On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

Oakland Athletics (23-19) at Atlanta Braves (20-20) - 7:10 PM ET

It's probably safe to say that out of the former "Big Three" in Oakland, Tim Hudson has been the most successful of the bunch since leaving the nest after the 2004 season. Four seasons later, Hudson faces his former club for the first time (the two teams played a three game set in '05 but Hudson did not make an appearance). A lot of Hudson's old teammates from his last season in Oakland are gone, but his mound opponent for today, Rich Harden, is still around. And Harden was hoping he'd match up against him. Harden is probably also hoping that he makes it through the game intact.

The Braves reached into the wayback machine when they signed Tom Glavine as a free agent this winter but their craving for nostalgia may not have been totally satiated. With an opening at the back of their rotation, some are wondering if they might not make a play for Greg Maddux. It's a reasonable idea. The Padres are floundering and will have to start thinking about restocking their system soon and, from Atlanta's view, the cost for an old, expensive pitcher shouldn't be too steep.

Mark Bowman, who covers the Braves for MLB.com, discussed the possibility while answering a question from his mailbag.

When I was asking some of the team's management and players if they felt they were seeing Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz in uniform together for one last time last week, I kept getting the, "You never know what might happen" response.

Despite having the stingiest pitching staff in the NL and scoring 42 runs more than they've allowed, the Braves are 19-19. There's some bad luck going on there, perhaps acquiring Maddux would give them some kind of karmic spark that would reflect in the record.

If it's non-cosmic changes you're looking for, though, the team might want to find a left fielder that's a little more productive than Matt Diaz. If they really want to try and recapture the old glory, the Dodgers are probably looking to get out from under Andruw Jones.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Los Angeles Angels (24-17) vs. Chicago White Sox (18-20) - 10:05PM Est.

While most of the world knows John Lackey as our very own Pat Lackey's older, harder-throwing, better-smelling, and much smarter estranged brother, he's better known in southern California as the ace of the Angels pitching staff (Pat , on the other hand, was turned down by the Angels when he applied to become the new rally monkey).

Lackey won 19 games for the Angels last season, and helped lead them to another AL West division crown, but he hasn't been available to the team at all this season. Of course, his absence hasn't done much to keep the Angels out of first place out west.

Now, with his return today, the Angels have become even stronger.

If you're going to get "beaned," this is probably the best way to do it: I'm not sure Jeff Bennett's pitch even touched Jason Michaels, it just ripped open his jersey. Watching the replay, I'm surprised he didn't need to fetch a needle and thread at first base to sew back on a few buttons.

(via, of course, Uni Watch)

This is the first season since 1989 that began without Leo Mazzone shepherding a pitching staff which, given his success with the Braves, is a bit odd. Could his decision to join lifelong friend Sam Perlozzo, and a lot more money, in Baltimore really have cost him that much?

Yes, the Orioles were awful on the mound during Mazzone's tenure but how much can you lay at his feet? Erik Bedard improved, Jeremy Guthrie surprised and Adam Loewen got hurt early last season before Mazzone had a lot of time to work with him. He couldn't tame Daniel Cabrera but that may be impossible and he wasn't the guy who chose to employ veteran chum like Russ Ortiz, Steve Trachsel and Danys Baez over guys he could mold.

He spoke with the Associated Press and said that he's itching to get back into the game. He also said how he realized what a good thing he had with the Braves.

"At the time it was a great move, but now I regret it. You see the difference in organizations and how things are run and, believe me, the Atlanta Braves are about as good as it gets."

Going back to Atlanta doesn't seem like a viable option. The Braves pitching staff has performed well this season under Roger McDowell despite some key injuries and unless they implode there'd be little reason to make a change. Still, it's hard to figure someone wouldn't take a shot on Mazzone if they moved in a different direction.

Baseball is America's pastime, but had our forefathers enjoyed the modern conveniences of clocks, ball pumps, or haste, this pastime may well have been basketball or football. Instead, they had wood, leather, and a rudderless disposition. Baseball is Boring is a series of live blogs for folks who need irony and self-awareness to get through a game.

Who is the greatest Jo-Jo of all time? We can safely narrow the nominees to three. There's teenage pop sensation JoJo, who is noted for releasing a song at age 13 about kicking her boyfriend out of her house. There's Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy, a gentleman who grew hair on his face and spent most of his unfortunate existence traveling with the circus and growling at people to maintain character. Finally, there's Jo-Jo Reyes, a highly touted left-hander in the Atlanta Braves organization. Tomorrow I will live blog as I listen to a JoJo album, and the day after that I will travel to Pennsylvania and live blog the weather conditions from a nondescript clearing where Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy's tortured skeleton may or may not be buried. But today! We are to determine the mettle of Jo-Jo Reyes as he makes his second start of the season against the San Diego Padres. Join me after the jump, where I will get to the bottom of this question.

I didn't think it was really worth writing up the Greg Norton trade when I saw it "break" this afternoon. After all, if you're a Braves fan and you heard the team made a trade, your immediate thoughts were "Ooooo, I wonder what mid-level starter we grabbed to eat innings" or "Dang! An extra middle infielder to back up Kelly Johnson and Yunel Escobar? I was hoping we could jerk Lillibridge back and forth a little more."

Your thought was probably not "YES! GREG _____ING NORTON! You've done it again, Wren, you sly dog! (/fist pump)" Reports actually have the swap for a PTBNL, but whatever, this team has bigger needs right now.

Smoltz is headed to the bullpen, and the starters are either dirt old, injured or young as mess, and that presents a problem. KJ hasn't been healthy all season and Yunel (who could play second as well) hasn't been a modicum of perfect health either.

So, the big question is, when is the signature Frank Wren trade coming? The guy is a protege of Schuerholz, so shouldn't he be wheeling/dealing/etc and landing the Braves some players that relate to serious roster needs? Answers: Good question, and yes, he should.

Obviously, this early in the year it's tough to pull of a starter; most teams haven't given up on their seasons yet and pitchers will be more expensive. But the Braves probably won't be the only NL East team shopping for pitching, so it doesn't hurt to get a head start.

The Atlanta Braves are known for stocking their lineup with homegrown prospects, from Chipper Jones to Brian McCann, from Jeff Francoeur to Yunel Escobar. But if I were a major league GM, Atlanta's farm system is the last place I'd look when brainstorming a potential trade. Why? Because they have an uncanny knack for only dealing prospects who don't pan out.

Remember the hype that once surrounded Dan Meyer? He was supposed to be the next great Braves ace; now he's a 26-year-old A's farmhand. What about Wilson Betemit? Once considered the best prospect in baseball, he's now a mere utility man, and not a very good one at that.

Perhaps the most damning example of the Braves selling a guy while his value was high is Andy Marte. In the winter after the 2005 season, he was considered one of the top prospects in the game and was the centerpiece of two blockbuster trades, first going to Boston in a package for Edgar Renteria and then to Cleveland in a package for Coco Crisp.

Since then? The guy's put in two uninspiring minor league seasons while hitting just .196 in 291 big league at-bats, including one hit in 13 at-bats this year. Once considered the team's third basemen of the future, he could be hours away from being the third baseman of the past: the Buffalo News reports that the Indians may designate Marte or Jason Michaels for assignment to make room for the arrival of Ben Francisco, a fringe prospect who likely projects as a fourth outfielder. But should Marte really be considered a real disappointment or just another Braves' triumph?

Greg Maddux's fourth attempt to reach 350 wins was against Andrew Miller and the Marlins on Sunday afternoon. That is what we in the biz call a freaking grapefruit. Miller has one good start all year really, and he got straight shellacked earlier this week. All the Pads had to do was touch him up a little, Maddux coasts in, picks up the win, and things go back to being not totally and completely awkward.

And then Sunday happened. Maddux got paddled for four earned runs and 11 hits in five and two-thirds. And then he waxed all philosphical and what not (which I guess is what you do when your hometown team has the worst record in baseball.)

Baseball, the 42-year-old Maddux said as he dressed after the game, isn't about where you have been or where you're going. It's about right where you are today.

'There's no big picture in baseball. Everything is right now,' Maddux said. 'You can't win tomorrow. We're not playing tomorrow. You play the hand you're dealt. The big picture is what you do now.'

That's the calm attitude I would expect out of Maddux but you gotta feel for the guy; four straight tries at 350 and he just can't nail it down? He's still pitching pretty well given his age though, and it's almost a certainty he will eventually get there this year, and probably even approach like 355 or something. Although, you have to think it might not be a guarantee it happens with the Pads.

Seriously. The Braves are desperate for starting pitching, San Diego is going nowhere fast, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz are already in the ATL, and Maddux, given his age, cares more about winning than anything else. And given the Braves' seeming problem in the rotation, Maddux could certainly give them a shot in the arm. And maybe pick up 350 while he's at it.

If you've ever followed Mark Teixeira's career path, you know that he stinks in April. The rest of the year, the guy is generally an absolute masher who may or may not have been compared to Lou Gherig following his ridiculous 43 homer, 144 RBI season of 2005. But in April, he's not great.

Whether or not those comparisons are actually valid or not, of course, remains to be seen. But remember, that was only two years ago. Teixeira has struggled somewhat so far in April, but as the AJC reports, he's starting to heat up (and yes, he's obviously always a buy low at this point in the season).

"Big Tex" has very quietly hit safely in 18 of his past 22 games. The streak raised his batting average from an invisible .156 to a very noticeable .267. And he's still climbing.

'I just try to go out there and get hits every day, be consistent,' said Teixeira, a career .286 hitter, but only a .251 hitter in the season's first month. 'Hopefully during a full year, the numbers will be there at the end of the season.'

Okay, so he actually hit .290 in April, which is actually better than his career average, but the power numbers haven't even really begun to climb. He's on pace for 21 home runs and 97 RBI. The latter isn't so much in his control, but the former is just not going to stay that low. He's only hitting 11.9% of his fly balls for home runs right now, which is nearly eight percentage points below his career average.

Fantasy Spin: Please note that his is your final chance to buy low. Do what it takes to get him. He's about to go off.