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The Braves are allegedly interested in him and in Mike Stanton. I don’t know that they’d pay what Stanton wants, but he’s made himself into one of the better lefty setup men in the game and would be a fine replacement for Mike Remlinger. Alfonzo’s lost his speed, but that’s not a big deal. He gets on base, which is something that the Braves desperately need, and could play either second or third. I’d prefer third, of course, but there’s a huge blob of wasted biomatter clogging that position.
I liked Stanton when he was here nearly a decade ago, but haven’t the Braves been the poster boys proving the notion that functional relievers grow on trees and can be picked virtually for free.
And why should the Braves consider paying Stanton Remlinger-like money? Stanton hasn’t been as good as Remlinger for several seasons now and looks to me to be about one season away from cratering. He allows a hit an inning and that K/BB ratio is declining.
2002 1.57 : 1
2001 2.69 : 1
2000 3.13 : 1
1999 3.28 : 1
He’s going to be 36 mid season and apparently was offended at a 2 year $4.6m deal. That money can be spent better elsewhere.
Woops. Hit “post” before I was ready.
I meant to also mention Alfonzo. I think that he would be an excellent addition to the team. Play him at 3rd and bat him second and watch Jones x2 and Sheffield’s RBI totals go up. Getting Fonzie out of Shea would boost already good offense to an even higher level.
My concern, though, is a big one. How many players suffer back injuries in their late 20s and go on to have careers of any real value after that? I keep thinking about Don Mattingly and fear the same kind of tailing off of performance. Alfonzo’s power has already slipped a few notches. A dip in OBA and he’s useless.