For Starters...

(What an appropriate title for my first post)

Let's say you're going to throw a party. To make this particular party a great one, you need:
100 8 oz. soft drinks
20 bags of chips
100 hot dogs

You have:
100 8 oz. soft drinks
18 bags of chips
40 hot dogs

You're pretty limited when it comes to funds, but you go shopping nonetheless. If forced to choose between buying hot dogs or chips, you buy the hot dogs, because you need them more. Right?

Not if you're John Schuerholz. Schuerholz opts for the two bags of chips, plus a few more soft drinks for kicks. What's the point of this little example?

The Atlanta Braves, as of yesterday morning, were 12.0 games out of first place in the NL East, and 5.5 games out of the Wild Card. There are several popular reasons for this deficit, but the most popular in the Atlanta media has been the bullpen. Granted, the bullpen has been pretty terrible by comparison to some of Atlanta's past bullpens, but is it really the problem?
ATL ERA Innings 1-6: 4.72
ATL ERA Innings 7 +: 4.62

ATL SP's ERA: 4.77
ATL RP's ERA: 4.69

Not only has the Braves' bullpen been better than the rotation, but the poor bullpen ERA is partly a result of an even poorer rotation, which wears out the bullpen by rarely pitching deep into games. According to Baseball Prospectus' VORP ratings at http://http://www.baseballprospectus.com/team_audit.php?stats&team=ATL , two of Atlanta's three best pitchers have been relievers. So, with the trading deadline upon us, our fearless General Manager has elected to acquire, like never before.... relievers.

Trade 1: Braves get Bob Wickman, Indians get Max Ramirez. Ok, I can't blame JS for making this deal, since Ramirez was not very high in the system depth chart and Wickman provides a veteran closer at minimal cost. The Braves needed a closer more for psychological reasons than on-field reasons. It seems that the bullpen performed better when there wasn't perceived closer pressure. Now, they can rest assured they'll be pitching "meaningless" 7th and 8th innings instead of the 9th, which isn't really any different from the 7th or 8th except chronologically, but whatever. Good trade for Atlanta.

Trade 2: Days after acquiring Wickman, the Braves ship hot commodity Wilson Betemit to Los Angeles for Danys Baez and Willy Aybar. Herein lies the reason for that party example. Don't get me wrong - it's a great trade if you only consider the players involved without the context of team need or team necessity. First of all, Betemit was considered ultra valuable in Atlanta as much out of respect for Chipper Jones' growing frailty as his play on the field. Second, Betemit's greatness is as built upon streakiness as anyone I've ever seen. Last June, he put up strong enough stats to make his season look better than it was. He was on his way to doing the same thing this July. Those are the only two months of his short major league career in which he has managed to get 50 ABs with an OPS over .800. Those standards, by the way, are pretty meager.
As for Baez, he's well-known for his two year stint in Tampa Bay redefining the closer as a guy with pretty average skills pitching his way out of jams and racking up saves while not doing anything spectacular. Still, he immediately becomes one of the 3 best options in the Braves' pen, along with Wickman and Kenny Ray. In fact, if you toss out a meltdown against Philadelphia on June 2 and all his games against the AL, Baez' ERA is 2.79. Other than that particular meltdown, he hasn't been scored on by any team in the NL East this season. He certainly knows how to pitch, because he always seems to outperform his skill set. That's the type the Braves love, so he will fit in.
Willy Aybar, interestingly, is a strikingly similar player to Betemit. Both were signed to major deals as teens out of the Dominican Republic. Both were considered top prospects but eventually slid on their systems' priority charts as younger prospects surpassed them. Both have versatility in the infield. Both have no more than two outlier hot streaks to give them credentials. Luckily for the Braves, Betemit's outlier came just before the trading deadline, while Aybar's came last September and this May. Aybar plays superior defense, in my opinion, and is a year younger.
Like I said, when considering the personnel involved, this is a fantastic trade for Atlanta. Unfortunately, the trade has the context of a playoff chase. The trade doesn't address the starting rotation, which has kept the Braves safely out of the game in two straight games against the Mets.

Schuerholz needed starters to win the wild card. Instead, he found a great deal on relatively unnecessary parts and took it. Now, we Braves fans have a plethora of drinks and chips for our stretch run party, but not enough hot dogs. And isn't that what a rotation is when compared to the bullpen? We need meat to add to the staff, and we're adding side items.

In a related story, I'm taking donations to buy some cushions for Wickman and Baez to have in the bullpen. As much sitting as they're going to have to do out there with stalwarts like Jason Shiell and Horacio Ramirez pitching every day, I would like to keep them comfortable for the rare occasions in which we have a late lead.