Today, the AJC’s Jeff Schultz tells us that the Braves sole trade dealine move — a straight-up swap of 1B Casey Kotchman for 1B Adam LaRoche — is about 2010.

But he never tells us how in the world dealing Kotchman for LaRoche will make the Braves better in 2010. And for the love of me I can’t figure it out.

Schultz says, in his column titled “Message Heard: Welcome to the 2010 season”:

Wren hasn’t given up on 2009. But 2010 ranks as a higher priority.

and

Two weeks ago, Chipper Jones said that while it was clear the front office had made improvements to the roster,  “we’ve got our eyes toward next year and the year after, and whatever comes this year is gravy.”

Wren has never hid from that perception.

But the reality is LaRoche won’t play for the Braves in 2010 unless the team offers him arbitration and he accepts. And even if LaRoche does play for the Braves in 2010, he isn’t an upgrade over Kotchman, who is a better defensive 1B. In fact, the two are about equal — both represent about one win over replacement.

At least Kotchman would have been the less expensive option. He’s only scheduled to make $4-5MM in 2010, while LaRoche will probably earn closer to $7MM.

Maybe the Braves are planning to cut ties with LaRoche after this season and pursue a free agent 1B? If so, they’ll be able to choose from a glamorous list that includes 38-year-old Carlos Delgado, Nick Johnson, or Chad Tracy.

Maybe the Braves are planning to promote a minor leaguer? The organization’s only decent 1B prospect is Freddie Freeman, who hits for average and has shown some power, but who has only played 23 game at Double-A and doesn’t figure to be ready for the bigs by March.

Maybe the Braves are going to get creative and trade for a 1B?

Maybe. But as things stand now, it’s not clear how the LaRoche trade will help the Braves in 2010.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that it’s possible that LaRoche will really rake in the next two months and that he’ll qualify as a Type B free agent. If that happens and the Braves offer him arbitration and he decides not to return and signs elsewhere, then the Braves will get a supplementary draft pick between the first and second rounds of next year’s draft. But that’s several big ifs, and it still doesn’t change the fact that LaRoche is unlikely to make the Braves any better in 2010.

UPDATE #2: Last night I Tweeted Schultz and asked him, “How does the LaRoche trade help the Braves in 2010?” The response: “SchultzAJC@umpbump It doesn’t because chances are he won’t be re-signed. Trade was about 2009 but effort to improve team deal for 09 was minimal.” OK. But if 2010 really is the priority, why trade away a 1B who was signed relatively cheaply through next season for a guy who will be a free agent at the end of 2009?

FINAL UPDATE: I Tweeted Schultz and asked him, “So who will play 1B for the Braves in 2010?” He responded, “Ryan Howard. … Hey, a guy can dream. … Seriously, I think it depends on who corner outfielders are.”

It’s been a wild few weeks in Boston Red Sox-land, with Boston axing Mark Kotsay and his beautiful wife Jamie in favor of Adam LaRoche, the steroid revelations about David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, and the fevered speculation over whether Theo Epstein could — or would — swing a trade for Roy Halladay.

The dust is now at least starting to clear (at least, until Michael Vick signs with the Patriots, but that’s another story). Today, Boston gave up on acquiring Roy Halladay, went after Padres 1B Adrian Gonzalez but then gave up on him, too, after Kevin Towers asked for the moon, and ultimately acquired Cleveland’s Victor Martinez (who can play first, catch, and DH) for reliever Justin Masterson and pitching prospect Nick Hagadone, as well as pitcher Bryan Price. This made the newly acquired LaRoche expendable, so Boston swapped him with the Braves for Casey Kotchman.

MLBTR said of the Martinez trade, “Gut reaction: nice haul.” From this I presume they meant that the Indians got a nice haul for Martinez (and this before Price was known to be part of the deal) but my reaction was, not so fast. I think this is a great deal for Boston. They get a versatile player in the switch-hitting Martinez, who is still only and beefs up their flailing offense. They deal a sidearm reliever who seems due to be figured out by opposing hitters and a high-ceiling pitching prospect returning from Tommy John surgery. Yes, Hagadone strikes out a ton of batters (11.7 K/9 over parts of three seasons) but he’s only started 23 games. He’s never pitched above the Sally League. And he throws a lot of walks: a 5.0 BB/9 in low-A this year. I know the Red Sox were high on him, but baseball is littered with high-ceiling prospects who just didn’t work out. This deal not only helps the Red Sox this year, but it helps them next year, too, as it will let them kick their dire catching problem down the road if they have to.

Price is sort of the mystery-man in this deal: a 6′4″, 210-lb righty who’s been pitching for high-A Salem. He was a 1st round (45th overall) pick in the 2008 draft. He’s 1 and 6 in Salem with a 6.54 ERA, but he also strikes out a lot of hitters. In 8 games for the low-A Greenville Drive, he went 3-2 with a 2.45 ERA, and had a more impressive season in his pro debut last year, where he struck out 43 and walked 10 in 12 games.

In the end, despite the urge to pronounce “winners” and “losers” (as Sports Illustrated writers were doing on Twitter within moments of the deadline closing) this may be one of those trades that is a good deal for both teams involved. However, it seems to this observer that the Red Sox managed to buy low on Martinez, who has been slumping, and sell high on Masterson, who got all kinds of good press last season after an impressive MLB debut, but who posted a 5.73 ERA in July.

The Kotchman/LaRoche deal is another smart move by Boston. As a Beantowner, I didn’t really understand why Boston dumped Kotsay for LaRoche in the first place. (While LaRoche is a modest offensive upgrade, Kotsay could play outfield and infield, and was solid defensively.) So I’m glad to see the back of LaRoche, and glad to welcome the defensively skilled Casey Kotchman to Boston. A week or so ago, when I was writing about the alleged struggles of Jon Lester for the Metro, Boston ranked 28th in defensive efficiency. Today, they actually rank dead last — 30th. If Kotchman can sub in as needed for the defensively challenged Martinez and allow Kevin Youkilis to slide over to third, that should materially improve Boston’s defense. No, Youk’s -2.2 UZR at third isn’t great, but it’s substantially better than Mike Lowell’s -9.0 rating. Plus, if Big Papi suddenly loses his steroids power stroke again, Lowell can just DH.

The way I see it, Boston addressed their two biggest challenges: a struggling offense and an execrable defense. And they did it for a fraction of what Roy Halladay would have cost.

So, yes…if I actually ever updated my Twitter feed, I suppose I’d declare them trade deadline winners too.

If there is one word which described the ancien régime of the Angels under former GM Bill Stoneman, it is “complacency.”

Powered by a seemingly never-ending stream of prospects and the adept National League style managing of Mike Scioscia, the Angels were able to contend year after year despite never making any significant trades and rarely making splashes in the free-agent market.

Trade deadline after trade deadline, offseason after offseason, the Angels would rest on their laurels and stand pat, confident (somewhat justifiably) that their up and coming young talent would keep them in contention.

The problem was that despite making the postseason almost every year out of the short-stacked AL West, the Angels rarely had the true superstars needed to win it all. And this despite having hoards of blocked prospects that teams were practically knocking down Stoneman’s door to trade for.

He just couldn’t bear to part with any of his players. Ever. And eventually many of those prospects just rotted in triple-A until they were too old and missed their shot at big-league stardom.

Which is what makes today’s trade for Mark Teixeira so surprising.

Because if ever there was a time you would think the Angels would not make a trade, it was this year. After all, they already had the best record in the entire major leagues. And they already had an overcrowded outfield/DH/1B situation, with good players and big-name veterans galore.

But Bill Stoneman isn’t around anymore, and new GM Tony Reagins, not satisfied with merely mauling the hell out of the league, decided to go for the jugular this time, shipping everyday first-baseman and rising star Casey Kotchman and a B-grade pitching prospect to the Braves for Tex.

You could just see Stoneman thinking, “Wait just a minute here. Kotchman is still young! He will get even better with time! And we still control him for several years, where as Tex is sure to walk after two months! And we already have the best record in the league!”

But Reagins is more vicious than that. He wants to win more badly. He doesn’t care what it takes.

That is the kind of you-can-never-be-”good enough” mentality that separates the decent francishes from the dynasties. The Angels could have been a dynasty under Bill Stoneman if he had been even a little bit less of a, well, stone, when it came to making deals. Now under Tony Reagins, they just might become a dynasty yet.

And with all the young talent they still have in the pipeline, that is a scary, scary thought for the rest of the AL.