AP Wire | 11/30/2005 | Former Braves pitcher Rocker plans Panhandle development
I think Brian Jordan’s real estate development is probably better. If I were with the Falcons, I might be disturbed that Keith Brooking is going into business with John Rocker. Wouldn’t you be?
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5122276
One interesting thing that sticks out in the Rosenthal column. Of course Farnsworth and the deal w/ the Yankees, but in the middle of the article he states that
“The Braves, who are not bidding for Hoffman, could patch up their late-inning relief by signing a lesser free agent, making a trade or both. For example, the Braves could sign free agent Todd Jones and trade for the Devil Rays’ Danys Baez. Both were closers last season.”
I thought we were bidding for Hoffman! I dont want Todd Jones he is a Dan Kolb in the waiting. I didnt know if anyone else saw that information.
Note the use of “for example.” Ken is definitely making it up. It’s incredible the pace at which he pumps out rumor columns, though.
The Braves, who are not bidding for Hoffman, could patch up their late-inning relief by making a trade, kidnapping a player from another team, or both. For example, the Braves could trade for Mariano Rivera or kidnap Eric Gagne from the Dodgers. Both were closers last season.
Do we know how old Danys Baez is? According to official stats he’s 28, but ever since El Duque and a few others turned out to be fossils I’ve been a little wary of Cuban defectors.
What is Nuke LaLuche doing these days?
Wouldn’t you like to see Rosenthal get on TV and Peter Gammons come behind him with a Rambo knife?
White Sox kept Konerko, 5/60 deal. It’s on ESPN.
Discount? Rejecting a mil a year to stay with the Sox?
Interesting.
Maybe it had to do with the way the deals were structured. If he gets more of the money early instead of late, the 60 deal could the same in real money as the 65. Or at least closer. Also, a slight tax advantage puts about a mil in his pocket. It might end up coming out a wash.
Or he could have given an actual discount.
The Chicago deal calls for $12 a year, and he gets a limited six team no-trade. In real money, that’s slightly frontloaded. If the Orioles deal was substancially backloaded without a no-trade, the White Sox might have had the better deal on the table, anyway.
How about the overhaul on the Tennessee staff? This has been a long time comming, thank God!
I wonder how this deal will hurt/help Furcal. I know they don’t play the same position, but I think it may force the Cubs hands. They need to make a big splash now that the Sox have. I suspect Furcal signs with the BRaves or the Sox with in the next two days.
So, if the Braves don’t get Farnsworth and they don’t get Furcal, can Chipper get his money back?
As long as they have Fulmer there will always be problems with the coaching staff
According to the MLB website, Furcal’s agent said, “It has never been about the money?” If it’s not about money, why is it taking him so long to sign somewhere?
Agent makes disingenuous comment – film at 11!
what is the agents cut off of Furcal’s salary. Is it like 2 or 3%, its all about the money
The longer we go without a Farnsworth confirmation, the likelihood that this information is correct goes down. There’s no reason not to report this deal if it’s done. Rosenthal is quicker on the trigger than anyone. This is the type of story that the AJC or NY media would nail as soon as it happens.
Of course, this means the deal will be confirmed within the next 10 minutes, making me look like an ass.
But Bill Shanks has super secret insider knowledge regarding ex-braves you could never have, JC! How dare you question his reporting! You’re probably one of those evil Moneyballers out to get him for what he wrote about your stupid theories in his book.
Now that Konerko is staying put, the Angels will be looking for another bat. Will they go after Manny or will the Mets end up with him.
I think this means the Angles will go hard after Manny. If they’re interested in another bat, they can get it done. The Mets don’t have the prospects the Sox want, or at least not as many of them as the Angles, so I figure it’s up to whether or not LAA is willing to give them up.
Well, I guess it’s impossible to make him like me any less. I think I have a special spot in his Inferno, right in the middle, ice up to my chin.
I thought Bill Stoneman said he wasn’t interested in Manny, but I guess until Arturo Moreno says the same, it’s still alive. Manny’s Ritz Carlton penthouse is on the market now, so if any of you have $6.9 million to throw around, you might take a gander. FWIW, I think he’ll land either in LA (Dodgers or Angels) or with the Mets. The guy has a 3-foot tall Pedro statue in his living room. Pretty obvious who his friends are.
And, for the Irony Blurb of the Day, the Red Sox seem to be leaning towards hiring Jeremy Kapstein as their GM. This is the agent that made them lose Carlton Fisk. It’s also the equivalent of hiring the 1970s Scott Boras as your GM. Sounds like he’s a good negotiator, but if his half-assed comments on Papelbon and Pedroia are worth anything, he can’t evaluate talent to save his life. Plus he’s a Lucchino flunkey, so I can’t imagine the remaining Theo Gang will like him too much. Very, very odd. He does bear an extremely disturbing resemblance to Bobby Cox, though. Really uncanny! If you want to see what I mean, go to Boston Dirt Dogs and scroll down to where it says Jeremy Spoke. It’s creepy.
A three foot tall statue of Pedro is nothing. Wake me up when he hires a three foot tall actor to follow him around and act like Pedro all day. THEN we’ll know who his friends really are.
Mac, you said a while back that you were planning on writing a piece that Brian McCann was the single most important player in the organization. Can you give any more thoughts about that?
Well, Pedro dumped his 28″ tall actor friend Nelson de la Rosa last winter, so there is a 2 1/2 foot actor available for the job.
Why do you disrespect Pedro like that, Jenny? He deserves a three-foot tall actor, not some 28″ midget.
Terence Moore with Exhibit 1,412,398 on why you shouldn’t read the hometown paper:
http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/sportscolumns/entries/2005/11/30/pursuing_pierre.html
What a maroon.
“Since Pierre?s first full year in the majors with the Colorado Rockies in 2001, he hasn?t played less than 152 games in a season.”
FEWER
AJC needs an editor.
Even worse, it should be “in fewer” — unless, of course, Pierre is the puppetmaster. I guess it’s possible.
All of MLB the past few years has really been 250 lb Juan Pierre in his Nebraska apartment playing MVP on his Playstation.
Gee thanks Spike. I couldn’t resist. I haven’t read anything by Terrence Moron in a while. But I just had to see what amount of stupidness was in that article. Good God! Juan Pierre? Baarrrrrrrfffffffffff! What the hell is the allure that slap and run base stealing no power no on base percentage guys have? I just don’t get it.
Jenny, are you also a Red Sox fan in addition to your Orioles and Braves allegiances? You really do bring up random Red Sox stories pretty frequently on this site, and I’ve never been sure exactly why. Just curious.
My God, every time I think that T-Moore can’t get any stupider he goes out and gets lobes removed.
Lobes removed? If I were the AJC I would be doing a blood test on ole Terrence. He is obviously smoking crack. Of course the last laugh is on me. He actually gets paid for writing shit like that. Sorry for breaking the no cursing rule but I can’t think of a better descriptive noun.
I am shocked that Terrence Moore didn’t suggested another chance for Brian Jordan…
If I were the AJC…
Johnny, if you or anyone else on this board were the AJC, you’d be readable, interesting, and even occasionally factual. Meanwhile, if the AJC were a Braves blog poster, it would be Bill Shanks.
It’s time to let Jordan be Jordan. We’re not talking about the Jordan that Jordan thinks about when thinking about letting Jordan be Jordan, but the Jordan we still know Jordan can be when we are talking about Jordan being Jordan, we most definitely think.
We’re back to Jordan, and whether or not the Braves are able to let Jordan be Jordan. There is a question about whether Jordan can still be Jordan. It’s a question that Jordan has allowed himself to answer.
The answer to the question? “Yes,” says Jordan, “I can still be Jordan. No question.”
Questions?
Farnsworth definately not with Braves.
http://www.ajc.com/braves/content/sports/braves/1205/01farnsworth.html
Is it possible that JS will actually put a better team on the field than if he had signed Furcal and Farnsworth?
Back to JoeyT’s earlier comment, I think Chipper should get his money back if we don’t use it to lure anybody worthwhile. He didn’t give it up to save Time Warner money, but to help the Braves field a better team. I know it’s still early and Schuerholz has time to make some moves, but if we don’t improve, I’m going to be angry.
Stu, we will improve, just let the pieces fall in place
Stu,
Yes.
Good luck Yankees, we will see if Farnsworth can handle the New York style of pressure…
Stu, I am sure JS will work out something, but I will be angry too if the plan involves Todd Jones, Lugo, and / or Baez.
Breaking news, Brian Giles re-signs with San Diego for 3/30.
And that’s from the San Diego Union-Tribune.
dammit – was hoping he’d go someplace where marcus wouldnt want to.
Looking on the bright side, at least we won’t be starting Mondesi and Jordan in the OF. That’s got to be good for a couple of games. Seriously though, as much as this front office does a remarkably good job of not letting on it’s plans, thereby keeping costs down and competitors away, I am hearing nothing about addressing their real weaknesses (corner OF, 1B, quality middle relief) and a lot about window dressing parts for which there are potential in house solutions (Betemit, James). And if they trade Marte or Giles to get some dumbass SS like Lugo or a shiny “proven closer” like Baez, I’ll just puke.
well, I suppose B Giles was always just a pipe dream of mine. That’s going to look like a good deal this year and the next two.
Anybody here get the feeling that maybe Marcus is gone as soon as he gets the chance?
I’ve had this feeling that he may flee back to CA if given the opportunity ever since last offseason and the supposed conversation he had with Bruce Bochy. Hearing that he’s apparently not happy with management just compounded my fears. That would kind of suck, as he’s the first good 2B we’ve had in awhile.
Hrm. Unless there’s a super-secret scheme to sign AJ Burnett (which would probably be a bad idea), the Braves are either going to sign Furcal or make some trades to take on a bit of salary. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised at this point to see Zito come over. Given the Loaiza signing, the A’s have TONs of pitching depth, and Zito will be making pretty good money this year. If we could nab another Oakland ace (and, heck, let’s just sign Mark Mulder next off-season while we’re at it. :-p), the Braves would certainly have a better rotation than the Mets. Toss in a deal for another reliever and sign Todd Jones (*cringe*) and we’ve got a decent ballclub for next year.
Alternatively, I wouldn’t really have a problem with a Estrada/Betimit/[mid-level P prospect] for Lugo/Baez, assuming we can get someone else in there to compete for the job closing.
Another Braves front office loss to come this week
Jim Fergosi is going to be named Dodgers manager
mlbrummors4u.com
Furcal and Andruw were at the Hawks game last night. Hopefully some eleventh hour recruiting going down.
This Farnsworth situation has me down. He’s the one guy I was REALLY hoping the Braves would re-sign. It’s the team’s most glaring weakness, and he’s a potential stud. If everything in the Shanks article is true, JS missed the boat by not offering 3/15 for the guy.
I honestly don’t care that much if the Braves resign Furcal. Betemit probably isn’t that gigantic of a step down.
The real holes are first base and the pen. Boyer might could close, Reitsma’s probably good for setup, and McBride seems great for lefties, but I just don’t know who’s ready for middle relief. It would have been spectacular to have Farns closing and everybody else moving back a notch to more appropriate roles. I would love to see Boyer in setup and Reitsma in a role where he’s able to preserve his arm.
I don’t even know what the Braves will do about first base. Unfortunately, they probably will just slot LaRoche in there and keep Marte either on the bench or in the minors until Chipper’s injuries force him across the diamond. Which might not be for a couple of years.
And it pisses me off to no end to see the Mets acquire a stud first baseman and a stud closer. The two pieces the Braves need most, the Mets were able to snag. The Braves won’t win the division next year, and it will be all the fault of not adjusting the player budget to annual salary increases. Player salaries increase like 10% a year. Imagine if the player budget had just jumped from $80 to $88. That would have made a world of difference.
Cheer up Joey. We have thought the Braves had finally lost the dividion title for the last 2 winter/springs.
“Stu, I am sure JS will work out something, but I will be angry too if the plan involves Todd Jones, Lugo, and / or Baez.”
Lugo and Baez I agree with, but Jones would make a good set-up man.
I dont want to have to watch Reitsma coming out of the Pen for another year. He’ll give us some hope by pitching good for two weeks, at that time Bobby will put all of his confidence in him. Then he’ll fall apart just like every other year.
If we are going to keep Reitsma then we might as well keep Kolb and give him another shot at closing. I’m not very happy with what’s going on right now. We are just sitting back and waiting for Furcal to turn us down and our backup plan is Julio Lugo and possibly Todd Jones(give me a Break!!)
JS you need to work your magic this year!
We’ll regret not getting Kolb for next year. I feel it will be his breakout year. All-star, remember that?
Dan Kolb is garbage.