The 27-year-old Nate McLouth was an All-Star last season and set career highs with a .276 average, 26 homers and 94 RBIs. The Braves desperately needed more offense from an outfield that produced only 10 homers through the first 51 games.

Atlanta gave up outfielder Gorkys Hernandez, one of their top prospects, along with pitchers Charlie Morton(notes) and Jeff Locke.

McLouth, who is hitting .256 with nine homers and 34 RBIs this season, fills several needs for the Braves. In addition to bolstering the lineup, he won a Gold Glove in 2008 and had 23 stolen bases. Since the start of the ’05 season, he has the best stolen base percentage (64 of 69) among all major leaguers.

Another plus: McLouth is under contract through at least 2011, having signed a three-year, $15.75 contract in spring training. The deal includes a team option for a fourth year at $10.65 million, with a buyout of $1.25 million.

The Braves outfield has struggled, capped by the demotion of Jordan Schafer to Triple-A Tuesday. Look for McLouth to start in CF in Atlanta and Andrew McCutchen to be called up by the Pirates.

This is obviously a big step up for McLouth, moving from the perennially bottom-feeding Pirates to the NL East contending Braves. McLouth should be in the Braves’ starting lineup right away and shouldn’t miss a beat. He has been struggling a bit of late, but a change of scenery could be just what he needs to get going again. He is a high-end Fantasy OF and should be active in all leagues. Hopefully he will hit the ground running with Atlanta.

Nate McLouth joins the Atlanta Braves is a post from: Universal Ramblings

• Team: New York Mets
• Position: Right Field
• Age: 30
• Born: October 14, 1978
• Hometown: Santa Barbara, CA

• Height: 6′ 1″
• Weight: 190
• Bats: Left
• Throws: Left
• College: Nevada
• Experience: 6

Ryan Church has a lot of potential. Lets just look at his Major League stats. Lets ignore his Minor League stats for now. This guy has a good amount of power. In 196 at bats, he knocked in 35 RBI and 10 HR. For a team that could never get on base last year, 35 rbi is an amazing feat in 196 at bats. In 2005 his power wasn’t quite as big, but it was still there as potential. Church also has the makings for a double machine, although those numbers could be inflated due to RFK.

I am not a Ryan Church fan. I will come out and say that. Why do I say that when his numbers look fantastic? Watch him play. He never seems like he cares. Whenever I see a ball go to him in the outfield (whichever position out in the sticks he is playing in) and it looks like it will be close, he will never take the risk of going for the ball. He just seems to look and act like he is more deserving of what he has. That might be the case! I am pretty sure the Frank Robinson did not like Ryan. Of all the flaws of Frank Robinson, one thing he was good at, was his expectation of playing as hard as you could, every day. Ryan Church simply did not do that defensively.

What Church needs is a change of scenery. Frankly, I am especially surprised that the Cubs did not go after him. He would have been a much cheaper Soriano, and I would expect him to put up some great numbers in Wrigley. The good news is that the Nationals have a new manager in Manny Acta. This might just be the 2nd chance that Church needs with the media and the fans. He even opted to report to spring training early ahead of the pitchers and catchers! For the National’s sake, I hope that this is the change of scenery he needs for a change of attitude.

Ryan Chruch – New York Mets is a post from: Universal Ramblings