Hampton deal leaves room to re-sign Glavine or Maddux
The link from the AJC front page said they could “sign Glavine, Maddux”, and I was trying to figure out what they’d do with six starting pitchers. But it’s just one.
As noted in the comments, the finances of the Hampton deal are different from what was originally reported. The Braves will pay Mike nothing, or hardly anything, in the next three years, then will pick up the last three seasons of his contract starting in 2006. That gives them a lot of salary space to sign one of the two free agent pitchers, and maybe even a free agent hitter (Fred McGriff?) to go along with him.
It’s probably not a coincidence that the three years the Braves won’t be paying Hampton line up with the three-year deal that Glavine wants and has been offered by other teams. I’ve been saying the last few weeks that I didn’t think Glavine was in the Braves’ plans but that they were focusing on Maddux. Now it looks like they’re relatively close to Tom’s best offer — still a little behind, but reasonable, especially given the different tax and cost of living between Georgia and Pennsylvania and New York — but nobody seems to know what Scott Boras is up to as Greg’s agent. Maddux is a better fit for the Braves because he’s righthanded — and because he’s simply a better pitcher — but it might not be doable. The big difference between Glavine and the Braves right now seems to be if the third year will be an option year (based on the amount he pitches) or guaranteed.
No need to have 6 SP. I say sign ’em both (TG & GM), then flip Moss for a real C or 3B (and make them take the Castilla or Lopez contract). If we resign TG do we really need 3 soft tossing lefties with control issues? Of the 3, Moss has the most value in a trade being both young and cheap, and I have a feeling we could get something pretty good for him. And despite his regression in the 2nd half this year, I’d rather have Marquis than Moss for the next few years.
I’ve always liked Moss, but I agree. I didn’t think he’d be that good, and I can’t see him maintaining it. Of course, now watch him win 200 games.
for the time being I’d be inclined to move Marquis to the bullpen until he develops some consistency
You guys are nuts. Moss just pitched lights out this year, holding teams to 3 or less hits in 6 or 7 innings about half the time, and you want to trade him? Never ever ever trade good young starting pitching.
Why is everyone making a big deal about the possibility of having three lefties in the starting rotation? If a guy is a good starting pitcher, he’s good starting pitcher, period. No reasonable person will argue that Maddux is the better pitcher when compared to Glavine, but if Boras is being ridiculous we should just go ahead and take Glavine and let Steinbrenner or someone like that pay Greg his money. We obviously need some financial flexibility for one more bat. Is McGriff really the answer? He’s pretty old and likely to hit a wall really soon. His stats don’t really show it, but come on, he’s 39! Anyone remember the Terry Pendleton, Otis Nixon, and Vinny Castilla pick-ups? Acquiring former Braves is dangerous!
I’m just guessing, though there have been rumors about McGriff. He’s cheap and a better hitter still than most of the first basemen in the NL.
Actually, here’s the shoot-the-moon scenario where the Braves decide to go for broke. (All of this has been speculated about separately at one time or another.)
1. The Braves re-sign Maddux or Glavine.
2. They trade Marcus Giles and Jason Marquis to Montreal for Bartolo Colon.
3. They sign Jeff Kent to play second base and Fred to play first.
4. I kidnap Vinny Castilla and have him shanghaied on a six-month voyage to Tierra del Fuego.
No, the fourth hasn’t been rumored, I’m just announcing it here.
I’d get rid of Marquis if anyone will take him. He’s obviously got talent, but he’s about to wear out his welcome in a Pete Smith/Bruce Chen sort of way.
Moss, on the other hand, shows all the signs of being a pre-injury Kent Mercker. He might walk four or five, but he’s also a threat to throw a no-hitter every time he takes the mound.
I still have nightmares about McGriff’s defense as a statue at 1B in 1997. I shudder to think of him taking throws from Furcal this year.
Why not trade with the Rockies again, now that they have Durazo? He isn’t suited to the spacious outfield at Coors and is blocked at 1st by Helton… Durazo should be better than McGriff.
There IS a report circulating that the Rockies are talking to “Another NL team” about Durazo. Hmmm…
Glavine’s agent (he of the “I’ll talk to any reporter, anywhere!” approach to negotiation) is now indicating that TG will sign with whichever team offers him a four year contract. I think that may be the point at which the demands become unacceptable for Atlanta. I think they’d stretch to three, maybe even three with an innings-trigger option for the fourth, but I think there’s no way they offer 4 years.
Latest rumor is that Durazo will be traded to the A’s in a three way deal with Toronto. Not terribly big names involved – you’d think Atlanta would try and get involved.