Braves.Today.Com

UPDATED FROM BUD, 8:27 p.m.: Top of the evening, good people. In case you’ve missed it — and likely, you haven’t since it broke two hours ago — but the winner of the Mark Teixeira Sweepstakes is the Angels.

The Braves shipped Teixeira to Los Angeles for first baseman Casey Kotchman — which, you’ll read below, I speculated about in this morning’s blog — and Double-A pitcher Stephen Marek.

Los Angeles hopes Tex can do for it what he couldn’t do for the Braves when Atlanta landed him at last year’s trade deadline — spark it to the World Series. The Braves didn’t make the playoffs after acquiring Teixeira from Texas, then saw their season fall apart around them in 2008.

Here are the numbers on the newest members of the Braves’ organization (Kotchman will be in uniform and most likely starting at first base tomorrow night; Marek is heading for Double-A Mississippi):

Kotchman: .287, 12 homers, 54 RBIs in 100 games. Two errors in 100 games at first base. .349 vs. leftys. .326 since the All-Star break.

Marek: 6-foot-2, right-hander, 2-6 with a 3.66 ERA and three saves in 36 games at Double-A Arkansas. 46 2/3 innings, 39 hits, 21 walks, 57 strikeouts, opponents’ batting average .223.

Will Ohman and perhaps Mark Kotsay, you’re next … and now, on with last night’s carnage:

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

Cardinals 12, Braves 3

Top of the Order: Call it Black Monday, Braves style – Chipper Jones goes to the disabled list, Tim Hudson has an MRI revealing ligament damage, the team reportedly tells interested parties it will trade Mark Teixeira before week’s end and, oh yeah, Atlanta’s makeshift lineup gets hammered by St. Louis.

The Good: You gotta be kidding. On this day, the only good thing to happen was when the clock turned from 11:59 p.m. to midnight. Three Braves – Yunel Escobar, Omar Infante, and the soon-to-be former Braves first baseman Teixeira (who will be dealt before Thursday’s trade deadline, sources close to the team reportedly told ESPN.com Monday night) – finished with two hits each. Jeff Bennett is back from his injury rehab assignment, allowing a run on two hits with two strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings of work. Buddy Carlyle and Julian Tavarez each bounced back from recent rough appearances, each striking out two in a perfect inning. And, oh yeah, only 57 more games until this horrific season is over.

The Bad: The absolute worst news of the season – and boy, that really says something, doesn’t it? – came in the midst of Monday’s beatdown, when it was announced Hudson’s MRI revealed damage in the area of the ulnar collateral ligament in the right-hander’s pitching elbow. He will be examined by noted doctor James Andrews this week. Surgery would shelve Huddy – who leads the Braves with 11 victories – for at least one calendar year. A crippling blow for a franchise that has weathered more than its fair share of bad medical news this season. Jones and his major-league leading .369 average landed on the disabled list with a strained hamstring Chipper hurt Wednesday at Florida, the same game in which Hudson left after six innings with elbow discomfort. Brian McCann (concussion) did not play; Clint Sammons was promoted from Triple-A Richmond and got the start (not saying that’s a bad thing; anytime Corky Miller stays on the bench, it’s not a bad thing). Jo-Jo Reyes, fresh off the latest in a string of wretched outings that undid all the good he showed in May and early June, was sent to Triple-A Richmond. Now, the game. Charlie Morton, recalled from Richmond, never gave his team a chance, allowing eight runs and seven hits with four walks in 3 2/3 innings. Again, lack of control doomed the lanky right-hander. Royce Ring’s abysmal July continued unabated: four hits, three runs in one inning. Ring’s numbers for the past three games – hide the women and children – 1 1/3 innings, nine hits, eight runs.

View from the Sports Garage: So many bad things have befallen the Braves in 2008, it’s not really shocking that some of it will spill into 2009. After all, only so much misery can be contained within one 365-day block. Already facing the prospects of starting next season without setup specialist Peter Moylan in the pen, the Braves awake this morning staring straight at the reality that their ace, Hudson, also may be gone for a big chunk of next season. And remember, John Smoltz may be finished, so his presence in 2009 is far from certain. Wow. I’ve said it before, friends, and I’ll say it again: in 30 years of watching ball, never before have I watched one team endure so much in one season. And to think, it’s the team I cover. Lucky me, but no worries. The ol’ blog will continue to truck along, every day, all the way until this forsaken season is finished. Then, we’ll crank out the season review stuff and start looking ahead to 2009. It’s the thing to do; heck, Braves’ management already has their eye on next season. Tex is a goner, for sure. Where will he go? At this moment, I’m saying the Angels, for Casey Kotchman and at least one prospect. The Dodgers and Diamondbacks are in play, too. Stay tuned. As for the game? Whatever. An abysmal performance, but what else did you expect? It’s kinda fitting, in a way. A generation of Braves fans, born and raised during a time when Atlanta was a perennial postseason threat, is about to experience two months worth of the type of baseball I was raised on, the type when August and September merely were auditions for the next season. Monday’s performance – as dreadful as it was – was a good orientation for those who only have recollections of this franchise as a powerhouse. That’s ancient history now, boys and girls. Welcome to baseball purgatory. Be warned: it won’t be pretty.

On deck
Braves vs. Cardinals
7:10 p.m. today, Turner Field

The Skinny: Jorge Campillo (5-4, 2.78 ERA) toed the slab for the Braves Sunday in a must-win game in Philly. Then the rains came after 1 2/3 innings, and Campillo was finished. Ah, what could’ve been. Campillo takes Hudson’s slot for tonight’s game and looks to improve his numbers at Turner Field, where he has a 4.17 ERA as opposed to a 1.48 ERA away from Atlanta. For the Redbirds, Todd Wellenmeyer (8-4, 4.19 ERA) has helped to ease the absence of Chris Carpenter this season. He won May’s pitcher-of-the-month award, but non-support and a shaky bullpen have kept the right-hander’s win total from rising.

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