I’m not quite sure what Atlanta Braves general manager John Schuerholz and skipper Bobby Cox were thinking by bringing back the 49 year old infielder Julio Franco and now trading rookie sensation Jarrod Saltalamacchia for Mark Teixeira of the Texas Rangers. The Braves were set to send Saltalamacchia, shortstop Elvis Andrus and two more minor leaguers to Texas for Teixeira and left-handed relief pitcher Ron Mahay. Granted the Braves have struggled at first base all of this season and they currently don’t have a lefty in their bullpen (not that the Braves awful bullpen really matters). The Braves bullpen has been terrible this year, almost as bad as last year. It seems every time John Smoltz or Buddy Carlyle get pulled by the venerable Cox in the 6th or 7th inning, with a lead, the bullpen comes in and loses the game for them. As a Braves fan (second only to my favorite Marlins) I personally liked Salty and think he added to a young talented squad with slugger Jeff Francoeur, All Star catcher Brian McCann and second baseman Kelly Johnson. The youngsters on the team are guided by the superb Chipper Jones who has been on a hitting rampage since returning from the disabled list. I do like Julio Franco returning to the team to add morale support and because he’s definitely a favorite of Braves fans (plus he’s just a really cool guy who is in great shape to be playing baseball at 49 years old).

Personally, I would have rather seen the Braves get rid of the slumping Andruw Jones, who doesn’t seem to be putting much effort into his batting or fielding possibly because his contract expires and he will become a free agent. Andruw has been a total disappointment this year as has Bob Wickman, the Braves reliever who has given up half as many walks as he has thrown strikeouts. They could also get rid of starting pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes who has given up twice as many walks as strikeouts, however, Jo-Jo does show potential if he could just get his nerves together and concentrate on doing his job. Reyes was visibly shaken after giving up 17 earned runs in only 18 innings pitched.

Tuesday is the deadline for teams making trades without waivers. The pending trade for Mark Teixeira is already garnering comparisons to the Braves’ 1993 deadline trade for first baseman Fred McGriff who hit a pivotal home run in his first game with the Braves and his offensive tear during the second half of the season helped carry the Braves to a division title.

Well, Bobby Cox is still my favorite mananger and he obviously knows what he’s doing. With the Braves 4.5 games behind the NL East division leading New york Mets, something definitely has to be done. I just wish it didn’t involve trading Salty. I’ll still be keeping Salty on my Fantasy Baseball squad and hopefully he’ll get more starts playing for the Rangers. I’m also interested to see if Bobby Cox brings Mark Teixeira up in the cleanup spot held by Andruw Jones.