*Official 2009 Atlanta Braves Thread*

Sox traded LaRoche to ATL for Casey Kotchman.

 

Red Sox' Adam LaRoche Traded to Braves for Casey Kotchman

http://www.nesn.com/2009/07/red-sox-adam-laroche-traded-to-braves-for-casey-kotchman.html

 

Ok, Now Im gonna name drop LOL. Yesterday, Jennifer LaRoche (Adams wife and a customer of ours) called me yesterday regarding an order she placed with us...

She went on to say that "things are crazy right now". I said something to the effect of "Oh, because of the move to Boston and whatnot?"

She replied with a "Ummm, yeah, and some other stuff is going on."

This may or may not mean she knew Adam would likely be traded again, but interesting nonetheless.

As for the trade, LaRoche gives us more power. Which is what we need.

 

That's a pretty cool story. At least I got to see LaRoche's first and only HR in a Sox uniform live. Hopefully he does well for the Braves, he seemed like a good guy in his short time here. Not sure what the Sox want with Kotchman though. I wonder if he's out of options or not.

 

Gammons and Phillips were just talking about this on espnews. They said the Sox thought Kotchman would be better suited for coming off the bench than LaRoche. And Phillips liked the move for the Braves since he should add more power.

 

Just read on a Braves blog that the Sox like Kotch and feel he strengthens their bench.

 

Yeah make sense. The Sox need to make a few roster moves then if they're going to keep Kotchman up.

 

LaRoche back to Atlanta. I like it. He adds power to the lineup which is a good thing. I think Kotchman is a good player. It will be a shame for him though if he got traded to Boston to sit on the bench all the time.

 

Cant figure out why Sox wanted Kotchman (Teixeira wanna be traded for guy??) hahahaa.

Braves win this deal.

 

I don't know, I definitely think LaRoche is better for Atlanta because he hits for more power. Kotchman is a good player overall.

 

Adam Laroach is one of Chipper's best friends in MLB. right before the All Star break they were saying that over the break he and Chipper were meeting in Oklahoma to explore some hunting land they had bought together.

i won't go so far as to say that caused the trade, but it sure didn't hurt.

i think the trade is basicly a wash, AR bring a bit more power, but defensively it is a step down. CK had a couple good plays in the 9th last night, and hasn't made an error all season.

both are free agents at the end of the season i believe. kinda feel bad for CK though, going from a starter to a bench guy.

oh, and i seem to recall that AR was responsible for some Yunel type brain farts while in Atlanta, due to his ADD.

 

I was just watching PTI and they had a story about the ump for the Marlins/Braves series fist-bumping the Marlins catcher after a win. They showed Chipper standing at the steps of the dugout with a look of disgust on his face. And there is also the fact that the ump had tossed at least a few Braves players, including Cox (no surprise there though), during the series. Wtf was going on there?

We are still in the wildcard hunt. And even though we play 162 games they all count, often times with divisions and wildcards being decided by a game or two. I'd hate to think there was something going on here that could cost us down the road.

 

That's ridiculous but not surprising given how the games were called. The ump should at least be questioned. I'd hate to think something fishy was going on too.

 

Same ump that tossed out a bunch of Braves on that Sunday game at Fenway vs. the Red Sox. MLB better do something it sounds like the ump hates the Braves for some reason.

 

I'm sure they'll do absolutely nothing.

 

You know them too well. Of course they won't do a thing.

 

They sure needed that win today.

 

thats for sure we have la in la for 4 games pretty soon, so hopefully they win again tomorrow.

 

That would be really good. It's good to see Soriano back to form. JJ pitches tomorrow right? So we should have a pretty good shot.

 

LaRoche had a good first game back. They say a travel delay caused him not to get to Atlanta until an hour before gametime. He's quoted as saying the excitement of being home again picked him up for the game. I hope the same excitment keeps his bat hot the rest of the season.

 

Just to go back to our series against eachother.....cause I don't let old things just die when I feel I have a point to prove.

Nolasco today against the Cubs: 7 Innings and 1 Run allowed. But aren't you supposed to score more against him?

 

What point do you think you're proving? That Nolasco is an elite pitcher and I shouldn't expect an average amount of run production against him? Really is that what you're trying to prove? Go ahead take a shot, but try doing it without picking and choosing his starts, let's look at his entire body of work. Enough of that, "Well if you forget the first however many weeks when he sucked and got sent to the minors he has been really good." If we play that game I could "prove" that Martin Prado is the best hitter in the league, because Martin led the league in hits for most of last month. We all know of course that notion is ridiculous.

 

i don't think thats ridiculous at all!!

 

Well I wish the best hitter in the league would step it up tonight, they need it. JJ had a rough outing. He gave up a three run shot which killed them. Maybe we could trade him for that Nolasco guy on the Marlins. I heard he only gave up one run to the Cubs tonight. He'll probably win the Cy Young award this season.

 

GO PHILLIES

 

It's not over just yet. The fact that we own the Phillies certainly doesn't hurt. You should root pretty hard for some other team to get the wild card.

 

Ok, Im now convinced we need to bring up Heyward. With Church out, and Diaz not hitting his weight recently, J-Hey would give us an immediate boost in RF. We need a spark, and he'd cause a fire. DO IT WREN!!!

 

Unless he pulls a Schaefer and can't hit fastballs. Since he's the top prospect in the country I'll assume that's not the case.

 

My only conern with J-Hey is that he has never struggled at any level. I guess that's a good problem to have, but it would be harder for him to overcome that adversity in the Bigs as opposed to AA.

And I'll give Schafer the benefit of the doubt. Supposedly his wrist injury was the main reason for his struggles... supposedly.

 

They needed that series win in the worst way.

 

No doubt. Tough series against LA starts tonight, but after that our schedule is pretty favorable. The Marlins look like they are imploding on the verge of being swept by the Gnats, and Philly hasn't looked great save for JA Happ dominating the Rockies last night.

When Hudson comes back, KK is in the pen. We still have a (small) chance.

 

We have to start gaining some ground. Soon. They probably need to be no worse than 3 or so out by the time September rolls around. Man, I want to go watch some playoff baseball in Atlanta so bad I can't stand it. They haven't made the postseason since I moved here.

 

Supposedly Frank Wren will be watching the Miss. Braves for the next few days. Could this mean Jason Heyward gets the call soon? I hope so. A Chipper-Heyward-McCann-Anderson-LaRoche lineup would be SCARY to any RHP.

 

You think Heyward would have a big impact immediately? He's never played above AA right?

 

I think he would. And honestly, the best minor league pitching is in AA, where Heyward has feasted. Alot of top propects don't ever go to AAA, Brian McCann being one of them.

 

You own the Phillies? C'mon now....nobody owns us. You'll be ten games behind us come next weekend. We are the best team in the NL, and yes I am including the Dodgers as well. I don't see any team that matches up with our offense, or with our pitching now that we have Cliff Lee. I think the Yankees are the only team that could give us a challenge in a 7 game series.


Hey John Smoltz is now available.

 

We still have a better pitching staff from top to bottom than you guys, which is why we've played you well through the first 9 games. When Hudson replaces Kawikami in the rotation, we'll be even better.

 

Funny how you're laughing, go ahead and tell me how many series the Phillies have won against Atlanta this season? I pray to the baseball gods that Atlanta sneaks in and draws Philly in the divisional series. Philly had a great July and suddenly they are the best ever. Please. Baseball seasons last longer than one month in case you haven't noticed. They've cooled off here in the past week or so which is why they haven't taken a commanding lead. They've had all season to take complete control and haven't been able to do it, so please spare me.

 

Winning this tough Dodgers series could really get things going with the Marlins and Phillies playing each other. Lets keep our fingers crossed. The mighty Phils are 4-6 over their last ten. Now is the time to cover some ground.

 

Don't look now but the Braves have a chance to take a four game series against the Dodgers today. They've pulled out some big time wins the last couple of nights.