Hell yea!  Oh Crap!

Pick one.  That's how I feel.  Granted, it's not official until the physicals are final (they will be.  The physical is mainly for Matt Harrison.  A stud pitcher who left a game last week with shoulder soreness).  If and when it becomes official, let me let you know how I feel about it...if you don't mind.

Immediately, this is awesome.  Pitching was our main concern,  but there was nothing out there.  Getting Teixeira is going to make our offense extremely potent.  And getting a left handed arm in the bullpen will be a big boost too.  I'm really excited and ready for Tuesday night to get here.

Long run, this kinda sucks.  We gave up Salty, who is an absolute stud.  A switch hitting catcher who also plays first.  He crushes the ball.  We gave up Elvis Andrus, who is (not my words, scouts) the next Derek Jeter at SS.  He is only 18 and has a lot of maturing to do.  But when he gets it together...look out.  We also gave up two pitchers, one is most likely Matt Harrison.  A very good looking pitcher in the minors right now.  All of this for a player that will, more than likely, be gone after next year.  We are really gonna need that young pitching in 2-3 years and Salty could be the first baseman of the future for us easily.

The Braves offense is about to be a lot of fun to watch.  It is already pretty potent, now throw Teixeira in between Chipper and Andruw...wow.

   I think this is something that the Braves absolutely needed in order to get over the hump in the NL East.     The production from the Braves at 1B has been the worst in all of baseball and now you add a perenial slugger like Teixeira to slot behind Chipper.  His protection will be HUGE and to add him to that lineup makes the lineup the toughest in the National League in my opinion.  Ron Mahay will also help that struggling bullpen as of late as well.  A lefty that throws mid-90s and gets lefties out is always a good asset to have. 

   Now I think that possibly, in the long run, we might have given up quite a bit but the Braves are tired of just getting in the playoffs and being one and done.  I commend Scheurholtz for making a move to try to get the Braves back to the World Series.  I mean, giving up Saltalamacchia and Andrus was more than enough but adding 2 pitchers as well...I just hope the Braves can get to the Series in the next two years to legitimize the deal.  But I will say that I am REALLY excited and I think that the Braves have almost all the pieces in place to make it far in the playoffs.  Maybe Schuerholtz can pull another deal off for a #4 or #5 starting pitcher.  But nonethless, I couldn't be more excited for what the Braves have accomplished in this deal!  We once again see the mastermind of Schuerholtz!

Great post!

From what we are reading, Schuerholz isn't done.  I'm not sure if we can land a starting pitcher decent arm to start, so he is going after Dotel pretty hard.  Sit tight and hang on, Schuerholz appears to be saying "Screw it.  Let's build a team".  I have a hunch that the new owners, Liberty Mutual, has opened the wallet up a little for JS.  This could get fun real soon.

He is always active.  Most of the moves he makes is a surprise to everyone, even Braves fans.  He likes to stay under the radar for many reasons.  He is just (usually) real stingy about giving up a lot of top prospects, which is why quite a number of trades never go through.

Dad and I were talking about this yesterday.  I wonder if JS and Cox are getting ready to go for their last hurrah before calling it quits.  You never know.  Cox has signed on to coach this year and next, then he will probably retire.

Now he's going after Arroyo.  I have to agree with you now.  I've never seen him this active either.  I knew he was persuing all these players, but I figured once he landed Teixeira, he would lay off the others.

If for some reason the Braves can get Arroyo, I will be extremely excited.  Arroyo is a guy the Braves can keep for a few years.

Win, win for both teams.  Rangers get rid of a future problem with a player that was not going to sign with them after next year.  The braves get someone who will help give them some switch hitting power at first base as well as very good defense at that position.  The Rangers get some prospects and a guy that can step in at first base and spot at catcher if need.  Lets face it, yet again the Rangers are in rebuilding mode... so expect to see them move some of the other vets on the team soon.  By the end of the year we will be thinking that the Rangers are fielding a bunch of 'diaper dandies'....

What would be your batting order?

You've got power out the cahoot, lefties and switch-hitters.  They all can't hit in the 4 spot.

I'm doing what Chipper suggested.  I'm plugging Teixeira in at the 4th spot, in between Chipper and Andruw.  Then just slide everyone else down one spot.

The first basemen have been hitting 8th for the past couple of weeks now, so it won't be much of an adjustment for the other hitters.  You never know though.  Maybe Cox puts Tex in the 5 spot hoping he can get Andruw some more fastballs and get him out of the slump.  I would prefer he hits behind Chipper though.  That would be the strongest line-up, in my opinion.

   I would say that I would have the lineup looking like this:

   1. Harris

   2. Renteria

   3. C. Jones

   4. Teixeira

   5. A. Jones

   6. McCann

   7. Francoeur

   8. Johnson

   9. Pitcher's spot 

   I think that this is one POTENT lineup and it should help catapault the Braves to first in runs scored by the end of the season.  Bobby Cox has many different ways he can go with this lineup and with the possibilty of getting Dotel and Arroyo, there is no doubt in my mind that the Braves have the best overall team in the National League.  Its definitely gonna be fun to watch!

Everybody always takes things out of context.  That line is simply not true.  Turner Field is always packed, even for playoff games.  The knock that Atlanta fans get is for not being loud and into the game.  They have been called out by players for that, most notably David Justice in '95.  Most fans at Braves games are laid back and wait until the 8th or 9th inning to get into games.  That drives me crazy too.  But to say they are some of the worst fans in baseball is absolutely ignorant.

In terms of dedication?  Are you nuts?  They went through one of the worst stretches of losing seasons in the city and still had plenty of support.  There are quite a few ballparks that have fans just like Atlanta's.  Coming from a Colorado fan is just laughable.  Colorado went from selling out every game when the team first started to not even averaging 30,000 a game.  Where is your dedication, Colorado fans??

I didn't say they were the best fans in the country.  You said they were some of the worst.  I think I made it pretty clear how unhappy I am with Braves fans sometimes.  

Why should you support a bad team????  You just reiterated everything in one statement.  By the way, fans coming to games equals money, which equals more to spend on talent.  Kind of hard to field a good team when you can't pay them.  And there may be bandwagon teams across the U.S., but they don't go to Braves games.  That proves nothing.

And when you watch Braves games on TBS, watch how those seats fill up later in the game.  Traffic is a b**ch in Atlanta.  Especially for a game that starts at 7:30 local time.  You have to drive through Atlanta to get home then drive back through the traffic to get to the game.  Not easy.  So dedicated is not a good word.  I'll take lazy though.

My knock on Braves fans is the one thing that drives me crazy...they have become complacent.  It's pretty quiet at a Braves game until a HR is hit or the 7th inning stretch.  The worst fans in baseball?  Get a grip.

I might have shrugged this off because I hear it often from people out of the Braves market, but someone above made a positive statement about the Braves and it was their first post.  That a way to welcome them to the site douchebag.

I'm with you, Brit.  Braves fans are loyal, even during bad times.

Glad to see you got tickets for your friend.

Go Bravos!!

  Great deals by the braves ,  im kinda in the minority but i wasnt a salty fan, not saying he wont be a solid player but the star label and hype he got i just didnt see all that watching him. I think the andrus kid could still be a star but the rest of the prospects moved were ok by me.  We havent made a splash like this at the deadline in a while.

   I agree bravesfan there is potential , but there are always questions about his size and if he can stay behind the plate with his big frame , and i think longterm he very likely turns out to be a 1st baseman and if that happens not sure he is all but average at the position as i dont think he will hit for big power numbers but will likely be a solid every day player there. Hitting in texas will surely help his numbers some though. Andrus has lot of potential for his age definately and i think everyone agree's there but the numbers arent there yet so he is a pure "projection" type prospect at this point ,  which means there is also alot of risk there that he doesnt turn into a star in 3-4 years.  So all in all even thought we moved some potential i think the moves were very good as we got established talent , which to me will give the overall team a big boost and i think we will see a very strong push by the braves.