The Associated Press: AP News Alert
“NEW YORK (AP) — Tom Glavine and the Atlanta Braves have agreed to an $8 million, one-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations said.”
Updates to come.
UPDATE: DOB, from the blog:
Deal is done, press conference tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.
One year, $8 mill, no option, no incentives
MORE UPDATES:
Story by Peanut from the official site
DOB in the AJC
More in mid-morning tomorrow. I’ll probably be incommunicado during the press conference.
It’s on the breaking news box on ESPNEWS now.
gives us depth without trading talent and he gives us a discount. I hope Atl fans appreciate him coming back…
I’m for it. It’s just one year & worth the gamble, IMO.
I certainly don’t expect #47 to improve dramatically, but I’d be happy if we can get 20+ quality starts & 200 innings.
Welcome back, Tommy.
It will be good to see Glavine return and I hope that he can give us 200 solid innings….
Dunno if anyone posted this, an AJC story about the Braves’ “improving financial health”…
http://www.ajc.com/shared/content/shared/sports/stories/2007/11/BBN_BRAVES_1115_COX.html?cxntlid=inform
Welcome back, Tom. Your dreams were your ticket out…
Oops- let me try that again. Just having some fun at baseball-reference, I find that Tom needs:
5 wins to pass Mickey Welch for 20th all-time
7 wins to pass Old Hoss Radbourn for 19th
9 wins to pass Tom Seaver for 18th
12 wins to pass Gaylord Perry for 17th
16 wins to pass Phil Niekro for 16th
22 wins to pass Nolan Ryan and Don Sutton for 14th (not that it’ll happen, but I’d love to see the look on Don’s face if he does it against Washington)
17 starts to pass Bert Blyleven for 11th most games started
21 starts to pass Pud Galvin for 10th
22 starts to pass Gaylord Perry for 9th
32 starts to pass Tommy John for 8th
12 Ks to pass Bob Feller for 25th all-time
14 Ks to pass Warren Spahn for 24th
41 Ks to pass Chuck Finley for 23rd
99 Ks to pass David Cone for 22nd
(I’m assuming Mike Mussina will pitch at least a bit this season)
39 innings to pass Jack Powell for 30th all-time
145 innings to pass Eppa Rixey for 29th
146 innings to pass Eddie Plank for 28th
151 innings to pass Fergie Jenkins for 27th
180.2 innings to pass Jim Kaat for 26th
181.2 innings to pass Tony Mullane for 25th
185.2 innings to pass Radbourn for 24th
186.2 innings to pass John Clarkson for 23rd
i just hope that 1st round draft pick we gotta give up to the mets is not a stud pitcher who we could use for the next, well, 15 years.
Pretty good company. How ’bout Glavine wins 15 & finishes tied with ol’ Knucksie?
at least we know what we’re getting… an average pitcher who can give us 13-15 wins.
so when is the CF drama going to be solved? are we really going to go into spring training thinking Schafer will save us?
I don’t think Schafer will be a candidate to start the season, but if they really go with Anderson he’ll be up by June.
On a completely unrelated note, I’ve sponsored (for my politics site) a basketball-reference page. (Reason, if you hadn’t heard.)
Welcome back Tommy. While I don’t like the idea of giving up the first round pick, I believe this is the right thing to do.
I can’t wait to see him in a Braves uniform again. I know Braves fans weren’t very kind to him when he came to the Ted in a Mets uniform, but I can’t imagine the kind of reception he’ll get when he plays in Shea as a Brave.
I’m a bit surprised he agreed to a no options deal so quickly. I wonder if he’s already planning to retire after this season.
Mac,
Wow, that’s COLD, man! Good zinger, though, heh heh.
RobBroad4th,
I can, and that would be so fun to see, if no one gets killed, of course.
I’m not worried about the draft pick for two reasons (I may have stated them before, but I’m doing it again! :P):
1. The Braves have had a sheer amount of their successes after the first round, so I take it as a matter of probability.
2. Not wanting the pick to go to the Mets kind of implies that the Mets are better drafters than the Braves, and I don’t believe that to be the case.
I understand that it gives the Mets a chance to get a future All-Star or Hall of Famer, but that’s all it is: a chance. That’s why I’m not worried.
Anyone know if there’s any compensation for losing a player to retirement? Maybe a sandwich pick or something? Sure would be nice…. Otherwise, losing a first rounder for a #3 starter for one year seems like a pretty steep price.
Still, I’ll be glad to see Glavine back for next year. I’m feeling pretty optimistic.
Losing a first round pick won’t keep me up at night. We know what we’re getting when we need it in Glavine, whereas a draft pick, no matter how high, is a gamble. The Mets could either be drafting Chipper Jones or Bryan Bullington with that pick. Hopefully it’s Bullington…
Speaking of drafting, The Baseball Cube says that the best player taken in the 1990 draft was Mike Mussina, not Chipper Jones. That’s an interesting choice…
I don’t care if the Mets’ pick turns out to be the second coming of George Herman Ruth.
It’s done. Let’s try to win big in ’08.
Wow. $8 mil is a pretty good discount, especially for a one year deal. He must have really wanted to come back.
Hey Mac,
I was born in Alpharetta, but moved up to Kansas City when I was 14. What can you or anyone tell me about Brodie Croyle?
He never beat Auburn.
Good signing from a thin FA pool, 1st round is over rated in MLB. So many rounds and players good ones are available all over the place.
Like I say, I’m not too worried about the pick, it just makes me less excited looking forward. Most times when you sacrafice a top round pick you get a guy for 3-5 years and then maybe another pick when he goes off to sign with another team. Here, the Braves just get boned when Glavine retires, and they only get him for like 1 year. (Assuming he doesn’t come back for 2009, which I guess isn’t necessarily the case.)
Still, I’m excited about the rotation for next year, especially if Hudson can continue his success. The Braves have a legit shot at winning the NL in 2008. 😮
Oh, forgot about the “discount”. The Braves signed him for $2M less than he could have gotten by exercising his option with the Mets (who still had to pay a $3M buyout after Glavine declined the $13M option, giving Tommy a total of $11M rather than $13M). So it’s not that big. And I’m pretty sure he wanted out of NY. It’s possible someone else would’ve given him more than $10M for next year, but I’d be a bit surprised.
umm…….is my memory shot or didnt glavine leave the braves to be closer to his family in the boston area? and apparently they moved to atlanta while he was with the mets?? whatever……..welcome back tom
From a purely unemotional stance re signing Glavine will give us a league avg pitcher for less than market value. As a Braves fan it sure will be great to see #47 back out there with the hatchet on his chest. Welcome back Tommy. I certainly don’t have any hard feelings.
I like the deal. I think Tom’s worth giving up a sandwich pickle…what?
Well…that’s not worth much more than a sandwich pickle. And we KNOW we are getting a future Hall of Famer.
Good job, Big Bird! Now see if Teix will go all Kenny Rogers on his agent and sign that extention.
Welcome back Tom! Now go and do that voodoo that you do!
welcome back tom. you broke our hearts a few years ago… now go back out there and mend away.
here’s to hoping he’s still got a little left in the tank.
at a decent price, this seems to be a reasonable risk.
Okay, I was wrong. I figured it would cost us closer to $10 million plus the same in an option year. I’m glad it worked out the way it did.
Welcome back, Tom.
I like this signing. I only wish it had happened a year earlier then the Braves might have reached the playoffs this year. I expect Tommy to give us exactly what we need from the 3rd spot in our rotation: innings and quality starts. Now we just cross our fingers and hope somebody other than the Mets makes a better offer for Santana.
I have to admit that, from at least a sentimental standpoint, this signing makes me happy.
“Gosh I hope a guy the Mets get doesn’t kick our asses in 8 years.”
Whatever! We got a Hall-of Fame lefty for peanuts! He is an innings eater and if we had him this past season we would have been in the playoffs.
so @ # 29 you are right!
3rd slot?
1) I think James will be better than Glavine next year.
2) Bobby might want to mix it up and not have two righties, then three lefties (either Hampton or Reyes).
For the record, the last 10 #18 picks in the MLB draft:
1997: Rockies Mark Mangum RHP Kingwood, TX
1998: Angels Seth Etherton RHP USC
1999: Orioles Richard Stahl LHP Covington, GA
2000: Blue Jays Miguel Negron OF Caguas, PR
2001: Mets Aaron Heilman RHP Notre Dame
2002: White Sox Royce Ring LHP San Diego State
2003: Indians Bradley Snyder RF Ball State
2004: White Sox Joshua Fields 3B Okie State
2005: Padres Cesar Carrillo RHP Univ. of Miami
2006: Phillies Kyle Drabek RHP/SS The Woodlands TX
2007: Cardinals Peter Kozma SS Owasso HS
Obviously there’s a lot of potential talent available still @ #18 but the fact of the matter is it’s just as likley to be Royce Ring (or less) than it is to be Aaron Heilman. In 2000, for instance, the Mets spent the #16 pick on…Billy Traber. So yeah, you like to keep those picks, but no, they’re not the sort of thing that makes you not improve your rotation because of it.
Alex,
Mazel Tov! Good thing you are young enough that you don’t need much sleep. Also, I understand it’s harder to change a boy’s diaper than a girl’s for obvious reasons, so be careful!
Glavine is a gamble but considering the discount he gave, probably a reasonable one. But let’s remember, we aren’t getting vintage Glavine. He is basically a six inning pitcher that will put a lot of runners on base. And that’s assuming that he pitches like he did last year, which is not guaranteed. But I’m glad to have him back so he can retire as a Brave.
Marc,
All we need is a guy who will get into the sixth most of the time. We only have two pitchers now that can do that.
Also, I don’t like the Oscar trade even if they weren’t going to sign him. Anderson is the kind of player they don’t need to have on the roster. No power, no OBP ability. If he is the CF, Braves are in trouble.
I don’t think Anderson will be. My money is on Crisp
As for the draft pick, who knows we may have drafted another Macay McBride as our first round choice. Our 1st rounders havent been studs anyways
“I was born in Alpharetta, but moved up to Kansas City when I was 14. What can you or anyone tell me about Brodie Croyle?”
never came to fruition at Bama. I’m a huge tide fan and was very disappointed in him. He has a very strong and accurate arm, but has had some real freaky injuries. Has bad knees, but give him protection and he can be successful.
So for the $9 mil we got by trading Renteria and the $1 mil we shed in Oscar Villareal, we get 1 year of Glavine ($8 mil), 2 valuable ML ready-ish prospects (a mid-rotation SP with a shoulder twinge and a very fast excellent defensive CF with no power– Juan Pierre-ish guy) and a very toolsy high ceiling 19/20 year old CF with plus plus speed, discipline, developing power and a cool-ish name to start at A+ (Gorkys Hernandez).
So we still have around a million bucks, and haven’t spent Andruw Jones’ money yet.
At this point I’d offer Andruw arbitration, if he doesn’t take it we get two draft picks to go with what we already have. If he does take it, we get him for one more year at around $13 – $15 mil (basically what we had him for last year) with no long term committment, a stop gap in the system for next year (Anderson) and 2 highly regarded long term options behind in Gorkys Hernandez and Jordan Schafer, either one of which we ought to be able to move to an orgnization like the Twins or Oakland for more pitching. Or Florida. And we can go ahead and make a long-term offer to Teixiera, knowing that the Andruw and Glavine money are back after one year.
For what its worth, I’d also make Lillibrige the super-util guy this year and jettison Connect F’Orr.
What would y’all do?
Nevin,
I would get one more year of Andruw
David O’Brien:
By the way, despite the Braves’ preference to avoid a multi-year commitment for a CF and all that, I’m hearing they’re still interested in Coco Crisp.
I’m hearing it’s not the $10.5 mill he’s owed over next two seasons that’s as much a deterrent as the asking price of young talent in return. Could be both, but I think the Braves would be willing to pay the money, if they didn’t have to give up much to get him. But they will, because couple other teams including Twins are interested.
Crisp could always be moved to left field or, if he has a good year in 2008, could easily be traded a year from now if Schafer was ready by then.
But again, I don’t think Braves will be willing to give up what a team like the Twins might.
Smitty:
I don’t think Andruw will accept a 1 year offer, I think he’ll get some multi-year offers and is more likely to get one he likes than to take arb, that us getting the picks is the likely outcome. But if he doesn’t get a multi-year that’s good enough, he may take arb for 1 year to get his value back. Would you give him a 1 year godfather offer? Like $20 mil for 1 year?
Here are my probabilities for CF next year:
Re-sign Andruw for 1 yr 7.5%
Shafer, Hernandez, Anderson, Blanco 5% (starting the season)
Lillibridge 15%
Franceour 2.5%
Coco Crisp 20%
Another FA 25%
Another trade 25%
@37
i think that if James is better than Glavine it will be because Glavine James has abandoned this “i don’t study the game” approach and enrolls in the Tommy Glavine school for floundering talent. OR tommy’s arm finally falls off.
Smitty,
i’m with you. Crisp is the most likely CF target.
Stu:
That was a heartbreaker on Sat. You gotta tell your boys to do their studying on the way home, not during the game.
go ‘dores!
Nevin and Smitty,
No on the high offer for Andruw for several reasons.
1. You could get 2007 Andruw.
2. One reason to offer arb is to get the sandwich pick (not, necessariy, to sign him).
3. Nobody’s model puts Andruw as worth over about 13 going into next year, so, if some other fool offers that, then let them have him.
A down side to offering arb is that he has , I think, until mid december to declien, so all sorts of moves get blocked.
On re-signing Teix and how Andruw affects that, I believe that IF the Braves can re-sign him this off season they wil have ot offer a bonus now. That is what separates the Braves offer financially (to the good for him) from the rest of baseball. He will have to wait until December 08 to get a penny from anybody else. Plus, we would be picking up his injury risk (otherwise, he is having to insure himself).
If we put a 10 million signing bonus on the table, then that could tip him past the “Boras factor.” Besides, Boras has at least 3 clients that seem to be re-coiling from his strategy (Kenny Rogers, A-Rod, and A. Jones). Unless Boras run changes in the next month or so, Teixeira will be looking at any offer really hard. AND, the Braves can make sure that the offer is out there in the PR world and a Boras “we aren’t considering offers now” would really leave Teix hanging.
First of all the “Andruw Money” is already accounted for in Smoltz and Huddy raises.
2. If arb is offered and not accepted, or someone signs Andruw before Dec. 1, we still only get 1 supplemental round pick, not 2.
3. Its been stated by Wren that in no way is Francoeur playing centerfield this year.
D. Crisp is looking better by the day, but also looks like it will take more to get him.
Guys, don’t forget that the Andruw money, for all intents and purposes, is already “spent” on the increasing salaries of Smoltz and Hudson, who are getting raises through their backloaded contracts.
In other news, while the Yorvit Torrealba deal appears to have fallen through, the Mets have set my mind at rest by signing Luis Castillo to a 4-year, $25 million contract. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: boy, they’re dumb.
Hey, Justin, sorry to step on your toes. You’re absolutely right.
Oh, and even though I pooh-poohed it beforehand, I’ll go ahead and say it: I’m happy Tom’s back as a Brave. I always loved him, never stopped loving him, and as long as he doesn’t completely suck (a la 1996 Terry Pendleton), I’m sentimentally very happy that he’s back.
If we get Cocoa Crisp, can Count Dracula or Booberry pitch long relief?
Count Chocula?
Only if Captain Crunch is around to give them the hook
SecondSpitter,
My 10 year old daughter would offer Captain Crunch as the Bench Coach. I think if you put a strawberry blonde wig and beard on Cadhaia, you would about have it.
AAR,
No problem, you are a respected poster, and you had the same reaction so its all good.
This is oddly disturbing, even though I knew about it.
I’m not sure how Amazon expects to make money charging for blog access, but then again they’re the ones getting $400 a pop for the reader.
Ubbuba, I meant Count Chocula…..hadnt had enough coffee yet…
When the Mets signed Glavine away from us they sucked enough the next year to keep their first round pick and took Lastings Milledge. Hopefully we won’t return the favor. Instead we got a sandwich pick and an extra third round pick. With the sandwich pick we took Luis Atilano who has never gotten anyone out anywhere and looks to be hurt. With the third rounder we took Jake Stevens who just polished off a third unsuccessful season at Myrtle Beach.
So essentially we got nothing. Of course with the picks we got the same year for Mike Remlinger (again we didn’t get a first round pick because the Cubs tanked) we took Saltalamacchia and JoJo Reyes.
So these picks do have some value. The Mets actually have been on a bit of a roll with their first round picks. Here are their last five (not counting ’07): Aaron Heilman, David Wright, Scott Kazmir, Philip Humber, Mike Pelfrey.
Jon Garland just traded to the Angels for Orlando Cabrera.
Second Spitter,
Sounds kind of like Renteria for Garland, doesn’t it?
Jon Garland just traded to the Angels for Orlando Cabrera.
Hopefully this is just the first step on the way to bringing in Tejada or something. The last thing the Angels need to do is trade hitting for pitching.
Mailbag by peanut explaining the Jones situation. Hopefully this will stop all the Andruw being offered arbitration dreaming.
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071118&content_id=2303060&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl
Two other amplifications from the Peanut’s blog.
Matt “Rodney Dangerfield” Diaz. More evidence of his status as a hitter (but I think it is the fielding that is most misunderstood).
Willy Aybar update. I spent some time the other day looking at Aybar’s winter league stats and Aybar’s power (ISO) is uncharacteristically low (like .110). Makes me wonder if he has recovered from the wrist surgery. And his batting and OBP (.290 / .390) aren’t really that good for the level of play (maybe OBP, but not BA).
from that link:
and the Braves definitely aren’t in a position to take this kind of gamble on a player who has defined his consistency by hitting less than .265 in six of the past seven seasons.
I just love stuff like this. Let’s see…I’ll starting counting just after his best batting average year like that makes sense. He hit .261, .262, .263, and .264 so I’ll say ‘below .265’ like that is meaningful. And all stick to just mentioning batting average and not mention any actually meaningful stats because it doesn’t fit the point I’m going for. Done!
Maybe but even a hurt Aybar is twice the hitter of Woodward.
it sounds alot like it Cliff….but with Glavine onboard, could we have afforded Garland?
I’d much rather have Jair and Gorkys than Garland.
Actually, my recent post was more intended at Hate King’s result. That is, it was a validation of just how close the Garland for Renteria thing came. Garland’s numbers this year will probably just be better than Glavine’s. The only plus is right handedness with us somewhat lefty heavy (which most of MLB is fighting to get to).
Robert,
You make a fair point, but the fact is $16 mm is a lot for a guy with a low BA, not great OBP, and declining power.
what’s the negative vibe concerning this josh anderson kid? i know i am not the best evaluator of talent, but a good defensive centerfielder with speed, that gets on base 35% of the time doesnt sound terrible. i understand the lack of power could be the issue, but, really, what can coco crisp or dejesus offer us that this guy can’t? a few more home runs and doubles (and by a few, i mean 1 or 2) with less speed? is 5-7 million dollars really worth that? i say, use the extra dough to re-sign mahay, and get an extension on tex before the beginning of the year, and let lillibridge, anderson, and schafer fight over the starting position in center. may the best man win. also, on a side note: i pray that we give matt diaz the full-time position in left this year. the man has proved himself offensively, and despite all of our eyes, he has proved himself defensively for the past 2 years. brandon jones deserves a roster spot, but doesnt deserve to start 80 games quite yet. our team looks pretty frickin’ solid right now. i can’t wait ’til march.
Andruw’s 2007 was all-around terrible, not just in the batting average department. His OBP was around .310.
It’s not worth 15+ million to gamble on him bouncing back.
How is batting average not meaningless? It may be somewhat misleading, like with Adam Dunn, but it has meaning and a place.
I would agree that “BA is meaningless” overstates the case, but it is statistically the leastt replicable of offensive skills, and subject to the greatest amount of random factor impacts (BABIP, PF, etc.).
Dan,
On the counter side (and I wouldn’t offer arb if I thought he would get 16 million) Andruw has seen a lot of his value evaporate because he was hard headed in trying to pull everything. One of the ESPN guys (I think it was Crasnick) said that of 16 GM’s he could get to go on the record, 14 of them would take Torii Hunter over Andruw. 1 wanted Andruw (one 50/50).
If Andruw accepts ar, he has no choice but to come to spring training in shape, with a good attitude and ready to go. If his perception doesn’t improve, then he will have really made a bad decision in accepting arb.
I know the obvious counter to that is: “If the idiot didn’t do well last year with so much at stake, why should he this year”, but it could make sense.
I like DeJesus better than any of the other options I have seen. His drop off last years wasn’t much and it was more in power. At his age (entering 28 year) power should be rising, so he could easily go up 20 points BA, 20 points OBP, and 50 points SLG.
Another wild card option might be Jim Edmunds. With his drop off last year, I don’t think I would pull that plug, but apparently the Padres are seeing if St. Louis would do a salary dump (might also be why we got Anderson, to flip him?)
How is batting average not meaningless? It may be somewhat misleading, like with Adam Dunn, but it has meaning and a place.
It’s so misleading, so often, I don’t like using it at all.
For example, the ‘Matt Diaz as an everyday player’ campaign is built almost entirely on batting average. And it’s misleading and wrong. Diaz against RHP:
’07: .318/.350/.406/.756
Career: .316/.349/.416/.765
The batting average looks pretty, so we want Diaz in there against RHP where history says he’ll post around a 760 OPS. Of the 37 qualifying MLB corner outfielders last year, 33 of them finished above 760.
I’ve always said Diaz is correctly employed as a lefty masher. It shouldn’t be that hard to find a platoon partner that can hit RHP at better than a 760 clip. Willie Harris bested that last season and he sucks.
The lack of power is extreme. It is my belief (based on any number of players who’ve come down the pipeline) that a .290 hitter will be more like a .260 hitter, if that, in the major leagues if he has no power. Pitchers won’t be afraid to challenge him. What walks he has will disappear.
Also, Anderson’s career minor league OBP isn’t a marginally acceptable .350 but .337, and was .325 in AAA this year. (To compare, Jason Tyner’s career minor league OBP is .367, and Juan Pierre’s was .373.)
Ryan, .350 isn’t a great OBP for a leadoff guy, but it’s not clear he’d be able to get on base even 35% of the time at the major league level. But he has so little power (less than Jesse Garcia, as Mac said) that it’s hard to imagine him even approaching his minor league performance.
Damn it, second time today!
Um, what Mac said.
FWIW, Lowell to re-sign with Boston—3 years, $37.5 M.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-BBA-Red-Sox-Lowell.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
It will be interesting to see what Houston gets for Mike Lamb and Luke Scott. Maybe another minor piece added to Vulture would have gotten us one of those guys who might be useful parts.
I’m glad to see that at least one player (Lowell) has the brains to know when he has a good thing. Some nitwit on the “Braves Vent” section in the AJC said the Braves should take Lowell over Chipper because “Mike hustles.” Do they allow anyone on that blog with an IQ in triple digits?
Robert,
I agree that BA is often misleading but it’s not completely meaningless; it’s just not always a good predictor of future performance. If you had a guy like Tony Gwynn that hit .350 every year but with relatively few walks, I would take that. The point with Andruw is that he is neither a high average hitter or an OBP machine (although he has improved). He’s not like Dunn, who hits for a low average but gets a ton of walks. In Andruw’s case, his consistently low batting averages are significant. Moreover, the real point is that, from the Braves standpoint, the upside from a potential comeback isn’t worth the risk of what he might get in arbitration.
But I agree with you on Diaz.
Some guy named Alex Rodriguez won the AL MVP. Not sure who he plays for, though.
Dump Chipper for Lowell — Mike hustles.
Who are these people?!
Probably the same people who thought it would be wise to move KJ to center, so that Prado could get into the lineup
“Redneckedness must be some kinda disease” – Lyle Lovett.
Hank,
Lyle was singing about a woman, but I believe it does apply to some of the AJC sports bloggers.
They do tend to bring down the rest of mankind with some of their stuff.
Robert @ 69: Well said, my friend. Peanut is a doofus, so I guess we shouldn’t expect better.
Here’s the thing about Coco Crisp: he sucks. I wouldn’t want him out there wasting at bats even if he was the league minimum. He’s more like the 4th outfielder-type who has some speed and plays a bit of defense. That is to say: cheap or not, his last OBP in 2005 and 2006 were 317 and 330, respectively. That, with his power, adds up to a black hole in the outfield. And once you throw in the prospects to get him, I feel safe saying it’s a bad deal.
Dejesus isn’t much better, of course. His 2006 was on par with Coco’s, with fewer steals and a better OBP. Neither hit for any genuine power. The real difference is that Dejesus, a year younger, was more productive in 2005, suggesting he has the capability to bounce back a little more than does Coco. But I don’t know… slim pickings.
I’m sorry, I meant 2007, not 2006… sigh. I can’t remember the year anymore…
seriously, what’s the purpose of signing a veteran center fielder? all we need is a serviceable center fielder that can hit 8th. surely the top of the lineup is set with kj and escobar. a lineup of:
escobar
kj
chipper
tex
mccann
frenchy
diaz
anderson/lillibridge/schafer
as opposed to a lineup featuring dejesus or another veteran in the 8 hole. what’s the point, besides spending money? if that 5-7 million can go to re-signing tex, then let the young’uns battle it out. surely one of them can be a serviceable 8 hitter and centerfielder. seriously, in the nl, what’s the average obp for a #8 hitter? it can’t be much higher than .330.
well, i guess we shall know more about hampton very soon.
http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=MLB&id=1811
Well, maybe Hampton can play CF.
After all, he does have a higher career slugging percentage than Willie Harris (.354 to .321).
Gotta agree with Ryan C.
Adding a CF that people have heard of just for the sake of PR is a waste of Teixera’s dollars. (We may have already done enough of that with Glavine … )
Go with the above mentioned (hell, teach Willie to bunt and add him to the mix) and wait for the trade deadline. Much better information at that point upon which to base a decision.
November 20:
Mexico (AP) – Atlanta Braves left-hander Mike Hampton left the game early complaining of soreness in his throwing arm. Hampton, 35, was escorted off the field by trainers in the second inning. Braves officials say Hampton, who has missed all of the previous two seasons with the Braves due to injury, will be reevaluated on Friday.
I don’t think the Braves do things just for PR. They would never have traded David Justice if they did. You can argue with their moves but I think all are done with the intent of improving the team. Obviously, they would prefer to have a guy with some ML experience in centerfield.
Btw, what’s Ryan Langerhans doing these days?
Hey Dan, you forcasting things to come? November 20?
A pessimistic prediction, a re-run of previous reports.
more possible insurance money!! YAY
Is there a point at which you can force retirement on a player because of his health to get out of a contract?
Only if you are willing to pay a buyout.
I’m not sure how Amazon expects to make money charging for blog access, but then again they’re the ones getting $400 a pop for the reader.
Amazon has definitely changed their new product roll-out strategy from when I worked there. I didn’t know anything about the Kindle until yesterday. The mega-bomb that was the Segway had something to do with their new approach, I’m guessing.
I’d be more confident that the new gizmo would succeed had I not just heard that American 15-24 year olds now spend an average of seven minutes a day reading….
Well, that doesn’t count reading online, I believe.
It only leaked out last week, even though literally hundreds of bloggers knew about it. We all had to sign nondisclosure agreements.
This is interesting — if you don’t mind my asking, was Braves Journal selected based on readership numbers? And was it contingent on your okay to be included?
1. I don’t know why. They approached me. I’d guess that they chose one top “independent” blog from each team, plus the SportsNation blog.
2. Sure enough. I’m the content provider, they have to pay me and get my approval.
Mac’s reaping the rewards and bringing in the big bucks….congrats, this place helps me get through my boring days at work
Amen, csg. The days would be endless without Mac’s Journal.
Re: #97
What would Hampton’s line be if he had 550 ABs in a season?
Obviously any good hitting pitcher is a product of sample size, but would would a REALLY good hitting pitcher do as a full time player.
And I’m not really including Ankiel. He’s probably an outlier.
I’d go with .252 6 HR and 45 RBI. Something like that.
I just wrote an Amazon review for Braves Journal. 5 stars, naturally.
Hampton can definitely hit, but let’s not forget that 10 of his 15 career HRs came in pre-humidor Denver.
Thanks, AAR.
Let’s not count our bucks before they’re deposited. I’d be happy if I got enough money to buy a couple of books… which I would probably get on Amazon. Fiendish!
That’s a good idea. I buy most of my books on Amazon because that’s the cheapest way to get them.
Mac, your a librarian. Why on earth would you buy a book? LOL.
Saw the Glavine news conference on braves.com.
Lots of blah blah blah. The things that I took out of it.
Bobby is really excited to have Glavine back. I mean it palpable.
Wren and Cox confirmed that we are done trying to get starting pitching. Mentioned that we have 8 or 9 starters for 5 positions.
Tommy acknowledged that while family was his primary concern when deciding what to do part of his reason for declining 13 million is that he doesn’t feel like he can play like a number 1 pitcher every start like he used to therefore he shouldn’t be paid like one. Interesting and frank comments on where he is at this stage of his career.
9 guys huh
Well Smoltz, Hudson, Glavine, Hampton, James, Bennett, Carlyle, Reyes, Jurrjens?
I know that this is the best we can do given market conditions but what bothers me is that there isn’t that plus young arm in there to build for the future. OH well on paper it looks good IF we get average performances from the top 3.
I know that this is the best we can do given market conditions but what bothers me is that there isn’t that plus young arm in there to build for the future.
That plus young arm isn’t going to come out of this market. They’re either going to develop one or two or have to pay for the next Greg Maddux. I don’t know if Santana makes it to free agency next year but he’s worth the $20 per if he does.
Well, frankly I’m a little terrified that Wren and Bobby each consider Carlyle and Bennett as viable starters. I mean, I don’t do this for a living, but I’d be pretty upset if either of those two have a shot at the #5 job. At this point, though, I have to think it’s Smoltz, James, Hudson, Glavine and Hampton – with Jurjjens and Reyes starting the year at AAA. That’s IF everything goes according to plan; and plans involving Mike Hampton haven’t exactly panned out lately.
@95 – Anderson is not a major league center fielder. At least, he can’t hit like one. Mac, I’ve noticed, has made this point repeatedly the past few days much better than I can. Schafer isn’t ready to be one either, and if the Braves though Lillibridge could do it, he’d do it. It’s a pressing need that goes beyond PR. (and would Coco Crisp really be good PR? I can’t imagine the number of cereal jokes we’d all have to endure if he came to Atlanta)
I don’t agree with our current strategy thus far when it comes to CF. Not looking at the FA or trade market for a real major league CF is putting a lot of eggs in the Jordan Shafer basket. He hasn’t played above A ball for crying out loud. And Gorky is even further down the food chain. Lillibridge may be a contender but it sure doesn’t look like thats the way they are going. None of the above may amount to anything. None of them has been identified as a sure thing. This get a place holder sucky guy for a couple of years could be a drag on our lineup. Crisp?
Lets face it he sucks. DeJesus? He sucks less but I don’t think that after Kyle Davies worked out so well for Dayton Moore that he’ll be trading with us much more. Oh well.
Mac, does that mean that people out there (even those among us) are going to pay to read my random comments? sweet. Can I count that as being “published”? heh heh. my curriculum vitae could use a shot in the arm.
Johnny, I don’t think Dayton’s at all unhappy about the Davies trade. C’mon, he gave us Octavio Dotel, and we all know how well that worked out.
by the way… my mom called me tonight and asked me what i thought about glavine. i told her that i liked it sentimentally and that i thought it was a good enough deal for a guy that’s hopefully going to be better than what was being run out there every 4th and 5th day last year. i think she was a little more skeptical, all she said was “he’s past his prime.” kinda made me laugh.
Murphy, that’s a great idea.
2005-2007: Associate Contributor, Braves Journal:
Write and edit intelligent, sophisticated essays on the issues of the day
Critique discourse of other professional and lay scholars in the field
Tell Mets fans to go screw themselves
“And now that you’ve finished your entree, ladies & gentlemen, your motivational speaker for the evening, Mr. Nick Saban…”
http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/7467808?MSNHPHMA
lol
AAR good point. LOL. Ole Dayton may be ringing us up with another ‘deal’.
As much as I would like to think that Jordan Shafer is the real thing I am constantly reminded that Andy Marte was REALLY the real thing. I am almost certain that Andruw never wears the hatchet on his chest again but making a play for Rowand until some other team outbids us wouldn’t hurt a thing.
To whomever said it. Yup this is the state of MLB pitching. A contending team is excited that Jeff Bennett is tearing it up in Venezuela.
I know that there are some bama fans on here but that man is evil scum incarnate, and if AU gets up we will perform a Mortal Kombat evisceration on bama.
By the way, 6-6 and “6” equal the Sign of the Saban.
AAR — just so you’re aware, i’m going to cut and paste that statement onto my cv. except i’ll change the dates to just this year (so far).
E.S.I. = Evil Scum Incarnate
Nick Satan?
surely with 3-4 candidates, in house, one can be deemed “serviceable” (for at least what crisp would give us). i never really said that anderson was a major league hitter, but i just made the point that, if he was to bat 8th, and have an obp of .350 with 30-40 steals, he wouldnt be a bad option. i WOULD rather put all my eggs in 4 cheap baskets that get the job done rather then getting a big, pretty basket that i bought at an overpriced store, serves the same purpose as the less expensive baskets, and that i would probably want to return after the season’s end. wierd, i know.
anyone think Glavine’s signing on to be the next Braves manager when Bobby hangs ’em up?
Can’t see that, really.
9 guys huh
Well Smoltz, Hudson, Glavine, Hampton, James, Bennett, Carlyle, Reyes, Jurrjens?
Well, I think one of those guys aren’t being considered b/c it appears they are going to give this Morton kid a shot in spring training. Everyone seems to have liked what they saw from him. Could be interesting…
..and my guess is that Carlyle is out of the loop on this one.
#126
Umm, wow. At the very least, the booster club can rest assured that Saban is aware of the gravity of the situation.
Two things re: Anderson-
I’d be shocked if he had a .350 OPS next year, and 30-40 steals out of the 8-hole is almost unheard of.
I think we’ve got to get comfortable that, barring some unforseen FA signing, we’re looking at a year without much offense production from CF next year. And I think we’ll have enough strength elsewhere to where it’ll be okay. ^_^
No.
#138–That is why I am really hoping that we are not yet done improving the club. I don’t like the idea of Crisp or DeJesus, but at this point we really don’t have a proven CF. Anderson has played in 21 games–so he is really a AAA player waiting to get his crack at the majors. He is nothing more; therefore, unless we get some help in CF the Braves will be going into 2008 with a hole in their lineup.
Let me add that I know a good number of people want to give Lillibridge a chance, but he hasn’t been in CF since he was at university. Chances are the Braves moved him for a reason. Learning to hit in the majors and playing CF (especially following Andruw) after several years at SS would not be easy for anybody.
Therefore, I hope that Wrenn can get us a quality CF…I would also like to see us re-sign Mahay….
What do you think the order of the rotation is going to look like next year? I definitely see Hudson, Smoltz, Glavine, James, and Hampton for the rotation next year (until Hampton’s arm explodes). I doubt they’ll want three left handers in a row at the bottom of the rotation. At the same time, I don’t see any of those three as viable #2 pitchers.
MetsBlog is being very civil about the matter, treating Glavine with the respect and dignity he deserves…
http://www.metsblog.com/2007/11/18/news-glavine-signs-with-braves/
I am not counting on Hampton to be a big part of the rotation. As the rotation stands now (I am still hoping the Braves will find a way to trade for someone like Blanton) I see it as: Smoltz, Hudson, Glavine, James and then a fight between Jurrjens and Reyes for the final spot.
The good news is that AAA we should have Bueno, Smith, Morton and possibly Lerew (at least later in the season) so there should be more depth than last year.
If either Reyes or Jurrjens comes through with a breakthrough year, then 2008 should be fun for Braves fans…..
Gotta love that first comment on the Mets blog:
“Rot in hell Tommy”
You stay classy Mets fans.
I’m sorry, but my second favorite has to be:
“F U Tom Glavine. F. U.
But thanks for the draft picks – hopefully they will turn out to be guys who actually want to be here, and guys who step up when their team needs them in a big spot.
This guy never deserved one ounce of the special treatment the Mets organization gave him. Signing his black sheep brother? Seriously? Letting him take all the time he needed last year just to make sure he wasn’t welcome back at the archrival team he so obviously wanted to return to? It’s disgusting. The Mets should have told him to go to hell a year ago after that crap he pulled with Atlanta then.
Rot in Hell, Tom Glavine.”
I am certain that James will get traded. Again, I don’t see the Braves starting rotation with three LHP. And I don’t see how James should compete for the fifth job either as stated by Wren. He’ll be gone.
Dont count on Hampton being in the rotation gang, James wont be traded unless it is a blockbuster type of deal.
Braves top draft picks
1992 Jamie Arnold
1993 Andre King
1994 Jacob Shumate
1995 *Chad Hutchinson
1996 A.J. Zapp
1997 Troy Cameron
1998 Matt Belisle
1999 Matt Butler
2000 Adam Wainwright
2001 Macay McBride
2002 Jeff Francoeur
2003 Luis Atilano
2004 Eric Campbell
2005 Joey Devine
2006 Cody Johnson
2007 Jason Heyward
I’ve said this before, but James is a quality starting pitcher. That’s what we’ve been trying to improve, and I’d be shocked if we trade him unless we get something really good in return.
Oldtimer–thats a good list, but remember many of those picks were the Braves first pick, but they were not in the first round….
Has anyone seen this? A friend sent it to me and I’m not sure anyone here has posted it.
http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/jonbois/118318
@146 Most teams would love to have a surplus of lefty pitching. In case you haven’t noticed most of the top hitters are left handed.
If the Braves trade James then Wren is smoking crack. There just aint anything out there thats better at his current price.
I am not confident that we’ll get anything out of Mike Hampton except endless discussions about insurance money, payroll and what a great acquisition he was.
As dim-witted as usual, I just now realized the Mets’ colors are blue and orange. No wonder I hate those miscreants.
Sam @ 117: Try abebooks.com.
The last time, the Brave swere supposed to start with three lefties (Glavine, Hampton, O Perez), they traded Perez. I can’t remember why but probably not because they didn’t want three lefties. Yeah right, I’m probably wrong, maybe i just want James dealt and take a chance on Jojo or Jurrjens. I am not counting on Hampton by the way, but it sounds like Wren is?!
I thought we traded Perez to get that Sheffield fellow – if I recall, he hit pretty well for us that season.
In fairness to Metsblog, some of the comments actually were pretty classy. But I love it when a Mets’ fan calls the Braves a choker franchise. You would think that after last year they would refrain from calling anyone else a choker.
If the 3 lefties pitch well, I don’t see what the issue is. Hampton probably will blow out his arm tying his shoes in spring training anyway. Bobby might want to separate the lefties by going Smoltz, Glavine, Hudson, James, Hampton/Reyes/somebody else. That’s fine and no big deal.
Well Glavine, and Hampton were never in the same rotation, as I recall Hampton was brought in to try to replace Glavine.
Ron,
Big Bird needs to order Bobby Cox to pitch James second and Glavine fourth. If not, Glavine will be your #2 postseason pitcher.
I know everybody says “well let’s get to the postseason first.” I, however, like the Dick Williams approach. Act like you are going. (youngsters, when the DH first came in Dick Williams was managing Oakland. He made their pitchers keep doing batting practice because they would need it for the World Series.)
I’ve been mostly away for a couple days, so I don’t know if this has been posted already, but here’s a somewhat interesting little article on Glavine from THT yesterday:
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/anatomy-of-a-player-tom-glavine/