Braves claim Gotay off waivers

So this is one of those moves that 99% of the baseball world overlooks, but is what seperates great GMs from good GMs. He's only been on the job for a short time, but I really like what Frank Wren is doing. The Braves didn't exactly need another backup middle infielder and a lot of GMs in his position would have passed on Gotay. However, Wren has a backup infielder with trade value and options (prado) and he needs a power corner infield bench bat. While acquiring Gotay might not on the surface seem to be fulfilling a need it opens up Prado to be packaged in a deal for a piece we really need, as opposed to filling a spot we only kind of need. Gotay can fulfill our purposes fine. He's had a steadily improving bat and looks to get better defensively. Although he switch hits, he's essentialy a lefty bat, as he's pretty bad against lefties. Here is Paul Lebowitz's take on the Mets putting Gotay on waivers (this was before he found out a divisional rival claimed him)

http://paullebowitz.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/2008/03/keeping_tatis_o.html

Even if Prado isn't traded, he can be sent down to the minors to get more regular play, while Gotay can play in the majors. When Infante comes back, Gotay will primarily be someone to fill in at third on occasion and a good to very good lefty bat off the bench.

The Braves were also able to get Scott Thorman to clear waivers. He's got a lot of potential and I'm glad he can get another year of trying to cut down those Ks and harness the immense power he has.

All in all a pretty good day for the Braves, and keep looking for a trade for a power corner bench bat. That would really pull the bench together quite nicely.