December 6, 200619 yr Mariners and Braves exchanged pitchers. Soriano is going to the Braves for Horacio Ramirez. Seems to me the Braves came out winning on this one.... http://braves.scout.com/2/598302.html
December 6, 200619 yr If this is true, Bavasi and the M's get gang bang. Note: The Braves are also set to acquire M.Gonzalez for Laroche Potential Brave Bullpen Wickman / Soriano / Gonzalez closer Wickman / Soriano / Gonzalez set-up Wickman / Soriano / Gonzalez set-up Big improvement from last season.
December 6, 200619 yr If this is true, Bavasi and the M's get gang bang. Note: The Braves are also set to acquire M.Gonzalez for Laroche Potential Brave Bullpen Wickman / Soriano / Gonzalez closer Wickman / Soriano / Gonzalez set-up Wickman / Soriano / Gonzalez set-up Big improvement from last season. where have you seen the Mike Gonzalez/LaRoche trade rumors...cause this is the first i hear of that....Pittsburgh would be stupid to make that deal
December 6, 200619 yr Author If this is true, Bavasi and the M's get gang bang. OK, where's the vaseline??? :blink: The only thing that is holding up the LaRoche/Gonzalez deal are the Braves wanting to see medical records. The Braves' back end of the bullpen will be SOLID. Here is the link to the LaRoche/Gonzalez deal: http://postgazette.com/pg/06340/744098-100.stm
December 6, 200619 yr If this is true, Bavasi and the M's get gang bang. Note: The Braves are also set to acquire M.Gonzalez for Laroche Potential Brave Bullpen Wickman / Soriano / Gonzalez closer Wickman / Soriano / Gonzalez set-up Wickman / Soriano / Gonzalez set-up Big improvement from last season. where have you seen the Mike Gonzalez/LaRoche trade rumors...cause this is the first i hear of that....Pittsburgh would be stupid to make that deal Pirates' trade with Braves on hold Wednesday, December 06, 2006 By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The Pirates are plenty eager to trade for Atlanta first baseman Adam LaRoche, and they have offered closer Mike Gonzalez to get him. But the Braves are waiting to make sure Gonzalez is healthy, and that has left a potentially done deal in total limbo. Gonzalez did not pitch after Aug. 24 because of tendinitis in his left elbow. The elbow was examined Aug. 28 with an arthrogram, a procedure in which dye is injected into the affected area to enhance the test's images, and no damage was detected. Gonzalez was back to pitching in side sessions by the final week of September. Because he did not pitch again in a game, though, Atlanta officials have raised a red flag about a trade that otherwise already would have been executed, according to multiple sources. Tomorrow marks the end of Major League Baseball's four-day winter meetings, and the Pirates have yet to make a move
December 7, 200619 yr #$%*! We should have gotten Gonzo for Jacobs, this sucks. Getting Soriano and Gonzalez is a pretty huge leap for the Braves' offseason, their pen struggled and now some of those relievers started showing life at the end of the season. :banghead If this is true, Bavasi and the M's get gang bang. Note: The Braves are also set to acquire M.Gonzalez for Laroche Potential Brave Bullpen Wickman / Soriano / Gonzalez closer Wickman / Soriano / Gonzalez set-up Wickman / Soriano / Gonzalez set-up Big improvement from last season. where have you seen the Mike Gonzalez/LaRoche trade rumors...cause this is the first i hear of that....Pittsburgh would be stupid to make that deal Not really, the Pirates were in huge need of a left-handed bat with power at 1b and they got it all in one. Apparently they have some good depth in the closer's area so Gonzalez, while a huge trade chip, wasn't much of a loss to them.
December 7, 200619 yr Comparing LaRoche's 2006 season to Jacobs' is kinda funny. I heard rumors that we were thinking about dealing Jacobs to pittsbugh for gonzalez. Right there would have closed up or closer role without having to worry about constantly throwing the dice on some has been veteran reliever every year not to mention the better the Braves get, the worse for us.
December 7, 200619 yr The M's got absolutely hosed. Schuerholz is the best in the biz because of deals like this.
December 7, 200619 yr I just hope that Gonzalez passes his physical. It will make this trade less painful.
December 7, 200619 yr Braves pull trade offer from Pirates Wednesday, December 06, 2006 By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The Pirates' proposed trade with Atlanta -- closer Mike Gonzalez to the Braves for first baseman Adam LaRoche -- was quashed tonight. Atlanta general manager John Schuerholz pulled his offer off the table sometime after 6 p.m., then turned his attention toward another trade with the Seattle Mariners, also for a left-handed reliever, Rafael Soriano. The Braves accused the Pirates of taking too long to decide on the deal. The Pirates say the Braves were wary about Gonzalez's health. He had tendinitis in his left elbow that cost him the final five weeks of the 2006 season. LaRoche, 27, batted .285 with 32 home runs and 90 RBIs. Major League Baseball's four-day winter meetings conclude tomorrow, and the Pirates have yet to make a move. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06340/744098-100.stm
December 7, 200619 yr Braves pull trade offer from Pirates Wednesday, December 06, 2006 By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The Pirates' proposed trade with Atlanta -- closer Mike Gonzalez to the Braves for first baseman Adam LaRoche -- was quashed tonight. Atlanta general manager John Schuerholz pulled his offer off the table sometime after 6 p.m., then turned his attention toward another trade with the Seattle Mariners, also for a left-handed reliever, Rafael Soriano. The Braves accused the Pirates of taking too long to decide on the deal. The Pirates say the Braves were wary about Gonzalez's health. He had tendinitis in his left elbow that cost him the final five weeks of the 2006 season. LaRoche, 27, batted .285 with 32 home runs and 90 RBIs. Major League Baseball's four-day winter meetings conclude tomorrow, and the Pirates have yet to make a move. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06340/744098-100.stm Not suprising at all that Schuerholz pulled out of this. Losing LaRoche would have made the Soriano deal palatable. The day the Braves lose Schuerholz will be a good day.
December 7, 200619 yr I still don't get how this deal went through, Ramirez wasn't exactly healthy and a lack of success in the NL can't be good in the AL
December 7, 200619 yr Who would have played first for the Braves if LaRoche left? Scott Thorman was LaRoche's supposed replacement if he was dealt.
December 7, 200619 yr I don't know if this story is true, but it is a decent read. The REAL LaRoche/Gonzalez Story I finally have the Gonzalez/LaRoche deal figured out after talking to a ton of people. Evidently, the Braves have *always* wanted Paul Maholm and Jose Castillo since the GM meetings. (Kudos to harvardplayer who posted a message in this thread because you were dead on baby.) Littlefield agreed with Castillo but refused to trade Maholm. He offered Grabow instead and Schuerholtz backed away. Schuerholtz then said Gonzalez for LaRoche and the teams couldn't come together in a package. Evidently, the Braves then pulled this off the table last Saturday. At some point over the last few days, Schuerholtz came back and said he'd take Gonzalez for LaRoche again (possibly wanting Castillo as well and that was why we were hearing Davies name), but this time he had no intention of ever doing the deal. His goal was two-fold: one, to drive the price of LaRoche up so he could get the Angels to bite on a LaRoche/Giles deal for Kotchman/Figgins.. the Angels knew better of course, and backed away; and two, to get the Mariners to the table because they were talking with other teams about Soriano - the Braves true target. While Littlefield was having his medical team send Gonzo's file to the Braves, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution released the article indicating a deal was done between the Braves and Pirates.. the Post-Gazette evidently picked it up and ran it immediately too, and that was enough to drive Bravasi to the phone and do the Soriano deal for Ramirez. Schuerholtz pulled LaRoche off the table as soon as he got Bravasi's call. But Schuerholtz wasn't done.. knowing the media had made Littlefield look like a fool that he didn't get the LaRoche deal done, and thinking Littlefield was in 'save-my-job-mode', he came back at Littlefield wanting his original deal - Maholm and Castillo for LaRoche. Littlefield, of course, said no. The Braves want to clear some salary and see Castillo as a cheaper 2B option than Giles, and Maholm as a Ramirez replacement. In fairness to Dave Littlefield, Schuerholtz took him over a barrel. But he had no way of knowing he was being taken until it all played out. What hurt Littlefield is when both the AJC and the Post-Gazette *both* ran with the seemingly made up story about the Braves and Pirates being close, someone with the Mariners probably heard about it, and Bravasi, eager to get some kind of starting pitching, made the call earlier than he wanted to make to Schuerholtz. If the Post-Gazette had not released that article confirming what the AJC said (or vice-versa if the Post-Gazette was the paper that released the information first), Bravasi might never have called Schuerholtz as quick as he did. And that was why I heard on the floor the papers screwed up this deal. In reality, the papers reported what seemed obvious - one team was asking for medicals on a player which doesn't happen until a deal is done. Posturing.. Schuerholtz is a pro at it and he rode David Littlefield all the way from one end of the Dolphin Hotel to the other to get what he really wanted - Soriano. You have to hand it to Littlefield though. He was taken for a ride but it was a ride he had to take. He was never going to get LaRoche without giving up Maholm and Castillo and he held his ground. Kudo's to Dave for that. While Dave walks away with egg on his face in the fans eyes, he had no choice, as one Asst GM told me tonight -- he had to play it out if LaRoche was his target and he was willing to give up Gonzalez for him. So the bottom line is this, there doesn't seem to have ever been an honest LaRoche/Gonzalez offer on the table. If there was, it was late last week.. not this week. That would also explain why the Braves are saying Littlefield took too long to deal.. he did last week because he had to guage the market and interest for Gonzo since no closer of significance had been signed and a lot of teams were looking for one. The Braves simply used Littlefield. It happens all the time and it has happened to some other GM's, even this year. Littlefield evidently sensed he was being played all along because he kept talking to other teams who called about Gonzalez and two of those rumors hit the floor tonight.. one with the Mets. I sense that Littlefield really isn't interested in dealing Mike Gonzalez like the media thinks he is. Don't get me wrong, if he could acquire a young player to fill a hole in his long-range plans, he'll do the deal. But that isn't likely to happen until well after the first of the year after all the free agents are off the market and true values have been established. Let's face it, Littlefield knows he can get a lot more for Gonzo in January to some team who wasn't able to fill their needs but feels they are close.. and even more in July to a team whose closer might have bit the dust or isn't performing (think Cubs, by the way). So, as I have suspected and hoped all along, Dave Littlefield is expected to head home from the winter meetings with his roster intact, his cell phone still on, and waiting for that call he knows eventually will come - some team in trouble needing one of his players. Once all the free agents are gone, he very well might even consider trading Maholm - but the price then will be considerably higher than it is right now because there won't be any other options for the team in need. Good job Dave. Source -- http://buccoblog.mlblogs.com/
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