Sutton rejoins Braves’ broadcast team | ajc.com

Presumably, his full year as a starter would give us a handle on Escobar’s abilities, if he is really as good as he looked in part-time play in 2007. Needless to say, that’s not the case. At times, Escobar looked like one of the best players in the league, a gold-glove-level shortstop (he led the majors for most of the year in John Dewan’s Plus/Minus system) with a good, broad-based offensive game, hitting for average and drawing walks, and popping the occasional homer. But he spent most of the year battling injuries. At times, he tried to play through them, with catastrophic results.

A fascinating career. Lowe came up with the Mariners in 1997, after years as a prospect, and pitched some, not well, before being traded to Boston, with Jason Varitek, for Heathcliff Slocumb in one of the worse “prospects for relievers” trades of all-time. It was maybe the first building block of the Red Sox world champions/mini-dynasty. The Red Sox used him as a starter briefly, then converted him to the bullpen. In 1999-2001, he was their most-usual closer, making the All-Star Team in 2000, even though he didn’t, and still doesn’t, have a normal closer arsenal. Lowe is primarily a ground-ball pitcher who even used one inning at a time won’t strike a whole lot of people out, and sometimes that pitcher is going to give up four singles in a row. For a starter, that’s not something that will necessarily kill you, but it’s a problem in high-leverage situations. Bill Simmons used to talk about the “Derek Lowe Face”, the slightly poleaxed look the pitcher would get when that sort of thing happened.

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I was going to write something, but my condition has only been upgraded to “Matt Diaz’s throwing arm”.

As I’ve mentioned before a few times already, Catcher’s Blog will transition into the new site before too much longer. I’m not quite ready to reveal the new site just yet, but it won’t be too much longer before I do. As soon as I move to the new site, this domain will redirect everyone over to it. I’m letting everyone know this ahead of time so to prevent too much confusion. This is the reason why I haven’t posted anything lately, even with the slew of news and goings-on in Braves nation.

So, I have a new hole in me, but the surgery seems to have been successful. There’s still a little “discomfort”, though the Percoset does a lot for that. The main thing is that I feel very, very weak. The normal description would be “weak as a kitten” but this may be unfair to kittens. I am perhaps rather:

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves and free agent right-hander Derek Lowe have agreed to a four-year deal worth $60 million on Tuesday, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

So, as far as I’m concerned, Derek Lowe is still a Dodger.

I am having surgery early tomorrow morning. It’s outpatient and should be strictly routine and hopefully I will be back online in the afternoon. I’ll be on for a few hours more tonight. Have fun. Open thread.

Atlanta agrees to terms with Japanese pitcher Kenshin Kawakami | braves.com: Official Info

Earlier this offseason, Frank Wren signed Greg Norton to a 1-year deal to anchor the Braves’ bench as the pinch-hitting specialist.  Yesterday, Wren made another move towards maintaining one of the best benches in the league: signing Omar Infante to a 2-year deal worth 4.35 million with a club option for 2011 worth 2.5 million with a 250,000 buyout.  If exercised, this option would buy out his 2nd free agent year as Infante was scheduled to be a free agent after the 2009 season.

The AJC is reporting that former Dodgers pitcher, Derek Lowe, has accepted a 4-year, $60 million offer from the Braves.

In the same day that saw Kenshin Kawakami announce his signing with the Braves, Derek Lowe agreed to terms with us and will ink the contract pending his phyiscal on Wednesday.

The Hall of Fame welcomed two new members on Monday, as both Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice were voted in by the Baseball Writers of America. Both players inclusion in Cooperstown may help shine a new light on the superstars of the 1980s, including Atlanta Braves legend and all around good guy, Dale Murphy.

In the midst of Smoltz’s departure and the other dark clouds that have been surrounding the Braves’ front office the past 3 months, a beacon of hope for success in 2009 shone through on Saturday when the Braves acquired Kenshin Kawakami, the long-time ace of the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Pro Baseball (Japan’s MLB).  Kawakami will be used as a starting pitcher for the Braves in 2009 and for the rest of his 3-year contract.  This move somewhat solidifies the rotation, of which 3 members are now known (Vazquez, Jurrjens, and Kawakami).  So, what should we expect from Kawakami?

Kelly Johnson Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com

When it comes to Braves faves of all time, John Smoltz topped my list. But even beyond the Braves, he will remain my favorite baseball player of all time.

John Smoltz is no longer a Brave. Words that any Atlanta fan never thought they would hear as long as they lived. The only time that kind of sentence would be appropriate would be John’s retirement announcement. But, we aren’t going to get that fitting ending. No, a certain team from Boston will get to bask in Smoltzie’s twilight while us Braves fans, the ones who grew up watching him, have watched him for almost two decades now continue to watch as our team is run directly in the southern direction.

The off-season has not been what the Atlanta Braves had in mind when they entered the market with money to spend. With the fall-out of John Smoltz’s departure fresh on their minds, Atlanta agreed to terms with one of their free-agent pitching targets on Saturday, signing Japanese right-hander Kenshin Kawakami to a three-year contract.

According to the AJC, the Braves have signed Japanese pitcher, Kenshin Kawakami.

Jair Jurrjens Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com

Jair Jurrjens Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com

Jair Jurrjens Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com

I don’t even know how to comprehend this situation. Ever since I remember watching Braves games, Smoltz has been in them, being the true player that he is. Smoltz is probably my all-time favorite player and to see him playing for another team just makes me sad, and of all teams it has to be Boston.

Reports: Smoltz set to sign with Red Sox | ajc.com

Thanks to our latest contributor Grant McAuley for today’s piece.

ATLANTA — Veteran right-hander John Smoltz appears close to a deal with the Boston Red Sox according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. An announcement could come as early as Thursday.

AtlantaBraves.com and Mark Bowman’s blog are reporting that veteran pitcher, Cy Young winner, future Hall-of-Famer, and face of the Braves, John Smoltz, is likely to sign with the Red Sox tomorrow afternoon: