Yikes

-Joey Devine was bad enough. A tough price to pay for a guy like Mark Kotsay, who may not even give you 130 games. But you know, to pay $2M for Kotsay, it wasn't that bad. But to add Jamie Richmond, my tenth ranked prospect, is just a horrible situation. It just makes me sad.

-Elsewhere, the Richmond Braves will be no more. A sad day for Virginia sports, but Richmond's inability to get something done was the main problem here. There was no reason that Richmond couldn't have put together a plan for a new stadium that, while used primarily for the R-Braves, could also host college baseball tournaments and state high school baseball games. In addition, it would have clearly attracted a AAA All-Star game. But no...dumbass Richmond at its finest.

-The Braves have signed all but one of their arbitration-eligible players and only one of those signed got more than I suggested, which kind of surprises me. Teix got $12.5M, Gonzo accepted a slight raise after his injury ($2,362,500), Infante signed for $1.4M, and Yatesy settled for $800K. Not in the article, but Matt Diaz also signed for $1.225M. That leaves Rafael Soriano, who wants $3.4M and the Braves basically lowballed him with a $2.4M offer. Will likely settle in the middle ($2.9M).

-Wren made another curious move, sending Willy Aybar _and_ Chase Fontaine for Jeff Ridgway. I won't miss Aybar. I think he has a lot of potential, but after last season, a new city and new team could be of great use for him. But why now? Why include another guy who I included in my Top 30? And why settle for a non-prospect? Ridgway is a 27 year-old southpaw with three games of major league experience - all last year - in which he recorded one out and was charged with seven runs. For the math impaired, that's a 189.00 ERA. Yay.

This is the guy that cost two players? Ridgway might be a serviceable LOOGY, but wouldn't it have made more sense to, um, wait till spring training, see what Aybar could do, and then trade him? And why the hell did it also take Fontaine, who while a problem in the field with the glove, is a hitter? Seriously, I just don't understand this. Most will tell you...it's not a big deal. Losing these two have a minimal chance to hurt the Braves. But why sell low at any time?

-Finally, the trade of Aybar and the news that Omar Infante was hit by a pitch and might miss most, if not all of spring training, may open a spot on the bench for Brent Lillibridge. The way it's looking, if the Braves keep Thorman, something is really messed up since they couldn't have been bothered to find a spot for Aybar.

-Oh wells. Time to start a meet and greet with Ridgway.

A-Z Reviews: Y

Time to finish up my player reviews. 48 players down, one last player to go.

Tyler Yates
-Yatesy had moments of absolute domination. Unfortunately, none of those moments came in the second half. In 27.2 ING, he allowed 32 hits, 21 runs, four jacks, walked 14, and struck out 31. He picked up a save, but that was only because Willie Harris pwned the Mets at Shea. Otherwise, his numbers could look even worse. He was rarely called upon in September, but sucked when he did get a call. Yatesy was fairly decent in 2006, but even then, he was hardly some reliable guy.

2008 Outlook: If Yates is a Brave next year, one of two things has occured. Either Yates is a sweet talker or Yates has pictures of Frank Wren with Boy George. Barring these two things, I doubt Yates will be with the Braves when spring training opens. Yates is eligible for arbitration and if Wren wouldn't keep Villy around, why would he keep Yates?