The Braves have acquired 34-year old righty swinging 1B Derek Lee from the Cubs for 19-year old righty starter/reliever Robin Lopez, 23-year old righty reliever Tyrelle Harris and 22-year old lefty reliever Jeffrey Lorick. Lee played in 109 games for the Cubs this year and he was 105 of 418 (.251 avg, .751 OPS) with 63 runs scored, 16 homers and 56 RBIs. He has now played in 1,790 games in his 14 years in the majors and he is 1,806 of 6,398 (.282 avg, .865 OPS) with 1,009 runs scored, 309 homers, 995 RBIs and 102 stolen bases. Lee will be a huge improvement defensively for the Braves at 1B and he will also provide better offense too as Troy Glaus has been slumping as of late.

Robinson Lopez came into this season as the Braves’ #16 ranked prospect according to Baseball America. Lopez pitched in 24 games (16 starts) in A-ball this year for the Braves and he was 3-8 with a 4.37 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Tyrelle Harris pitched in 30 games (1 start) for the Braves this year in A+AA-ball and he was 1-2 with 6 saves, a 2.90 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. He whiffed 60 batters and only allowed 38 hits in 49 2/3 innings this year showing what kind of stuff he has. Jeffrey Lorick pitched in 27 games (4 starts) for the Braves in A-ball this year and he was 3-6 with 4 saves, a 2.24 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP.

These were not cream of the crop type of prospects for the Braves so I really like this move for them as they are pulling out all the stops to try to send Bobby Cox out with a ring.

The Braves have released 28-year old lefty swinging outfielder Josh Anderson. Anderson played in 19 games in AAA-ball for the Braves this year and he was 10 of 53 (.189 avg, .440 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 1 RBI and 3 stolen bases. He has now played for three different organizations this year and they have all given up on him. He has played in 53 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 27 of 142 (.190 avg, .448 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 3 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. The Braves didn’t like what they saw out of Anderson this time around so they let him go. No big loss here.

The Braves have lost 27-year old righty reliever/starter Chris Resop on waivers to the Pirates. Resop only pitched in 1 game (0 starts) for the Braves this year and he was 0-0 with a 22.50 ERA and a 4.00 WHIP. He also pitched in 17 games (all starts) in AA+AAA-ball for the Braves and he was 6-3 with a 2.19 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. The Braves pitching staff is so loaded that there just wasn’t any room for Resop. They essentially did him a favor as he will likely get a chance at the majors right away in Pittsburgh.

The Braves have released 28-year old righty swinging outfielder Willy Taveras. Taveras played in 17 games in AAA-ball for the Braves this year and he was 5 of 42 (.119 avg, .356 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 RBI and 4 stolen bases. The Braves didn’t need Taveras any more after adding Wilkin Ramirez over the weekend.

The Braves have acquired 34-year old righty reliever Kyle Farnsworth, 31-year old lefty swinging outfielder Rick Ankiel and cash from the Royals for 26-year old righty reliever Jesse Chavez, 26-year old outfielder Gregor Blanco and 20-year old lefty reliever Tim Collins. Farnsworth has pitched in 37 games (0 starts) this year for the Royals and he was 3-0 with a 2.42 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. He has now pitched in 690 games (26 starts) in his 12 years in the majors and he is 34-53 with 27 saves, a 4.36 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. The Braves hope that Farnsworth pitches like he did in 2005 for them when he worked in 26 games (0 starts) and was 0-0 with 10 saves, a 1.98 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP. Rick Ankiel has played in 27 games this season for the Royals and he is 24 of 92 (.261 avg, .784 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 4 homers and 15 RBIs. Ankiel has now played in 369 games in his major league career and he is 286 of 1,136 (.252 avg, .765 OPS) with 169 runs scored, 53 homers, 172 RBIs and 8 stolen bases.

Jesse Chavez has not pitched too well for the Braves this year. Chavez pitched in 28 games (0 starts) for the Braves this year and he was 3-2 with a 5.89 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Gregor Blanco played in 36 games for the Braves this year and he was 18 of 58 (.310 avg, .756 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 3 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Blanco played in 204 games in his three years with the Braves and he was 134 of 531 (.252 avg, .670 OPS) with 66 runs scored, 1 homer, 42 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. Tim Collins came over from the Blue Jays in the Alex Gonzalez trade. Collins pitched in 6 games in AA-ball for the Braves and he was 0-0 with 2 saves, a 1.12 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP. Collins has pitched in 41 games (0 starts) overall in AA-ball this year and he is 1-0 with 11 saves, a 2.29 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP.

I like this deal for the Braves who are trying to win right now. Farnsworth adds another power arm to the pen and Ankiel as a lefty power bat to the outfield mix. The Braves might wish that they could have kept Collins down the road but it was still a good deal for them.