Friends have queried me throughout the MLB Hot Stove season about the Atlanta Braves’ mercurial offseason moves.

Generally speaking, I’ve given the company line about shedding high dollar contracts and re-stocking the system with high impact prospects. I felt they made a great trade with Heyward; I was not as sanguine about the Justin Upton deal but I thought it was “ok.”

Then, yesterday, came the bombshell news that, in essence, confirms the quixotic quest the Braves’ brass hoped to achieve – that is to rebuild while contending for a title in 2015 and 2016 – was just not realistic.  Atlanta traded fan favorite Evan Gattis to Houston for three – wait for it… - prospects.

Uh, yeah, let’s go ahead and admit it. Unless management has some late surprise up its sleeve, Atlanta will be contending for FOURTH place in 2015.

Admittedly, I’m not privy to all the strategic planning results and player evaluations as those in the inner circle or even, to a lesser degree, the sagacious prognosticators who opined the Braves ‘could’ contend before the Gattis trade. Now, we all know it’s just not going to happen.

Trading the burly catcher, dubbed El Oso Blanco (the white bear) makes the Braves effort to put a winning team on the field the next two seasons resemble a crazy bear (El Oso Loco). In other words, as my good friend Dave used to say “I jus’ don’t see that happenin.’”

It’s a shame, too, and perplexing at the same time. Gattis was a fan favorite. He had a great back story. And he was under contract at a very reasonable rate for four seasons to come. Of course, now with Houston, he’ll have the opportunity to catch some and DH a lot.

Still, it’s kind of sad to bid him farewell. I loved watching him hit prodigious home runs. Holly and I went to a day game against Minnesota two summers ago and watched him hit an opposite field, grand slam home run that iced the game.

Afterwards, we saw him do the postgame interview on the field to raucous applause by the adoring fans.

Clearly, the Braves are telling those selfsame fans “Wait ‘til 2017.” That is the year the Braves are slated to move into their new digs in Cobb County (north of town). The ballclub is obviously mobilizing its efforts by gathering a large number of prospects – many of which are high-impact pitchers – in order to be a contender during that season.

In a way, it’s not such a bad thing. After all, I’ve told you about our affinity for all things related to the number 17!

Still, it’s a tough sell to get fans in Braves Country to be enthusiastic about the next two years. In a modern society built around instant gratification, the notion of being excited about two approaching bleak seasons is, well, loco.

The Braves don’t have a left fielder, now. The right fielder they just signed had neck surgery the week after the signing and the center fielder is a guy they tried, unsuccessfully, to trade for two seasons. Meanwhile, second base is also an open spot featuring a list of candidates with question marks.

Last night, a friend texted me and asked what I thought of the Gattis trade. My answer to him was, in essence, a truncated version of the previous 500 words. Then, I added, “I may devote tomorrow night’s edition of the blog to this topic.”

And so I have.

I’m not about to abandon the team. I’ll still be a faithful, albeit wary, fan. I won’t expect much the next two seasons. I’ll probably still write my opening day blog when I say something along the lines of “Fandoms of all 30 teams have hope. All 30 teams are potential champions.”

But in my heart of hearts, I will only believe that about 29 of the teams. The 30th, I fear, is doomed to an unhappy season of low scores, small crowds and a long hot summer.

JG

Originally posted 1/15/2015