I like the move still, not only for possible revenue from Japan, but also we get our foot in the door.

I wonder if Kawakami had already been on our team if Tazawa would’ve given us more consideration?

Advantage I see with Swisher is the switch hitter, as well as being a jack of all trades. Can play first – all outfields and can Dh if need be and like you said at a 3 year set rate. I dont be.ieve Nady’s numbers will hold up over the long haul – but I could be wrong.

I believe the White Sox want to move Dye’s contract. If they got some major league serviceable pieces back (that were cheap), they would deal. But that pushes us a little out of our payroll range unless we move salary (Soriano?). Dye to me is a great fit to the Braves needs. He can play right about as well as left which lets us do Blanco / Diaz in right and bench Francoeur if he is struggling.

Soriano and Medlen for Nady? Maybe add one more and get Swisher (who I think is better than Nady because he is almost as good of a hitter, younger, serviceable in center and cost ocntrolled for 3 years out).

Berry’s better. Shorter had that whiff of devout Presbetyrianism that could be a real turnoff. And Berry’s got the better outdoor’s scene.

Braves: I don’t think we’re getting Dye, but maybe. I think Abreu’s better for us on a short deal. Probably cheaper, more of a pro, bats right handed. Kotchman, KJ, McCann, Schafer, Anderson, Blanco, Brandon Jones, all LH, Chipper better batting LH. Means that against a RHP, Frenchy and Yunel would be our only RH’s in the lineup, with Diaz (maybe, and sporting his reverse platoon split), Prado, Infante and Catcher #2 being our RH bench bats. Abreu would push one of those guys down, balance us out. Dye would too, but I think if we were getting him, we would have. Swisher’s a maybe, but I think we’ve seen the best of him. We’ve seen 4 full seasons, he’s turning 28 this year and has a career .244/.354/.451 line, with nothing too out of line badly skewing it. And he’s not that cheap anymore, should make 4 – 5 mil this year, maybe smidge more (can’t view Cot’s from work), and escalating. I’d prefer Abreu on a known 2 year deal.

nick – shorter or berry..

berry grad here

I’m still Riding the Dragon!

All the way to the 2010 World Championship! (And yes, I’ve gone bolder in my prediction, but only because you all brightened my day with your unbridled optimism over today’s overpaying of Lowe.)

Also, for the guy who called a healthy Hudson a 1- or 2+, what the hell are you smoking, and did you bring enough to share? Hudson, when healthy, is one of the top pitchers in the game, he took some time to adjust to the Braves, but his last two years were lights out! If he returns to that form he’s a no-doubt 1+!

The reason is his no where near being a good bet at any cost is because of his past 2 seasons. Just because he is determined to prove himself doesn’t mean he is going to be any better at laying off breaking balls down and away. He was abysmal last year before getting hurt. He was abysmal the year before as well.

The lost weight to me shows that he’ll be improved defensively and motivated to improve. He’s been in baseball a very long time and has a very exploitable weakness at the plate. The gamble you take with him is that he becomes decent as opposed to horrendous.

Decent Andruw is better than what other options we have. Horrendous Andruw is worse. Hoping for more than decent hitting from Andruw is hoping for a lot. By decent I mean the only hitter worse than him would be Francoeur. By horrendous I mean equal to or worse than Francoeur.

You’re just not going to get .260 and 40 HR out of Andruw. If you get .250 and 25 with plus defense though, you’ve got yourself a nice bargain at $500k for the back end of the batting order.