He Can't Say They Didn't Give Him a Shot

Ryan Langerhans was traded by the Braves to the Oakland Athletics today, immediately after their 11 inning loss to Colorado.

Langerhans was 2-41 entering today's game - in which he went 1-3 to bring his average to .068 on the young season. The fact is that the Braves couldn't wait any longer for Langy to "break out of it." With Matt Diaz hitting a decent .260ish in part time duty, and coming off a .327 season (nearly 300 AB) there really wasn't much reason to wait for Langy.

The Braves will get some cash and a player to be named later for Langy. Willie Harris has been promoted from Richmond to the big club as a result of the transaction. Harris was hitting .362 as a regular for the AAA team. This spring, Harris hit .318 in 44 AB. Harris came to the Braves as a non-roster invite to Spring Training. He hit .156 for the Boston Red Sox in 2006 (45 AB). Harris spent four seasons with the Chicago White Sox (2002-2005) and was a member of their World Championship team in '05. He broke into the bigs in 2001 with Baltimore.

Don't expect Diaz to take over the day to day work in Left Field. Expect to see the left handed hitter Harris take over for Langerhans in the platoon role. Harris has spent most of his Major League Baseball career as a second baseman (just what we need...another second sacker), but has been playing mostly in the outfield for the immediate past.

I'm a little unclear on what the A's have in mind for Langerhands...as it seems they have more outfielders than most clubs (5 according to www.athletics.mlb.com).

Pete Orr came off the bench today to pinch hit for pitcher Kyle Davies in the 5th inning. He grounded out to shortshop to drop his batting average to .222.

Put Me In Coach

The Atlanta Braves (13-7) beat the Miami Marlins (9-11) last night thanks in part to Pete Orr. Orr pinch hit in the top of the 9th for pitcher Rafael Soriano. The Bravos were leading 7-6 and Orr drove in 2 runs on a single to right field. Orr later scored on a single by Edgar Renteria. Orr's single, his second hit of the season, gave him his first two RBI and run scored of the season. Pete is now 2-7 in '07.

It's quite strange that Orr has only seen 2 innings in the field this season and has yet to get a start. Manager Bobby Cox has started right handed hitting Chris Woodward at second base on several occations, but nothing for Orr to date.

Cox is known for spreading playing time around to "keep guys fresh," but Orr has not seen his share yet.

Willy, Where Are You?

How do you suspend a guy who is on the disabled list? Well, the Braves are apparently doing just that to Willy Aybar. He's been on the DL since coming out of Spring Training and didn't show up to the game on Saturday night - yeah, the one that was rained out.

Check out the article on the Braves web site.

I guess the best part of the article is the last paragraph...."Even if he reaches a point where he's healthy enough to play, the Braves may have a hard time placing him on the roster in favor of Pete Orr, who is a clubhouse favorite, beloved by teammates, coaches and manager Bobby Cox."

The Great Mark Redman Experiment

Let's face it. Mark Redman is not an All Star pitcher. When the Braves signed him, it was always mentioned that he was on the American League All Star team last year. He was on the team because the Kansas City Royals was a very poor team and every team gets a representative and he was the best the that Ozzie Guillen could come up with (5-4 with an ERA around 5.50 if memory serves). So really, it's not very fair to label Mark Redman as an All Star -- he's simply a victim of the system.

Last night was part 2 of the Redman Experiment. The opening act was vs. the Mets, so let's face it, the Mets are a pretty good lineup (understatement of the year), it probably wasn't the best assignment for Redman right out of the gate. Last night was a disaster. Redman was abused by the Fish.

So, now the question is, what is the alternative? It was pretty much implied that Redman was only going to be around until Hampton got off the DL. Since Hampton is on the DL until, at least, opening day 2008, then I'm thinkin' the Bravos might want to reconsider their position. Since Lance Cormier is injured, Kyle Davies is up and pitched well in his first outing. I guess when Cormier gets healthy, then he'll be the heir to the Redman fortune? Who knows, but neither one of them is an All Star and I don't care what Ozzie Guillen says.

Pete Orr played an inning at the hot corner last night after Bobby Cox determined the game was out of reach when the score was 11-3 in the top of the 9th. Orr was in the hold when Kelly Johnson flew out to end the game.

Braves - The Best in the Bigs

With this afternoons come from behind 3-2 win over the New York Metropolitans, the Bravos are sitting at 5-1, the best record in Major League Baseball.

In not-so-favorable news today, the Braves highest paid player (13th highest paid player in the majors), Left Handed Starting Pitcher Mike Hampton, cut his bullpen session short with pain in his throwing elbow - the same surgically repaired elbow that has not allowed him to pitch in a ballgame since August 19, 2005. Hampton is traveling to New York to visit with the Doc who performed the Tommy John Surgery on him in September '05.

Here is the top 10 on the 2007 Atlanta Braves Payroll (with approximate salary in millions):

1. Mike Hampton ($15.5)
2. Andruw Jones ($14)
3. Chipper Jones ($12.3)
4. Edgar Renteria ($10)
5. Tim Hudson ($8.5)
6. John Smoltz ($8)
7. Bob Wickman ($6.5)
8. Mike Gonzalez ($2.4)
9. Craig Wilson ($2)
10. Rafael Soriano ($1.2)

Everyone after Soriono is under $1 million in salary this season. Pete Orr #22 on the salary rank - he is pulling down $400,000 this year.

So, you say, if Mike Hampton is the 13th highest paid player in MLB, who are the top 12?

Well, ask and you shall receive. See the list right here (with approximate salary in millions and team):

1. Alex Rodriguez ($27.7, New York Yankees)
2. Jason Giambi ($23.4, New York Yankees)
3. Derek Jeter ($21.6, New York Yankees)
4. Manny Ramirez ($17, Boston Red Sox)
5. Todd Helton ($16.6, Colorado Rockies)
6. Bartolo Colon ($16, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim)
7. Andy Pettitte ($16, New York Yankees)
8. Jason Schmidt ($15.7, Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles)
9. Jim Thome ($16.7, Chicago White Sox)
10. Bobby Abreau ($15.6, New York Yankees)
11. Barry Bonds ($15.5, San Franciso Giants)
12. Richie Sexson ($15.5, Seattle Mariners)

Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sunday April 8, 2007; Section B

Man the Yanks have a lot of money.

And 2 Makes a Streak

Another extra inning contest for the Bravos and Phils. Same result...Braves win! Braves win!

Tim Hudson looked great - which he needed to after all the speculation him losing his stuff after a couple bad years in the ATL.

The 'pen looked a little scary but did a nice job overall. Bob Wick-itywack-man picked up the save.

All spring the press has been saying that Jeff Francoeur has matured as a hitter and is more seletective with the pitches he swings at. I have yet to see this.

Pete Orr had an infield single in the 11th. He has the highest batting average on the Braves (1.000).

Undefeated Braves

Nice outing from Braves ace John Smoltz (6 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K). He had 5 strikeouts in the first two innings, and then the Phils started getting around on him.

The offense was carried by Brian McCann (3-4, 3RBI, HR) and Edgar Renteria (2-5, 2RBI, 2HR).

Bob Wickman got the win in the 5-3 game and his twin (minus the facial hair) Chad Paronto got the save by pitching a scoreless 10th inning.

Pete Orr pinch ran for McCann in the 9th and advanced to 3rd base, but couldn't cross the plate.

The real story today was the bullpen. Last season, the Bravos opened up on LA with an 11-10 win over the Dodgers.

Last opening day the Braves bullpen:
5IP, 11H, 5R, 5ER, 0BB, 3K

2007 opening day for the Braves bullpen:
4IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 3BB, 4K