Here is my corresponding list of what I thought were the best in-season stretch drive pickups. I left off the most obvious, Fred McGriff, because it was a mid-July trade and he played nearly 70 games for the Braves. I let his date be the cutoff point; after that, it was a stretch drive pickup!
Jeff Reardon (Aug. 31, 1992) With Mark Davis a failure, Braves latched onto another aging closer, dealing Nate Minchey to the Red Sox for (at the time) all-time saves leader Reardon. "The Terminatior" had already saved 27 for Boston in 1992 and had 40 saves the year before. In his month with the Braves, he went 3-0 with 3 saves in 14 games, allowing only two runs in 16 innings. He’d go on to have a win and a save in the NLCS, including the win in the Francisco Cabrera game. Turning 37 for the coming season, the Braves opted instead for in-house options Mike Stanton and Greg McMichael as co-closers, and Reardon signed a minor league contract with the Reds in 1993 for only $500,000.
Mike Devereaux (Aug. 25, 1995). Trying to rebuilding his career after a season-ending beaning in 1994, Devereaux signed as a free agent with the White Sox for one year, but was dealt to Atlanta for outfield prospect Andre King. His .255-1-8 September was a plus in the pennant run, but the NLCS earned his place in Braves history. He hit .308 and drove in five runs in the four-game sweep of the Reds, including the game-winning hit in the 11th inning of Game One (2-1), and a clinching 3-run homer in Game Four. He was named MVP of the NLCS. The Orioles, who'd traded him to the White Sox in the first place, signed him as a free agent as the Braves considered young Jermaine Dye ready to move up -- not to mention a 19-year-old named Andruw Jones.
Alejandro Pena (Love Me Two Times: Aug. 28, 1991 and Aug. 31, 1995). Things just seemed to go better with Pena in the bullpen. Picked up from the Mets in 1991, he was 2-0 with 11 saves in 15 games down the stretch run of the Worst to First run and saves three of the four wins in the NLCS. But he was on the mound for Gene Larkin’s Series-ending hit in Game Seven of the World Series. An elbow injury knocked him out of the latter part of 1992 (see Davis and Reardon) and was out of the majors in 1993.
But Pena was back by 1995, pitching for the Marlins, when the Braves again picked him up at the deadline as insurance for Mark Wohlers. He had no record in 14 September games, but picked up two wins in the 1995 NLCS and allowed only one earned run in seven total postseason appearances en route to the World Championship.
Julio Franco (Aug. 31, 2001, curtain call July 19, 2007): 42-year-old Julio Franco had one MLB at-bat in the previous four seasons when the Braves took a shot on the ageless bat, who was in the Mexican League (hitting .437, by the way). He was the league’s best pinch-hitter the remainder of the year, but also filled in plenty at first base, hitting .300 for the remainder of the season and homering twice in the postseason. He stayed in that role for the Braves for the next four seasons, letting him go at age 46 despite a .275-9-42 line in just 108 games that season and a .295 overall average as a Brave., and .253 in postseason play.
But the Braves, never one to forget a friend, felt the need to have that bench bat back again in July of 2007, and drove in eight runs in his 15-game cameo at age 48.
Mark Teixeira (July 31, 2007): John Schuerholz mortgaged the future – or darn near it – to acquire the free agent-to-be first baseman from the Rangers. He did his part (.317-17-56 in just 54 games) but the Braves went only 28-27 after August 31. When it became apparent that they needed much more help in 2008, he was dealt away for a wasted locker named Kotchman and the decline over the next five years was under way.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: In 157 games with the Braves, he had 174 hits, with 37 homers and 134 RBIs before they grudgingly sent him to the Angels to await his pending free agency. The Yankees paid accordingly, and he finished his career in New York, hitting 206 homers over the next eight seasons.
Kevin Gausman (July 31, 2018): If it’s not too soon to drop Duvall in the FAIL pile, we can certainly chalk up the pickup of Gausman as a big plus. Aside from the fact he is under control through 2020, he is only 27, and showed the potential in college to earn the No. 4 overall draft pick in 2012. At this writing, he has made eight starts as a Brave (5-2, 2.61).
**Add Adam LaRoche (2009). See post below.
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Originally Posted by Southcack77
