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07 July 2008: Chipper Jones tosses his helmet away after striking out against Hiroki Kuroda.
Photo:Icon SMI
Over their last thirteen games, Atlanta's offense played in a deep funk. As a team, they are hitting .213 with a .284 OBA and a .333 slugging percentage. Those numbers get most individuals sent back to the minors. Their situational hitting is even worse, with just 18 hits in 101 at bats with runners in scoring position.
Interestingly, Teixeira, Jones and Blanco are hitting well during this period. So well, in fact, that in order for the team to post such low averages, everyone else is terrible. Jeff Francoeur was sent down, but McCann, Johnson, Kotsay and Escobar are pretty terrible right now as well.
This probably makes a trade of Teixeira more likely. With the Braves falling fast and Mark heating up, now appears to be the time to trade the hitter for some prospects who can fill in the offense over the next couple of seasons. The problem is, about the only contender that can use help at first is the Athletics, and they tend not to trade for free agents. The other bay area team, the Giants, can also use some offense. Playing for now rather than building for the future is the kind of move Sabean has made lately. It should be an interesting month of speculation.


