Afternoon Links: Jason Heyward’s Dog side by side with my Dog, and more

This is Jason Heyward’s dog. It’s named Jhey (pronounced ‘Jay’). This information–the concept of knowing a baseball star’s pets name all made possible via twitter.

It’s funny because until I owned a dog, I really wasn’t a dog person. I didn’t care about other people’s pets and I really didn’t care about dogs. Then about six weeks ago it happened. My wife and I found a dog and we fell in love. He truly is like my son and best friend. Now I suddenly have an interest in talking about other people’s dogs at the coffee pot or watercooler in the morning in the office. And I do all those stupid things that parents of pets do. And I even talk to him like he’s a person sometimes.

I think I am also bias that my kid/dog (his name is Bentley); is the best looking dog on earth. Have you ever seen an English Bulldog – Boston Terrier mix? Meet my son Bentley. And you better not say anything mean or you will have an angry parent on your hands.

Jason Heyward makes more money than me. He’s famous. He’s better at the thing in life that I consider my #1 object of affection–baseball. He’s more athletic and probably has a better knowledge of his fine wines. But when it comes to having a good looking dog, I think I have him beat.

Here’s the afternoon links of the day of Braves relevance–including some that you might have missed:

The Braves are ready for moves to improve – FOX Sports: Ken Rosenthal
Yes, the Braves would move right-hander Jair Jurrjens and left fielder Martin Prado, the two players whose names surfaced in trade discussions with the Royals, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. Heck, the Braves would trade just about anyone for the right price — and moving Jurrjens, in particular, could make sense.

Braves moving forward after collapse – ESPN: Jerry Crasnick
The 2011 Atlanta Braves finished the season with one of the most demoralizing collapses in baseball history, but you have to admire the way they took their lumps and disappeared without subjecting America to too much drama or internal anguish. With the exception of a coaching change here and a few early Hot Stove moves there, the Braves have pressed forward with a minimum of handwringing, vitriol or clubhouse intrigue.

A year later, Heyward’s future seems less certain – AJC: David O’Brien
“We’ve never had one discussion about trading Jason Heyward,” Wren said. “That’s the furthest thing from our mind. That’s never come up. Nobody’s contemplated it.” The mere fact that there was mention of the possibility says something of how bad a season Heyward had, and how perception of the 22-year-old has changed in some quarters.

Assesing Martin Prado’s trade value if he will be on the move – FanGraphs: Matt Klaassen
Prado has never played more than 140 games in a season, and has spent time on the disabled list each of the last two seasons, so an 80 percent playing time projection seems fair. Prado will be 28 at the beginning of next season, so while he is a young man in the real world, in the baseball world it is probably time to start accounting for a slight decline in skills and general attrition. To summarize: plus six hitter, no positional adjustment either way, plus 20 runs for NL replacement level, all times 80 percent playing time and adjusted for aging and attrition puts him at about 1.5-2 Wins Above Replacement for 2012.

Potential Braves Outfield Target: Grady Sizemore – Capitol Avenue Club: Ben Duronio
The Braves have no backup centerfielder, so signing him to start in left field gives the Braves the ability to have that backup centerfielder in a starting role. That gives the team the ability to keep all four players they currently have signed for the bench, and focus on signing a shortstop and backup shortstop.