Zito isn't a Met and that excites me.

Today Barry Zito agreed to a 7 yr $126m contract with the San Fransico Giants. There was a lot of talk that Zito would be in the big apple by the start of the season either with the Mets or the Yankees. I am obviously a huge Braves fan so him not being a Metropolitan is huge.

After not winning the NL East for the first time in 14 years last year, we've been trying to make alot of moves to put us back in the mix. Well with are small budget and are unwillingness to go after free-agents that don't suck(Sturtze!), the only way to get solid players is by trading.

Here are some current trade rumors involving my beloved Braves:

ATL- Melky Cabrera
PIT- Adam LaRoche
NYY- Mike Gonzalez

I don't really like this trade. It would basically be us giving up a top power 1B that happens to be a lefty, something that almost every team wants. We could get alot more than just Melky, we would have to get at least Scott Proctor and maybe even a young pitcher from the Pirates for us to get somewhat full value for LaRoche.

ATL- Mike Gonzalez and Jose Castillo
PIT- Adam LaRoche (and maybe Kyle Davies)

This deal makes no sense for us. Why would we give up one of the best 1B in the NL and a decent young starting pitcher for an extremely good closer and a below average second baseman?( We have about 5 of them that are cheaper and can do more than Castillo) No thanks.

ATL- Chone Figgins and Casey Kotchman
LAA- Adam LaRoche

Ok, this deal is most likely dead. The Angels just recently signed Shea Hillenbrand, who is a left-handed 1B. So their need for LaRoche is not as strong as it once was. I'm actually fine with this deal fizzling, i'm not a huge fan of Figgins and Kotchman wouldn't start over say Thorman. Figgins is nice because he can play almost every position well, he can leadoff and he is very fast but he's not a good hitter.

ATL- Chris Ray and Hayden Penn
BAL- Adam LaRoche

This is by far my favorite of all the deals. Chris Ray is very young and he saved 33 games while keeping his ERA below 2.80. That is very impressive for only being 24. Hayden Penn on the other hand has proven to just be decent, maybe a 4 or a 5 starter at best. But we are in a need for another starter so he would help.

ATL- Rocco Baldelli
TB- Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Yunel Escobar (also rumored in this deal Chuck James and/or Kyle Davies)

I would like to get Baldelli because he is young, good and can hit very well. But Tampa Bay has a reputation of asking for way to much and it eventually kills the deal completly. Them asking for James is way too much, he's one of our better starters and we are in no position to give him up. I would prefer to keep Salty, because he may just be the best catching prospect in all of baseball, but with his down season last year due in part to lots of injuries, his value may have dropped a little bit.

In a perfect world I would like to somehow get Melky Cabrera and Chris Ray, but that is basically impossible. So if I had to choose I would go for the Baltimore trade and then maybe even trying to flip Penn and package him with Escobar or Salty to Tampa for Rocco Baldelli.