It would take a lot to get him, but I'd be willing to make the calculated risk necessary to bring him to Atlanta.

Blurb is about a 1/4 of the way down the page. He states he is open to starting or closing. Braves need bullpen help. Would he swallow his pride and possibly become our closer? Would he come back to be middle relief? Or would he not come back at all?

Alex Rodriguez is rumored to have portraits of himself as a mythic creature called a centaur in his home.

Considering that this is from Buster Olney, I would almost bet that 0% of this is true.

"Some rival executives are convinced that Atlanta's Javier Vazquez, who was arguably one of the four best pitchers in the National League this past season, will be traded in the weeks ahead. Vazquez will make $11.5 million next season before becoming eligible for free agency, so the Braves might be compelled to move him now to take advantage of his value. Atlanta needs a right-handed-hitting outfielder, and the other possible trade pieces on the Braves' pitching staff -- Derek Lowe (who is owed $45 million over the next three seasons) and Kenshin Kawakami (owed $13.3 million over the next two seasons) -- do not generate much enthusiasm among some rival talent evaluators.

Vazquez went 15-10 in 2009 with a 2.87 ERA, 238 strikeouts and just 44 walks in 219.1 innings after posting ERAs of 4.84, 3.67 and 4.74 in his previous three seasons with the White Sox. The Braves have other pitchers around which to build their staff -- Jair Jurrjens, Tommy Hanson and the newly signed Tim Hudson -- and probably could get a decent young hitter in return for Vazquez."

The fact that he says that the Braves should trade Vaz for a OF bat tells me that he really doesn't have a grip on this situation. Why would Atlanta trade for a piece when we have that Heyward kid? Anyone the Braves bring in would be nothing more than a seat-warmer for a year at the extreme most.

I wouldn't be surprised if Atlanta locked Vaz up for another couple of years. That would be the smartest move they could make. Hopefully the FO wont bank on 2 youngsters to be the anchors of this rotation just yet...

/facepalm
/facepalm
/facepalm
/facepalm
/facepalm

I guess you can now add Mark Bradley's name to the list of my least favorite baseball writers.

Well, Hardy is no longer with the Brew Crew, so this should pretty much eliminate all trade talk of Yunel...although there hasn't been any such talk for some time now...

"The Minnesota Twins completed a trade Friday to acquire shortstop J.J. Hardy from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for centerfielder Carlos Gomez.

Hardy's presence means Orlando Cabrera will not be back in Minnesota, and that the Brewers are indeed moving forward with Alcides Escobar as their shortstop.

It's also a sign that Denard Span is going to play center for the Twins in 2010, unless they acquire one this winter. Here's where Mike Cameron's name is a fit, but Minnesota's payroll just went up with the addition of Hardy, who could make as much as $7 million via arbitration.

Gomez gives the Brewers a plus defender in center field, but his offensive struggles are a concern."

From the latest ask BA. Callis always kills me.

With a good showing after he signed and a fine performance in the Arizona Fall League, has lefthander Mike Minor shed the notion that he wasn’t worthy of being drafted seventh overall by the Braves?

Phil Jones
Burke, Va.

————————

No one ever has disputed the fact that Minor can really pitch. He does a nice job of mixing and locating his fastball, curveball, slider and changeup. He has been very impressive in four starts at low Class A Rome (though that’s a small sample size) and in four brief outings in the AFL (a smaller sample size, and you shouldn’t read too much into AFL stats).

Still, Minor doesn’t have a true plus pitch beyond his changeup and his fastball usually operates in the upper 80s. His realistic ceiling is as a No. 3 starter, it’s easier to project him as a No. 4 and it’s not difficult to draw parallels between him and another Vanderbilt finesse lefthander who was a top-10 choice, Jeremy Sowers.

Was Minor a worthy first-rounder? Yes. Would have I taken him seventh overall? Not a chance. One of the reasons teams complain that the draft doesn’t distribute talent equitably is the clubs won’t take the best player available. Atlanta wouldn’t exceed MLB’s bonus recommendation at No. 7, though they mistakenly budgeted for the 2008 figure ($2.42 million) rather than the reduced 2009 number ($2.178 million) because the commissioner’s office didn’t give them the amount quickly enough. That limited their choices, though former Braves scouting director Roy Clark (now assistant GM with the Nationals) was a big believer in Minor. Clark loved Tyler Matzek, too, but didn’t have the budget to sign him.</blockquote

Marlins beat writer mentions that a swap of Uggla for Vazquez would make sense for both teams. I'd never do this trade, unless Uggla learned LF.