Trade Candidates

Scott Thorman: Bill Shanks from scout.com is confirming that the Braves are shopping the mighty Thor around. The former 2000 First Round draft pick hasn’t lived up to expectations so far in his young career. In 2006 he hit .234, and last season he hit even lower with a .216 average. Thorman is strikeout prone, so having him as a bench player might not be a good idea. His strongest weapon in his arsenal is clearly his power. When the Canadian native gets the barrel of the bat on the ball, it usually goes a long way. His hitting mechanics are also very unsound. The young first baseman tries to hit an upper deck homer with every pitch he sees. Thorman needs more time in the minors but he is out of options. He isn’t helping his cause to make the team this spring training with having a .176 average. Like almost all of the people you will see on this list he is out of minor league options. Thorman could bring in a decent reliever or a minor leaguer. Brayan Pena: Pena has been an underrated player in the Braves organization. He has shown throughout his minor league career that he can hit for a good average. As of 3/19/08 in spring training, Pena has a .296 average. The Venezuela defector biggest weakness is catching. He is an average game caller, has an ok arm, and gets a great deal of pass balls. With the Braves having young catcher Clint Sammons, and veteran catcher Corky Miller, it’s going to be difficult for the Braves to find room for Brayan Pena. To put the icing on the cake, Pena is also out of options. I would rather have Pena as the backup catcher over Sammons and Miller. The Braves could also trade Thorman and have Pena as the backup 1B. Pena has played LF/RF/3B/1B/C in the minors last season. So he is very versatile.

Bullpen Guys: There are still a couple of spots in the pen that are available for the taking in the 2008 Atlanta Braves bullpen. The middle reliever positions and long relief position are still up for the taking. I am going to assume that Rafael Soriano, Will Ohman, Peter Moylan, and Manny Acosta are all locks for the pen. Bobby Cox has said he is going to go with 7 pitchers in his bullpen. So that most likely leaves Jeff Bennett and Buddy Carlyle going for the long relief position. For the middle relief position should be between a bundle of players that are out of options like Royce Ring, Chris Resop, Blaine Boyer, and Tyler Yates. Since Carlyle and Bennett still have options left there is a chance that they are sent to the minors to make room for another reliever to make the club. Resop and Yates in my opinion aren’t really that good, and the Braves should just move on and trade them. Blaine Boyer has really impressed me so far during camp. He has shown a good 93-96mph fastball, with the ability to use that pitch inside and out. He also has an awfully good curveball to strike batters out. Being able to start and relieve is going to help him out in the long run. Royce Ring is guy that is having an “OK” spring so far. He is striking hitters out, but he is also walking guys. We all know that Cox and McDowell don’t like pitchers that walk batters. I am going to predict we will see a trade containing at least one of these players Chris Resop, Royce Ring, and or Tyler Yates.

Spring Training Note: The Braves wanted to send backup catcher candidate Javy Lopez to the minors. Lopez declined the option and has opted to retire from baseball. Bobby Cox has also sent the following players to minor league camps, LF platoon candidate Brandon Jones, 5th starter candidate Jo-Jo Reyes, center fielder of the future Jordan Schafer, Jorge Campillo, Ryan Drese, and Francisley Bueno.