Time to sell?

Injuries have taken their toll on the Atlanta Braves and it may be time to start planning for the future...a future that probably doesn't include 1B Mark Teixeira.

The Braves currently sit in 4th place in the NL East (6 1/2 games out) and 10 1/2 games back in the wild card race. With Chipper Jones possibly going back on the DL and catcher Brian McCann's recent concussion, the Braves may see a chance to move Teixeira for some young prospects.

Last year, the Braves traded for Teixeira, but the deal didn't pay off as the team failed to reach the post season. They gave up some promising young talent, including Jarrod Saltalamoccihia. So now the Braves are faced with a decision. Move Teixeira before the trade deadline or lose him in free agency after the season and recoup draft picks?

If this were the early 90s Braves, having Teixeira go to free agency wouldn't be a problem because they would be one of the major players to have him return. But this Atlanta Braves team spends its money more wisely and has been more frugal with spending on free agents. When they traded for him last year, they knew that he'd likely only be a Brave through this season, but it'll probably be a bit less.

The smart move is to deal him now to the highest bidder and get whatever they can get for him. This just hasn't been the Braves year with injuries to pitchers to start the season to the now hurting All Stars in Jones and McCann. Its time to look for the future, especially since Teixeira would likely only be in Atlanta for 2 more months. Why not get some top prospects now? Braves, its up to you to find the best deal and good luck to Teixeira, where ever he goes. And if you're willing to take a little less next year, take a look at Atlanta in free agency.

SEC Predictions

SEC Media Days were held this week, and the media made their choices for All-SEC and predictions. Here are my predictions:

SEC West:

1. LSU
2. Auburn
3. Mississippi State
4. Alabama
5. Ole Miss
6. Arkansas

SEC East:

1. Florida
2. Georgia
3. South Carolina
4. Tennessee
5. Vanderbilt
6. Kentucky

SEC Championship: Florida over LSU

Saints Sign Porter, Release Johnson

The Saints have come to terms with their second round pick, Tracy Porter, and have parted ways with TE Eric Johnson.

This is great news for the Saints secondary as Porter has a legitimate shot of contributing to the Saints weak secondary this year. If he had missed too many practices and gotten too far behind, it would have hurt his chances to play early.

The Saints now have all of their draft picks except Sedrick Ellis in camp. Hopefully Ellis' deal can be worked out soon with the 6th pick, Vernon Gholston signing with the Jets earlier today.

The release of Johnson is a bit of a surprise this early in camp. He was battling through injuries and with the trade for Jeremy Shockey, his roster spot was already in jeopardy. I guess the Saints wanted to help him out and let him go early enough for him to latch on with someone else. The only downfall to this is if there are any injuries to tight ends in camp in the next week or so.

I had high hopes for the Eric Johnson/Saints marriage from the start, but it never panned out for him in the Big Easy. He is a good pass catching tight end, but injuries and untimely drops hurt his chances with the Saints. With the emergence of Billy Miller as a quality tight end, a returning Mark Campbell and the Shockey trade, Johnson's days were numbered.

In other news early from camp, Shockey is fitting in nicely with his new team. Reports are that Drew Brees has been working with him after practice to get him up to speed on the offense. Look for this relationship to flourish throughout the preseason, as Brees has taken the tight end under his wing so far.

Saints Report, Colston Signs 3-Year Extension

The Saints reported to camp yesterday and the big news was that WR Marques Colston agreed to a 3-year contract extension. The deal ensures that Colston will remain with the Saints at least through 2011.

The only question is what took so long? Colston has been the most productive WR ever in their first two seasons in the league. He was a 7th round pick and has far outplayed his rookie contract. Congratulations goes out to Colston for the deserved contract and for being a professional throughout the negotiations.

This is great news and continues one of the best offseason's ever for the Saints. On WWL radio yesterday, they were polling people to see if they thought this was the best offseason in Saints history. Just this offseason, the team has signed Will Smith to a long-term deal, traded for LB Jonathan Vilma and TE Jeremy Shockey, resigned most of their own free agents (all except for C Jeff Faine), drafted DE Sedrick Ellis 7th overall, signed CB Randall Gay, QB Mark Brunell and DE Bobby McCray, and now signed Colston to an extension. What a great offseason!

The other big news from reporting day is that Ellis and Tracy Porter are still unsigned and CB Jerametrius butler Butler decided to retire.

Saints Sign Another Rookie, Report to Camp Today

The Saints have signed 5th round pick Carl Nicks, leaving only Sedrick Ellis and Tracy Porter unsigned as the team reports to camp today in Jackson, Miss. Hopefully, Ellis and Porter get into camp soon as both will be counted on to contribute this year.

Ellis will be more difficult to sign and his deal will likely come around the same time that the Chiefs sign Glen Dorsey. Porter needs to be smart about signing soon. As we saw with Devery Henderson a few years ago, second round picks who hold out get lost on the depth chart pretty quickly.

OKC Thunder?

With names like Outlaws, Thundercats and Marshalls being rumored as possible nicknames for the former Seattle Super Sonics, KOCO-TV is reporting that the team will adopt "Thunder" as its nickname. I was pulling for Thundercats, but it looks like they went for a shorter version of that (they probably didn't want to get permission to use the likely trademarked Thundercats).

The Thunder join the Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, Utah Jazz and a host of WNBA teams as having singular team nicknames.

Now the more important aspect of the moniker will be the release of the logo and color scheme for the team. Part of the relocation agreement with Seattle was that the team would leave the green and yellow color combination and name Sonics in the Pacific Northwest.

It will be interesting to see what direction the Thunder go with their colors. Obvious choices would be black, dark blue and/or purple but there are already a lot of teams in the league using variations of these colors. OKC could also borrow from already passionate fans of local universities and take the colors of Oklahoma or Oklahoma State.

It's a shame that the Sonics had to leave in the first place. OKC will support them, as they showed tremendous support for the New Orleans Hornets in their two years there. It's a cutthroat world and professional sports is no exception. I hate to see franchises move, but I was happy about the Hornets moving to Louisiana a few years ago, so I understand how OKC feels right now. They just want a team. New Orleans also knows how it feels to lose a team when the Jazz moved to Utah, so hopefully, something can be worked out in the future to revive NBA basketball in Seattle.