Braves working on damage control

So...Buster Olney tweeted that:

A strong belief in the ATL organization that the package they offered for Pence was markedly better than deal HOU made with Philadelphia.

What else could they possibly say? The last week has been a disaster for the Braves. They've lost two games on the Phillies in their last ten, not only is Jordan Schafer on the DL, but they just lost Nate McLouth to the DL, as well, leaving the Braves to call up 27-year old Jose Constanza, who had a .712 OPS in 86 games for Triple-A Gwinnett.

Add to that, they very badly need a corner outfielder, and were too stingy (allegedly) to pull the trigger on the two best corner outfielders available, losing out on Beltran to the Giants, and Pence to the division rival Phillies - who, on paper, just took care of their one of their few weaknesses.

The obvious response to this, from an Astros' fan's perspective is to say, "OH JEEZ ED WADE DID IT AGAIN TRADING WITH THE PHILLIES WHAT ARE WE THE PHILLIES FARM TEAM JON HEYMAN WAS RIGHT I HATE MYSELF AND ED WADE I'M THROUGH WITH THE ASTROS SCREW THEM WHEN DO THE TEXANS PLAY?

That would be weak-minded, because if you look at what Olney actually tweeted, the feeling that they had the better deal comes from within the organization. About half an hour before that tweet, Olney tweeted from an NL source who said the Braves "would have" included Minor in the deal. But "would have included," and "did include" Minor are two different things. Ed Wade set a Friday deadline, and he abided by it.

I can't help but feel like the Braves are working on some damage control with their fan base. A friend of mine - a Braves fan, texted this:

F***in fu**ers. Fu** them. G*****n phillies. I hope (the Phillies') d***s fall off. I hope Ben Franklin gets up and buries himself in Atlanta. I hope Pence goes 0-230 the rest of the year. F***ing stingy-a** Braves. Who needs four f***ing untouchables? Sh*t stains.

When I replied, "You could still get Bourn," he wrote back:

That would be too good to be true. We'll end up with mediocre-a** Willingham or can't hit for s**t Blo* J*b Upton. If we're lucky, we'll get Carlos Quentin. I'd rather have him over Ludwick.

(Three minutes go by)

Braves will probably get Willingham. Yipp fu***ing skip.

(This morning, after it had all set in)

Now the word is the BRaves are going for Coco Crisp. Talk about sloppy seconds. We deserve it. Braves? Ha! Atlanta Cowards! Afraid to give up two of many prospects for a real shot at October. Pu**ies.

I'm guessing my buddy is fairly representative of Braves fans who are pissed that the team didn't go for it, and by valuing prospects more highly than the Phillies, are waiting to see if they'll get Bourn, or Upton, Crisp, Willingham, or Ludwick.

Point is, the Braves have some work to do - and they're apparently using Buster Olney to do it.