Atlanta Braves/MLB: Offseason Tidbits/Transactions

Hello people, I would like to take this brief opportunity to introduce myself and my column here on http://www.jaketabor.com/. I’m a lifelong Oregonian who grew up loving 2 things: Ducks football and Atlanta Braves baseball. Now you may be saying to yourself, “I understand the Ducks part (being 100 miles in proximity to Eugene) but Atlanta in 3000 miles away.” Well, when I was growing up we had 5 channels and WTBS Superstation was one of ‘em; thus making my transition into a 3rd generation Brave. I chose to write solely about the Braves and the MLB because Jake does a great job on covering my other passion, the Ducks, so it made sense. I would like for this to be a weekly column revolving around the Braves but sometimes the off-season can be a little thin on stories. Now, onto my Braves column:

As it stands now, the Braves are doing a little internal managerial housekeeping. Since our season was prematurely cut short (I will not bore anyone with stories of my broken heart) the Braves have fired 1 coach, hitting coach Larry Parrish. This came as no surprise as the Braves dipped to a .229 batting average for the month of September; not to mention the paltry .211 the Braves hit with runners in scoring position. The Braves have hired former White Sox hitting coach, Greg Walker. This Brave was pulling for Dave Magadan, hitting coach of the Red Sox; but hey, what do I know? The Braves main activity this off-season has been to hire a new “special assistant” to the GM; this position is to gather video footage on pitchers so the hitter can have a more effective approach to hitting, timing, etc..

There is a ton more to come as Braves GM Frank Wren opens up the coffers and tries to fill the glaring holes in shortstop, bench positions, as well as someone to fill in for Prado in LF when he has to fill in for an aging Chipper Jones at 3B. I’m positive I will have an entire week devoted to that no-winning waste of space Derek Lowe….brb, gotta go punch a hole in something…

It appears heading into this off-season that the Braves are staring at more questions than answers. Sure we got Michael Bourne providing the necessary speed and OBP, but we MUST give him ample chance to run and score. This lies within the, so far, inept Fredi Gonzales. I will try like hell to make this an informative blog and not a platform in which to bash the Braves moron….err the Braves manager. NOW ONTO TRADE RUMORS...

That being said, here are the goings-on from around the MLB that doesn't have anything to do with the World Series:

-The biggest story from around the league involves Theo Epstein leaving the BoSox to try to resurrect everyone's lovable losers, the Cubbies. On Friday night, the Sox and Cubs finally announced that Theo Epstein will take over as the Cubs' President of Baseball Operations. Both organizations will forgo further comment until Tuesday, which is the next scheduled non-game day in the World Series. Compensation has not yet been agreed upon but the issue will be "resolved in the near term" according the the joint press release. The two sides have struggled to reach agreement this past week, with the Red Sox requesting Pitcher Matt Garza from the Cubs.

-Meanwhile, the Cubs will also pluck Jed Hoyer and Jason Mcleod from the Padres, but San Diego won't seek compensation. The Padres are set to promote internally with Josh Byrnes taking the GM job.

-It's widely assumed that Yu Darvish will be playing in the Major Leagues next year, but the 25-year-old right-hander wrote on his personal blog on the matter and explained that "nothing is decided." Earlier in the week, it was suggested that the Rangers, Blue Jays, Nationals, Royals, and Mariners are among the early favorites to land the hurler.

-This Braves fan is almost upset that we can't be in the running for the Prince Fielder Sweepstakes (we have ROY candidate Freddie Freeman). After his team was knocked out of the playoffs, Brewers owner Mark Attanasio told his fans that the club will be in the mix to try and retain free agent 1b Prince Fielder. Tim Dierkes writes that he would be very surprised to see the Brewers re-sign Fielder within the exclusive negotiation period. I personally don't see this happening, what with the small African Village promised to Ryan Braun.

-The Orioles continue their GM search this week and interviewed Jerry Dipoto of the Diamondbacks, Tony LaCava of the Blue Jays, and most recently Dodgers assistant GM De Jon Watson. They asked to talk with Marlins assistant GM Dan Jennings but were denied permission.

-Speaking of the O's, reliever Jeremy Accardo is a free agent after refusing last weeks assignment; meaning he was designated to be assigned to the minors, refused, and thus was fired.

-The Angels top choice for GM is Rays' executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, but he's unlikely to leave his post in Tampa Bay for the job. The Halos will now move on to other candidates including their own Tory Hernandez, Kim Ng of MLB, Rick Hahn of the White Sox, Damon Oppenheimer and Billy Eppler of the Yankees and Jerry Dipoto of the Diamondbacks. *YAWN*

-The Nationals and righty Chien-ming Wang continue discussions about an extension, but the two sides aren't yet close to a deal.

-Veteran reliever Arthur Rhodes states he would rather pitch in 2012 than retire. Rhodes' preference is to pitch for the Cardinals in 2012, which would be Rhodes' 21st Major League season. This just in: Rhodes interested in pitching in the Old-timers Game if it ever comes back.

-THIS WEEK IN SOAP OPERA NEWS: Frank and Jamie McCourt confirmed that they have FINALLY COME TO AN AGREEMENT: Jamie will obtain $130MM and relinquish any claim to a share of the Dodgers. She will also no longer stand in the way of Frank's plan to sell the team's media rights. Again proving women don't belong in baseball...I KID I KID!

-After saying earlier this month that there was "too much drama" surrounding the club, Big Papi David Ortiz has expressed interest for his 10th season with the Red Sox in 2012.

AND FINALLY IN LEAGUE NEWS:
-In a radio interview this week, Selig said that the collective bargaining agreement talks were "constructive," though it would be 'pretty optimistic' to hope that a new deal could be announced before the end of the World Series.

That wraps it up for me, the following weeks will be shorter than this 1st installment. Till next week, keep those tomahawks handy.

~RAC