Atlanta Braves Trade for Gold Glove 1B Derrek Lee

The Atlanta Braves have made 3 key trades this year in the 2010 Major League Baseball Season. The team’s MVP last year was shortstop Yunel Escobar. After a slow start to the season this year and getting in the doghouse of manage Bobby Cox, the tensions grew high inside the Braves locker room. Players like Tommy Hanson and Troy Glaus publicly made scenes on the baseball diamond; when they felt Yunel Escobar wasn’t focusing enough. What has become funny is that Troy Glaus got sent to the minors recently to see if he can play third base again. Glaus is an automatic out in the line up and commits way too many errors on routine plays at first base. So basically his skills are not MLB level anymore, so the Braves traded for first basemen Derrek Lee from the Chicago Cubs. For Tommy Hanson’s uncalled stare down, toward the Braves former shortstop Yunel Escobar, for a dropped fly ball,  he can’t buy a win. He continues to rack up loses or no decisions and isn’t even an average pitcher coming down the stretch. Both Tommy Hanson and Troy Glaus are facing the Yunel Escobar curse! This is a real curse and you can just ask Glaus and Hanson if they believe it exists. They asked for it and now they are both getting exactly what they deserve. You have to stick up for your players in the club house and these two failed to do it. So they are dealing with the Yunel Escobar curse.

Now turn to the Braves new shortstop Alex Gonzalez. Who is making a lot of fans in Braves Country miss their beloved SS Yunel Escobar. Gonzalez has been a direct cause for 2 Braves loses this year. He has done it with his glove too and he has without a doubt cost the Braves 2 wins and probably could make a case he has cause the Braves team 6 to 8 loses already. Alex Gonzalez is not producing at the plate, making errors at short stop, running into his left fielder and causing him pain in a collision, and just a lot of other silly and dumb plays. No one on the airwaves is calling the Gonzalez trade a bad move (yet), but clearly he doesn’t stack up to Yunel Escobar.

Each error Escobar committed in his last few weeks for the Braves team got hightlighted way too much. Joe Simpson has been the one spear-heading this campaign against Yunel Escobar. Now after bragging so much on Alex Gonzalez’s  glove work in practice and Simpson even going so far to say “I could just watch him all day long in practice at how quick his glove and hands are at shortstop“; he’s put his own self in a bad situation. His beliefs in how he is a better shortstop than Yunel Escobar couldn’t be further from the truth. Remember fans, the Atlanta Braves were cruising in the NL East Race; when the Escobar/Gonzalez trade went down. Escobar was helping the team to win with his glove and even the times Glaus and Hanson highlighted Escobar’s errors, they were not ones that lead to the team losing. Like Alex Gonzalez has already did 2 times and his errors resulted in direct loses for the team.

The Atlanta Braves did very little in their attempts to win a 15th straight N.L. East Pennant a few years back. They was unable to put any trades or jockey any guys around that year, so the Braves went out losers that year without even giving it their best try. Not the case this year, after the first place Braves traded away the team’s 2009 MVP in Yunel Escobar. The Braves front office knew they made a mistake for trading Yunel Escobar to the Toronto Blue Jays. So in order to cover up their mistake, they have made 2 more other trades. They are now sacrificing the future and giving away our minor league talent, for players like Rick Ankiel, Kyle Farnsworth, and now Derreck Lee. This first place team made a lot of changes and they didn’t even need to. Now our new GM has created a poor team in the ATL and over half of our regular starters wasn’t even with us last year or a true farm product of the Atlanta Braves minor league system. Check out this long list of people we are counting on to win games for us in the last 5 weeks of the season and just how long they been with the team:

*Eric Hinske

*Troy Glaus

*Derreck Lee

*Melky Cabrera

*Rick Ankiel

*Jason Heyward

*Alex Gonzalez

*Diory Hernandez

These players with 2 key rookie pitchers in Jonny Venters and Mike Minor; who are both expected to start games (Minor) for us now or pitch in critical innings late in the game (Venters). Bobby Cox is taking this cast of new comers and trying to mke them mesh; while he continues to bat our line-up out of order. Those line-up cards he submits before games need to be torn up and burned for good measure. Just by fixing the batting order, this team could have kept all their original players from the start of the season and would have 8 to 12 more wins already under their belt.

Key points Bobby Cox must be willing to do, if he expects to break the Yunel Escobar Curse and manage a NL Pennant East Title or wildcard birth in the 2010 baseball post-season.

1. Bat Matt Diaz 4th in every game for the rest of the year. He is the most “Barry Bonds” type of player we got, in terms of clutch hitting and just overall hard hits; where the ball finds the sweet part on his bat the most often.

2. All Star MVP Catcher Brian McCann must be guaranteed an at-bat in the first inning of every game. He’s a clutch hitter and batting him 5th is too far back. Let him hit 3rd the rest of the year.

3. Get your rookie right fielder Jason Heyward out of those top 3 spots. He’s just turned 21 years old and this pennant race is way too much pressure for the kid. Move him down.

4. Martin Prado is almost Superman, but struggles in clutch situations. He could help the team in the 2nd hole.

5. If your starting pitcher is leading off an inning in the 5th inning or later in a game that you are losing on the scoreboard; YOU MUST PINCH HIT! Letting Tommy Hanson lead off the 5th inning against the Cubs; while trailing by 5 runs is NOT acceptable. Especially in a tight pennant race in a game that is in the final 6 weeks of the season!

6. Must understand now, that there is no more tomorrows. Quit saving players (hitters and pitchers) for later in the game. It doesn’t get any later than this Bobby Cox. Our backs are against the wall and now we must play every game and every inning like it’s our last. Letting Eric Hinske pinch hit for Matt Diaz is a mistake in general, but doing this move with Brian McCann on your bench is not a smart decision! Yes B. Mac did get to swing in that 9th inning against the Cubs, but if Alez Gonzalez would have grounded into a double play, you would have lost a game, where you selected Eric Hinske over Brian McCann. That was a terrible decision to let Hinske bat and someone should have called you out for that one!

Bobby Cox has been slow to get Martin Prado and Omar Infante at-bats or high places in the batting order over the last couple of seasons. It has taken both of these guys way too long to get up in the proper places. If Chipper is still playing; then Infante is probably still riding the bench. You must bat these guys 1 and 2 in the batting order each game. The Braves top 6 spots in the line-up must remain the same from here on out!

Braves Final Batting Order for Post-Season Push 2010

1. Omar Infante

2. Martin Prado

3. Brian McCann

4. Matt Diaz

5. Derreck Lee / Jason Heyward (platoon situation based on starting pitcher being a Righty or Lefty)

6. Jason Heyward / Derreck Lee (platoon situation)

If Bobby Cox can not see this obvious 6 player batting order for his team right now. He deserves to be at home on the couch watching October baseball. No room for errors now, win or go home Braves Team!!!