include two of their three outstanding young pitchers.

[General]

The Red Sox reportedly came close to acquiring Andruw Jones Monday and would have then traded him to Houston for Roy Oswalt.
Boston reportedly agreed to send Coco Crisp and Craig Hansen to Atlanta, but couldn't agree on a third player after refusing the Braves' request for Jon Lester. It sounds like the Red Sox were very busy all weekend and close to making a number of headline-grabbing moves, but ended up making none.

[General]

John Smoltz limited the Pirates to one run in seven innings and struck out six to earn his ninth win on Tuesday night.
Danys Baez followed with a perfect eighth. Bob Wickman did allow an unearned run after an Edgar Renteria error in the ninth, but the Braves held on to win 4-2. This is exactly how the Braves hope to win games in the future. Smoltz is 5-0 in his last six starts.

Adam LaRoche hit a pair of solo homers off the Pirates' Ian Snell on Tuesday night.
The conclusion of July didn't bring an end to LaRoche's hot streak. The first baseman has three multihomer games in 16 games since the All-Star break. He had just three in 334 career games up until that point.

Marcus Giles doubled three times tonight in the victory over the Pirates.
The Chipper Jones injury is going to hurt the Braves, but it might have been the best thing that could have happened for Giles owners. He's now batting second behind Willy Aybar after struggling all year as a leadoff hitter. If he can stay in the spot, he could be a top fantasy second baseman the rest of the way.

[General]

Adam LaRoche left Wednesday's game in the sixth inning with a strained right hamstring.
LaRoche was apparently hurt sliding into second base in the fifth inning. Scott Thorman replaced him at first base.

Kyle Davies (groin) retired all six batters he faced Tuesday in his first rehab start for Double-A Mississippi.
He struck out three. Davies is scheduled to make three additional rehab starts, but if he's especially impressive, maybe the Braves will bring him back after two more.

John Thomson has been pulled from his minor league rehab assignment due to problems with his injured shoulder.
Thomson, who had to leave Friday's rehab start in the second inning due to soreness, had an MRI performed on Tuesday. The MRI showed that his labrum had a little fraying. He will be shutdown while the shoulder heals. Jason Shiell will continue to serve as the Braves' fifth starter until either Kyle Davies or Thomson returns.