According to Espn.com, the Braves traded 2B Nick Green to the Devil Rays for P Jorge Sosa. For some reason, I am a big Jorge Sosa fan. Maybe it's because I saw him throw a complete-game, 4-hit shutout of the Mariners in 2003? Anyway, I am excited to see what he will do under the tutelage of the legendary Leo Mazzone. Sosa's story is pretty cool. He was signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Colorado Rockies as an outfielder, but couldn't get it done with the stick. Sosa spent four years in rookie ball and then two years in the Northwest Leage, putting up a minor-leage career line of .222/.318/.328. In 2000, the Mariners picked him up as a minor-league free agent and saved his career by putting him on the mound. Sosa was lights out in Everett, making 7 starts in 21 appearances, pitching 58.2 innings, striking out 57, walking 19, giving up 11 earned runs (and only 2 home runs) to post an ERA of 1.69. It wasn't enough, however, to be added to Seattles 40-man roster and on December 13, 2001, the Milwaukee Brewers selected Sosa in the Rule 5 draft. He went to camp with the Brewers, but was put on waivers in March of 2002 and was picked up by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Sosa started 2002 in AA Orlando where it says he started 2 games, pitched 7 innings and had an ERA of 0.00 despite...what?...giving up one home run?!? There's got to be an error there. Anyway, 2002 and 2003 saw him floating back and forth between the AAA Durham Bulls and the AAAA MLB Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Although he struggles with locating his pitches, Sosa throws a mid to high-90s fastball and has a good slider. His minor league numbers show that he can be successful, he just hasn't proven that he can do it for extended periods of time at the Major League level.

I am very excited to see what Sosa will do with the Braves and I will certainly be pulling for him!