A Trade Worth Waiting For

The Atlanta Braves have traded for Mark Teixeira. The last week's rumors prove true. I'm amazed. Braves' GM John Schuerholz enjoyed the days when Ted Turner's only instruction was, "Get me a winner, boys." The checkbook was always open. Not so, after Captain Outrageous (remember?) sold his assets to Time-Warner. The mentality, once somewhere off-center, became corporate, and therefore by definition, restrictive and oriented to the bottom line alone.
And with restrictions still in place (as we await the departure of Andruw Jones after the season), John has pulled off a trade that gives the Braves the most formidable lineup in the National League, and arguably, in all of baseball. Namely:
Harris, lf
Renteria, ss
C. Jones, 3b
A. Jones, cf
Teixeira, 1b
McCann, c
Francoeur, rf
Johnson, 2b
As I read it, this is a lineup that could be played into the playoffs from top to bottom, or bottom to top. What if Willie Harris doesn't play the rest of the season as he has to this point? Swap him with Kelly Johnson. What if Chipper's health struggles recur? Yunel Escobar is ready to go.
And Schuerholz may well not be done yet.
Jared Saltalamacchia is the biggest name in the pool sent west for Teixeira and lefty reliever Ron Mahay. But the Braves had clearly decided that McCann was the better option behind the plate, and no one can seriously argue that Salty would be a better first base option than the switch-hitting Teixeira at this point. Elvis Andrus is the shortstop phenom that Braves' fans have been dreaming about for a couple years. Better than Escobar? I don't think so, plus, Yunel's performance raises the possibility of dealing Renteria for another quality starting pitcher (Jon Garland-type, if not actually Garland?). The attentive baserunning Escobar pulled against the Dbacks a couple of nights ago says that this kid has things that just can't be taught. Have you ever seen anyone steal second after reaching before another pitch is made? Me, either. The trade did not demand the top rung of pitching prospects, either. I can't find how this is a bad deal, and if Teixeira is a rental, he's a rental through 2008.
This looks to me an awful lot like the arrival of Fred McGriff in 1993, which helped lead to the 1995 World Series Championship. It may not take that long this time.
The Mets and all others who aspire to winning the National League won't sleep quite as well tonight. Or the rest of the season.