Braves Interested In Ankiel, Hart, Hermida

on a completely different note, Gerry Fraley of Fox sport notes that Saito's injury report indicated he may not be ready by next season. The Dodgers could be forced to sign a closer (Hoffman, etc) if they don't think Big Johnny Broxton can handle the task.

"Ankiel for Johnson and a minor league pitcher, bring up Rasmus for centerfield, and things are looking good!"

If the Braves trade Johnson, it has to be for Ludwick, not Ankiel. The Braves shouldn't trade their starting 2B for a rental.

I don't see Ankiel or Herminda as the answer, but Corey Hart on the other hand...

Kelly Johnson for Ankiel would be an awful deal for the Braves.

If Braves do trade Johnson for Ankiel, I think the Cards would have to include a minor league player not the Braves. It was reported that the Braves were asking for Ludwick + a prospect for Johnson so why would they drop their request for a minor leaguer and add a minor leaguer to go along with Johnson for Ankiel? Doesn't make sense.

Ankiel for Johnson would be the base...might have to add a prospect. IDK-I think the Cards are stuck w/ Kennedy one more year...unless the Braves would take him which would make little sense.

"Ankiel is one of the BEST defensive center fielders"
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hahahahaha no.

I'm a Braves fan and I really like Kelly Johnson, but some of you guys really take it too far.

tsweet, Ankiel is clearly the better hitter of the two. SLG over .500 each of the past two seasons to go along with 120 and 119 OPS+ (KJ was at 117 and 108 respectively).

I think KJ straight up for Ludwick would be a steal for the Braves. I probably wouldn't do KJ for Ankiel straight up, but I also don't think its nearly as crazy as you guys seem to think. I actually like the idea a bit in theory, but the 1 year for 3 year trade off would really hurt.

First of all, it was the Cardinals wanting KJ plus a pitching prospect for Ludwick.

Secondly, KJ continues to be over rated by braves fans. He is average defensively and a little bit above average offensively. He is pretty good, but not great.

Ankiel needs to be a right fielder IMHO.

Also, I agree that he has the best arm in baseball. I actually got mocked once for saying that...but if you doubt it, please watch the replays of the Rockies game on YouTube. Two of the best throws I have ever seen in one game.

Aduncaroo, all indications on the Braves side were that the additional prospects would come from the Cards not the Braves, as Atlanta was worried (as everyone is) of Ludwick being a fluke and having a spotty injury history.

Ankiel for KJ would be stupid from the Braves.

Atlanta won't get Ankiel.

Why the F*** would we get ANOTHER left handed hitter?

Look at ATL record vs lefties last year. It was horrible.

We have MCcann, Chipper (he hits more left then right), Kelly Johsnon, Kotchman, Anderson, Blanco, B. Jones. Not to mention both Freemans and Heyward in the minors are lefties.

Which righty had the most homers for us last season? i think francoeur with 13, followed by escobar by 10 and GREG NORTON with 8. THat's pathetic.

With Cole Hamels and Santana in the east, we NEED a righty power hitter.

I would love Cory Heart. He's a hard-nosed guy who plays 162 games.

No way we give Johnson up for a left hitting outfielder.

And lets get Burrnett!

GO BRAVES!

For Cory Hart, i would say something like Kelly Johnson and a pitching prospect from the minors not named Hanson, Locke, Morton or that 17 year old wren said was "untouchable".

Atlanta gets an OF and Milwaukee gets a 2B. Ricky Weeks is not the answer there.

"Atlanta won't get Ankiel.

Why the F*** would we get ANOTHER left handed hitter?

Look at ATL record vs lefties last year. It was horrible.

We have MCcann, Chipper (he hits more left then right), Kelly Johsnon, Kotchman, Anderson, Blanco, B. Jones. Not to mention both Freemans and Heyward in the minors are lefties.

Which righty had the most homers for us last season? i think francoeur with 13, followed by escobar by 10 and GREG NORTON with 8. THat's pathetic.

With Cole Hamels and Santana in the east, we NEED a righty power hitter.

I would love Cory Heart. He's a hard-nosed guy who plays 162 games.

No way we give Johnson up for a left hitting outfielder.

And lets get Burrnett!

GO BRAVES!"

Never in my adult life, and I mean NEVER, have I seen so much emotion in one post. I thought I was going to jump up and start screaming at the top of my lungs just from reading that. Awesome. I'm going to read that every time I'm bogged down or stressed and I'll instantly feel like 1,000,000$. However, McCann, Johnson, and Kotchman generally hit lefties better than righties.

"Ankiel is in no way, shape, or form one of the best CF in baseball. Try one of the worst."

I watched maybe 5-6 Cardinals games last year, usually drunk (why would I be watching a Cardinals game if I'm not drunk or they're playing the Braves which I'd likely be drunk anyway). I didn't know what the empirical data said about Ankiel. I assumed it said he was at LEAST average as Sportscenter poisoned my mind with those clips of incredible throws at Coors field so I thought he was regarded as a GOOD defender. That was my impression and is likely over 70% of America's, because we use Sportscenter to get our impressions. However, this just goes to show that the media can literally twist your brain into thinking something 100% WRONG. Rick Ankiel made 15 plays FEWER than the AVERAGE center fielder. That's TERRIBLE. Pat Burrell, one of the worst, if not THE worst fielder in the game only made 5 plays fewer than Ankiel last year. Ankiel is NO GOOD. He BLOWS in the field and he hit 264/337/506 last year. Ankiel drew 42 WHOLE walks while striking out in triple digits (100). Terrible. He's represented by Scott Boras and heading into free agency. Do NOT trade for Ankiel.

Why Ankiel had less then normal outfielder play is that he had to share the job with some other outfielders like Skip, Ludrick, Mather, Duncan (before he got hurt), Stahokavia (I know I spell that name wrong), Barton and even Mile play in the outfield.

"With Cole Hamels and Santana in the east, we NEED a righty power hitter."

Hamels is actually better against righties. I agree that the Braves need a RH bat though.

Ankiel's plus/minus in CF is -15...that's 5th worst in the entire league of fielders that qualify.