Atlanta Braves First-Half Report: Past, Present, and Future

Thankfully, for the Braves, the first half is over. Well technically, the first 54 percent of the season is over, but I digress. Due to the up-and-down nature of Braves baseball in '09, I have decided to split this article up. The past will refer to the time period between April to late June. The present will cover late June to now. And, as day follows the night, the future will refer to the second half of the season. Now that I've dedicated an entire paragraph to setting the article up, it's time to get to it!   The Past What started with an up-and-down off-season quickly translated on the field of play for Atlanta. There was the PR hit of John Smoltz's unceremonious exit, A.J. Burnett's "show me the money" negotiations, the Furcal debacle and the almost completed trade for Jake Peavy. These non-moves seemingly sunk the Braves in December. But in between all of that the Braves traded for Javier Vazquez, and signed Kenshin Kawakami ...