Braves win now team .... questionable decisions

The Braves have always been know for having a very strong farm system and having the patience to allow their youngsters to develop. Sure they have acquired their share of free agents and made several big trades but they were sprinkled in amongst the home grown talent.

But since last year there appears to be a slight change in philosophy, if this approach doesn't work I'm sure Atlanta Fans will blame new GM Frank Wren but this started last year at the deadline with John Schuerholz.

It seemed that after the 2006 season when they missed the playoffs for the first time in 13 years, they were desperate to re-win the division and were unwilling to wait for the prospects to develop. Young left handed starters are hard to find and the Braves traded Horacio Ramirez to the Mariners for RHP Rafael Soriano, who spent most of the year on the DL. Then sent 1B Adam LaRoche to the Pirates for LHP Mike Gonzalez (lost the season) and SS Brent Lillibridge (now ranked #6).

In moves that are reminiscent of Jim Duquette in 2004 ( Benson/Zambrano for Wiggy/Kazmir), Schuerholz gave huge pieces of the future for a chance to win now. The Braves, just as the Mets in 2004 were close but really never in it ( 4.5 division/ 7.5 wild card). They traded #1 prospect C/1B Jarrod Saltalamacchia, #2 SS Elvis Andrus, #3 LHP Matt Harrison, RHP Neftali Feliz, LHP Beau Jones for Mark Teixeira and Ron Mahay. In a second trade they sent struggling but young starter Kyle Davies to KC for Octavio Dotel. Finally in a third trade they acquire former Met Royce Ring for two pitchers Wil Ledezma and Will Startup. Here's ESPN's review of the trades and last years prospect rankings of the Braves farm.

The Braves never made it out of third place, since then Mahay and Dotel have moved on. Teixeira is signed for one more year but will expect a huge contract which Atlanta will have a hard time committing to. Andruw Jones one of the biggest players during their championship run has left through free agency. Instead of having a youngster fill in the rotation they decided to bring back Tom Glavine. Edgar Renteria was traded for a young pitcher and outfield prospects who will help re-stock the farm but at the cost of a very important player from last year. Jair Jurrjens, RHP is ranked #8 and will compete for a rotation spot but is an injury risk. OF Gorkys Hernandez is ranked #7 on their prospect list. The Braves weren't done trading their youth, in a small move they sent #19 RHP Jose Ascanio to the Cubs for two journeymen, Will Ohman and Omar Infante. They also traded 26 y/o reliever Oscar Villarreal for OF Josh Anderson. Then in January they sent INF Chase Fontaine who was listed #10 on Sickels list last year along INF Willy Aybar for LOOGY Jeff Ridgway. Finally, they obtained Mark Kotsay (an injury risk) to replace Jones for #5 RHP Joey Devine and #13 RHP Jamie Richmond.

From last year's prospect list # 7 1B Thorman, #8 LHP Jo-Jo Reyes and #10 INF Yunel Escobar all graduated to the major league team. The only player left from last years list is #3 Brandon Jones the rest have either made the majors, been traded or dropped off the list. The Braves prospect list looks much thinner this year, their best prospects are three B+ outfielders. They only have three pitchers in the top ten, two are righties and the one lefty.

The Braves remind me of the Mets from 2003-2005 when they had several past prime, former all-stars and a bunch of young role players with a weak farm system. They were forced to make trades for injury risk type players, which depleted the system even more and sign bad contracts. The only chance we had of winning was if everybody stayed healthy and had career years. It took years to start re-building the farm system and the only way the major league team won was to over pay in trades and contracts.....

I bring this up because it's not only important to keep an eye on the competition but to learn from their mistakes. With the pending trade proposal Omar will need to careful weigh the pros and cons from the aspect of the big picture, he is suppose to be building a dynasty.

I think the Twins are playing us and not against the AL east but the clock, each day that goes by another pitcher is off the market. I can see the Twins hoping that all our options are gone and Omar is forced to give up five top prospects for Johan........