Is That The Best Atlanta Could Do?

Javy Vazquez is headed back to New York and all the defending champs had to give up to get him was Melky Cabrera (plus throw-in reliever Mike Dunn and a player to be named). 

Melky Cabrera...for a guy who was second in the NL in strikeouts last year and got votes for Cy Young.

Now, if the Braves were giving up the 2004 version of Vazquez (his one and only year as a Yankee) when he had a 4.91 ERA and just 150 strikeouts in 198 innings, I'd say this deal wouldn't be quite so lopsided.  But the 2009 version of Javy finished top-5 in wins, K's, WHIP, CGs, IP, and was 6th in ERA- in other words- he's coming off a career year.

Cabrera is, at best, a useful defensive player.  But he is also an average-to-below average offensive player and headed to a team in desperate need of sluggers.  True, he's just 25.  But he's gotten 400+ at-bats each of the last 4 seasons (and played in 150+ games twice).  During that span, he's never reached 15 homeruns, never stolen 15 bases, never scored 80 runs (in the Yankee lineup, mind you), never hit 30 doubles, never batted above .280, never driven-in 75, never topped 60 walks, and never slugged .420.  He is not currently, nor do imagine him ever becoming, an impact bat.

I know the Braves were looking to move a starter.  Even without Vazquez, they still have Tommy Hanson, Derek Lowe, Tim Hudson, Jair Jurrjens, and Kenshin Kawakami to go along with new relievers Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito...so their staff is still the deepest in the division (if not the league) 1 through 5.  But their lineup is also one of the thinnest.  It features Brian McCann, Chipper, Nate McLouth and a lot of unproven/unexciting guys everywhere else.  By moving Javy they had a chance to remedy that.  But in my opinion, they just blew it.