Braves Fall 3-2 to Bucs

-There goes the win streak.

-Bobby Cox's decisions bugged me tremendously in this game. Bunting with Greg Norton and sticking with Glavine after luckily getting six average innings are the biggest two. I hate the bunt and I hate Glavine so sticking with him just made me want to slap someone.

-The hitters...were horrible.

-Urgh. Frustrating game.

Omar, where you been?

From the latest Braves team report via Yahoo.

INF Omar Infante’s debut with the Braves should come in a week or less—however long it takes for him to get enough at-bats in his minor league starts to feel comfortable. Infante, on the disabled list all season with a broken left hand, went a combined 2-for-7 in his first two rehab games with Class AAA Richmond on Monday and Tuesday.

Okay, that's all good and so forth...but who loses their spot?

Well, currently, the Braves have five bench players. Greg Norton and Gregor Blanco (or should I say Matt Diaz?) are safe. Corky Miller probably is too because he is getting the backup catcher time.

That leaves a pair of players who are out of options in Ruben Gotay and Brayan Pena. My gut tells me Gotay will get the boot, but I would prefer to keep Gotay and do something with Pena. Pena is essentially dead weight with Norton around. Before, Pena was the first bat off the bench. He has been replaced. Norton can play all the positions Pena can except catch, though by Bobby's refusal to use him as a catcher and all the commentary to say pitchers don't like throwing to Pena, he isn't a catcher either. At least not in the system.

Time to put him on the table and get something for him. He really has no place on this team now. Pena is a good hitter and maybe another organization will use him as a catcher, maximizing his value. Probably not and he probably should have been traded before that became known, but oh well. Pena has had 14 AB and the only game he has come to the plate twice was the time the Braves batted around so he got two plate appearances as a pinch hitter. He has had absolutely no use for a glove. Get it done, Wren.

And no, I didn't say get r done. If you say that around me, I might be forced to slap you. Sorry, but its got to be said.

UPDATE...oh, so I write all that and after tonight's game, the Braves DL'd Pena and recalled Infante. So...I'm sorta right.

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Rafael Soriano hurts and nobody seems to know why. But then again, that's why he has tendinitis, which is greek for "I hurt yet no one knows why."

The article also mentions Peter Moylan, who will get operated on tomorrow and no one really knows how bad he is. I swear, did the Braves change their HMO or what?

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Good win tonight by the Braves, though they wasted a lot of opportunities. I know Bobby won't, but I'd like to see an outfield of Diaz, Kots, and Blanco tomorrow.

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).