Welcome Kotchman & good luck Teixeira

AJC
The Braves traded Teixeira to the Los Angeles Angels for first baseman Casey Kotchman and minor-league reliever Stephen Marek.

Kotchman, 25, has hit .287 with 24 doubles, 12 home runs and 54 RBIs in 100 games for the Angels this season, after hitting .296 with 11 homers and 68 RBIs in his first full season in 2007. He's a strong defensive first baseman.

MLBTRADERUMORS
4:50pm: Jayson Stark has the scoop - Mark Teixeira is headed to the Angels for Casey Kotchman and another player. MLB.com's Lyle Spencer says the second player is relief prospect Stephen Marek.

Solid return for the Braves, certainly beats a couple of draft picks of unknown position. Kotchman is under team control through 2011.

Baseball America
The Angels converted Marek, 24, to the bullpen this season at Double-A Arkansas because he doesn't repeat his release point or maintain his focus while starting. He's gone 2-6, 3.66 with 57 strikeouts, 21 walks and two home runs in 47 innings, suggesting the change has done him well. Signed for $800,000 in 2005 as a draft-and-follow from San Jacinto (Texas) JC, Marek's 88-94 mph fastball and plus, mid-70s curveball have played up in relief, where his under-developed is less of a hindrance.


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對天使來說，二個月加play-off的Tex為打入總冠軍賽多加了一道保險(a wild guess of 2008 world series: Cubs vs Angels)，而且Angels有錢可以留住Teixeira。

對勇士來說，Kotchman plus any middle prospect 都比未知的兩個draft picks好。千萬別拿去年換Tex的包裹來比較，去年Braves還有一拼進入季後賽的機會，更重要的是Tex還有一年的保用期。現在拿二個月使用期的Tex換來至少可以用到2011年的Kotchman，對手頭不寬的勇士隊來說，擠出來的預算或許可以在未來補強殘破的先發投手群和外野手。

而這場交易的贏家，毫無疑問的：Mr. Scott Boras

Braves 731 Countdown

MLBTRADERUMORS
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/atlanta_braves/index.html
2008/7/29
1:01pm: ESPN's Jayson Stark says the Dodgers and Yankees have also flirted with the idea of acquiring Teixeira. The Braves want a big-league ready bat, preferably a first baseman, in any trade.

12:23pm: Ken Rosenthal says the Angels and D'Backs are competing for Teixeira. The Halos would like to expand the deal to include a lefty reliever like Will Ohman or Mike Gonzalez. Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana are off-limits, but Casey Kotchman and Juan Rivera can be had. Not sure why Rivera would appeal to the Braves, since he's a free agent after the season.

8:29am: When we last left off, various sources conflicted on whether the D'Backs are the frontrunner to acquire Mark Teixeira. Let's kick off a new thread for the likely slew of new Tex rumors today.

According to Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times, the Angels are once again exploring a trade for Teixeira. They are warming to the idea of adding a rental player to their first-place club. The price for Teixeira is said to be a first baseman, starter, and power-hitting outfielder. DiGiovanna also wonders if a deal could be expanded to include Will Ohman, much like last year when the Rangers added Ron Mahay.


----- 下面是廢話 -----
well, Braves are out this year. 今年的勇士霉星高照，先發投手的John Smoltz四月底進DL、六月復出投了一局就掛整季，Tom Glavine投了12場59.3局六月十一號進了DL還沒放出來，Mike Hampton最近才主投三年來的第一場球，Tim Hudson正準備去見Dr. Andrews(You know what it means..)。中繼投手的Peter Moylan季初開Tommy John整季報銷，Rafael Soriano從六月六號躺DL到七月二十一號才歸隊，Mike Gonzalez去年開完Tommy John到六月才回到場上。最好的打者 Chipper、McCann 也進了DL。這下不是擔心能不能順利交易Teixeira，而是整個球隊的狀況到了一個臨界點。

Tex的交易個人沒有什麼想法，事實上我希望能留他下來。畢竟Chipper的年紀大了，Frency令人失望，McCann的表現沒話說，可是球隊不太可能長期依賴一個蹲捕累的半死、還要來扛第三、四棒的，少了Tex這種 proven power hitter是非常傷的。如果可以交易到類似紅襪Kevin Youkilis的最好，或者希望至少能弄到前幾名的新秀，不然若因為沒錢留Teixeria、將來也很難有$$簽這種等級的自由球員，未來幾年實在看不出Braves有什麼機會。

目前幾個關於Tex的交易謠言都不太好，而留到年底等別的球隊簽，勇士最好的狀況是拿個1st round和sandwitch二個選秀權，若Tex被排名後一點(選秀權前15名)球隊簽走的話，那Braves就只能拿到sandwich和2nd round的選秀權了。我想與其賭明年的選秀還不如現在能換到別隊big-league ready's prospects來的保險。anyway, 交易不是那麼的一廂情願，只能等著看了。

Smoltz和Glavine兩位老骨頭明年能不能回來？Hudson會不會開Tommy John？ .... 我的老天！

亂攝 (三)

D700 的上市在 NIKON Users 間掀起一陣熱潮，135 全幅 DSLR 似乎成了迫在眉睫、不得不走的一條路，APS 用戶也開始頭痛要跟上這股潮流，還是靜觀其變。對我這個只是把攝影當成興趣及記錄的人來說，應該沒有什麼困擾，但看著手上用了快三年的 D50 和 三支 DX 鏡頭(還好只是副廠鏡)，還是不得不考慮一下，至少在未來鏡頭的投資上，對輕便好用的 DX 鏡只好說 bye bye。

Anyway, 用力拍就是了。


15mm, f6.3, 1/80sec, Aperture priority, Spot Metering


17mm, f8, 1/125sec, Aperture priority, Matrix Metering -0.3ev


68mm, f8, 1/250sec, Aperture priority, Spot Metering


62mm, f13, 1/200sec, Aperture priority, Spot Metering


40mm, f10, 1/100sec, Aperture priority, spot metering

i.e. Levels&Curves,DLighting,Saturation+ in NX

今年沒訂 MLB.TV 看不到球賽，現在的 Braves 也挺慘的，等月底交易大限再看看有什麼變化吧。