Teixeira Traded- See You Next Year Braves

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The Atlanta Braves officially threw in the towel yesterday and traded first baseman Mark Teixeira to the Los Angeles Angels. In return, the Braves come away with first baseman Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Stephen Marek. Marek is not considered to be one of the Angels top pitching prospects.

With Tim Hudson on the disabled list, possibly for the rest of the season, and Chipper Jones currently on the DL this trade makes sense for the Braves. Their  season is over. The problem here is for the Braves fans that are season ticket holders. They’re the ones that are now stuck paying for nothing. For their fans it’ll be hard to stay motivated to keep watching a team that’s already given up this season. Whether it’s buying tickets for games or watching on TV, there’s almost no point for their fans. That’s a tough situation.

The National League East is now down to the Mets, Marlins, and Phillies.

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Mets Get Stellar Pitching In 4-1 Win Over Marlins

Box score

Video Highlights

Oliver Perez went six strong innings giving up only one run on five hits and three walks. He certainly wasn’t as dominating as he had been in his last few starts, but he was good enough to get the win and raise his record to 7-6.

Aaron Heilman pitched the seventh and eighth innings giving up only one hit and two walks. And Billy Wagner shut the door in the ninth for his 27th save.

Jose Reyes was 3 for 5, including getting thrown out at third going for a triple in the first at-bat of the game.

Nick Evans was 2 for 4 and scored the first two runs of the game. It looked like two runs would be all the Mets would need until the eighth inning. Carlos Delgado hit his 23rd homer to add two more insurance runs.

The Phillies also won so the NL East lead remains .5 games.

Audio- Brian Schneider and ESPN Radio Trade Talk

Mets catcher Brian Schneider does his weekly spot with WFAN’s Joe & Evan. He talks about last night’s loss to the Marlins and the state of the Mets.

ESPN’s Baseball Today has Eric Krabell and Peter Pascarelli talking about the prospects for a Mark Teixeira trade. Steve Phillips joins the show to cover his thoughts on the trade deadline.

WFAN Audio

ESPN Baseball Today

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On Deck- July 29- Mets at Marlins [Game 2]

New York Mets (57-49 Road: 25-29) at Florida Marlins (56-50 Home: 30-23)  7:10pm

Oliver Perez (6-6 4.15) vs. Scott Olsen (6-5 4.07)

TV: SNY  Radio: WFAN

What to watch: The Mets would really like to take this series in Florida by winning the next two games to protect their lead in the NL East. The Phillies start a series tonight in D.C. against the Nationals, the worst team in baseball. With Perez going tonight and Pelfrey tomorrow, the Mets have to like their chances with the way the two have been throwing.

Visit the Mets Report Live Game Chat during the game to chat with other fans. Click on “Live Game Chat” above or click here.

Link- Perez and Pelfrey Changes Under Warthen

PHOENIX, AZ - MAY 6: Mike Pelfrey #34 of the ...Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Tim Marchman of the New York Sun, a terrific writer, wrote a great analysis yesterday about the massive change in results that Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez have gotten under pitching coach Dan Warthen. Both were struggling early this season under pitching coach Rick Peterson.

To sum up the piece, Perez is throwing more strikes and generally closer to the strike zone now. He doesn’t appear to have modified the types of pitches that he’s throwing. And Pelfrey changed the pitches he’s throwing from sinker/change up to straight fastball, sinker, curve ball. The results, of course, have been dramatic for both pitchers.

My take is that Peterson had a philosophy that he believed to be the “correct” methodology for all pitchers to utilize. That is, being a fastball/change up pitcher more than using a curve ball.

It appears to me that Dan Warthen doesn’t subscribe to a one style fits all approach to pitching. Each pitcher needs to maximize their unique abilities. Although Duaner Sanchez hasn’t succeeded under Warthen that may be an aberration due to his year and a half out of baseball with injuries.

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Mets OF Church Will Take BP Today

Ryan Church will resume his baseball activities today by taking batting practice with the team in Florida. The plan is for him to play some rehab games in Port St. Lucie this week and get back to the team, and off the disabled list, next week against San Diego. He’s been recovering from post concussion syndrome and hasn’t played a game since July 5th.