I know we just picked on the Dotel signing, but seriously, what am I missing?

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Kotsay is 32 years old and has battled numerous injuries over the years, primarily back problems. Kotsay, of course, says he feels great, but it’s easy to feel great in January, when you’re not playing actual games.

Personally I have a soft spot for Kotsay, who did a nice job patrolling center field in San Diego from 2001 to 2003. Still, I wonder if he’s headed down the Darrin Erstad career path and if the Braves gave up too much to get him.

Devine ranked #9 among Braves prospects in the 2007 Baseball America Prospect Handbook, while Richmond checked in at #24. Seems like a steep price for a stopgap solution.

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Well, on the surface anyway.

Presumably the acquisition of Renteria allows the Tigers to move Carlos Guillen off short and… hmm, maybe replace Sean Casey at first base? Guillen did play 36 games at first in 2007, and his bat is plenty potent for the position.

Renteria isn’t the defender he was when he first came up with the Marlins — his range is a little below average these days — but he’s reliable. Offensively, Renteria was roughly on par with Guillen last season, but that was a career year. He’ll still produce at age 32, but probably more along the lines of what he did in ‘06 (.293/.361/.436).

On the other side, Atlanta presumably hands the shortstop keys to youngish Yunel Escobar, who enjoyed a nice rookie campaign filling in for Renteria when the latter was hurt. Escobar has skills, but it seems to me there isn’t a lot of upside with him. He’s shown good strike-zone judgment throughout the minors and in his brief time with the big club, but there’s not a lot of power to go with it and he turns 25 this week.

As for the players coming to the Braves, Jurrjens made his big-league debut in ‘07 at the ripe old age of 21. Baseball America had ranked him as Detroit’s #4 prospect coming into the season. The Tigers have a deep system, so that’s actually a very nice showing. Jurrjens’ upside is that of a mid-rotation starter and he’s basically big-league ready.

Hernandez came into ‘07 as the Tigers’ #7 prospect. Before he’d played full-season ball, BA called him “a natural leadoff hitter with a gap-to-gap stroke.” This year, Hernandez hit .293/.344/.391 in the Midwest League. That doesn’t jump out at you necessarily, but he played the season as a 19-year-old. He also stole 54 bases at a very high success rate and did a decent (not great) job of controlling the strike zone. In other words, there’s a lot to like here.

Bottom line: The Tigers appear to be gunning for an immediate return to the postseason, while the Braves are looking at the longer view. Detroit has taken a creative approach to upgrading its first base situation at minimal cost (remember, the Tigers have a deep system), while Atlanta has committed to two youngsters in Escobar and Jurrjens who will contribute immediately, plus a third in Hernandez who might have the upside of them all.

In the end, I expect this trade to help both clubs accomplish their goals. Nicely done on both sides…

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I’m in shock. Schuerholz engineered the most successful run in professional sports history, and now he’s done (well, technically he’ll stick around as team president). I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about this move in the coming days and weeks. For now, it’s just… bizarre…

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From Rain Delay comes word that the Atlanta Braves have inked their first-round pick, outfielder Jason Heyward. Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers are hopeful that Heyward’s signing will help them in negotiations with right-hander Blake Beavan. And in Kansas City, Joe Posnanski talks about the Royals’ efforts to bring Mike Moustakas into the fold.

Complicated stuff…

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Let me be a little more clear. Or at least as clear as I can be given the circumstances. Seems Atlanta Braves infielder Willy Aybar, currently on the disabled list, has done something to irritate his employer. If the three-game suspension wasn’t enough of a clue, then maybe this quote from Chipper Jones is: “I didn’t even know he was still on the team.”

This reminds me of Office Space. Pardon my warping the original message to suit our current situation:

Bob Porter: Looks like you guys are missing Willy Aybar.
Chipper Jones: I wouldn’t say we’ve been missing him, Bob.

Well, Mr. Aybar, whatever you’re doing out there, I hope you’re enjoying it. And remember, it could be worse. Your name could be Michael Bolton…

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Again.

Hampton will undergo elbow surgery on Tuesday and is expected to miss 6-9 months. He missed all of last season and made just 12 starts for the Braves in 2005. Bummer for Hampton and the Braves, to say the very least.

Not to change the subject or anything, but how was signing Barry Zito to a 7-year contract a good idea? And no, I’m not reacting to his two poor starts to start the season. Anyone who thinks that Zito comes without risk needs to take a good hard look at Hampton for an idea of what can go wrong.

They’re two different players, to be sure. Used to be a time, though, when a lot of folks thought Hampton was a sure thing.

Come to think of it, Hampton still is a sure thing. It’s just not the kind of thing you want to be known for if you’re a professional ballplayer…

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If you look around for decent comps for McCann, you won’t find any. The closest probably is Minnesota’s Joe Mauer, and he also happens to be at a similar stage in his career, so we can’t look to his numbers for guidance.

I will say that I’m extremely leery of giving any catcher a six-year deal. But I’ll qualify it by noting that if I were going to give one to any catcher, it would be McCann or Mauer. This has the potential be a very rewarding deal for the Braves, while at the same time providing a measure of security for McCann if — knock wood — something should happen to him.

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Hey if it wasn’t for bad luck y’all
Oh! I wouldn’t have no luck at all

I doubt the late, great Ray Charles was singing about Atlanta Braves left-hander Mike Hampton, but the sentiment applies. Hampton, who missed all of 2006 while recovering from “Tommy John” surgery, hurt himself Wednesday during batting practice:

While taking his third and final round of batting practice at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex on Wednesday afternoon, Hampton took a swing and fell to the ground in pain. It’s still unknown whether he suffered a strained left oblique or broken rib.

Depending on the severity of the injury, Hampton is expected to be out until at least the end of April. Tough break for Hampton. Here’s hoping he can heal quickly and resume his career.

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