The New York Mets claimed reliever Manny Acosta from the Atlanta Braves today after the Braves placed him on waivers. Allow me to give all New York writers a quote they can use, "Acosta is like the pitching version of Jeff Francoeur, only worse." So yes, claim him all you want. The fear of Acosta ever appearing in a game for us again is finally over.
In another roster move, the Braves outrighted reliever Juan Abreu, who they signed away from the Royals this off-season, to triple-A. We will probably see him again, but there's not need for him to take up space on the 40-man. With the Braves having off-loaded Todd Redmond last week to triple-A and off the 40-man, we now have 3 open spaces on the 40-man roster.
One space will go to Jason Heyward, but who will take the other two spaces? Even if Joe Thurston makes the squad and is added to the 40-man, that still leaves one open spot. Very curious... what are the Braves thinking, and could this be the prelude to an end-of-spring trade? Maybe we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to give Manny Acosta to the Mets.
0 recs | 62 comments
LOLMETS
Erihury - March 30, 2010
The Mets: “The New Royals”
carpengui - March 30, 2010
Scott Proctor is on a Minor League deal, so he could be the guy for the last spot.
cbwilk - March 30, 2010
Beat me to it
jeg - March 30, 2010
He won't need a roster spot for a month or so
DOB stated that he’s going to start out in AAA
Jay212033 - March 30, 2010
I assumed he would too, but I keep seeing people talking about him so I thought I’d throw this out there.
cbwilk - March 30, 2010
Gearrin?
who else is on the “not on the 40 man now, but realistically possible on the 25 man in 2 weeks” besides Proctor, Heyward, Thurston?
Mr. Sanchez - March 31, 2010
Watch Acosta
Trun into the next Mariano Rivera or something. Acosta is not as bad as most people here are making him out to be.
Jay212033 - March 30, 2010
His talent and potential are not as bad as people make it out to be….his performance has been just as bad as people think and worse. The guy just can’t put it together.
MTSU11 - March 30, 2010
Too many walks
counteract his plus stuff. He’s actually never really had a problem with an excessive HR/FB rate, however, he doesn’t miss bats enough to make up for the number of walks he issues.
Still he could put it together. He’s a prime candidate to come back and bite us.
Bronn - March 30, 2010
+1
Brave Neander - March 31, 2010
lol
Smoltz's Beard - March 31, 2010
40 man roster
Vlad Nunez could also be added to the 40 man roster if Conrad beats out Thurston for the final slot.
Nunez could make the back end of the bullpen if Chavez has a couple of more bad outiings before opening day.
JimK - March 30, 2010
nunez is not on the team this year
gondeee - March 30, 2010
He is with the Braves on a minor league deal.
cbwilk - March 30, 2010
Dammit, I was afraid of that.
gondeee - March 30, 2010
I even reported it. You never listen!
cbwilk - March 30, 2010
Am I missing something?
Why so much hate for Acosta & Nunez?
Acosta pitched pretty well in 2008 and even last year his numbers weren’t as bad as the stats posted in recent years by other Braves relievers like like Boyer (2008), Yates (2007) or Carlyle (2009). He certainly was a viable option as a #6 # 7 guy in the bullpen. Given that he still had an option left, why not at least send him to AAA? Am I missing something? Did he have a bad attitude or something?
Regarding Nunez, he pitched quite decently in 2008 when our pitching was decimated by injury. I was actually surprised he wasn’t given more of a chance to make the team last year. Given the lack of veteran arms at Gwinnett, why not give him a chance there in case we need him in an emergency at the back end of the bullpen. This would also give the youngsters more time to develop instead of wasting their time as the # 7 guy.
atl2323 - March 31, 2010
Glad he's gone...
I’m tired of watching Acosta blow games at the most critical moment. That seems to be when he’s at his worst. Hell, I’m tired of the guy blowing games for me on MLB2010
Brave Neander - March 31, 2010
Glad he’s gone, he was never able to get it working in the Majors. Makes it easier to bring up Kimbrel or Gearrin in a few months. More will have to go for that to happen, but “I’ll cost ya” won’t be in the way.
bighop - March 30, 2010
reminds me of "can't stand ya".
little baked bean teeth
kreese555 - March 30, 2010
+1 for the old school Seinfeld reference
Mr. Heyman < Mr. Bevilacqua
-1 for my wayyyy too excessive knowledge of Seinfeld
MTSU11 - March 30, 2010
Was that the episode with Tropic of Cancer/Capricorn (can’t remember which one)?
Smoltz's Beard - March 31, 2010
yes it was
Mr. Sanchez - March 31, 2010
Scott Proctor I would think.
UMass12 - March 30, 2010
Best. News. Ever.
Rhyno18 - March 30, 2010
I'd rather have Acosta the Steven Marek!!!
Acosta still had an option left, he didn’t have to be taken off the 40-man roster. So the Braves mean to tell me that they think more of Steven Marek than Manny Acosta. Marek stinks!!!
Jay212033 - March 30, 2010
Actually, I’m fairly certain Acosta was out of options.
cbwilk - March 30, 2010
DOB said Melky’s the only Brave out of options. We could have pulled Acosta back, but we chose to let him go.
Weldon - March 31, 2010
It looks like he did have an option as on mlb.com, it says they originally optioned him.
atl2323 - March 31, 2010
Options
Proctor, Kimbrel, Gearrin, and Gomez. Though perhaps you could argue they’re doing this to get Matt Young on the 40 man, or some other depth feeder at AAA like Timmons or Barbaro.
What bugs me is that Diory should go on the 60 man DL, so that’s even another spot on the 40 man roster. Consider that.
I think the Braves were hoping to get Acosta through waivers and back to AAA, since he’s out of options, but the Mets jumped on him. There might have been other claims, but he fills an obvious need for the Mets.
Bronn - March 30, 2010
Barbaro’s not going up anytime soon. He didn’t even get a big league invite, which was strange. He must have just completely fallen out of their plans.
cbwilk - March 30, 2010
that was odd
I still didn’t get that. I guess they feel safe with Hinske at 1B everyday if Glausy gets hurt.
Scott Coleman - March 30, 2010
I think they’ll probably end up with Hinske at first if Glaus gets injured, or if Hinske can’t cut it they’ll bring up Freeman to get his feet wet (if he is doing good in the minors).
Dave_D - March 31, 2010
I might be wrong, but
I might be wrong, but it looks like the Braves originally optioned him to AAA before changing their mind. If so, I am wondering if there is something else, like a bad attitude, involved. Or perhaps, there just wasn’t space at AAA. Looks like they will start year off with Reynoso, Diamond, Venters or Reyes, Parr and Redmond as starting pitching; and Kimbrell, Lyman, Nunez, Gomez, Dunn, Marek and either Hyde, Bueno, or Huber in the bullpen with Valdez on DL.
atl2323 - March 31, 2010
Looks like I am wrong
Acosta was added to 40 man roster in October 2006, as he spent part of the next 3 years in minors and majors, that would mean he is out of options, correct? My humble apologies.
PS Time to get some sleep.
atl2323 - March 31, 2010
One 2nd, 3rd & 4th thought
Actually, it looks like his stint on 08 at AAA was an injury rehab so he probably did have 1 option left.
atl2323 - March 31, 2010
Considering they dumped Gunderson too..
who would seem like solid bullpen filler as well, a numbers crunch may be part of the issue. Of course, like you allude with the first move to AAA, maybe Acosta pitched a fit and they just said “no mas”. Gotta love Omar Minaya though.
Mr. Sanchez - March 31, 2010
Omar Minaya picking up a Latino??? Never LOLZ
mad_dog_maddux - March 30, 2010
LMFAO
at the pic and caption. Damn, that’s funny!
blairblink - March 30, 2010
I thought Abreu...
…was assigned to Myrtle Beach, not Gwinnett. At least that is what I read.
cavebird - March 30, 2010
It was Mississippi originally.
cbwilk - March 30, 2010
Doesn’t Acosta have an option year left?
Lennox - March 30, 2010
Acosta - Poor mans Soriano
Now don’t get me wrong I was never in love with Manny Acosta or R. Soriano and discussing them both is like mixing pears and apples but Acosta is simply a young Soriano. Acosta needs time to mature and but I am not surprise that the Mets jumped on him. At this moment he is not a MLB reliever, of course neither is Jesse Chavez, Chavez needs more time similar to Acosta, but the reasoning that Acosta was gone is simple “HE BLEW TO MANY CHANCES” the Braves got tried of him coming into close games and blowing it and coming into other and looking great. It was always a crap shoot with Acosta and finally the Braves walked away from the table with nothing to show for the time of rolling the dice on him"
Go luck Mets fans and you thought your bullpen was bad before ohh man are you guys in for a suprise, lol at least for the immediate future.
Holty_Panthers_Fan - March 31, 2010
I missed you!
I haven’t see ya around the blog lately…
Scott Coleman - March 31, 2010 via mobile
How so when Soriano is much better & doesn’t have horrid control? They aren’t even the same type pitcher’s. Manny has had plenty of chances to mature & isn’t young. He simply can’t spot his pitches to save his life.
FitzFan - March 31, 2010
Acosta is only a year and a half younger than Soriano.
cbwilk - March 31, 2010
Could the Braves ?
Could the Braves be willing to pickup R. Garko as a backup to Chipper Jones ? Or has he already been claimed by another club ?
Holty_Panthers_Fan - March 31, 2010
He has not been claimed as far as I know.
And his contract was only $550K. I am surprised Kotchman beat him out for the job in Seattle. I think he would make a great pickup for the Braves. He would probably have to sit in AAA for a time because we don’t have space on the 25-man roster, but still, he would be great depth to have.
cavebird - March 31, 2010
Since when does Garko play 3B?
cbwilk - March 31, 2010
Ever since HPF’s posts started making sense.
justincredubil02 - March 31, 2010
Oh. Right then.
cbwilk - March 31, 2010
Am I missing something #2
Quite frankly, I have thought many people, in particular Mark Bowman at mlb.com, have been overly enthusiastic about the prospects for our bullpen this year. I think we had at least as many pitchers with major league experience in camp last year and 2008 as this year. In addition, Wagner, Saito and Proctor are at least as big a question marks (injury and age the for Wagner and Saito and injury for Proctor) as Soriano, Gonzalez and Moylan were heading into last year.
atl2323 - March 31, 2010
I disagree.
For starters, you mention Wagner, Saito, and Proctor this year vs. Soriano, Gonzalez, and Moylan last year. Remember, we still have Moylan. Also, I don’t think Wagner is any greater an injury risk than Gonzo or Soriano, who both have significantly more extensive injury histories. Furthermore, this year we also have Medlen to add to the mix. With the extensive help we could get from AAA during the season, I think our bullpen depth is much improved, even if the top of our bullpen is not significantly better because, let’s face it, Soriano and Gonzo were a nice 1-2 punch last year.
cavebird - March 31, 2010
Nice
to see the Mets become the new Royals.
Andy Braves Fan - March 31, 2010
Wow
The Mets aren’t even waiting until April to choke this time.
TonyAlmeyda - March 31, 2010
The Mets sent him to AAA. He’ll be down there most of the year, come up to the Majors occasionally and suck, then get sent down and continue to suck. Anyone lamenting this move hasn’t been paying enough attention.
cbwilk - March 31, 2010
Yeah for you getting to watch him even more now!
justincredubil02 - March 31, 2010
A few games I’m sure. Manny has disappointed me though, because he used to be so nice and personable, but then after he got up to the show for the first time he became moody and standoffish. He really won’t ever talk to you anymore and most of the time he comes out after a game all pissed off because of how he performed. I know it’s hard to suck at your job, but plenty of guys approach it the right way. Heck, sometimes it helps to relax and talk about it.
cbwilk - March 31, 2010
You should just Tonya Harding his ass if you ever see him at a 7 eleven or something.
justincredubil02 - March 31, 2010
I was on MLBTR & some yahoo Mets fan said that Wagner is just as bad as Acosta. WTF? i’m not Wagner’s biggest fan, but that’s crazy. If Manny was half as good as Wagner’s been most of his career ,Braves would’ve kept him.
FitzFan - April 1, 2010
Yay.
Let him Acosta the Mets some runs instead of us.
Lizziebeth - April 1, 2010
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