Transactions

7/31/09: Traded 1B Casey Kotchman to Boston for 1B Adam LaRoche and $1,000,000.
Analysis: Here

7/23/09: Optioned 2B Brooks Conrad to AAA Gwinnett and activated 2B Kelly Johnson from the 15 day DL.
Analysis: Johnson, despite his struggles this year, is still an asset against left-handed pitching, and he’s one of the better defenders at 2B in the league.  He was tearing it up at Gwinnett, so perhaps he’s ready to start a hot streak.  Conrad was quite helpful in Atlanta, and many fans will no doubt be confused by this move, but Conrad was unlikely to continue his hot hitting and Johnson seems like the much safer play.  If there’s to be confusion, the more proper aim should be why Conrad was sent down over Greg Norton.

7/20/09: Optioned P Luis Valdez to AAA Gwinnett and recalled P Tommy Hanson.
Analysis:  Valdez was only up until Hanson’s next start, so he returns to AAA where he’ll see more innings.

7/12/09: Optioned OF Gregor Blanco to AAA Gwinnett and activated IF Greg Norton from the 15 day DL.
Analysis: I have determined, through heavy statistical analysis, that whatever incriminating evidence Greg Norton has against high ranking Braves officials has not yet been recovered and/or neutralized.

7/10/09: Traded OF Jeff Francoeur and cash to the New York Mets for OF Ryan Church; optioned P Tommy Hanson to AAA Gwinnett and recalled P Luis Valdez.
Analysis: This is as much a commitment to Jason Heyward as anything else.  Francoeur, after 18 months of non-production, had pretty much worn out his welcome in Atlanta.  Francoeur seemed to love the Braves, so seeing him go is sort of bittersweet, but baseball’s an unforgiving business, and Francoeur managed to get more chances than most players would.  Church is an underrated player.  First with Washington, RFK kept his offensive numbers in check, and then with the Mets, a pair of concussions derailed his 2008 season, which was shaping up to be a career year.  Church fell out of favor with Mets skipper Jerry Manuel and struggled early in ’09, but after a brief DL stint had been hitting quite well since his return.  He is under team control through 2010 and should provide better offense than Francoeur.  The one caveat with Church is his platoon splits – there’s no reason for him to play against lefties, which Atlanta is suited to accommodate with Anderson, Diaz, and McLouth.  As for the other half of this transaction notice, Hanson had made his final start before the all-star break, and this is designed to give Atlanta an extra arm in the pen.  Nothing more.

7/03/09: Placed Kelly Johnson on the 15 day DL with tendonitis in his right wrist and called up MI Brooks Conrad from AAA Gwinnett.
Analysis: Something had clearly changed with Johnson during the month of June.  After a solid May, Johnson’s LD rate fell into the single digits, which is just embarrassing.  Perhaps this wrist injury is the culprit.  It makes more sense than Johnson simply forgetting how to drive the ball, which is what it seemed was happening.  It’s no coincidence that with a 7% LD rate, Kelly had a .150 batting average on balls in play in June.  Conrad has been a slightly disappointing case for years in the minors, although he’ll always find work and get the occasional trip to the majors.  Gifted with solid power, Conrad has always been able to post solid home run totals in the minors.  Over the last 3 seasons, he had 75 homers.  The 29 year old has been doing this for most of his minor league career.  The problem is that in those 3 seasons, he also had 405 strikeouts.  If you’re doing that in the majors, then sure, you can possibly put together a Mark Bellhorn type of career.  It’s a little tough to overcome that sort of handicap in the minors, which is why Conrad has had trouble getting his chances in the majors.  Still, he’s a switch hitter with pop, and though he’ll whiff his share of times, he should be a helpful enough bat off the bench until Kelly heals.  At the time of this writing, he’s already given Atlanta a 3 run pinch hit homer.

6/25/09: Placed RP Jeff Bennett on the 15 day DL with a broken hand and recalled RP Boone Logan from AAA Gwinnett.
Analysis:  Bennett did the Braves a favor by removing himself from the bullpen via a punch to a hard surface.  He’d been struggling lately, and the bullpen won’t be weakened by this.  Logan came over in the Javier Vazquez deal.  While he’s left-handed, he’s no LOOGY.  In his MiLB career, while he’s held lefties to a .267 average, he’s held righties to a .198 mark.  He gives up more homers to righties, so I think he’ll be most useful against lefty hitters, but hopefully Cox won’t have the quick hook with Logan that he’s had with southpaws in the past.  Logan isn’t bad for a 2nd lefty in the pen (I don’t count Gonzalez, because he isn’t really used as a traditional lefty reliever).

6/21/09: Activated Greg Norton from the DL and assigned him to AAA Gwinnett.
Analysis: Norton wasn’t driving the ball with any authority this year, and while his high walk rate is certainly appreciated, it doesn’t really get to shine without the hits that normally come along with it.  This probably won’t be the last we’ve seen of the 36 year old, because the team really likes the guy, but for now he’ll work on his hitting in the suburbs.

6/19/09: Signed INF Chris Burke to a minor league deal and assigned him to AAA Gwinnett.
Analysis:  Burke’s fallen pretty far from his once promising future with the Astros, which Braves fans remember all too well (Burke hit the series-winning HR off Joey Devine in approximately the 347th inning of Atlanta’s most recent playoff game).  He never got his fair shake with the Astros, who decided to let him and his development waste away on the bench while Craig Biggio went for 3000 hits.  Milestones are fun, but they can hurt a team.  Burke was collateral damage.  His power has dwindled a bit, but don’t be fooled by his low batting averages – BABIP hasn’t been kind to him since 2006 or so.  I think there’s a realistic chance he eventually gets a shot at some utility work in Atlanta.  I also think there’s a realistic chance he continues bouncing around minor league systems until he retires.  You’ve got the Astros to thank for that.

6/16/09: Signed LHP John Halama to a minor league contract and assigned him to AAA Gwinnett.
Analysis:  Halama has seemingly bounced around so many organizations, it was inevitable he’d eventually wind up in Atlanta’s.  The 37 year old’s last MLB action was with Baltimore in 2006, where he generally had the same results he’d had his entire career: he didn’t give away too many free passes, didn’t strike anyone out, but struggled with the gopherball.  He’s a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency type of option to have in AAA.

6/16/09: Activated Casey Kotchman from the 15 Day DL; optioned Barbaro Canizares to AAA Gwinnett.
Analysis:  It was fun to see the 29 year old Canizares getting his first MLB hit and double, but it’s nice to have Kotchman back.  Kotchman’s .277/.340/.405 line isn’t that of an All-Star, but it will be a major boost to this Atlanta lineup, which needs all the production it can get.  Canizares returns to his probable career as a AAAA player.  He shreds minor league pitching, and probably could turn into a useful major league hitter, but as a right hander without any defensive versatility, it’s going to take the perfect situation for that to ever come to fruition.  For now it’s back to the International League leaderboard.