He was removed after throwing two complete innings tonight in Mississippi.  I'm not sure if he is hurt of not, but I know he threw more than this in his previous start with MS.

He gave a bomb and Van Pope and Matt Young saved him from giving up any more base hits. 

crap...Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great ones make you feel that you, too, can become great -- Mark Twain

Humor me for a second:

MI: Yunel Escobar, Kelly Johnson, Omar Infante

Corner Inf: Chipper Jones, Mark Teixiera, Scott Thorman

OF: Matt Diaz, Brandon Jones, Josh Anderson, Jeff Francoeur

C: Brian McCann, Clint Sammons

SP: John Smoltz, Tim Hudson, Tom Glavine, Jair Jurrjens, Chuck James, One of Jo Jo Reyes/Hampton/Bennett

Bullpen: Rafael Soriano, Peter Moylan, Manny Acosta, Will Ohman, Royce Ring, Blaine Boyer, Tyler Yates

Thoughts?  Anyone know if Ring has any options left so he can go down to Richmond when Mike Gonzalez is ready in June?

[editor's note, by gondeee] - I promoted this from the diary so it doesn't trump the trade news. Damn! There's a lot of news today.

John Sickels top-20 list is out.

I've never seen this many B's in one of his lists.  11!  Cody Johnson at 20?

Jason Heyward, OF, Grade B+
Jordan Schafer, OF, Grade B+
Brandon Jones, OF, Grade B+
Tommy Hanson, RHP, Grade B+
Joey Devine, RHP, Grade B
Brent Lillibridge, SS, Grade B
Gorkys Hernandez, OF, Grade B
Jair Jurrjens, RHP, Grade B  (worried about his health)
Cole Rohrbough, LHP, Grade B
Brandon Hicks, SS, Grade B
Jeff Locke, LHP, Grade B-
Steve Evarts, LHP, Grade C+
Jamie Richmond, RHP, Grade C+
Jose Ortegano, LHP, Grade C+
Kris Medlen, RHP, Grade C+
Julio Teheran, RHP, Grade C+ (all hype and scouting reports at this point)
Tyler Flowers, C-1B, Grade C+
Chad Rodgers, LHP, Grade C+
Jose Ascanio, RHP, Grade C+
Cody Johnson, 1B, Grade C+

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/season_in_review/y2007/index.jsp?sid=milb&mlbid=atl

The winds of change are sweeping through Atlanta. Sort of.

Long-time general manager John Schuerholz stepped aside, and Frank Wren is in. There's a vacancy in center field in the big leagues for the first time in a long time, and some of the system's top prospects were traded away during this year's playoff hunt. But some things won't change -- the Braves will continue to develop from within.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071017&content_id=2270739&vkey=news_mlb&fext=. jsp&c_id=mlb&partnered

He is apparently good friends with Dmitri Young...

"I always talk to my wife about being interested in playing in front of the African-American fans and trying to get the African Americans back to playing the game," he said. "If I go to Atlanta or D.C. and make a difference that way, I would love it. Trust me -- D.C. is very interesting to me as well as Atlanta."

I admire that stance actually...I hope we can get him.  Give Schafer plenty of time to learn and not rush him into the 09 lineup.

And by that I mean guys that 'could' be a part of the big club next season.  I would think that our roster would be very similar to this one next season.

Yunel Escobar, Brandon Jones, Dan Smith, Joey Devine, Will Startup, Jo Jo Reyes, Tony Lerew, Brent Lillibridge.

That's decent enough...would've been nice to get Arroyo though.

Who's hot?

20. Cole Rohrbough, lhp, Rookie-level Danville (Braves)

Striking out more than one batter per inning in each of his previous four starts, Rohrbough followed that up with 11 strikeouts in six innings July 13, and another 11 strikeout performance Thursday in five innings. The 2006 22nd rounder from Western Nevada Community College, one of this year's highest-profile draft-and-follow signees, has used a fastball that has touched 94 and a power spike curveball with excellent depth and a changeup to record 42 strikeouts and just six walks in 25.1 innings.

Who's not?
Eric Campbell, 3b, high Class A Myrtle Beach (Braves)

It's not often that we get repeat showings in this category, but Campbell's .130/.213/.217 July average certainly justifies a second straight "Not Hot" listing. A 2004 second-round pick out of an Indiana high school, Campbell has yet to play his way to Double-A in his third full pro season and appears to be in Myrtle Beach for the long term with a .210/.293/.374 overall average.

We still haven't resigned him yet and the arbitration hearing he is facing is fast approaching...this week I think.  

Anybody read or hear anything about what the numbers are that the two sides are discussing?

I know we will resign him, but I thought it would have been done by now.  I believe he is the only Braves player that could potentially go to the courtroom.  

Actually it is Athlons previews...http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/specials/spring_training/2007/athlon/braves.html

If you want to get discouraged go ahead and read the Mets outlook for CitiBank/Jackie Robinson Field and the revenues that will be created through just the naming rights and advertising revenue on the new tv channel.  Here's a sneak peek...$20 million a year for 20 years...that's just the naming rights.

I'm sure Ted would be ok with Capital One(or whomever)/Turner Field if it would mean that kind of cheese heading in the direction of the Braves!

They have posted the top ten NL East prospects over on Rotoworld.  Chalk up another expert thinking Salty will bounce back.

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/features/column.aspx?sport=MLB&columnid=2&articleid=27653

The Marlins are really loaded.  Let's hope they get sent to Portland, Oregon sometime soon.  What I hear about their stadium plans though is that they are getting close to something happening there.

http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=584

Update [2007-1-29 20:8:29 by gondeee]:

Many thanks to "themurph" for pointing out the RotoWorld prospect list. Here are the Braves top-15:

1. Jarrod Saltalamacchia
2. Matt Harrison
3. Eric Campbell
4. Elvis Andrus
5. Joey Devine
6. Brent Lillibridge
7. Jo-Jo Reyes
8. Brandon Jones
9. Anthony Lerew
10. Yunel Escobar
11. Chase Fontaine
12. Kala Ka’aihue
13. Steve Evarts
14. Van Pope
15. Cory Rasmus

It’s an interesting list if for no other reason than it is the first "commercial" one we get after the trade that brought us Lillibridge. They rank him sixth, which is lower than we have him. They also put Jo-Jo pretty high – much higher than any other major site.