Here's a look at the major stories in the world of the Atlanta Braves for the week ending on December 20th:

  In the Press...

• The Braves officially released their spring training schedule.
• With John Lackey signing, that officially opened the door for the Derek Lowe rumors to get hot and heavy.
• For his part, Derek Lowe is unhappy about the Braves rumored intention to trade him, and he may have talked his way out of the Braves' favor.
• Mike Gonzalez signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles, and the Braves lose any hope of getting a first round pick in 2010's draft.
• The Hardball Times released their version of the Braves top-10 prospects. 
• There was some minor buzz about the Braves adding minor league slugger Mitch Jones.
• The Angels were rumored to be interested in Javier Vazquez, but Talking Chop debunked that rumor, and then Mark Bowman officially debunked it.
• The Braves signed utility infielder Joe Thurston to a minor league contract.

At Talking Chop...

• The Atlanta Braves Fan Confidence dropped for the second straight week.
• We released the Talking Chop Community Top-25 Braves Prospects.
• I said that the Braves draft pick situation is not that bad, despite the team missing out on any first round picks next year.
• Anyone need some last minute gift ideas for the baseball fan.

Notable FanPosts and FanShots...

• ATLandUNC passed along a story about Chipper Jones being the 7th-best player of the decade.
• cbwilk shared some of his pictures of former Braves players.
• bbxxj ran down the Braves salary situation.
• unite8 took the salary situation a step further by suggesting a course that the Braves should take this off-season.
• secondbass passed along the information for the Rome Hot Stove gathering in January.