Trade Deadline Excitement

So, I realize that baseball posts are fairly self-indulgent (as if blogging in general were not) because most of you folks that keep up with this blog couldn't care less (though there may be a couple out there who do), but I couldn't resist with the recent Braves happenings.

The Braves GM, John Schuerholz, resembled a kid at a baseball card show these past couple days before the trade deadline today. A recap of the moves made:

• The big move was the acquisition of Mark Teixeira, a power hitting first baseman, from the Texas Rangers. He's not only a great bat but also a gold glove first baseman. First base has been the glaring weakness in the Braves lineup, and Teixeira is the best we could have gotten to fill that place. The Braves also got relief pitcher Ron Mahay. We had to give up a lot to get them: Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Elvis Andrus, and Neftali Feliz, which are the top three Braves prospects, as well as Matt Harrison and Beau Jones. I hate losing such great prospects, but that's all they are: prospects. There's no substitute for proven talent. This deal makes the Braves a contender NOW, and a big one. Teixeira now gives the Braves 4 potential 100 RBI guys, which is huge. It also puts a big bat behind the surging Chipper Jones to force pitchers to pitch to him. Right now he's got Andruw Jones behind him who has been struggling. There isn't a weak point in the lineup now.
  
• The Braves also acquired relief pitcher Octavio Dotel from Kansas City for starting pitcher Kyle Davies. This is a great move in my mind, as Davies has been mediocre and Dotel has been an excellent relief pitcher. This along with the other trades gives the Braves the deepest bullpen in the National League.
  
• Finally, the Braves got reliever Royce Ring from the Padres for Wilfredo Ledezma and Will Startup.

The only hole that the Braves didn't fill was that of another starting pitcher. There were efforts to get Bronson Arroyo from the Reds and either Jon Garland or Javier Vasquez from the White Sox, but these fell through. In my opinion, though, I don't think it's as big a deal since we got an extra big bat and solidified the bullpen. We've got John Smoltz and Tim Hudson as a big 1-2 punch at the start of the rotation, then Chuck James, Buddy Carlyle, and Jo-Jo Reyes, who have all been decent lately, and have faced most of their struggles in the late innings. Having depth in the pen allows Bobby to bring in relievers that much sooner and takes a lot of pressure off of the starters.

These moves put the Braves as the favorite to win the NL East and put them as great contenders for a World Series appearance. I'm excited to see what happens...stay tuned.