The Atlanta Braves Weekly Wrap: Lowe, Gonzalez, Vazquez, and more

Here's a look at the major stories in the world of the Atlanta Braves for the week ending on December 20th:

The Braves officially released their spring training schedule.
With John Lackey signing, that officially opened the door for the Derek Lowe rumors to get hot and heavy.
For his part, Derek Lowe is unhappy about the Braves rumored intention to trade him, and he may have talked his way out of the Braves' favor.
Mike Gonzalez signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles, and the Braves lose any hope of getting a first round pick in 2010's draft.
The Hardball Times released their version of the Braves top-10 prospects.
There was some minor buzz about the Braves adding minor league slugger Mitch Jones.
The Angels were rumored to be interested in Javier Vazquez, but Talking Chop debunked that rumor, and then Mark Bowman officially debunked it.
The Braves signed utility infielder Joe Thurston to a minor league contract.

The Atlanta Braves Fan Confidence dropped for the second straight week.
We released the Talking Chop Community Top-25 Braves Prospects.
I said that the Braves draft pick situation is not that bad, despite the team missing out on any first round picks next year.
Anyone need some last minute gift ideas for the baseball fan.

ATLandUNC passed along a story about Chipper Jones being the 7th-best player of the decade.
cbwilk shared some of his pictures of former Braves players.
bbxxj ran down the Braves salary situation.
unite8 took the salary situation a step further by suggesting a course that the Braves should take this off-season.
secondbass passed along the information for the Rome Hot Stove gathering in January.