#17

The Complete Works of Frank Wren October 07: Acquire Jair Jurrjens and  Gorkys Hernandez for Edgar Renteria, cash- Wren’s first move is still his best. A solid middle of the rotation starter for Renteria’s worst year Sign Chris Resop November 07: Acquire Josh Anderson for Oscar Villarreal- Neither had any consequence, but Braves got out of paying Villarreal, so it’s a slight win. Sign Tom Glavine to one year, 7 million dollar contract Resign Corky Miller Release Lance Cormier, Pete Orr December 07: Acquire Wil Ohman and Omar Infante for Jose Ascanio- I really liked Ascanio, but this deal was an absolute steal for the Braves. Sign Jorge Campillo, J.C. Boscan Release Willie Harris January 08: Acquire Mark Kotsay and cash for Joey Devine and Jamie Richmond- This deal looked just awful at the time, but Devine never materialized Acquire Jeff Ridgway for Willy Aybar and Chase Fontaine- Aybar, still struggling with drug addiction needed to go. That he provided value as a bench bat to Tampa was more of a shock than anything Sign Rafael Soriano to two year, 9 million dollar extension Allow Andruw Jones to sign with Dodgers March 08: Acquire Todd Redmond for Tyler Yates Claim Ruben Gotay off waivers May 08: Acquire Greg Norton for PTBNL/Cash Release Chris Resop and Brayan Pena June 08: Draft Craig Kimbrel (3) and J.J. Hoover (10)- Easily Wren’s best draft, but that’s not saying much July 08: Sign Brandon Beachy as non drafted free agent- Non drafted free agents aren’t Wren’s thing, but he’s responsible for the entire organization, and this was brilliant. Acquired Casey Kotchman and Stepehen Marek for Mark Teixeira August 08: Release Corky Miller and Royce Ring Acquire Luis Sumoza for Mark Kotsay November 08: Claim Eric O’Flaherty off waivers- One of the best relievers in the game for nothing? Thank you very much, Seattle. Sign Brooks Conrad as minor league free agent- Nice little pickup Release Scott Thorman December 08: Acquire Javier Vazquez and Boone Logan for Tyler Flowers, Brent Lillibridge, Jon Gilmore, and Santos Rodriguez- Vazquez was a beast in his one year in Atlanta. The rest are chaff. Sign David Ross to two year, 3 million dollar contract- Seemed odd to give a guy who hardly played the year before a 2 year deal, but it more than worked. Resign Greg Norton January 09: Sign Kenshin Kawakami to 3 year, 21 million dollar contact- The Japanese experiment failed badly Sign Derek Lowe to 4 year, 60 million dollar contract- After losing out on Burnett, Peavy, & Furcal the Braves were desperate and Scott Boras was more than happy to help them make a bad decision. Sign Omar Infante to 2 year, 4.325 million dollar extension Allow John Smoltz to sign with Red Sox February 09: Sign Garret Anderson to one year, 2.5 million dollar contract Sign Tom Glavine to minor league contract March 09: Sign Chipper Jones to three year, 42 million dollar extension Acquire Rudy Darrow for Josh Anderson Release Jeff Ridgway

April 09:

Acquire Brian Barton for Blaine Boyer- Two BB’s. Barton pinch ran for the Braves once, but never got an atbat. A wash.

June 09:

Acquire Nate McLouth for Charlie Morton, Gorky Hernandez, and Jeff Locke

Release Tom Glavine

Draft Mike Minor (1)- A miserable draft as the Braves have their only single digit pick in decades and only get a fringy starter and absolutely nothing else in later rounds

July 09:

Acquire Ryan Church for Jeff Francoeur- Frenchy had outworn his welcome. Church did nothing, but Braves needed to move along.

Release Jeff Bennett

Acquire Adam LaRoche for Casey Kotchman- LaRoche proved twice as much WAR in 2 months as Kotchman did in 6.

November 09:

Sign Tim Hudson to three year, 28 million dollar extension- Excellent sign.

Sign Scott Proctor to one year contract

Sign Jose Constanza as minor league free agent

December 09:

Sign Billy Wagner to one year, 7  million dollar contract- Seemed like a lot at the time but Wagner was a stud

Acquire Melky Cabrera, Mike Dunn, and Arodys Vizcaino for Javier Vazquez and Boone Logan- Irony is that Boone Logan has done the most for these teams. Potential of Arodys gives Braves the win

Acquire Jesse Chavez for Rafael Soriano- Looks a lot worse than it is. Braves had to dump him after he surprisingly took arbitration. It’s a wash.

Sign Takashi Saito to a one year, 3.2 million dollar deal

Release Ryan Church

Release Kelly Johnson

Allow Mike Gonzalez to sign with Orioles

January 10:

Signed Troy Glaus to a one year, 1.75 million dollar contract- A nice garbage heap pickup.

Signed Eric Hinske to a one year, 1 million dollar contract

Release Brandon Jones

March 10:

Release Manny Acosta

Acquire Billy Bullock for Scott Diamond- Considered a win at the time, Bullock has never reached Atlanta while Diamond has been decent.

April 10:

Claim Cristhian Martinez off waivers- Wren has mastered the salvage pile pitcher pickup.

June 10:

Draft Andrelton Simmons (2)

July 10:

Sign David Ross to two year, 3.25 million dollar extension

Acquire Alex Gonzalez, Tyler Pastornicky, and Tim Collins for Yunel Escobar and Jo Jo Reyes- Both teams got what they wanted out of this deal.

Acquire Rick Ankiel, Kyle Farnsworth and cash for Tim Collins, Gregor Blanco, and Jesse Chavez- Ankiel and Farnsworth provided some impact. Collins would be nice to have back, though.

August 10:

Release Chris Resop

Acquire Derrek Lee for Jeff Lorrick, Robinson Lopez, and Tyrelle Harris- Minor impact for three non factors.

October 10:

Decline option on Nate McLouth

Release Melky Cabrera- Sure this looks bad given his future success, but given Melky’s terribleness in Atlanta, this seems justified

November 10:

Claim Joe Mather off waivers

Exercise Alex Gonzalez’s one year, 2.75 million dollar option

Acquire Dan Uggla for Mike Dunn and Omar Infante- An all star slugger for a utility infielder and middle reliever? Yes, please.

December 10:

Sign Eric Hinske to a two year, 2.8 million dollar contract

Sign George Sherrill to one year, 1.2 million dollar contract

Acquired Scott Linebrink, cash for Kyle Cofield

January 11:

Sign Dan Uggla to five year, 62 million dollar extension- This looks like it won’t end pretty.

Claim Anthony Varvaro off waivers- The Mariners love giving us bullpen arms.

May 11:

Signed Julio Lugo as minor league free agent

July 11:

Acquire Michael Bourn for Jordan Schafer, Juan Abreu, Paul Clemens, and Brett Oberholtzer- Wren escaped giving up top prospects. Looking like a masterstroke.

August 11:

Release Scott Proctor

Acquire Matt Diaz and cash for Eliecer Cardenas

Acquire Jack Wilson for Luis Caballero

October 11:

Trade Derek Lowe and cash to Cleveland for Chris Jones

December 11:

Release Brooks Conrad

January 12:

Sign Jack Wilson to one year, 1 million dollar contract

March 12:

Release Brandon Hicks

Trade Jairo Asencio to Cleveland for PTBNL/Cash

April 12:

Acquire Juan Francisco for J.J. Hoover

Sign Chad Durbin to one year, .9 million dollar contract

Sign Livan Hernandez to one year, .75 million dollar contract

July 12:

Sign Ben Sheets as minor league free agent

Acquire Paul Janish for Todd Redmond

Acquire Paul Maholm and Reed Johnson for Arodys Vizcaino and Jaye Chapman