Braves Journal Bullpen: Pay-Rod & the Yankees: A Match made in Hell
Seriously, does anyone like this trade? Even Yankee fans seem a bit queasy about Steinbrenner going too far.
14 Comments
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If the Yankees came to us (the braves) with Soriano in exhange for Chipper Jones (since they need a 3B), would any of you guys have approved considering this knowing that a) we could maybe have picked up another starting pitcher with the salary difference (Chipper vs Soriano) of around 7/8 mill, b) Chipper is becoming more of a 25 HR guy nowadays, c) Chipper ain’t that great at LF…hey if Soriano can maybe swing it as CF I’m sure he’d be good at LF too…what do you all think???
My gut tells me Chipper will get back to 2000-01 form this year. Not quite 1999 (however, that would be nice). I could be wrong, but I think he was uncomfortable hitting cleanup. However, if that hypothetical deal gave us enough money to get Millwood back (instead of Thomson)I would like JS to go for it. But obviously the Yanks would’ve never made that offer knowing that they could get A-Rod.
Soriano isn’t as good of a hitter as Chipper, and since the Braves have Giles at second he’d probably end up playing the same position as Chipper, and just about as well. So what’s the point, when you consider he’s going to start getting big raises soon? The only significant savings would be this year, and then Soriano goes up for arbitration.
Well Soriano should do quite well in arbitration, but he’s not going to make Chipper money that’s for sure. A smart team would buy him out of his arbitration years at $7-8 million a year. That would save you $7-10 million a year and you get a younger, more athletic player. If that savings were well spent on another player, it might be a good deal. More likely is that AOL would pocket the savings and it would not be a good deal.
Concerning the Yankees fans, I have a tough time believing they are too bothered by the ARod deal. If you are a Yankees fan, you have made a decision that you don’t mind cheering for mercinaries, you don’t mind your team buying championships. If you can somehow get yourself to cheer for the ultimate mercinary – Roger Clemens – then you are past the point of caring how George gets it done. They may have lost Clemens but the have collected maybe the three biggest mercinaries in the game today: Gary Sheffield, Kevin Brown, and now the crown jewel Alex Rodriguez. It’s not a team I could ever cheer for, but Yankee fans are different. It’s been said a million times because it’s true: Being a Yankee fan is like walking into a casino, sitting down at a blackjack table, and cheering for the house to beat the players.
Chipper is one of, if not the most, reliable hitter in all of baseball. At a time when our lineup has been raped and we are going to have to depends on a lot of young talent to come through, it would be stupid in the extreme to get rid of the one thing we can count on.
As a resident of New York, I think that it is safe to say that everyone is shocked and happy that the Yanks have A-Rod. What they don’t seem to happy about is the $190million payroll and big pappa George becoming the quintessential interventionalist.
I have the impression that for a number of recent years, Yanks fans have liked to think of themselves like this, “Sure we spend a lot of money, but we do it intelligently and that’s why we win.” This year, however, saying the second part of that sentence just sounds hollow. Any paper GM could have collected the players the Yanks have collected and known that he was assembling a good group of players. If anything, then, the lukewarm reception by some Yanks fans to this trade is an acknowledgement that this year it’s not about being clever or outsmarting your opponents, but it really is just about “buying a championship.” There’s just less dignity in that.
My prediction? Andruw busts out this year with 45 homers and we all remember that Baseball Prospectus once predicted that he’d be better than A-Rod.
Will someone tell me how you can “go too far”? Isn’t the object of baseball to win?
I’ll be open ridicule, but give the Yankees first, third and catcher. I’ll take the Braves collective outfield,2nd,short,pitching staff and bench. Let’s play a seven game series now and see who wins. If the Yankees buy Maddux or someone similar, all bets are off.
Maddux to the Cubs:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1737634
Is it wrong for me to want to see him win his 300th, and then flame out badly? Nothing personal — he’s my favorite player ever — but I fear that if he strings two or three really good years together in Chicago and one of them includes a WS win, that Cooperstown will want to put a C on his hat instead of an A.
I suppose thats not out of the realm of possiblity, but he won three of his four CY awards with the Braves, and his period of pure dominance was as a Brave. He’ll go to Cooperstown with an A on his hat.
I’m with you, Mark. The Braves have a solid crew, on paper. Yeah, they gotta get out and play the games and prove that Drew isn’t a washout and the staff can hold its own without glavine or maddux, but I like our chances.
I might contest you on the pitching staff note — Vasquez, Brown and Mussina are a good bet to best Hampton, Ortiz and Ramirez/Thompson. But you never know how things are gonna shake out. Bring on the season, baby!
ps. i just got plane tix down to ATL for the first-weekend cubs series. Here’s hoping I get to see Greg in his new outfit.
I have been optimistic all offseason…. then the Yankees get A-Rod. This obviously doesn’t change my prediction that Atlanta will win a 13th division, but the Yankees are better and I hate them with an even deeper passion than before. Their pitching staff (rotation and bullpen) puts ours to shame. Mussina, Brown, and Vazquez each are better than any one of our starters. Contreras and Lieber round it off nicely. Then Rivera, Gordon, Quantrill, Karsay and co. in the bullpen. That is frightening. And their offense will break all kinds of records.
Hey! You forgot the yankees added Gabe White to their bullpen! =)
I may be a victim of spring optimism, but I still take the Braves staff. Kevin Brown is as likely to make 10 starts as 35, and Karsay does not scare me. This spring’s biggest news will be who feels the twinge in his shoulder or elbow. I don’t think any contending team has enough pitching to absorb one major loss. Smoltz,Wood,Brown,Zito,Morris,any Cub or Astro. Every team is one major injury from oblivion. Or in the Yankees case, near oblivion.