Babes Love Baseball

Mark Kotsay is on his way to filling Andruw Jones' spot in the Atlanta Braves' outfield, at least for this season... or until he hurts himself.

The Braves reached a preliminary agreement this weekend to nab the injury-plagued outfielder from the Oakland Athletics for reliever Joey Devine and some cold, hard cash, once Kotsay passes a physical and the commissioner's office approves the amount of money involved with the trade.

Suffering through back problems much of last season after having part of a herniated disk removed from his lower back, Kotsay hit .214 with one home run and 20 RBIs in 56 games with the A's. The 32-year-old career .282 hitter, who has 11 notches in his big league belt, will most likely be a temporary solution until Jordan Schafer is ready to make his climb to the majors.

Devine, 24, was 1-0 with a 1.08 ERA in 10 games -- 8.1 innings -- for the Braves last season, striking out seven, but walking eight. In the minors, the righty was 5-4 with an impressive 1.89 ERA and 20 saves between AA Mississippi and AAA Richmond in 2007.

[MiLB] | [Atlanta Journal-Constitution] | [Beyond the Box Score] | []