The 2009 Atlanta Braves bullpen shakeup has officially begun. Blaine Boyer was designated for assignment today to make room for Jo-Jo Reyes. This means that the team has 10 days to trade him or put him on waivers for the purpose of sending him to the minors (or something like that). It's been a long and slow fall for Blaine, who was all-everything setup man in 2005, then got injured and missed most of 2006 and 2007.
Boyer had appeared in three games this season for Atlanta, posting a record of 0-1 with a 40.50 ERA. The righty gave up six runs on three hits and three walks in just 1 1/3 innings.
Blaine is a good guy and he's shown flashes of brilliance in the past, but overuse last year (he appeared in 76 games) translated into inneffectiveness this year, which is weird because he was great in spring training. Get ready for the be-all end-all buzzword for 2009 -- "dead arm."
I don't want to panic, but it might be time to get some "live-armed" young kids in the pen... I'm looking at you killer-M's -- Morton and Medlen.