Davidoff: Fredi had Braves' support with Marlins

The Braves’ managerial transition, from future Hall of Famer Bobby Cox to former Marlins skipper Fredi Gonzalez, seems to have gone quite smoothly. Gonzalez, who worked as Atlanta’s third-base coach from 2003 through 2006, credits the Braves’ veterans.

“It couldn’t have been this easy if it wasn’t for people like (Tim) Hudson. Chipper (Jones),” Gonzalez said Friday. “(Brian) McCann. Derek Lowe.”

What’s funny in this instance is that the Braves had Gonzalez’s back, it appears, even when Gonzalez managed the rival Marlins.

The Braves played the Marlins on May 27, 2010 at Sun Life Stadium. Less than two weeks had passed since Hanley Ramirez didn’t hustle after a ball, got pulled by Gonzalez and then publicly ripped the manager.

In the bottom of the first inning, with two outs and the bases empty, Hudson hit Ramirez with his first pitch of the at-bat. Word spread throughout the industry that Hudson was sending a message to Ramirez. Hudson was protecting his opposing manager, in other words.

“I saw that,” said Gonzalez, whom the Marlins fired last June 23. “To this day, I’ve never asked Huddy. I don’t even want to bring that up because I don’t want that kind of stuff to go out there. … It’s over with.”

“Just got away,” Hudson said, smiling. The veteran added: “I always support Fredi. Until we played him. When we played him, obviously we wanted to win. We wanted to beat him. But you know, you never want to see your friends get disrespected. I think a lot of people over here considered Fredi a friend before an opponent.”

Astros’ Poor Timing

Houston could have generated a good return for pitcher Brett Myers, had the Astros shopped the right-hander last summer. Instead, with Roy Oswalt on his way out of Houston, the ‘Stros signed Myers to a two-year extension with a vesting option for 2013.

That isn’t looking like a very smart decision on the Astros’ part. Myers, who turns 31 in August, has a 4.82 ERA this season. His fastball is down to an average of 88 miles per hour (from 89.3 mph a year ago). He has less value now, in other words, than he did a year ago.

On a related note, Houston recalled young pitcher Jordan Lyles, a first-round pick (38th overall) of the 2008 draft, from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Given that the Astros are going nowhere, why didn’t they wait another couple of weeks to preserve Lyles’ arbitration clock? Now Lyles could be eligible for big dollars in two years, rather than three.

Relief Received

When the Giants were at Citi Field last week, general manager Brian Sabean told Newsday, “Every team in the National League has a good bullpen.”

Mets fans might disagree at the moment, but a collection of data by Major League Baseball shows how much better the quality of relief pitching has been this season.

Entering Thursday’s play, 42 relievers had posted an ERA of 2.00 or lower (with a minimum of 1/3 innings pitched per team games or a rate of 50 innings pitched 162 team tames). Last season, 13 pitchers finished the season with a 2.00 ERA or lower, while just 10 pitchers did so in each of the three seasons prior, from 2007 through 2009.

Bobby’s Party

Bobby Valentine, now an ESPN commentator in addition to working as an official for Stamford, Conn., will host an event in Stamford June 18 called “Stamford on the Sound,” to raise money for Japanese disaster relief efforts.

Scheduled guests in addition to Valentine include Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, former Mets GM Omar Minaya and former New York players David Cone, Lee Mazzilli and Darryl Strawberry. Former Knick Herb Williams also will attend.

For more information, go to stamfordonthesound.com.