Let's Meet...Greg Norton!

That's Mr. Norton looking pretty happy as a D-Ray. Now, they are just the Rays. Oh wells.

He was probably happy in Tampa because he had his best season there in 2006 when he hit .296/.374/.520 with 17 homers. After sucking last year, he picked up with the Mariners and was forced out because of a number crunch despite hitting well in limited opportunities. The Braves acquired him today for a player to be named and he will replace Martin Prado, who stupidly hurt his wrist sliding into first yesterday.

Norton is your typical reserve corner guy. He can play some first, third, right, and left. In a pinch, you can move him to second, but you would rather not. He's not going to hit for much average, but does get on base pretty well despite a low average and will hit for some pop. And he's a switch-hitter, which helps matters.

Norton was originally a second round choice of the Chicago White Sox, where he spent most of his professional career until signing with the Rockies in 2000. After two years there, he spent a year with Detroit, back with the Rockies for spring training in '05, back with the ChiSox for the rest of '05, two years with the Rays, and then the start of this year with the M's where he was 7 of 16 this year after getting called up.

A small deal that could be useful depending on which Norton you get ('06 or '07 Norton).

Let's Meet...Jeff Ridgway

Hi Jeff. Welcome to the organization. Unfortunately, I can show no enthusiasm for your arrival as it cost two players when you, well, kinda suck. No biggie. I mean, not everybody is going to be good at baseball. Hell, I suck. But I'm not costing any team two players, no matter what intangibles I have and could bring to a new team. Though...they are many. I can eat a lot of starburst sours for instance. Not everyone can, but me? I rock at it.

Jeff - who for some reason, I keep wanting to call Larry - is a veteran of three major league games and 201 minor league outings. When the Rays drafted him, they tried him as a starter. After three nondescript years (plus a year in the middle that was gone because of injury), they moved him to the pen in 2004, subscribing to the baseball edict that if you are a lefthand reliever, you are worth, at the very least, two middle infield players.

Ridgway seemed to battle injuries in '04 and '05 before making some headway with a fairly solid '06 campaign. In a career best 50 games between Montgomery (AA) and Durham (AAA), Ridgway posted a 2.79 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. He added more K's than innings pitched as well. After he failed to break camp with the Rays last year, he attempted to repeat his numbers at Durham and while he was not _as_ good, he wasn't too horrible either, posting more K's than innings again, a 3.06 ERA, and a 1.30 WHIP. Control was a bit of a problem as he walked 4.2 men per nine innings.

In September, he made his major league debut. Against the Angels, he entered in the sixth with a runner on third and one out. After a single and a triple, he was out of the game with the line - O ING, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO. Only a stupidass bunt attempt by the Angels with the runner on third (leading to a double play after the bunt was caught) kept the other run from scoring.

Four days later on the 21st, he faced Boston. It did not...go well. After entering in the ninth with the Rays down by three, he gave up a walk and hit a batter. In stepped Big Papa, there went the ball. Three-run homer and he was removed. Second game gave him the line of O ING, 1 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 1 HBP, 1 HR. Not good.

Five days later, he got the Yankees. That's just mean. With the Yanks already up 9-2 in the sixth he entered to face the top of the lineup. A pair of infield singles by Damon and Jeter preceded a single by Abreu to bring in Damon. Finally, Ridgway got his first out as AL MVP A-Rod popped up, but another single by Posada brought in Jeter. Ridgway was replaced, but Robinson Cano singled in Abreu against Juan Sales to add to the troubles. Third game gave him the line of 0.1 ING, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO

So...we have 0.1 ING, 7 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 1 HBP, 1 HR. He faced a grand total of ten people, got one out and that, strangely enough, was Alex Rodriguez.

Welcome to the Braves...I guess.

Let's Meet (Again)...Javy Lopez!

OMG! It's Javy! Look at that butt! That's a tight butt.

Ugh.

Anyway, in case you were living under a rock with Jimmy Hoffa (tell the bitch he still owes $20 on the Cowboys/Giants game), Javier Torres Lopez signed with the Braves on a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training that was essentially the same kind of deals the Braves have given Julio Franco in the past. Here's an invite but you made the team before you even came to spring training. Shhh, it's a secret.

Javy spent last year sitting on his ass. Well, no, he was working out. Getting slender! Pilates, I bet. Maybe he has an eating disorder. Or maybe the steroids were wearing off. Who knows these things?

Javy had gone to the Rockies spring training, but they saw all they needed of their young one, Chris Ianetta. I think the spelling is right cause I ain't looking it up. They cut Javy, who was not so much in demand. Fancy that. What a fall from grace.

In 2003, Javy's last season with the Braves, he was voted fifth in the MVP running for one of the best offenses the Braves have ever had. He would have ranked in the top five in OPS had he had enough at-bats. He received a start at catcher for the All-Star game and his 43 homers are the best total by a catcher in franchise history.

He parlayed this into a three-year deal with the Orioles and posted a solid 127 OPS+ in his first year with the O's, but slumped the following year to 15 homers with injuries. The Orioles made a move for Ramon Hernandez and Javy spent most of his 2006 time with the Orioles as their DH. After a trade to the Red Sox, he was horrible as he tried to help them replace Jason Varitek, who had been hurt.

There was once a time where Javy was a poor man's Mike Piazza in the NL. But the shelf life of catchers is small and Javy is now in a position where he could backup the current franchise catcher for the Braves, Brian McCann. The chances are good provided he stays healthy because right now his competition is not much to write home about.

Corky Miller did a solid job, but has always and will always be a fringe player. Clint Sammons could use more time and Brayan Pena is a horrible defensive catcher.

Then again, so is Javy. He was never that good of a catcher and knee injuries really took him down. His steroid years saw him gain a little bounce back (kinda expect that), but once he got his contract and MLB testing became more prevalent, we saw his catching detoriate once again. Can't blame the O's for going for a catcher who can actually catch.

Now, where he is now is unknown. He could be a better defensive catcher simply because he is off the roids and has had a year to build up natural strength and agility. However, I don't expect much.

Let's Meet...Joe Borchard!

Joe Borowski seems to have JoBo to himself, but maybe we can this guy Chard. I like that. Sounds like a speed metal band. Tonight at the Civic Center, CHARD!!!!!

Chard just turned 29 around Thanksgiving this year and has been in professional ball since he was the 12th overall selection of 2000. For funsies, the 15th overall selection was Chase Utley. Adam Wainwright and Scott Thorman were 29th and 30th. The ChiSox gave him $5.3 million in a signing bonus so that Chard would give up football (he was Stanford's QB) and Chard would finish 2000 with 27 games at three different levels and batted .311/.388/.456.

After an .885 OPS the following season at AA, Chard dealt with injuries while playing AAA ball in 2002, but still hit .272/.345/.498 and made his major league debut. Getting into his first game on September 2nd against the Blue Jays, Chard hit a two-run homer in his second at-bat. In 37 trips to the plate, however, he struck out 14 times. This would continue. He slumped to a .695 OPS the following season at AAA and his struggles continued through another cup of coffee at the end of the year.

In 2004, Chard righted the ship and hit .266/.332/.495 before getting his first real shot at the majors. His struggles continued to the tune of .174/.249/.338 over about 200 at-bats. After another season at AAA and a small cup of coffee in 2005, Chard failed to make the ChiSox team out of spring training in '06 and was traded to the Mariners because he was out of options. He lasted about a month in Seattle before the Marlins picked him up off waivers.

And that is where Chard has been for the bulk of the last two seasons. After some promise in 2006 with a .230/.322/.400 year after the Marlins got him, Chard was horrible last year, hitting .196/.287/.313 and getting demoted to AAA.

Ultimately, Chard's biggest problem is contact. His K rate in his three years that he batted the most:

2004: 28%
2006: 29%
2007: 34%

When you are missing so much, you won't last long in the majors. However, this was Chard's biggest problem in the minors too so the upside here is minimal.

Chard could have been compared to Jeff Francoeur at one time. Chard walked more, Francoeur made more contact, but both players were rich in natural talent. Now Chard has an opportunity at the current moment to make the most of his portential. After a minor league deal and a spring training invite, Chard joins a good situation for him. He will have to show he can play center, but the Braves have a huge hole there. If Chard can somehow lesson the K's, made more contact, and play some defense, he may get another chance.

Don't count on it, though.

Let's Meet...Will Ohman!

Oh-Man!

The Ohman!

Willy Oh!

Whatever you want to call him, say hi to Will Ohman. A veteran of 220 major league games, Ohman has been a steady part of the Chicago Cubs pen, especially over the last three seasons. He is a stereotypical LOOGY, which means that if he is used correctly, he could be an asset. If Bobby Cox decides to turn him into a one-inning pitcher who is scheduled to face two lefties and a righty, we could be in for some trouble.

After originally being pushed to the majors early in his career in 2000 and 2001, Ohman disappeared from baseball for two years, likely because of injury, before resurfacing in 2004, where he pitched in 45 games for Iowa. The following season, he established himself as a factor in the Cubbie pen and spent the majority of the last three years in the majors. His best season remains 2005, where he posted a career-best 151 adjusted OPS. Over the last two seasons, he has simply been good enough to not be a weakness.

Most of his troubles have stemmed from Wrigley Field. Over his career, he has a horrid 6.63 ERA at home while posting brilliant numbers (2.53 ERA) at home. He has looked pretty great at Turner Field, if you are curious.

For a base salary of $1.6M this year, Ohman might be a bargain compared to the contracts other LOOGY's like J.C. Romero are getting. He replaces Ron Mahay and with Royce Ring, should provide the Braves enough pitching to get outs consistently. If Mike Gonzalez provides anything resembling his prior injury-self, the lefthand side of the Braves pen could be a beast, a heck of an advantage considering the Phillies lefthand terror of Ryan Howard and Chase Utley.

(kudos to the Cubs blog, Crawly's Cub Kingdom for the pic. Check the blog out. His description for Infante and Ohman...garbage. Hopefully, he's wrong.)

Let's Meet...Omar Infante

Omar Infante was acquired in a three-player deal that included Jose Ascanio going to the Cubs and Will Ohman coming over to the Braves. Infante is essentially your average utility infielder who the more he sticks around, the more money he makes that he doesn't actually deserve to make.

Infante has been in the bigs since he was 20 and six years later, not much has changed about what Infante brings to the field. His AVG is about a dozen points under the average, walks are nonexistent, and he has a bit of pop but nothing that outstanding. In 2004, he got into most of the Tigers games at second, third, and short. He even posted a league average OPS with the help of 16 jacks. However, in his last three years, he has seen his time decrease and his numbers justify that. His best adjusted OPS over the last three seasons is 90, or 10% below the league average.

After the last six years with the Tigers, Infante was part of the trade that sent Jacque Jones to the Tigers last month from the Cubs. He was supposed to play the same role with the Cubs that he had played with the Tigers in the recent years. The 25th man who can play 2B/SS/3B/OF for you.

Infante made $1.3M last year, which...really makes no sense. He will make probably $1.5M in arbitration, which might force the Braves hand to just non-tender him. While Infante is probably better than Chris Woodward, it just doesn't make much sense to keep him around for that kind of cash.

Let's Meet...Josh Anderson

That's Josh. Say hi to him. He is a new Brave, acquired for Oscar Villarreal. The only thing I hate more than people with hard to type names like Jurr Jurrjens (I'm not even making sure that's right) is people with generic WASPy names like Josh Anderson. If you or your family is reading, you're totally the exception that proves the rule. Totally. Dammit, I need to see Clueless for the five billionth time.

Anderson was born three days after me in 1982. Weird. He's from Kentucky and went to Eastern Kentucky where he hit very well and parlayed into a fourth round selection from the Houston Astros. The left-hand hitting outfielder finished up 2003 with Tri City before beginning his first full season of pro ball with Lexington of the SALLY league in '04. After an outstanding .324/.402/.425 campaign in 74 games, he would spend the next 3.5 years trying to approach those numbers again. After Lexington's dominance, he finished the year with Salem in the Carolina League. His OPS fell under .700 where it stayed the following year in Corpus Cristie. A 2006 repeat of Corpus Cristie saw some improvement as he hit .309/.349/.384. Last year, he hit .273 but OPS'd just .666 in the hitter-friendly PCL. That's right, he's the devil.

He finished up with the Astros where he surprised many by hitting .358 in 21 games. In fact, he played the final series against the Braves, going 3 for 12. He finished the year with a six game hit streak and hit in 15 of his final 16 games.

But that's not Josh Anderson, I feel. Not even close. Wanna know who J-And really is?

Fast Guy: Anderson has stolen 237 bases in five minor league seasons and has been caught only 62 times (79%). He is what Willie Harris and Gregor Blanco simply are not. A guy with plenty of speed, but an eye and instinct for stealing.

Powerless: He slugged just .373 as a minor leaguer. Three of his 24 major league hits went for extra bases. You simply are not going to get much power out of him, which is why his speed is so important to his game.

Good Contact: Anderson does not strike out too much which is good because he doesn't walk. At all. His entire game is predicated by putting the ball in play and running.

A player in this mold can start for clubs. When he's a middle infielder that is. Or people get so enamored with your "grit" and the fact you're a black guy with a french-spanish name (Juan Pierre?), but Anderson is not starting material. However, as a fourth outfielder, he could be valuable. I'm a stats guy, but when it comes to the bench, I typically will think "high average" because in my opinion, the batting eye is tougher to maintain as a benchwarmer than the swing. Especially when you have spent your minor league years as a punch-and-judy hitter anyway.

Ultimately, decent deal. The Braves got some help, got rid of some dead weight, and did so while saving money. Yay.