Two days before Halloween of 2008, the bulk of the National League East got its own scare as the Philadelphia Phillies became World Series Champions. The NL East is a tough division to be sure; a mix of fierce rivalries, big bank rolls, a constant influx of both big name free agents and young, hungry talent, and strong front offices itching to pull off a blockbuster on the way to the postseason. So let’s turn the clock back and look at how it all began.
On the morning of August 1st, 2007, the Atlanta Braves were sitting 5 games above .500, 3 1/2 games behind the NL East leading New York Mets, and 1 1/2 games behind the NL Wild Card leading Los Angeles Dodgers. Since the All-Star break, the Braves had gone 9-9 losing 1 1/2 games in the standings as the Mets went 11-8. But Atlanta fans had to have a spring in their step that morning. With Time Warner selling the team to Liberty Media in February, legendary GM John Schuerholz had the motivation to once again produce a winner and had just completed a blockbuster deal to bring firstbaseman Mark Teixiera to bolster the Braves lineup. And with 9 games remaining against both the Mets and the Phillies, the playoffs were well within reach.
That night in his Braves debut, Teixiera drew a bases loaded walk and hit a 3-run home run – and then just kept hitting. In 54 games with the Braves, he batted .317, blasted 17 home runs, and drove in 56 runs – a pace of 51 HR’s and 168 RBI’s. Manny who? Despite this production, Atlanta would not catch up, winning 13 of 28 in August and 15 of 27 in September, which included a 3-6 record against their New York rivals and 4-5 against the eventual NL East Champion, Philadelphia.
In exchange for Teixiera and reliever Ron Mahay, Texas received a veritable king’s ransom. Atlanta sent catcher/firstbaseman Jarrod Saltalamacchia, shortstop Elvis Andrus, and starting pitchers Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, and Beau Jones. The Braves already had young All-Star Brian McCann behind the plate, veteran Edgar Renteria at short with 25 year old rookie Yunel Escobar getting experience in the majors and prospect Brent Lillibridge developing in the minors, and a rotation anchored by solid veterans John Smoltz and Tim Hudson. What’s more, the Braves would have control of Big Teix for the 2007 playoff run and all of 2008. So to some this massive shedding of talent could be justified.
Heading into the 2008 season, Atlanta kept making moves. The first was in the front office as Schuerholz left his position as GM to become the club’s President, appointing long-time assistant Frank Wren as the new General Manager. Wren announced that the team would not resign Andruw Jones but brought long-time Brave Tom Glavine back with a one year deal. He shipped Renteria to Detroit for rookie pitcher Jair Jurrjens, and sent young reliever Joey Devine and prospect Jaime Richmond to Oakland for Mark Kotsay, supposedly to fill center field while top prospect Justin Schafer developed. But the troubles continued.
Schafer would get a 50 game suspension for his ties to the use of Human Growth Hormone. Outfielder Jeff Francouer all but disappeared at the plate. Glavine hit the Disabled List on April 18th and would only make 13 starts, winning 2. Smoltz follow suit on April 28th and, after coming back from the DL resting an inflamed right shoulder, proceeded to reinjure himself requiring season-ending surgery. Tim Hudson would be placed on the DL on July 28th and also require season ending surgery. By the time Hudson went down, Atlanta was 7 1/2 games out of first place, 10 1/2 behind the Wild Card leader, Milwaukee, and 7 games under .500. Distraught and disappointed, Frank Wren called up the runners up in the 2007 Teixiera bidding, the Los Angeles Angels, and cut a deal acquiring only first baseman Casey Kotchman and pitching prospect Stephen Marek in return.
2008 closed with the Braves finishing 4th in the NL East and missing the playoffs for the third straight year. With Smoltz and Glavine both recovering from injuries and becoming free agents and Hudson targeting mid-summer for his return from surgery, Wren pursued pitching with passion. He went after San Diego ace, Jake Peavy, but eventually backed down after hearing the Padres’ demands of multiple top level prospects, especially pitching phenom Tommy Hanson. He pursued free agent A.J. Burnett only to be trumped by the spending power of the Yankees. Forced to move, he sent Lillibridge and a few other prospects to the White Sox for Javier Vasquez, outbid rival New York Mets with a four year deal for Derek Lowe, and signed Japanese import Kenshin Kawakami to a 3-year deal.
The rotation as it currently stands is just above average, led by Lowe, Vasquez, Jurrjens, Kawakami, and possibly Hanson, with Hudson returning for a playoff run. But if Chipper Jones can stay healthy enough to lead the offense again, Kotchman can prove himself a worthy first baseman, and a very young and inexperienced outfield can simultaneously develop together, the Braves Wren might have just wheeled and dealed his way back into contention. My guess is, they need another veteran outfield bat like Bobby Abreu.
In Part 2, we’ll review the New York Mets.
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