Brave Stars on the Move? Survey Says: Probably

Both Jair Jurrjens and Martin Prado appear to be the proverbial worm dangling from a hook for the Atlanta Braves. The Braves are attempting to garner trade interest to fill a couple glaring holes in the Braves 25 man roster; namely landing a top-tier pitcher to compliment ace Tim Hudson, and finding a suitable shortstop that can provide adequate pop with the bat while playing above average defense. At a glance, one might question why a team with such raw, young talent hasn't pushed the Braves to the next level. The answer to such a query is in fact, that the Braves are indeed young, and thus, immature; and that, sports fans, is the answer to the 10 million dollar question: WHY ARE WE NOT THERE YET?

Perhaps I'm wrong, and quite possibly off base, but I truly believe in a few years, fans will look back on the 2011 season and say: "We took our lumps, but we were young and it taught us more than winning it all." Of course I'll say this after the Braves have hoisted the World Series trophy above their collective heads. Delusional as I may be, the Braves may be on the edge of becoming one of the most dominant teams in baseball, and could be just one trade away.

That being said, some in the Braves' fan camp think its pure lunacy to trade away our #2 starter in Jair Jurrjens. JJ is a potential ace if he can figure out a way to avoid the injury bug, because a large reason for the Braves' reluctance to hold on to Jurrjens is his history of injuries. He suffered from injuries during much of the second half of the season after dominating the prior half. Remember when people were appalled that JJ was snubbed from starting the 2011 All-star game? His chances at the Cy Young were demolished by his injuries last season, and much of his 2010 season was disrupted for the same reason. While Jurrjens has the potential to become one of the best pitchers in baseball, this could be prevented by his inability to stay healthy.

Martin Prado has flashes of brilliance while flashing the leather. But as equally good Prado is with the glove, he was equally as BAD in 2011. Granted, a staph infection sidelined the left fielder for a good chunk of this past summer, but when he was activated from the DL he was a mere shell of what he was before the All Star break. I'm not condemning the man for being unlucky enough to contract staph in his right calf, he's a lifetime .293 hitter, hes young, and hes got quite a few good, possibly great, years ahead of him. That being said, last season he hit .260 and managed only 66 runs and 57 RBI. It is possible that Prado's offense is overvalued, and he may struggle to hit as well as before. If this is the case, then he may not be too important to the Braves. If the Braves make a trade for an outfielder or a shortstop, his contributions to the team may be unnecessary, and the Braves will still be in good shape.

A very important portion of this off season equation is that neither Prado nor Jurrjens are making a large amount of money. However, considering both players are arbitration eligible in 2012 and their skill level is becoming higher each year, keeping them around could become very expensive. For this very reason, trading them away could save the Braves a fair amount of money. If the Braves do use Prado and Jurrjens to make a large trade, the money they would save could go towards a long-term contract for the player they get out of the deal. Also, by getting rid of these contracts, the Braves could use this money to sign an expensive free agent. Along with declining the option on Nate McLouth and trading away Derek Lowe, this extra money can help the Braves improve their team and send the Bravos to the happy hunting ground!

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!