Atlanta Braves Build For The Present and Future

Wow. I can honestly say that I never saw this coming.

The move has completely stunned me, and many members of the Braves faithful.

First came the news of a gigantic trade for Atlanta. In a deal that pretty much no one saw coming, the Braves sent prospects Charlie Morton, Gorkys Hernandez, and Jeff Locke to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for center fielder Nate McLouth.

Later, Frank Wren would issue Tom Glavine his walking papers, less than 24 hours after Glavine completed what was supposed to be his final rehab start before joining the Braves later this week.

Immediately after releasing Glavine, the Braves called up uber-prospect Tommy Hanson, who will start Saturday in Atlanta against the Milwaukee Brewers (anyone got any tickets you can spare?).

Both moves appear to have materialized out of nowhere. Of course, most of the Braves' deals usually happen that way.

The deal for McLouth virtually spells the end of the Jordan Schafer experiment for 2009.

Schafer will be good one day, just not right now. He struck out way too much and could not seem to figure out Major League pitching. He'll be back next season, probably as the everyday left fielder.

Nate McLouth is one of the best hitting outfielders in the game. He's no slouch on defense either.

McLouth staked his claim as a top National League center-fielder last season when he was an All-Star, hit a career high .276 with 26 home runs and 94 RBI. He also won a Gold Glove.

As if that was not enough, McLouth had 23 stolen bases last season as well. When you consider how little the Braves run, this could signal a complete change in strategy for Bobby Cox and the Braves.

The fact that McLouth is only 27 and under contract until 2011 makes him the next Atlanta center fielder for a long time.

Now onto the other shocker.

One could say that Atlanta did Glavine wrong. One could say that this was a bad way to do business.

I would definitely say that I somewhat agree.

The Braves should not have signed Glavine in the first place. Knowing that Tommy Hanson, Kris Medlin, and eventually Tim Hudson were waiting in the wings there was no reason to waste $1 million on a pitcher who was clearly done last season.

I definitely have mixed emotions over this release though. I hate it for Glavine on a personal level, but this is business, and as rotten as that may be, it was necessary.

Glavine's release leaves Chipper Jones and Bobby Cox as the final links to the glory days of the past.

However nostalgic I feel when I think about those days, the biggest part of me is ready for the future. The Atlanta Braves definitely made these big time moves with an eye toward that future.

It leaves their present in pretty good shape as well.

The acquisition of McLouth and call up of Hanson also drastically improves this Braves team. While I'm not ready to say this makes the Braves the team to beat in the NL East, it should definitely close the gap between the Atlanta, New York, and Philadelphia.