Tommy John and a Second Chance

Mention the name "Tommy John" to anyone who watches Sportcenter and they immediately know that it means that a pitcher had some kind of operation in order to elongate the pitcher's career and "fix" their throwing arm. "Tommy John" surgery is the common name for Ulnar Collateral Replacement Surgery and there are a litany of pitchers, both professional and amateur, have had this procedure. Most people, avid baseball fans included, don't know the specifics of what Tommy John is and what it entails. Let's delve into the history and application of Tommy John Surgery and discuss just a few of baseball's superstars who have had this surgery:



Tommy John Surgery, or UCR surgery, is defined as a surgical graft procedure in which a ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with a tendon from elsewhere in the body; often from the forearm, hamstring, hip, knee, or foot of the patient) or from a cadaver doner (see diagram left). The procedure is common among collegiate and professional athletes in several sports, most notably baseball. Basically in non-medical terms, a person blows out or rips the ligament in their elbow and has it replaced by a shiny new one; much like blowing out a tire and putting on a new one.

I chose this particular subject, because the Major League leader in ERA, Brandon Beachy of the Atlanta Braves, tore his UCL and underwent Tommy John last week. The procedure was first performed in 1974 by Dr. Frank Jobe, who today serves as a Special Advisor to the LA Dodgers, and is named after former major league pitcher Tommy John; whose 288 career victories ranks seventh all time among left-handed pitchers.

The necessity of the Tommy John surgery became prevelant due to the wear and tear a pitcher goes thru during the longest season in all of sports; 162 regular season games, plus spring training and the postseason. The UCL can become stretched, frayed, or torn through the repetitive stress of the throwing motion. Anyone who has ever thrown something extremely hard and then felt soreness in the ebow region has placed stress on the UCL; now imagine throwing a baseball thousands upon thousands of times.

Back to the procedures namesake, Tommy John; Thirty-seven baseball seasons have passed since the very first UCL replacement surgery. John was 31 years old with 124 wins and 11 seasons under his belt. He never threw heat like Strasburg or Smoltz, instead he relied on a bottom-out sinker that forced ground balls. But the three pitchers, as well as many others who have undergone UCL reconstruction, have one thing in common: a mechanical flaw in the timing of their deliveries that causes the arm to lag behind the rest of the body, putting extra stress on the shoulder and elbow. The very nature of how a baseball is thrown by a pitcher (overhand, rather than the ergonomically correct underhand) generates enough force on each pitch to rupture the ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow. To throw a baseball properly, a pitcher must get into the right position at the right time with the right succession of movements, like dominoes falling.

After John's procedure in 1974, he spent the entire 1975 season recovering. At the time when John came back in 1976, he posted a 10-10 win/loss record that, at the time, was considered miraculous. Tommy went on to pitch until 1989 and posted 164 wins during that period. Having personally known Sandy Koufax, who had retired in 1966 at age 30 after a short but brilliant career, that a damaged UCL meant you were done. With this successful surgery, and subsequent recover, it effectively gave all pitchers hope that if the most important ligament in their throwing arms were to give way, their career was not necessarily over.

Despite the inevitable year-long stint on the DL that rehab from the surgery requires, teams and pitchers seem to barely flinch at the diagnosis of a compromised UCL. "It's become an accepted side effect of the job," says George Paletta, the Cardinals' head team physician and orthopedic surgeon. That's because the surgery works; 92 percent of elite pitchers with reconstructed UCLs return to their prior level of competition for at least a year.

The list of Tommy John surgery recipients include: Deion Sanders (strangly NOT a pitcher), Jamie Moyer (the 76 year old who was demoted to the minors by the Rockies a few weeks ago), John Smoltz, Stephen Strausberg, Kerry Wood, Eric Gagne, Tim Hudson and a whole laundry list that reaches into the hundreds. Soon to be added to the list of successful UCL replacement surgeries will be Brandon Beachy of the Atlanta Braves (God willing).

God-given genetic superiority and freakish athletic ability often help those with less-than-ideal pitching mechanics make it to the majors, which is why you will find shockingly few exemplars of pitching mechanics on Tuesday Night Baseball. "Everyone knows smoking is bad for you, yet people still smoke," says Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild. "It's the same with pitching. I've seen guys who don't have great mechanics pitch for a long time. The body adjusts."

Until it doesn't, then a consultation and ultimately "Tommy John Surgery" courtesy of Dr. James Andrews (doctor to the athletes et al.)

Here is a top 10 list of pitchers who have had successful Tommy John surgeries courtesy of Sports Illustrated:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1103/mlb-tommy-john-surgery/content.1.html

More Bad news for The Bombers

Baseball's arduous schedule can certainly take a toll on even the most physically conditioned players.  By the All-Star break you start to get a good idea of what teams are the ones to watch for in the second half of the season and which ones have playoff potential.  In the past 3 seasons there have been at least 2 division leaders that either lost first place by October or completely missed the playoffs.  In a season riddled with injuries and with the All-Star break rapidly approaching, you have to wonder what consequences the last two injuries will cause for the Yankees.

Andy Pettitte took a one-hopper off of Casey Kotchman's bat in the fifth inning of yesterday's game that will effectively take him out of the rotation for at least four weeks.  The Yankees also announced that club ace Sabathia will be placed on the 15-day DL after suffering a left groin strain during his pitching outing Sunday at Mets Citi Field.

These are the types of injuries that can do some serious damage to a team.  Pettitte rejoined the Yanks on May 13th, 2012 and his impact on the rotation has been a welcomed addition.  Pettitte has started 9 games this season and currently holds a 3-3 record; however, the 3 no-decisions for Pettitte have resulted in New York victories.  He has also posted the lowest ERA (3.22) and WHIP (1.09) among the starting rotation, amassing a commendable 59 strikeouts during his stint.

Now comes decision time for Joe Girardi and GM Brian Cashman.  The likely candidate on his way to Yankee Stadium is Triple-A RHP Adam Warren.  Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's Warren pitched a complete game shutout on June 3rd against the Norfolk Tides (Baltimore affiliate) string out 6 during his outing.  He is set to make his first major league start on Friday against the White Sox.

The July schedule for the Yankees will bring a tremendous test with the recent injuries to the team.  They will face off this weekend against AL Central leading Chicago White Sox and will have 15 games in July against division rivals that will certainly challenge the current 5 game lead.

"We've just got to weather the storm," Pettitte said. "Nobody's going to feel sorry for you with injuries and stuff like that. We've got a lot of good stuff going on here. We've got plenty of guys who can step in and do the job, so it's time to put my pom-poms on and be a cheerleader now for six weeks or so."

Why We Call Him "Frediot"

Say the word "Frediot" to any Braves fan and they will know who you speak of and exactly why. Fredi Gonzalez was named the successor to Bobby Cox "unofficially," when the Florida Marlins deemed Hanley Ramirez to be more of an asset to the franchise than Fredi Gonzalez in 2010.  Almost immediately the media, and those inside the Braves franchise, said that Gonzalez was the front-runner to replace a legend. 

Fredi then inherited a team that had been skippered by a living legend, and the most beloved manager in not just Atlanta Braves history, but the whole history of the franchise; dating back to when they were known as the Boston Red Caps in the 1910s, in Bobby Cox.  The Braves managerial choice seemed like a Cinderella fit...up until September of 2011. 

September 2011 saw the 2nd worse collapse in baseball history; bested (or worsted, if that's a word) by only the Boston Red Sox in ineptitude.  Had the Red Sox not collapsed last year, the Braves would have been the perennial whipping-boy of the baseball media; but the baseball Gods are fickle and saw fit to force the Sox into a tailspin of epic proportions.  Last season left this Braves fan in a 6 month depression that was thought to be dormant; until this past week. 

The Braves were supposed to be the favorites for the NL wild card, but I wonder if that is even possible with a Skipper as inept as "Frediot" Gonzalez.  There has already been talk this year of Frediot being on "double-secret probation," and if at any time it seems as though things are slipping away from him that he will be fired and subsequently replaced; "ANY TIME' is NOW. Fredi is a lesson in mismanagement; one only needs to look at his handling of the bullpen in 2011 to get a litmus test on Frediot's managerial acumen. 

The Braves have/had the best bullpen in not only the NL, but the Major Leagues as a whole.  One colossal collapse, and an unreliable 'pen (with the exception of 2011 Rookie of the Year Craig Kimbrel) later, coupled with a plethora of questionable managerial decisions, equals the Braves naming someone, ANYONE "interim manager."  Lets examine just 1 of the examples of "Frediocy:"

On June 13th, the Braves were playing the Evil Empire, err, I mean the Yankees. Things were going well, the Braves were handling the Yanks 4-0 late with Mike Minor throwing a gem of a game.  Flash forward to a pitching change due to a base hit by Derek Jeter. ONE BASE HIT AND HE SWITCHED PITCHERS.  Atlanta was leading 4-0 going into the top of the 8th inning, and Mike Minor was still on the mound after shutting-out New York and pitching his best game of the season. After giving up a hit, Minor was immediately pulled from the game and Jonny Venter’s was brought in in relief. Venters, who has struggled with consistency (a gross understatement) throughout the year, gave up two quick hits to load the bases to bring up A-Rod; who incedently was #2 on the list of career grand slams, behind only Lou Gehrig.  Notice the grammar in the previous sentence, paying close attention to the word "WAS." My dad and I watched this happening in real-time, but it seemed like slow-motion. Here's a recap of our experience:

Me: WHY THE F@#$ IS VENTERS IN THIS GAME???
Dad: Because the Lord obviously hates us, son. Either that or Fredi is the Devil. Either way here comes a grand slam.
Me: Please no...
TV; "WAY BACK, AND ITS A GRAND SLAM FOR A-ROD, WHO IS NOW TIED WITH LOU GEHRIG ON THE ALL-TIME GRAND SLAM LIST..."
Me: (expletive deleted) (expletive deleted) (expletive deleted) (expletive deleted)
Dad: Told you, been around this game too long, son.

After another Venters hit, Cory Gearrin came into the game and immediately gave up a 2-Run shot to Nick Swisher that gave the Yankees a 6-4 lead, which would hold for the final score. Lets recap: Braves up 4-0 in the top of the 8th, 1 hit given up by the starter, Mike Minor; replaced by a terrible Jonny Venters, 2 more hits, bases loaded, A-rod comes up, its now 4-4.  One more hit, then Frediot finally replaces Venters with the equally inept Cory Gearrin, HR Nick Swisher; 6-4 Yanks.  Jonny Venters obviously shoulders a lot of blame for giving up four hits, including a Grand Slam, without ever recording an out. Cory Gearrin deserves blame for giving up the 2-Run homer to Swisher. But they wouldn't even have been in the game had it not been for Frediot replacing a starting pitcher who's only crime was giving up a hit to Derek Jeter (who is chasing Pete Rose's all-time hit record) and Fredi managed, once again, to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. 

Not many managers would still have a job after their club completely collapsed to miss the playoffs in the last month of the season.  The Red Sox, who did the same thing at the same time as Atlanta, not only fired their manager without hesitation, they let go of their "Prodigy" GM Theo Epstein to the Cubs. Let us not forget that Epstein built 2 different World Series Champions and Terry Francona helmed both squads to the title within 7 years and was considered one of the best managers in the game. Fredi Gonzalez was never even on the hot seat for his gross negligence and terrible decision-making, and he’s never led a club to the  playoffs in 5 full seasons of managing (4 with the Marlins).  This leads me to believe that the problem goes way deeper than just Frediot, Frank Wren (Atlanta GM) has some 'splainin to do.

I certainly hope the Braves right this ship and get back to their winning ways, but how big of a cushion can a team give the Washington Nationals (the upstarts who are leading the NL East) before Braves internal management says "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, FREDIOT."

Atlanta Braves 2012 Lineup Preview

I recall sitting, dejected, depressed, tearful and generally upset after game 162 last year. I said what I always have said when the Braves blow it, "God it's gonna be a long winter." And lo and behold, we're already at the cusp of another Braves spring training; be it my human need to forget the pain and suffering the Braves put us fans through last September (going an abysmal 8-18 and thus conceding the wild card birth the the now world champion Cards), but I'm jazzed for this season like I haven't been since our heyday in the 90s. Perhaps its the fact we no longer have that guaranteed L every 5th day in Derek Lowe (the Braves literally paid Cleveland 10 million bucks to just take this idiot and never look back), or perhaps its the high hopes for A+ prospect Tyler Pastornicky getting his shot at shortstop. Lets take a look at our lineup from top to bottom to see why this Braves fan is salivating at the thought of opening day:

1) Michael Bourne: This lineup has the capability to score a ton of runs, and it all starts and stops with speedster Michael Bourne in the leadoff spot. The Braves really aren't known as a running team, but you have to imagine that with Bourn in the fold for a full season, Fredi will turn him loose on the basepaths. If Bourn is able to up his OBP to the .350 range that it was when he was a commodity with the Astros over the past couple of seasons, and his defense rebounds to the stellar level it was at, Bourn will absolutely be a spark plug for the Braves in CF.

2) Martin Prado: Martin Prado was an All-Star in 2010, and many Braves fans thought he was the Atlanta Braves MVP that season. He had a .307 batting average to go along with 15 home runs and 66 RBI’s. He struggled last year with a staph infection as his numbers dropped to .260/13/57 and played in 11 less games. If Prado can turn it around in 2012, he can do a lot of damage at the top of the order.

3) Chipper Jones: The Ol' Grey Mare still keeps on going, and at almost 40 years of age, this could be (and should be) Chipper's last hurrah. Chipper Jones has battled constant nagging injuries over the last three or four years, but he is still one of the best hitters in the Atlanta Braves lineup when healthy, as well as arguably the best player of the steroid era to not be tainted with the stigma of being a "juicer." Jones started slow and dealt with some injuries last season, as per usual, but still managed to hit .275, which is below average for him, but good nonetheless. Chipper got his power stroke going around mid-season and finished the year with 18 home runs and 70 RBI’s. It is incredibly important for Chip to be in the lineup, he brings invaluable leadership and necessary protection for Uggla in the cleanup spot.

4) Dan Uggla: 2011 was the tale of 2 seasons for Dan Uggla. Before the all-star break, moreover, prior to his 33 game hit-streak, Uggla was well below the Mendoza line (.200). On the flipside he went on the warpath (pun intended) and was arguably the MVP of the League in the 2nd half of the season. His 33 game hitting streak set the Atlanta Braves record for longest hitting streak. Uggla finished the year with a .233 Batting Avg., A career high 36 HR’s & 82 RBI’s, and the Braves have high expectations for the buffest 2b to ever play the game!

5) Brian McCann: McCann matched his career high for home runs in 2011 with 24, as well as missing considerable time on the DL. His RBI production dipped to a career low (71), but that can be attributed to the anemic bats in front of him in the lineup; before the Braves acquired Michael Bourne, they didn't have a true leadoff hitter. I fully expect Mac to be healthy and to earn his 7th consecutive all-star appearance.

6) Freddie Freeman: In my opinion, Freeman was the Rookie of the Year for the NL, because I don't feel this award should go to anyone but a position player. Be that as it may, the Braves had the winner of the ROY in Craig Kimbrel, so no harm no foul in the Braves fan's eyes. He hit .282 with 21 home runs and 76 RBI’s in a very impressive rookie campaign. Freeman will probably bat in the 6 spot behind Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, and Dan Uggla, and in front of Jason Heyward, so he should have plenty of protection and run producing opportunities.

7) Jason Heyward: This kid needs to step up and be the player he was his rookie year in 2010. He looked like he was going to be the next Chipper Jones after a rookie campaign where he hit .277 with 18 Homers and 72 RBI’s, most baseball analysts thought that Heyward would continue to rise. This was not the case; Unfortunately Heyward suffered through a big sophomore slump in 2011 as his average fail 50 points to .227. His power numbers were down too, especially his RBI’s. He hit 14 homers with only 42 RBI’s. His walks also fail dramatically; he walked 91 times in 2010 and only 51 times in 2011. So far in camp, he has displayed a different swing and is, according to Chipper, "tearing the cover off the ball." The Braves have big expectations for this kid, and he cannot afford another season like last year.

8) Tyler Pastornicky: This kid has been the talk of the town in Atlanta since he was called up for the final game last year (he did not play.) There was talk after last season's horrific collapse to buy a journeyman SS for 1 season to give Pastornicky some more grooming time. That plan was scrapped and the 22 year old kid will have his chance as the everyday starter at SS. Pastornisky started 2011 in AA Mississippi where he hit for a .299 batting average with 6 home runs and 36 RBI’s in 90 games. During him time at AA, Pastornisky stole 20 bases out of 28 attempts. Pastornisky got called up to AAA Gwinett for 27 games and hit .365 with a home run and 9 RBI’s; he was 7/10 in stolen base attempts. This kid reminds me a lot of Chipper, and good things are expected out of him for 2012.

As a whole, the Braves don't expect to break the Phillies stranglehold on the NL East, but they expect to be more than competitive; its hard to dethrone a team that has over DOUBLE the Braves payroll, but not every team has the near limitless purse-strings the Phillies, Yankees or Red Sox have. I will examine the Braves phenomenal (young) pitching staff in the days to come, so until next time, keep those tomahawks chopping!

King Albert, and the Halo's Checkbook

Albert Pujols has shocked the baseball world in snubbing a 9 year deal worth reportedly $190 million to stay with the 2011 World Series Champs, the St. Louis Cardinals (which incidentally would make King Albert the 4th highest paid 1st baseman in the Majors) to sign a deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for 10 years and $254 million (thus making him #1 at 1b); yes, those Angels. What I am having a hard time fathoming is the fact that the Angels owner, Arte Mareno paid $184 million for the ENTIRE FRANCHISE! For us regular white/blue collar folks this is like Monopoly. I cannot help but think of Dr. Evil say he wants "ONE HUNDRED MILLION CRILLION BILLION DOLLARS!" If you average out Pujols' contract to reflect just how much money he makes per game you come up with just under $155,000 dollars a game...let that sink in for a moment.

It's hard to imagine paying someone $25 million per season to play a kids game and hit home runs, especially when we all know that Pujols is likely on the descent down the mountain top of his Hall of Fame career. This certainly leads to futher speculation of just how many years he will still be able to put up the kind of numbers that warrant this kind of contract. This becomes especially true when his mitt starts to wane, at that point he'll certainly become the highest paid DH in history, subsequently elongating his career at least until his early to mid 40s. This is a very sore subject for a baseball purist of my ilk, I LOATHE the DH, I think it cheapens our pastime and waters down all the power numbers in the junior circuit (AL). Alas, that is a topic I must devote an entire article lambasting such an asinine, unnecessary part of such a perfect sport.

Forget about the money for a second. Pujols is the best, most consistent hitter in baseball and maybe the best right-handed hitter in the history of the game. The only other right-handed hitter in Albert's league was Jimmie Foxx of the Golden Era of Baseball (from 1925 to 1945.) There's little debate that Pujols, who has finished in the top five in MVP voting 10 times in 11 seasons—is one of the all-time great players. Paying him more money than anyone else in the game (or anyone not named A-Rod) is what we had to expect when he became a free agent.

Pujols business aside, the Halos signed another "huge" name in CJ Wilson, formally the ace of the AL Champion Texas Rangers. I put HUGE in quotations, because Wilson was the biggest free agent SP available, his numbers can be deceiving; granted he had a good record in '11 (16-7) overall with the Rangers he finished a paltry 8 games over .500 (43-35). Nolan Ryan and Co. decided a run of the mill #2 starter is apparently worth $77 million; if that doesn't prove the MLB treats real life capital the same as they would if the cash were Monopoly money, nothing ever will. Below I have linked the press conference video of Angel's GM Jerry Disoto describing these two blockbuster moves.

Kimbrel Unanimously Wins ROY

Craig Kimbrel was voted the 2011 National League Rookie of the Year by the Baseball Writers of America. Kimbrel was part of the 3-headed monster that was the back end of the Braves bullpen with Jonny Venters and Eric O'Flaherty (collectively known as "O'Ventbrel"). Until the Braves 'pen succumbed to overuse, the 7-8-9 innings of games the Braves were ahead by 3 runs or less saw a virtual "lights out" when trying to face these hurlers; Kimbrel provided the knockout punch the Braves had been missing since Smoltzie was our closer a few years back.

Posting an NL rookie record 46 saves, a 2.10 era, and 277 K's in only 77 appearances; for those who don't know, that's an actual "butt-load" of strikeouts per 9 innings. When talking about just a "1-2" punch, the Braves combo of Venters/Kimbrel were perfect throughout the summer months this past season. PERFECT. This combo of setup man and closer was quite simply the best in baseball this year; a lefty/righty, 8/9 inning combo that has the mustard to strike out the final 6 batters no matter who they are. Kimbrel is a thoroughbred who was groomed from day 1 to be the Brave's closer; starting with his call-up in 2010 so he could be mentored by then Braves closer, Billy Wagner. In 3 years in the minors spent in Danville, Rome, Myrtle Beach, and finally AAA Gwinette, Kimbrel had 51 saves in 121 appearances; while posting a 1.85 era and a staggering 14.4 strikeouts! To put Kimbrel's k/9 stat into perspective to allow you to understand how powerful and how NASTY Kimbrel's stuff really is, his k/9 is 14.4 whereas "The Rocket" Roger Clemens, one of the most prolific strikeout pitchers of all-time has an 8.55k/9 for his career and the best numbers he could muster were 10.68k/9 back in 1998 when he pitched for Toronto.

In 2010, Kimbrel got a taste of the closer role for the Braves and got the chance to pitch in all 4 of the Braves postseason games despite only hurling 20 innings during the regular season. This instance shows just what it means when a ballplayer has "IT," the intangible that separates professionals from amateurs; and Kimbrel has "IT" in spades. Despite the fact that the 2011 season came crashing down around all of the Braves, and the fact that Kimbrel struggled for the first time since April, (5 for 8 for saves in September), this does not mean Kimbrel has forgotten how to throw "heat." In game 3 of the 2010 NLDS, Kimbrel came into the game in the 9th and subsequently blew the save and took the L; that very next night, instead of falling flat on his face, he did what good closers do: He got the save and gave his team another chance to win the series. Get used to hearing this name folks, here's a stud that will be around for awhile.

LOWE GONE!...Still earns 10mil from Bravos

The Braves have moved that win-less vacuum known as Derek Lowe. According to mlb.com the Atlanta Braves have traded right-handed starting pitcher Derek Lowe to the Cleveland Indians. For those of us keeping score in this brief off-season, the Braves have already completed 2 of their off-season goals. The Braves have fired their hitting coach Larry Parrish and subsequently hired Chicago White Sox Hitting Coach, Greg Walker. Back to the Lowe trade, (personally I’d have taken a dancing monkey) but in return for Lowe, Atlanta will get 23-year-old minor league left-handed reliever Chris Jones and pay $10 million of Lowe's salary. In essence, “Here’s 10 million dollars, DON’T EVER COME BACK.”

That being said, I’d like to talk about a few things left the Braves management must take care of this winter in order to take us to the promise land:

1. With Lowe gone, the Braves need to focus on elite pitching. Even when healthy, the Braves rotation was built for the regular season. No team has more pitching depth at the AAA and Major League levels than the Atlanta Braves. By September the Braves were starting 3-4 rookies in their 5-man rotation; Beachy, Minor, Delgado, with an occasional start from #1 prospect Julio Teheran. In order to have success in September/October the Braves need to find a way to turn that depth into another front-line starter. There is more than enough pitching depth for the future. The Braves need another star now.




2. Shortstop. Honestly this is a bigger question mark than the Braves rotation. That’s not to say there aren't other problems, but with Chipper Jones coming back and assuming Jason Heyward is given another chance in right field, shortstop is the albatross around the neck of the Braves. They won't resign Alex Gonzalez, so how will the Braves fill this hole? Tyler Pastornicky is an option. The 21-year-old hit .314 this past season in the minors, including a whopping .365 after he was called up to Gwinnett. Ideally what the Braves would like is a veteran SS for a 1 year contract to bridge the gap to Pastornicky, to allow further grooming of the Braves prospect. The answer, for this Braves fan lies in Raphael Furcal. The Cardinals declined Furcal's 2012 option today, and Furcal is near the end of his career, but he still has some gas left in his tank. He is the perfect fit to get the Braves to 2013 and Tyler Pastornicky.




3. Bullpen Depth. The back-end of the bullpen in 2011 was the toast of the town for the summer months. The 7th/8th/9th innings were a virtual lock with O'Flaherty/Venters/Kimbrel respectively, or O'Ventbrel as the media dubbed the 3-headed monster. The only glaring problem was Fredi's proclivity for overuse. 2011 saw a bullpen burnout the likes of which made even Tommy Lasorda squirm. Used in moderation, the Braves will have no problem in 2012; however, apart from Eric O’Flaherty, Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel, the Braves didn’t seem to have another reliever who instilled confidence. Maybe Kris Medlen ends up back in the bullpen where he’s done so well before. Maybe Peter Moylan returns to his previous form with better health. Or maybe the Braves seek outside options. Whatever the answer, adding depth to the bullpen has to be a priority this off-season.

OTHER BRAVES TRANSACTION NOTES:
In the event of a bench-clearing brawl, the Braves have exercised the 2012 option for bench specialist/badass Eric Hinske. Don't buy the "badass" thing? take a look at the pic below, yea, some folks get "sleeve" tattoos, Hinske gets a freaking SHIRT tattoo! Onto why they really resigned Hinske; the Braves chose Hinske's $1.5MM club option over a $100K buyout. The 34-year-old hit .233/.311/.403 in 264 plate appearances this year.



The Braves did not extend the same option to OF Nate Mclouth. The decision on McLouth was obvious, as the Braves faced a $10.65MM club option and a $1.25MM buyout. The 30-year-old outfielder hit .228/.344/.333 on the season.

That about does it for the Braves transactions. Congratulations are in order for the 2011 World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals. Keep it warm for us boys, we'll be by to pick it up next October!