--LHP Eric O'Flaherty, who made 78 relief appearances for the Mariners over the past three seasons, was claimed off waivers by the Braves. O'Flaherty appeared in just seven major league games this year, going 0-1 with a 20.25 ERA. He was sidelined for part of the season with a back injury.
--RHP Todd Redmond, INF Diory Hernandez and RHP Stephen Marek were added to the Braves' 40-man roster. Redmond, 23, earned the Southern League Pitcher of the Year award for his work with Class AA Mississippi, going 13-5 with a 3.52 ERA in 28 games (27 starts). Marek was acquired from the Angels in the Mark Teixeira trade last summer. --C Brian McCann has stuck to his healthy eating plan -- as is obvious from a recent photograph in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. McCann began cutting out fatty snacks late in the season and has been pretty good at sticking to that in the offseason. He wants to keep his weight down to save his knees.
--General manager Frank Wren told star right-handed pitching prospect Tommy Hanson that he wouldn't be traded, and he meant it, which is what caused the RHP Jake Peavy trade talks with the Padres to falter.
--INF Martin Prado stood to gain a starting position had the Braves traded SS Yunel Escobar to the Padres for RHP Jake Peavy. Now that the trade seems to have fallen through, manager Bobby Cox will have to find another spot for him. Prado outperformed all expectations when he had to be the emergency first baseman at the end of the 2008 season.
--C Tyler Flowers, 22, is making as big an impression with his hitting in the Arizona Fall League -- batting .373 through 67 at-bats in 18 games -- as his teammate and fellow prospect Tommy Hanson. And even though All-Star C Brian McCann is ensconced behind the plate, the Braves aren't trying to get Flowers to change his position.
--The Braves are not interested in bringing back free agent SS Rafael Furcal even though they are not as deep in prospects at that position as they are in the outfield. That would have been the case even had the Braves traded SS Yunel Escobar to the Padres as part of a package to acquire RHP Jake Peavy.
BY THE NUMBERS: 669 -- Career starts made by LHP Tom Glavine before his first trip to the disabled list this year.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "He has probably the best swing in the system." -- General manager Frank Wren, on how the Braves viewed 2B Kelly Johnson from the time he was a minor league prospect.
