Nope. Still nothing.
125 Comments
Advertisement
Use code “Journal” for a 5% discount.
Nope. Still nothing.
Use code “Journal” for a 5% discount.
Go Jackets!
Go Dawgs!
It’s unbelievable to me that UGA is the 1.5 point favorite in the game this weekend. Goes to show that you can never discount the Reggie Ball factor.
Pending the trade of Giles, who should start at second base next year? Will it by Aybar, Prado, Escobar, or Johnson? I would vote for Aybar, but I feel Prado and Escobar play better defense, while Johnson could be a better offensive threat. Learning and mastering a foreign position could detract from his offensive numbers, however. But, he does have shortstop experience in the minors. I would like to see what Aybar could do as a full-time starter.
@2
Well, that makes perfect sense to me. GT hasn’t won in the series since 2000.
Well streaks dont last forever, you know.
Mac, looks like the athletic board at Bama or an athletic advisory committee voted unanimously to fire Shula. Bama’s top target becomes Bobby Petrino.
My oh my how the tables turn.
Tech.
From MLB.com:
“While playing at Double-A Mississippi this past year, Escobar didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye with manager Jeff Blauser. But when thrown into Cox’s clubhouse, I don’t believe he’ll be a distracting influence.”
I wonder if the lack of development of Salty and Escobar under Blauser’s supervision is the reason why Blauser was removed from the post.
“Glory, glory to ol’ Georgia
And to hell with Georgia Tech…”
The rumors for Bama that I’ve heard so far are:
Bailey (GT), Cutclifee (TN), Spurrier (SC), and Petrino (L)
of course Shula has to be fired 1st
I can’t stop thinking about Andruw….
You know the story about the farmer who decided to save a little money by feeding his cow a little less? He did it, and nothing much bad happened. So after a while he fed him a little less. And a little less. And a little less. One day he walks in and the cow is dead. “That’s funny,” says the farmer. “He was doing fine the day before.”
Look, I really do understand from an economics standpoint that you want to get the correct present value out of the assets that you have (and that Andruw’s impending free agency, his connection with Boras, and the current market are all impinging on this, even as we speak); and I know that all we are doing is “talking”; and I know that it can be a lot of fun to beat someone else while making do with less; and I know that nothing lasts forever; and I know that baseball is only a game.
But I also remember some line in a Bill James Abstract to the effect that so-and-so is one of the reasons that you have a baseball team; and this applies to Andruw (and to Chipper, and to Smoltz). The Braves have been a different team. Maybe we didn’t win a lot of world championships, but we won a lot of games and beat a lot of teams a lot of times. (By the way, how many fans of the twice-in-the-last-decade-World-Series-champions-both-times-since-the-Braves -last-won-it-all-which-is-all-that-really-really-counts Florida Marlins fans do you know [and they have had some fun ballplayers to watch]?) And a lot of people don’t like the Braves, but that’s because everyone knows who the Braves are. Who cares whether they beat the Tigers or the White Sox? Everyone cares when they beat the Braves.
I know the payroll is tight, and unless one of you turns out to be Ted Turner or George Soros in disguise, there isn’t a lot that any of us can do about it. But when we become a franchise that cannot sustain a franchise player (you know, sometimes you have to spend a little money to make a little money), then we are in bigger trouble than I would like to think. I would like to think that McCann would like to be like Chipper or Andruw so that he (and maybe his roommate) could be the Braves some day, not so that he could be a well-paid Angel or Oriole. Why not a few well-paid Braves…?
Diehl,
I’m pretty confident that Smoltz, Chipper, Andruw, Maddox, and Glavine have been some well paid Braves over the years.
Diehl,
I’m pretty confident that Smoltz, Chipper, Andruw, Maddox, and Glavine have been some well paid Braves over the years.
If they aren’t going to give Aybar a shot, what was the point of trading Betemit? It couldn’t have been for Danys Baez. I think you have to at least give Aybar a shot–otherwise, you lost a solid back up for Chipper for nothing.
The Braves are, unfortunately, not a special team anymore. They are just another mid-market team run by an owner that isn’t really interested. The thing is, you need stars to win, but you need more than one or two great players. Paying the moon to Andruw might be fine in the short run, but it won’t help in the long-run. I much prefer seeing a solid team than watching a few star players finish fourth. Plus, while I think Andruw is a very good player, I don’t see him being a near A-Rod type. He really can’t carry a team consistently, he is far from a great hitter, his speed is gone, and while he is still a very, very good outfielder, he isn’t as good as he was. Mac always complains about people expecting Andruw to be Willie Mays, but now he expects to be paid like Willie Mays (or the way Willie Mays should have been paid) and I just don’t see it. The talk about him being a “historic” player is largely a function of him coming up when he was 19 and playing in an offensive era when home runs are relatively easy. You simply cannot compare Andruw to any of the great hitters–May, Mantle, arguably, he is not as good as Dale Murphy, and certainly not as good as Chipper Jones. He simply has the ability to hit home runs. I like Andruw, but not at the price he is going to ask.
As for Glavine, I like him a lot, but does a team with an infield defense that has the range of a rock really need an aging soft tosser who got hammered much of the second half? I would love to see Glavine win no. 300 in a Braves uniform but it doesn’t seem like a good fit to me. The Braves need young power pitching, not aging junk ballers.
From Ben Maller….John Schuerholz did indicate the Braves would not be involved in the posting process for Japanese left-hander Kei Igewa, whose Hanshin Tigers team will review blind bids posted by major league teams this week. Schuerholz also wouldn’t address any of the rumors circulating about several Braves including Marcus Giles, Tim Hudson and Andruw Jones.
12, 13
I agree that Andruw and many others have been well paid. Everyone in major league baseball is well paid (although not at other levels, and as JC or some other economist here could tell you, there is a connection).
For better or worse (and I have been on both sides of the issue), wages are set by market forces. There is no “just wage.”
I am simply weighing in by saying (pace 14) that some of the value that attaches to baseball from this consumer’s standpoint attaches to the longer run…. As Mac’s brilliant “44 greatest” reminds us, we look forward, but we also look back….
I love Andruw and wish we could keep him, but not if keeping him means we’ll be unable to sign McCann and Francoeur to extensions (presuming with the optimism only prevalent during the offseason that Francoeur eventually puts up OBPs above .300). I wish salary constraints weren’t an issue, but they are. Andruw is going to get between 15 and 20 million a year for at least 6 years, IMHO; will he really be worth it when that contract is up? Or will that contract mean the Braves become mendicants and continue to shun the free agent markets (as they have since, well, Andres Galarraga, to be honest).
That said, as I think about it, I believe we only have one player under contract past the 2008 season: Tim Hudson (Chipper has a team option that will vest if he gets enough PA in 2008). There’s definitely room on the payroll for a long-term contract. Maybe we should re-sign Andruw.
By the way, Raoul (remember him, fellas?), if you’re reading this blog any more, good to see you’re posting on primer too. The more primates, the better.
If Soriano got 8 years at $17 per year. Andruw will also be able to get 7 to 8 years for $20-25 per year. Sorry, he’s not worth that. I dont see us offering more than 4 to 5 years at $13 to 14 and there is no way he’ll take that paycut. I dont see us retaining him at the available market prices. I dont also want to see us cutting some of our higher paid players just so we can keep him. Tying up that much money, say 25% of our payroll, is just stupid. I would rather say thanks for what you’ve done for us, than to give him a long term -expensive contract and him not being able to perform in 2 or 3 years from now.
I don’t have any problem with players making a lot of money and I agree that salaries should be set by the market. If AJ can get $20 mm or whatever, more power to him. But I’m more interested in seeing the team win than in keeping specific players. And, given the realities of ownership, they can’t do it by paying Andruw $20 mm or even $15 mm per year. I might feel differently if this was an Aaron or even a Murphy. I guess I don’t value Andruw as much as others–I have always been frustrated watching his inconsistent offense. (I know–he is consistent between seasons but inconsistent within.) I also don’t like the fact that he came up as a five-tool player but his speed has diminished to the point where he gets almost no infield hits and steals few bases. He is more like a two-tool player now.
Braves added 3 to the 40 man roster yesterday. We claimed some OF off of waviers from the Mariners.
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20061120&content_id=1744176&vkey=pr_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl
I sincerely doubt Andruw will get $20 million a year for 10 years, even though that’s what the Soriano deal would seem to suggest. I think the Cubs are grasping at straws, and I’m not entirely sure that they’re enough to drive the entire market.
I know the Juan Pierre signing punches a hole through my argument, but that’s such a ludicrously stupid signing–honestly, Mac, I’d love to see you do a piece on why it’s so ludicrously stupid, but it strikes me as being basically on the order of trading Andruw Jones for Brian Anderson–that again I have serious difficulty believing that signing Juan Pierre for an unholy sum of money will actually function as a market correction.
Adding Gregor Blanco could mean something, I’m not sure if I’m reading into it but Blanco had a .407 OBP as a “leadoff” hitter last season. He has “Rafael Belliard” type power with good speed (31 SB’s). I wonder if they are looking for a leadoff hitter/left-fielder from within the organization.
Mac, any updates on Blanco and what the organization or scouts think of him. I remember him a few years ago as showing some promise, but then nothing….any word?
#22 AAR, I agree, but I think someone will overpay and he’ll get the $20 mill just depends on the years, probably 5 to 7 if I had to guess. I dont really think we should do more than 5yrs / 60 to 65 and Boras will tell us that wont ever start the negotiations. That’s why we should offer an extension now and let Andruw know that we wont be in the bidding if he becomes a FA.
Juan Pierre will be one of the worst FA signings of this offseason. Why not keep Lofton if thats the player they are looking for. He basically put up better numbers in every category and will be a whole lot cheaper.
that wont ever = that wont even
blanco is like juan pierre with better plate discipline, a longer swing, and even less power. it’s hard to imagine him ever being a big league regular, but he still is only 22. i imagine he was added to the roster to avoid the rule 5 draft.
Andruw is worth more to the Braves today than Chipper simply because he plays almost every day. When Chipper plays, he’s a stud hitter. Unfortunately, his playing time is not likely to increase next year. Things and people break down.
Is Andruw a better hitter than Chipper? No. Does he provide more benefit to the team? Of course. His defense nay have slipped, but it’s still solid; and his hot streaks are things of beauty. Someone will provide him with what he’s worth compared to his peers, so enjoy him while you can. We won’t see his equal in a Braves uniform for a long time to come.
#27 – very true, Chipper, Smoltz, and Andruw will be hard to replace. Andruw is probably the best CF of our time, if not all time. With that said he’s not worth 25% of our teams salary. We cant compete paying someone that big of a %
I haven’t heard anything about Blanco, but then I have no contacts in the organization so I wouldn’t. The concern with these high OBP, no-power guys is that major league pitchers will simply overpower them. I think that Blanco can probably put up a .280/.350/.350 line in the big leagues; if he can play center he can have a career. And maybe get a long-term contract from the Cubs for $9 million a year someday.
Pierre… What can I say? I wouldn’t have him on my team, and paying that much for that long for a guy with no power and OBPs of .326 and .330 the last two years… Again, it’s the Cubs. Blanco is probably a no worse of a hitter than Pierre, and Pierre wasn’t any great shakes with the glove in Chicago either.
Good thing about Blanco, he’s cheap. Pierre, well not so much.
Actually, JS seems to have the right idea at the moment: Wait and see what the new market is going to be. Due to the ownership situation, the Braves are one of the few teams not able to ad payroll this winter. Not fun, but it’s what we have to deal with.
@28
I guess the Mike Hampton thing REALLY killed us then.
#31 – in a way, it depends on how you look at it. We had a very light portion of that salary the last few years. If JS really prorated his salary for these next few years, then the answer is no. If he didn’t do that, then yes Hampton’s salary will kill us.
@32
*shrugs* Well, them’s the brakes. Bottom line is: if we’re going to improve the Braves, we’ll have to do something REALLY drastic, probably take ourselves out of contention the next year or two.
or Liberty Media has to realize what inflation is doing to todays baseball world. They need to come in and give us around $95-100 to be able to compete with these other teams. Lets face it $100 million next year will be equivalent to around what $85 million was this past year. That’s a huge difference.
To look at it in a different way, Helms and DeRosa are what you can buy for around $5 million per year now. That’s disgusting, yes they can contribute a little, but $5 mill? A $7 million dollar player last year will get $10-12 million from the market this year.
On prorating salary. Sorry to say, as someone who analyzes financial statements of publicly listed companies, there is no way that alleged “prorating” Hampton works, when the CFO of Time Warner or Liberty is announcing its quarterly earnings. That sort of stuff isn’t allowed. And these guys are going to manage costs to maximize earnings, so when it comes down to it, its reported earnings not prorated earnings they’re going to maximize, I’ll bet. So it’s like to JS, sure you can prorate Hampton, but we’re going to cut your budget by whatever the difference between financial and prorated costs are anyway. I’d like that if I was following their stocks, but as a Braves fan, I feel like we’re pretty f-cked, from a structural perspective. The only chance I think there is with such a limited budget is to go with youth and farm system stocking, and getting the most good years possible from players before they become free agents.
This could be just a market trend….like back when Hampton, Neagle, and others signed massive deals for big dollars and long years. Jeter for 10 years…..Helton for 11….etc. Not getting tied up into those sorta contracts today could pay big rewards a few years from now if the market isn’t as strong.
Colleti of the Dodgers has to be smoking crack. Juan Pierre????? for 9 million per????
Well Schuerholz may be waiting for things to settle but I am thinking that the price point has been established. Its pretty smart for him to avoid the bidding wars for a pretty thin list of free agents. The risk is that there won’t be a market for our tradeable assets once the dust settles. The reward is that all of a sudden Hudson , Giles and whomever else is on the block looks even sweeter as opposed to the outrages prices being paid for mediocre talent now.
Does anyone want to give odds on Glavine even being offered a contract by the Braves?
Johnny, I think there is a 100% chance that we will offer something. I’m thinking the longer this goes on the better. i say we have a better shot than the mets right now
Someone in the Rob Neyer chat on ESPN said they heard Jeter and Morneau were co-MVPs.
Now, I know that sounds like hearsay, but it might be true.
thought this was interesting…Red Sox thoughts on Matsuzaka, looks like they may have the upperhand over Boras!
It’s not a block,” insists a general manager who closely monitored the process. “I don’t know if they’ll sign him, but I believe they’ll make every effort to sign him.”
Early estimates had Matsuzaka’s agent, Scott Boras, seeking a five-year, $50 million commitment for his client. That would push Boston’s total investment past $100 million, which would be a stunning development for a team that refused to guarantee Pedro Martinez more than $40 million after winning a World Series.
But the GM says, “It’s not your typical negotiation. He can’t go back or he’ll lose face. You’re talking about a guy who’s only made $10 million in career earnings, whose highest salary in any one season was $2.5 million.”
The GM suggests a five-year offer for between $5 million and
$6 million per season could be enough to get a deal done.
“You’re telling me he’s going to turn that down?” the GM says. “What’s he going to do? Threaten to go back to Japan for two years?”
Though it’s true Matsuzaka would need to be posted again after the 2007 season if the Red Sox don’t sign him by December 15, he can become an outright MLB free agent in May 2008 under Japanese League rules.
Considering that, Boras could negotiate a one-month contract with Seibu for April 2008, then, emulating the Roger Clemens model, bring Matsuzaka to North America as a full-fledged free agent after the start of the MLB season.
Does anyone think Boras will request that his client go back to Japan for two more years. If he goes back and gets posted again, what’s going to keep these teams from saying we’ll give $100 million for negotiating rights next time. Boras is standing on one leg here!
And maybe get a long-term contract from the Cubs for $9 million a year someday.
Pierre… What can I say? I wouldn’t have him on my team, and paying that much for that long for a guy with no power and OBPs of .326 and .330 the last two years… Again, it’s the Cubs.
The Dodgers were the morons who gave Pierre that contract. The Cubs will take longer to regret the one they gave Soriano, but I imagine they will eventually.
You’re right, of course. Soriano is replacing Pierre. At least he has power, though his OBPs aren’t any better.
One problem the Braves have is they simply don’t draw well enough to justify a big payroll. I understand the issues with stadium location, etc., but drawing less than 3 mm with a team that, until last year, consistently won, won’t cut it. I’m not claiming poverty for TW (and I do recognize that the cash flow losses don’t tell the whole story), but it’s pretty obvious that if attendance had remained higher, they would not have cut payroll so drastically.
I think JS is doing the right thing–really the only thing he can do. These huge contracts are almost certainly going to come back to haunt these teams and the Braves will probably be in better shape once they get rid of some of these big contracts of their own. However, I am not convinced that they can remain a contender every year without going through some retrenchment and suffering some down years.
Well, it’s official: Justin Morneau, your new AL MVP, eh?
“However, I am not convinced that they can remain a contender every year without going through some retrenchment and suffering some down years.”
Oh everyone says that. It’s just senseless pessimism.
I don’t think people can complain about Smoltz or Chipper’s contracts. Smoltz plays great for a reduced price, Chipper has given so much to the team, plays good when not hurt and took a six million dollar a year pay cut if I recall correctly (from 17M to 11M.) Andruw will be gone sonn enough, so we’ll see what free money can do, but I’ll miss him.
“Well, it’s official: Justin Morneau, your new AL MVP, eh?”
For some reason, I’m happy it’s not Jeter.
ground balls by pitch locations…
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/pitch-location-and-groundballs/
Braves’ ticket prices going up:
It’ll cost you more to sit in most seats at Turner Field next year.
Despite failing to make the playoffs for the first time since 1990, the Braves are raising prices in most seating categories.
The increases will range from $1 to $7 on single-game tickets and $1 to $3 per game on season-ticket packages.
Premium price ? Friday and Saturday games ? for Dugout level seats are going up $7, to $60.
Gate prices those bought at Turner Field on most Sundays through Thursdays for the Dugout level will rise $6 to $54. Lexus, Field and Terrace level seats will have a $2 increase to $36, $34 and $34, respectively.
The gate prices that won’t change next are Terrace reserved; Terrace and Field pavilion; and Upper box and Upper reserved.
yeah, thats a good way to get more people there
Its because, while Jeter is an outstanding ball player, he is the most overhyped player too. He may be one of the few NY players that seemingly can do no wrong. Of course i’m not exposed to the NY daily press so I probably don’t know what I’m talking about. Ububba? other NY residents?
I can almost justify the Soriano contract. Almost but Juan Pierre? 45 million? I’m just glad that his price and Dave Robert’s price was too high or else we might have done something stupid and signed one of them.
Unless some of that ticket money is going to additional budget concerns (raising the budget from 85 to 100 million), such a move is likely to backfire. Atlanta hasn’t been terribly high on the Braves even when they were the best in the league. I’m guessing that a mediocre product combined with higher prices will lead to decreased volume (which will ironically justify management raising prices further and cutting the budget further).
For now, I’m going to choose to be naive and think that maybe this means that they understand that the salaries doled out these last few days mean that they cannot improve the team (or even keep it at the same level) without adding some money to the pot.
And if Jeter played in Kansas CIty, he’d be waiting to sign as a FA with the Yankees. And everyone would have a new reason to hate him.
Playing in New York offers the biggest stage, so when you fail, the spotlight’s a little hotter. But when you succeed, it’s just bright. And all Jeter has done here is succeed.
Personally, I think the AL MVP voters got it right. I’d put Jeter a very close second this year, due to the fact that he carried the team when Matsui & Sheffield went down & A-Rod began his psychodrama. He was simply great this year, his best since 2000. But if he weren’t on the team, how would they do? No way of knowing. (It was a tale of 2 seasons for the Yanks in ’06—pre-Abreu & post-Abreu.) We can only go on what Jeter did do, which was plenty.
Since he came up in 1996, I’ve probably seen over 150 games in person that Jeter has played. To me, the only thing that’s overrated about him is a big element to his defense—his range is lacking. He simply does not get to enough balls. But if he can get it, he will and he has an uncanny ability with any kind of popup, like a wide receiver.
Can’t complain about the way he conducts himself. Can’t complain about his post-season results (almost exactly the same as his regular-season numbers, but against big competition in the most pressurized spots). He gets all the girls. He’s rich. He lives in Manhattan. (From what I hear,) he’s extremely generous. He plays for the Yankees. Of course people hate him.
Yeah, that’s probably not true.
A ticket price increase announced today likely wasn’t decided upon in the past few days, when this market was defined. I’d guess that the two are completely unrelated.
Was just having this conversation the other day. SI’s worst uniforms in sports. Be sure to make it all the way to #16…
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0611/gallery.uglyuniforms/content.1.html?cnn=yes
My AL MVP ballot would probably be something like this:
Jeter
Mauer
Ortiz
Dye
Hafner
Santana
Sizemore
Morneau
Guillen
Big Hurt
I wouldn’t have picked morneau, but i am not that worked up that he won. *shrug*
I cant believe they rank the Pizza Hut uni’s as one of the worst…was no one paying attention to the 80’s Carolina Blue Puke that we used to wear?
I guess I’m not breathing fire over the Morneau thing, but I am a little concerned, because he’s only the third-best player on his own team, and he was fourth-best when Liriano was healthy. That ain’t an MVP, ladies and germs. That’s a Ron Gant.
NEW YORK — The New York Mets have informed veteran pitcher Tom Glavine that they will not exercise his $14-million option.
That means the lefty will likely return to the Atlanta Braves. If he goes to Atlanta, the Mets are likely to try to sign Barry Zito.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2006/11/21/2432200-sun.html
Interesting in the sense that is the first time I have read any article, especially from the Associated Press, saying the Braves are more likely to get Tom Glavine than the Mets.
I surprised to see people all upset about the MVP voting. Sure both votes were “wrong”, but don’t we all expect the sportswriters to crap the bed?
I just don’t care at all about the American League; hence, I don’t care who wins awards or championships over there.
Also, I hardly think our Sunday unis are among the 16 worst in professional sports.
The Glavine thing is silly. The Mets never had any intention of exercising that option; with the $3 million buyout that came to an $11 million payday for Glavine in 2007, which even now is too much. The Mets will still offer him more money or more years or both.
@58
I must have a bad sense of taste because I like more than half of those uniforms, including the Braves ones. The Phoenix Coyotes one has no business being on that list, for instance.
I heard a bunch of AL MVP voters on WFAN today & a lot of them pointed out Morneau’s big numbers down the stretch when the Twins made their playoff/division run. Morneau’s overall numbers might be slightly better than Jeter’s, but not by a lot—we’re talking a 934 OPS to a 900 OPS.
Morneau’s a 1B with a bunch of HRs & RBIs; Jeter got on base with more frequency (.417 to .375), scored 21 more runs, played a “Gold Glove” SS, stole 34/39 bases. Both guys were on first-place teams.
If either guy wins the award, it doesn’t break my heart.
On the radio, I heard that one voter had Jeter 6th & I had to laugh at his reasoning: “I talked to a lot of AL pitchers & catchers and they all said they were more afraid of A-Rod & Cano.”
So Jeter’s actual performance doesn’t count? I’m sorry, but A-Rod sucked in the clutch and Cano missed 2 months. How that enters into someone’s vote leaves me scratching my head. I mean, don’t vote Jeter first, fine; but 6th? C’mon.
“The Mets will still offer him more money or more years or both.”
I know. But I’m starting to think he really is undecided, as opposed to just using the Braves to get more perks from the Mets.
I know they sell pretty well, but mark me down for detesting the Braves’ Sunday unis—clown outfits, I think.
BREAKING NEWS: Tom Glavine has JUST signed with Atlanta…I don’t have contract details or a link because neither exist….they don’t exist because it isn’t going to happen.
If it’s close, Glavine could choose Atlanta for family reasons. Atlanta is a whole lot cheaper than New York, too, and he wouldn’t have to maintain two homes. But I think it’s 80-20 in favor of New York, and I might be optimistic.
I think it’s 65-35 Mets.
If you believe the papers/talk up here, the family thing is an enormous pull for Glavine. Still have no idea, but I remain as optimistic as I am sentimental.
Adding Tom only pushes James out of the rotation, something this team can’t afford if it really is going to move foward. Atlanta got to where its at (pitching wise) by letting its young pitchers pitch, not by blocking them with older, more expensive players. Glav, Smotlz, Avery, Mercker, Millwood, (Schmidt to some extent) were allowed to go out and just pitch. We need to let James do that as well, if Davies startes in AAA, fine, use him in case someone in the rotation breaks down, but don’t trade him. In today’s market, we need to hold onto these sorta kids.
#70 – I think its reversed.
Mets are paying him $3 mil no matter what, if we can come up with 6 or 7 to add. He’ll be a brave. Hense, get rid of Giles, we get Glavine.
#72 – I dont think it does anything to James. It just moves him to #5 starter. It also allows us to dump Horam for something more useful.
The rotation would be..
Smoltz, Glavine, Hudson, Hampton, and James…..Davies in AAA as a back up. Trade Giles and Horam for other purposes. Leadoff and Relief help or prospect starters
Nice CSG… Did the talk of Hudson to the O’s fizzle or something?
I think everything has fizzled until after Thanksgiving
I think the majority of this group, and anybody in general who’s following this “story,” would be very surprised if Glavine returned to Atlanta. He’s got two reasons to stay: more money and a better chance to win in ’07. One might count as a third reason the fact that there’s been nothing out there to indicate that the Braves even WANT to sign Tom Glavine.
Schuerholz might be playing his cards close to the vest, just as he does each winter…….but these money constraints are the real deal, and I don’t see what limited cash he has being allocated toward Glavine.
From his perspective, it’s probably convenient for him to say all the right things and come off very vague and cryptic to the media; possibly because he doesn’t want to say what most here think—that free agency has long passed this $80M team by.
oh ok…I still wanna do it for Loewen.
Everytime I see him pitch, I can’t help but think “this is the game that he plays like the old Huddy”, but then he gives up 4 runs and I stop thinking after that. At this point we have to trade him, for salary reasons. Clear up some space to sign someone like a LF or a true leadoff hitter.
Smoltz, Glavine, Hampton, James and Davies/Loewen/HoRam looks good to me. Although that would be 3 lefties in a row, so that might not work, but you guys get the point.
#68, it’s okay to hope for Glavine to come back. For a lot of us who grew up during the late 80’s/early 90’s, he was the face of the Braves. We just want him to come back, and any inclination and hope for that is a good thing. If we don’t get him? Well then oh well. But for now, with the possibility out there, why can’t we hope?
“Adding Tom only pushes James out of the rotation, something this team can’t afford if it really is going to move foward.”
How do you figure?
Smoltz
Hudson
Hampton
Glavine
James
Dump Ramirez and do whatever with Davies, and it works.
Schuerholz has $17 million according to Mark Bowman. Bowman says the Braves are reluctent to give Glavine ten million, but would probably consider less. If Glavine is really stuck, he will take a discount and be happy to get ten million (seven from Braves and three from Mets’ buyout.)
Schuerholz is free to talk now, I wonder if he has even called Glavine’s agent.
“We just want him to come back, and any inclination and hope for that is a good thing. If we don’t get him? Well then oh well. But for now, with the possibility out there, why can’t we hope?”
Exactly. Plus it’s never a good idea to mock people before something happens. If the off-chance happens, and Glavine is a Brave in 2007, how does that make one look?
It was a message written sarcastically, folks. If Glavine is here in ’07, it’s because the people making the decisions think he can help the team win, and I’d be all for that.
But there’s also a realistic perspective to be considered, which I elaborated on in another post. Hopefully “one” read that as well.
BREAKING NEWS:
Citing the Huntsville Times & (Fox?) 6 out of Birmingham, Mike Shula will stay as Bama head coach!
WAR EAGLE!!
not true, coming from another source. The pres. and a.d. have yet to meet about Shula’s future and will likely not do so until after Thanksgiving. Either way, this is a bad PR move. Silence isnt good either way
Put me on the record as saying that trading Giles will be a catastophically stupid move for the Atlanta franchise. Braves fans (not the OMFG JEFF FRANKOR IS TEH BEST THING SNICE SLICED BREAD!!!!!11 ones) will lament the loss of Marcus Giles for a very, very long time. Why are we so eager to give up a cheap perennial All Star calibre player?
I don’t think anyone’s eager. But he’s only going to be in Atlanta one more season, he didn’t play well in 2006, and the team has several guys who can replace him at one-tenth the cost, or less.
Mac, your thoughts on Shula. Stay or Go?
If you can get a Spurrier or a Saban or a Rodriguez, sure, get rid of him, but I think those are pipe dreams. Otherwise, you’re better off sticking with Shula and finding out if he can win with some of the worse assistants jettisoned and someone else calling the plays.
Spurrier and Saban, I would say is no chance. Petrino, Gailey, Cutcliffe are better options and may be worth trying to get. I just dont see any good coordinators wanting to come in for what may be only a one year gig.
@85
That’s a pretty lame-ass attempt for flames.
I am certain Cutcliffe would take the head coaching job and wants the job, but there are concerns about his health. Otherwise, he might be a shoo-in. I still don’t understand why he was forced out at Ole Miss.
Ivan Maisel’s argument, and I think it’s a good one, is that with the defense Alabama has that if the offense is decent they’ll win games. So if the coordinator can turn things around, in tandem with an offensive line coach whose head is connected to his body, the coordinator won’t have a problem holding onto his job.
I wouldnt say that Saban is a pipe dream, I’m a big Dolphin’s fan, and there is some buzz that he may opt out after this season and go back to the college ranks….It would bum me out, I really like what he is trying to do here, and I think they would have a much better record had they started Harrington from the begining.
Mac, with that being said do you think that if they lose to Auburn next year, there will be even more changes. It would be hard to take the job knowing that is one game you have to win!
Francoeur had the best selling Jersey of any Braves’ player in 2006, more than Smoltz, more than Chipper, more than Andruw, more than McCann and well, just more than anyone. I remember hearing that on the radio in the final week of the season. That’s just one of many reasons why Francoeur is not going anywhere anytime soon.
The Nats signed Pat Corrales as their bench coach.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2671180
I knew Shula when I was in college and liked him – he usually went out of his way to speak to me and was a very humble guy, despite being BMOC. I have been supportive of him until recently. He can get a good O-coordinator to call the plays and many of his current problems will be solved.
My problem is in player development. They are losing several on defense who have played about 90% of the snaps – this doesn’t bode well for next year. Fortunately most of their offense will be back, but again, 7 or 8 guys have taken 90+% of the snaps. That’s why Prothro’s and Closner’s (center) injury had such a huge impact last year and their passing attack took a huge hit when Brown went down this year. If their O-line class from last year is 1/2 of what it was cracked up to be (rated #1 or 2 in the nation), they will improve a lot offensively.
I’m afraid that they’ll be way down defensively next year and I expect them to win 8 or 9 games (mostly b/c of a much better offense) if Shula stays. IMO that won’t be good enough for the fan base. I feel like Bama should cut their losses and fire Shula now.
For a parallel to Shula, look at Ray Perkins from 20 years ago. Good recruiter, bad with the media, thought of as too conservative, pro mentality (play only your 1st team). Ironically I think Perkins is the main reason Shula got the job.
I know this is a Braves site, so I’ll stop, but I had to share my 2 cents.
The Shula comparison to Perkins is even stronger when you realize that Bama’s D-coordinator is the same that Perkins had and Rader (the O coordinator) was the qb coach/assistant head coach under Perkins, while Perkins called the plays.
Talk about whatever you want (but religion or politics). Nothing’s going to happen baseball-wise until Monday. Probably.
I trust Kines on defense, and the losses this year probably won’t be as extreme as last year, when seven starters graduated. There will be almost no experience back at DT or OLB, but the rest should be okay and the DTs sucked anyway.
Yeah, but the senior starting DT’s took almost every critical snap. Usually Kines rotates several linemen and 2ndary people. That signals to me that we don’t have much coming back from a defense that was down from the high standards of the previous year.
I’m fine w/ Kines and sure he’ll be able to get the job done. I think our main, on the field, is the O line. We are getting beat every week. I’m surpirsed Wilson has been able to do such a good job. If he gets protection he can be really good.
Off the field seems like there might be more problems. Our players dont really have respect for themselves or anyone else. Just noticing in the Auburn game. If you notice on Auburns team, when a player gets hurt on either team, they gather around together and say a quick prayer. Our guys just stand aroung and stare at one another.
When Brown got hurt a week ago, you could hear him screaming at the trainer. Simpson got arrested, he got to sit out against the weakest team that we played. It doesnt really seem like this is a team, more like a bunch of individuals. I dont know if the players have confidence in Shula anymore, most of the fans dont…
At #80
The reason I had for this Dan was b/c of HoRam still being here to go along with Davies. I agree that they would push Davies to AAA, but until they trade HoRam it would be James being pushed out of the rotation.
Smoltz
Glavine
Hudson
Hampton
Ramirez
Davies/James
If they trade HoRam, then yes, it works. I’d rather import another pitcher than Glavine to “fix” our rotation though. Peavy is a nice dream….not gonna happen, but nice dream.
I think the Braves Sunday unis are awful, but considering they only use them once a week, the article was sort of misleading. Their normal uniforms are among the best in the game. Why did they change for 20 years?
I can’t see Glavine coming back and, while I like him a lot and think it would be cool for him to win 300 in a Braves uniform, I think it’s a bad fit. Frankly, I thought it made sense for the team to jettison Glavine and Maddux when they did. Unfortunately, they haven’t done such a good job replacing them, but I can’t see how a 40 year old soft tosser meshes with the Braves as they currently exist. He might help the younger pitchers, especially James, but with the mediocre infield defense the Braves have, I think he would have the same problems he did in NY the first two years. If they do get him, I won’t be unhappy, but I think it’s time to move on. I’m sure Glavine would like to be closer to home, but considering he only has a couple of years left at best, I doubt that it’s a major consideration. He will go back to the Mets. And they will still go after Zito–I don’t see that having Glavine precludes the Mets from getting Zito, especially with Pedro out.
I like Jeter. I think he is a class act and a great player. Perhaps he is overhyped being in NY, but if all pro athletes conducted themselves like Jeter, sports would be in a lot better shape. OK, so he doesn’t have great range at short–and Joe DiMaggio couldn’t throw.
Also, Derek Jeter never battered Marilyn Monroe.
No decision on Shula until next week…
http://www.tidesports.com/article/20061121/NEWS/61121014/1011
This is bad for us either way. If this was actually something coming from our president or AD that would be one thing, but yet they remain silent and no one can get a comment from them. Its almost like they are avoiding the issue. Also, Shula is out recruiting right now and this cant help
I just read on ESPN that the Cubs currently are planning to play Soriano in center. Holy crap! They can’t be serious even for the Cubs. He was ok playing left field last year, but if they put him in center, the Cubs pitchers are going to dread every fly ball.
Bama update…..
Tuscaloosa – No decision until next week
http://www.tidesports.com/article/20061121/NEWS/61121014/1011
Bama makes offer to Saban
http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamnews/kscarbinsky.ssf?/base/sports/1164191028304200.xml&coll=2
Ben Maller Rumors….
Despite widespread rumors and media reports to the contrary, board members from the University of Alabama insist they have heard nothing, nor suggested anything, regarding the status of Crimson Tide football coach Mike Shula. The decision of whether or not to retain Shula — in the aftermath of a 6-6 regular season that included a 2-6 record in the Southeastern Conference West Division and a record-setting Iron Bowl loss to Auburn — rests solely with University president Dr. Robert Witt and athletic director Mal Moore. … If the university decides to fire Shula, who just completed the first year of a restructured $1.55 million-a-year contract, they will have to buy out the remaining five years of the contract at a cost of $4 million. Hiring a top-tier coach such as the ones being mentioned — South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier, Miami Dolphins coach Nick Saban or Louisville coach Bobby Petrino — might cost Alabama officials a lot of money as well to buy out the new coach’s contract at his current school. Then too, university administrators may be working behind the scenes to negotiate a deal with a future coach while leaving Shula in place to deflect attention. In any case, the longer university officials maintain their silence, the louder the speculation and rumors will become as more people offer their opinion.
Bama update…..
Tuscaloosa – No decision until next week
http://www.tidesports.com/article/20061121/NEWS/61121014/1011
Bama makes offer to Saban
http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamnews/kscarbinsky.ssf?/base/sports/1164191028304200.xml&coll=2
Ben Maller Rumors….
Despite widespread rumors and media reports to the contrary, board members from the University of Alabama insist they have heard nothing, nor suggested anything, regarding the status of Crimson Tide football coach Mike Shula. The decision of whether or not to retain Shula — in the aftermath of a 6-6 regular season that included a 2-6 record in the Southeastern Conference West Division and a record-setting Iron Bowl loss to Auburn — rests solely with University president Dr. Robert Witt and athletic director Mal Moore. … If the university decides to fire Shula, who just completed the first year of a restructured $1.55 million-a-year contract, they will have to buy out the remaining five years of the contract at a cost of $4 million. Hiring a top-tier coach such as the ones being mentioned — South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier, Miami Dolphins coach Nick Saban or Louisville coach Bobby Petrino — might cost Alabama officials a lot of money as well to buy out the new coach’s contract at his current school. Then too, university administrators may be working behind the scenes to negotiate a deal with a future coach while leaving Shula in place to deflect attention. In any case, the longer university officials maintain their silence, the louder the speculation and rumors will become as more people offer their opinion.
Ben Maller…
So who is the Angels’ next big-name target? Word is it is Atlanta Braves star center fielder Andruw Jones, but Jones has trade veto power, won’t be a free agent until after 2007 season and his agent, Scott Boras of Newport Beach, has said his client is content to stay put until next winter. That, of course, is a nice way of saying, “You’ll have to make it worth my while to move now.” So the Angels likely would have to give up a package, including starter Ervin Santana, trumpeted minor-league starter Nick Adenhart and perhaps setup man Scot Shields to get the Braves interested – and offer Jones a boatload of money in a new contract to approve the deal. Sounds too complicated to me, and that means Stoneman might have to turn his focus back to Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada, who was rumored headed to Anaheim before the July trading deadline last season until Tejada made it known he didn’t want to play third base.
I was on the trade Hudson bandwagon, but I’m beginning to wonder if it might be better to hang on to him now. I was all about trading him because his contract is for 13 mil in 08 and 09. Now if he has a comeback year next year, 13 mil may be a bargain or we can trade him next offseason. Also, his 6 mil salary is just way too big of a bargain to move him. Especially for a budget conscious team like Atlanta.
I think we should move Ramirez and Giles for bullpen/lf help. I don’t think we can substantially improve our starting pitching without moving Andruw. Maybe we could with a prospect package including Giles, but that seems like a tough sell. If JS is serious about drastically improving the starting pitching, then he is going to have to think out of the box.
Some of JS moves are likely to depend on how much he thinks the rotation needs help. If they think Hampton is healthy and Hudson may return to form (big ifs), he may not feel the need to chase a top-flight starter. Personally, I’m not crazy about counting on either Hudson or Hampton. But I can see JS bringing aJohn Thomson (pre-2006 version)-type pitcher for the middle of the rotation and hoping that the top of the rotation holds up. But I am skeptical that Hudson’s problems relate solely to mechanics; I suspect that his mechanics may have gotten thrown off by trying to compensate for a loss of stuff. It’s going to be very difficult to move Andruw.
from MLB rumors
The Angels appear to have signed Gary Matthews Jr. to a 5 year, $50 million deal. I recognize that this is a new market, that the teams have tons of money, that free agents are getting paid more than they would’ve been last year. But I’m sorry, this is completely ridiculous.
That is certifiably insane…At the level Andruw would be offered a Manny type deal. You know Boras may be hoping the Braves will trade Andruw so he can get someone to give him an extension based on the current market.
Matthews may give them 20 hr and 80 rbi, but in today’s baseball most outfielders will give you that kind of production.
what’s really amazing is that the braves had matthews briefly but waived him before the 2004 season, and now he’s got $50 million guaranteed. WOW.
We cut Gary Matthews, Jr. in spring training 2 or 3 years ago. So far, except for last year, there is nothing to suggest that was a bad decision. If he is worth 10 million a year, then J.D. Drew is worth 20 and Andruw Jones 25. This and the Pierre deal make no sense. The odds are that there are minor leaguers in their associations who can just about meet the levels of performance of Pierre and Matthews, Jr.
I wonder what Roberts will get now….
.263 .336 .419 That’s Gary Matthews career line. The Angels have been smoking from the same pipe as the Dodgers and the Cubs. Its worse though. Matthews’ career years have come at Ameriquest Field aka Coors Texas. In fact I think that its an even more hitter friendly than Humidor Central. Now Andruw will ask for 22 million per year. My gosh. 5 years when Matthew’s turns 37 or 38 with the contract probably back loaded. The Rangers are even bigger dumbasses than the Cubs.
In Pierre’s case maybe. But GMJ had a very good year last year. He’s a good defensive player, and if he can come close to his ratios, he’ll be decent. Pierre’s contract was just godawful, but I don’t mind this one as much.
I remember Cliffe. We cut Matthews becuase he sucked. His past 3 years at Texas he hasn’t sucked but then he hasn’ t been a star either. My gosh, being a semi good centerfielder (or wannabe in Soriano’s case) is almost as lucrative as being a semi sucky left handed pitcher these days. Carlos Beltran must be kicking himself for locking in for so many years or not negotiating an out like Drew did. Can you imagine what he would have gotten this year? Now Drew looks REALLY smart, doesn’t he? I bet he comes close to doubling the 33 mil he walked away from if he gets a 3 year contract.
mraver. Matthews’ last 3 seasons.
.275 .350 .461
.255 .320 .436
.313 .371 .495
hit send too soon.
Last season is called a statistical outlier aka career year in the AL’s best hitters park. And your saying that he is worth 50 million dollars?
At least we now know that Andruw will not be headed to the Angels….50 million for a player that the Braves were right to cut in 2004 because he couldn’t hit a lick…honestly what next…
what’s really amazing is that the braves had matthews briefly but waived him before the 2004 season, and now he’s got $50 million guaranteed. WOW.
I really thought I couldn’t be shocked by these things anymore, but that is just ****ing unbelieveable. He has had exactly one good year in his career and he’s already 32. The Angels finally get Erstad’s ridiculous contract off the books and then they go a do this. I’ll bet nobody can wipe the smile off of Billy Beane’s face today.
I would be smiling too if I was JS. My goodness. What a plethora of ridiculous contracts. This almost makes Andruw a bargain at $16M per. Shoot, Hudson’s contract isn’t even close to being the albatross that it was thought to be.
Wait…it’s a good thing that the Angels won’t want Andruw? They’re one of, well, one teams out there that has the young pitching depth to be able to give us enough for Andruw. I’m actually bummed that they’re the ones who signed Matthews.
Stu, I agree, but lets face it Andruw wont approve any trade and we’ll lose in for draft picks