Transaction of Today…December 12, 1980 – The Atlanta Braves traded Doyle Alexander to the San Francisco Giants for Craig Landis (minors) and John Montefusco. We often talk about the Doyle Alexander Trade. You know the one. On August 12, 1987, the Atlanta Braves sent Alexander to the Tigers in exchange for a minor league right-hander named John Smoltz. The deal was your classic instant reward/forever regret for the Tigers. Alexander threw three shutouts in his…
Transaction of Today – December 11, 2009…The Tampa Bay Rays traded Jesse Chavez to the Atlanta Braves for Rafael Soriano. It was the second time in a decade the Atlanta Braves got burned by a player accepting arbitration. The precursor to the current – and still-flawed – system of extending qualifying offers in order to receive draft pick compensation, the arbitration system classified free agents into classes. If a player was offered arbitration and declined,…
(I really miss writing so here’s my effort to have fun with it. No promises, but I do want to get back to having fun with this silly blog of mine.) This article serves as a twofer. It’s both the next chapter to The Rebuilders, which I meant to be an alphabetical rundown of the journeymen and never-was’s that made up the rebuild. It’s also another addition to the long-running Transaction of Today series. We’ll…
When I was a teenager, I loved Dr. Pepper. Drank the stuff like it was crack and I am not convinced their formula at the time didn’t include illicit drugs. But occasionally, my mother would shop the sales and get Mr. Pibb instead. And it’s not bad. I mean, it’s still better than water, I guess. But it’s no Dr. Pepper and no matter how much my mom told me they are the same, I’m…
Transaction of Today – August 25, 1995…The Atlanta Braves traded Andre King (minors) to the Chicago White Sox for Mike Devereaux. The August trading season was expected to be killed by the decision last year to eliminate “waiver trades” after the trading deadline, though the unique season that was put together to deal with COVID has changed that. Though occasionally a blockbuster happened, waiver trades often filed out a roster. Perhaps a team was looking…
We do not talk about Lew Burdette enough. The University of Richmond product joined the organization before their move to Milwaukee and, for a time, was among the greatest pitchers in baseball and the perfect #2 to unquestionable ace, Warren Spahn. And on this day in 1960, he was at his best, throwing a near-perfect game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Burdette originally signed with the New York Yankees in 1947. Over four years later, the…
From 2015-17, the Atlanta Braves embraced a rebuild, tearing down what had been a division winner in 2013 to build a farm system that would soon become the envy of baseball. As prospects like Ozzie Albies and Max Fried developed, someone had to play for the major league team. This special group of players is known as The Rebuilders. These are their stories. David Aardsma Number one in your program and…well, that’s about it because,…