It shouldn't have been a surprise to see the Braves ship Mark Kotsay to the Red Sox for a low-level prospect -- Kotsay will be a free agent this winter, the Braves are 17 games under .500 and haven't been in the playoff race since, well, April.

But even if there's nothing left to play for this year, at least Braves fans will get to watch some of their top prospects get a cup of coffee in September, right? Perhaps a sneak peek of Jordan Schafer, who could be the starting center fielder in 2009? Umm, not quite. From David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

So will we see Schafer in September? No. In fact, Wren said we won't see any of the Braves' top young prospects in September, including the pitchers like Tommy Hanson and Kris Medlen.

He said the reasoning was two-fold: 1. The Braves want to monitor innings on those guys, including Medlen, who's starting on a regular basis for the first time since high school, and 2. "roster management."

In other words, to add any of them, including Schafer, to the 40-man roster now would require the Braves take someone off and possibly lose them in the Rule 5 Draft.

I get the reasoning, but c'mon, throw the fans a bone. The Braves have three of their last 16 games -- it's going to take a little more than $1 Hot Dog Night and pretty girls wielding a t-shirt gun to convince anyone it's worth buying a ticket the final month.