Jeff Francoeur

Through the first three-plus innings Sunday, Tommy Hanson looked every bit the future ace that he is destined to become. After that first time through the order he quickly crashed down to earth.

After Hansen struck out the side in the second, a lot of the Braves faithful were beside themselves with excitement.

Then in the fourth the wheels started to slowly come off.

Ryan Braun took a misplaced fastball after a leadoff walk to J.J. Hardy and calmly deposited it into the stands to tie the game at two.

According to ESPN.com's Buster Olney, the Atlanta Braves and the Boston Red Sox have been talking about a Brad Penny-for-Jeff Francoeur deal. The Red Sox have been scouting Francoeur for awhile, and the Braves are looking for a new starter after the release of 305-game winner Tom Glavine.

Apparently, the Red Sox had the deal in place, but the Braves then backed out of the deal, seemingly no longer desiring Penny.

There are rumors that the Atlanta Braves are shopping right fielder Jeff Francoeur.

The Boston Red Sox may be looking for a replacement for J.D. Drew, a former Atlanta Brave and Georgia native.

The loss of Frenchy, as his teammates and fans affectionately call Francoeur, would be severe.

Francoeur grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta and is one of the most popular Braves on the team. He played with and against Braves catcher Brian McCann on several Little League teams and the two are close friends.

Feels like December...

Remember when Braves fans all over the internet were fuming over perceived "futility" from the Braves' front office?

It's starting again.

Calls for Wren to "get off of his lazy (intercoursing) (posterior)" and start making moves are starting to pop up on bulletin boards, comments sections, and blogs everywhere.

I, however, am here to say this: IT'S ONLY MAY 27!!!!

People seem to forget that the non-waiver trading deadline is still about sixty-five days away (give or take a few hours).

Brian McCann and Kelly Johnson combined for six hits, three home runs, and seven RBI to lead the Braves past the Toronto Blue Jays 10-2 on Sunday afternoon.

The Braves looked to make the game a blowout early, as Kelly Johnson led off the game with an opposite field home run and McCann followed three batters later with a blast off of Toronto starter Scott Richmond.

I was surfing through B/R earlier and came across a Jeff Francoeur article written by fellow B/R contributor Ron Wagner.

Well in his article he states that the braves should give up on Jeff Francoeur, and i'm here to say otherwise.

Why give up on him now, sure he's having a bad year so far, he's hitting only .252 with 3 homers and 21 RBI's.

Jeff is having trouble with his swing, he switched from a closed stance after his rough season last year to an open stance this with hopes that it will improve his numbers.

If you are a Braves fan, you know how much Omar Infante means to the Braves' chances in the NL East race for 2009.

I'm not talking about the Braves fan that occasionaly wears a t-shirt and knows who Chipper Jones is.  I'm talking about the Braves fans that KNOW the team.  You know who Tommy Hanson and Kris Medlen are.  Likewise, you know what a hitting machine that Infante has been for the Braves all year long.

I was six years old at the time and an avid Atlanta Braves fan. Our family always focused on living the 10 Commandments, but Granny had an 11th commandment:

"Thou shalt not root against the Braves."

You never rooted against Granny's Braves, especially in her presence. If you did, you suffered the consequences.

I can remember one day sitting on my grandfather's knee watching a game and he asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.

Futility against the Phils appears to be in the rear-view mirror.

In only about five weeks, the Atlanta Braves have matched their 2008 win total against the Phillies with their 4-2 win on Sunday.

Despite two debacles, one from Jo-Joke Reyes and another from the (at the time) "suckpen", the Braves have performed admirably against the World Champions.

Perhaps the key to these performances has been the presence of the true four and five hitters on the Braves, McCann and Anderson.