Good morning. This is Leadoff, the early buzz in Atlanta sports.
The Braves' trade of Mallex Smith and Shae Simmons to Seattle for two pitching prospects created a bit of buzz Wednesday, including a question from esteemed baseball reporter Ken Rosenthal about why the Mariners would have included the highly touted left-hander Luiz Gohara in the deal.
Rosenthal wrote on FoxSports.com that "there is more, perhaps, to the story" than the fact that trading Gohara enabled the Mariners to acquire Simmons and flip Smith, along with two other prospects, to Tampa Bay for veteran left-handed starting pitcher Drew Smyly.
From Rosenthal’s story: “A reported trade that would have sent Gohara and another prospect to the Reds for shortstop Zack Cozart and a minor leaguer last Aug. 1 collapsed after the Reds raised concerns about Gohara’s shoulder, according to major-league sources.”
But Braves GM John Coppolella told Rosenthal the Braves’ “medical group puts a lot of time, effort and thought into evaluating every potential acquisition” and “we feel good about the health of both players we acquired in the trade.”
The full article is here.
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An article on NFL.com ranks what the website calls the five "sexiest potential matchups" for Super Bowl LI.
No. 4 on the list: the Atlanta Falcons vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Writer Marc Sessler likes “the pure shootout potential of two wild offenses trading shots on a glorious Sunday in February.”
The full article is here.
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Wednesday's announcement of a Georgia vs. Virginia matchup in 2020 means the next six Chick-fil-A Kickoff game matchups are set — two this year, one in 2018, one in 2019 and two in 2020.
The full article is here.
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