John Smoltz To Sign With Red Sox

Real shame if he does end up anywhere other then Atlanta.

This is complete horse s#@t.

Geez, anything else Frank Wren would like to screw up?

It'd suck if Smoltz goes anywhere but the Atlanta Braves.

I completely expected him to go back to the Braves. He has been a life long Brave, how can he go anywhere else? The guy has a good shot at the Hall of Fame, I'd be surprised if he didn't make it.

Class act. Would be perfect for Boston when he gets nice and healthy and could inject some life into a possibly hurt rotation down the road.

JS needs to step in and tell Frank Wren this can't happen. If it does happen we might as well shop Chipper, and start completely over. It will save us some grief down the road as CJ will eventually have to DH. It's hard to type and cry at the same time!

Seems weird to imagine Smoltz outside of ATL.

It's obviously a good signing as he can provide great value at a reasonable cost provided he doesn't have any hangups in his recovery. If this happens, it's more likely that the Sox will trade some sort of pitching in a deal for a catcher.

Frank Wren might be having the worst offseason for a GM ever.

Smoltz and Baldelli are two great pickups. They will never outspend the Yankees, but they need to be smart and stock up on arms and build a bench.

Umm, Patrick, learn to read. It looks like $5.5M with INCENTIVES to $10M IF he pitches.

$10M possibly for Penny and Smoltz to never pitch. These are the kinds of moves that teams with money can make. Penny and Smoltz could be $10M of dead money, but they've got the prospects if these two don't pan out.
The upside is pretty great.

Curt Schilling > Smoltz

Man if this actually happens this would have been one hell of an offseason for the Braves. It's not a sure thing though, just a rumor.

You have to admire Epstein's prowess though. I feel that Boston has to have the best overall pitching staff in baseball and this acquisition would only make them that much better. There's just something about having such pitching depth that you really have to respect no matter what team you are a fan of. The kicker is that the majority of these guys are homegrown.

Wow! Boston is going to be a scary town to come to if you are any other team.

i bet the braves go after lowe now

B-Rye:
BS > Schilling
Smoltz >>>>> Schilling

I would imagine it would be as a starter if they're willing to throw up to $10M on him. But I suppose if the rotation is clicking on all cylinders when he's ready to come back, they may work him into a setup role. The article says he wants to start, FWIW.

Papelboner:
Do you like Papelbon too or just his boner. Yanks are gonna swoop in.

If John Smoltz signs with the Red Sox im pretty sure it will be on the front page of the AJC and there will be some empty seats.

Mainly because alot of everyday fans dont know all of the stuff going on behind the scenes during the offseason all they know is that he is an icon in the history of Atlanta sports and if he goes alot of "normal" fans will go as well.

Not to mention if they completely rebuilt and got rid of Chipper too? talk about an uproar

Forget that if this goes down and the Braves dont do anything serious the next two weeks and only get Kawakami and Jones i wouldnt be surprised if Chipper asked to be traded to a contender and im sure teams would be falling all over themselves with that one. ESPECIALLY the AL teams where he can just be a DH.

Papelboner:
Do you like Papelbon too or just his boner. Yanks are gonna swoop in.

Posted by: yanksrule

Neither. I'd tell you but it really doesn't f()cking matter, now does it? How about you actually talk about the article rather than worrying about my name or what it means. Seriously, get a life. Have fun in middle school tomorrow.

Did Smoltz just sign Kinzer as his agent?

This sucks.

Papelboner:
Whatever, just joking. If Smoltz goes to Red Sox I guarantee Yanks sign either Sheets or Lowe.

Trace it out a bit.

Beckett, Lester, Matsuzaka locks in rotation.

Penny, Smoltz, Wakefield for 2 SP spots.

So Bowden in AAA, Masterson in the bullpen.

Buchholz in Texas ??

sorry braves fans, but i have to do it

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u132/jay123_2/you_got_owned_yel.gif

Nice, Smoltz is something else when he has a baseball in his hand. Great pitcher!

This is GOOD. It prevents Frank Wren from signing him out of desperation at spring training.

Smoltz only pitch 28 innings last year. TWENTY EIGHT. He got paid 14 million. All he has is sentimental value. The Braves need to get in rebuild mode and trade Chipper Jones while he's worth something.

Braves in 2010!

I can't really say that Frank Wren is to blame for this. It appears that Smoltz didn't want to wait around for a contract offer. Hope he does well! I hope that the Sox win the series, it doesn't appear that we'll be heading that way this year anyway.

You've got to be kidding me. Is this serious? How could this happen? If Smoltz can pitch he is dominant. I want to know what happened with talks with the Braves.....

Papelboner:
Whatever, just joking. If Smoltz goes to Red Sox I guarantee Yanks sign either Sheets or Lowe.

Posted by: yanksrule

I know you're just joking around. Making fun of someone's name is one of my biggest pet peeves on here. It's really just a waste of everyone's time. I'd much rather have an intelligent discussion with a Yankees fan than have to read peope going back and forth on here about how stupid a name is.

As for the Yanks signing Lowe/Sheets, I can see Sheets on a 2 year deal but I think Lowe is going to get some money from the Mets or Braves that the Yanks won't want to top.

You would have to think that FW has something in the works, right???????????

If Smoltz signs anywhere else but the Braves, I don't know what I'd think. My world might come crashing down around me and I'd probably have to spend some time in therapy to get past it. Really, John? Boston? Frank Wren has lost his mind if signing Smoltz isn't a priority.

Fellow Braves Fans,

I understand the frustration at the thought of losing Smoltz, and I myself don't really know what to make of it personally. Still, can you blame Frank Wren for not offering Smoltz 5.5 million guaranteed when he's still months away from pitching? The thing is, if John didn't really, really want to do this, don't you think he'd come back and give the Braves a chance to match the Red Sox offer? It sounds like Smoltz thinks the Red Sox are a better fit because they are guaranteed to be in contention and there will be far less pressure to go out there every 5 days and pitch at least 6 innings. I can't say I really disagree with him there. The Braves would be leaning on Smoltz as one of the primary guys on their staff. With the Red Sox, he can take his time, make his debut in late May, and if he tweaks something, its not a problem to give him time off. He'll essentially be the JD Drew of the starting rotation.

As for the Braves, they clearly need to do something at some point, but making a move just for the sake of making a move is the worst strategy imaginable. As things stand, the Braves are one of the few teams that still have a bunch of money to spend, and there are still a ton of viable options left on the FA market. We can let things develop and pick off the best bargains out there. Let's wait at least wait until the Braves open camp before we start calling for Frank Wren's head.

great signing by the sox.

agreed with all the braves fans. wren is creeping up on vick as the most hated man in atlanta.

Posted by: nixa37 | January 07, 2009 at 10:39 PM

Perfectly put.

New trade update...... The Atlanta Braves have just traded 3B, Chipper Jones, to Aqua Man for the lost city of Atlantis!!!

Saying, 'have fun with ______' is the easiest way to show you're jealous of a signing.

braveskid010,

Where did it say that Smoltz gave the Braves a chance to match the offer? The Braves just wanted to wait until he rehab had progressed further before they made a move to sign him. You can't really blame them for that. Smoltz knew he had a spot on the Braves as long as he way healthy, but he decided to take guaranteed money now from the Sox. Considering the amount of money he has made, I think this has a lot less to do with 5.5 million guaranteed then it does with the whole situation the Sox presented him with.

BOSOX SUCK! they get baldelli and smoltz! WE SIGN MANNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saying, 'have fun with ______' is the easiest way to show you're jealous of a signing.

Posted by: CubbyFan23 | January 07, 2009 at 10:49 PM

Not at all. Saying, "have fun with ____" is saying "have fun with ____" Was it that hard to understand?

BOSOX SUCK! they get baldelli and smoltz! WE SIGN MANNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Taylor89 | January 07, 2009 at 10:50 PM

Who is "we"? I'm assuming you're a yankees fan.

I'm so pissed. I'm a huge Smoltz and Braves fan, and this honestly hurts me. Down deep.

Terrible offseason for the Braves, no doubt. I know I've read comments from Smoltz that he wants to contend, and it's pretty clear to me that the Braves won't contend in '09. He doesn't have time to wait, so I wish him well.

Maybe he can teach Papelbon some class...

"lol these Yankees fans crack me up."

amen broter, amen. but to be fair, its only the ignorant ones that are really annoying

yanksrule, the Yankees' payroll is already at $210M, yet you "guarantee" they'll sign Sheets or Lowe? You're a moron...

"amen broter, amen. but to be fair, its only the ignorant ones that are really annoying"

you're right, man. i definitely have respect for the ones who can have a decent, intelligent baseball conversation.

yanks will sign MANNY, once they dump nady and swisher, dont need lowe or sheets!

Dear God let this not be true. Smoltz is my favorate Brave and the bosox is the team I hate the most. I so angry at both Wren and Smoltz if this happens.

Evertime nixa37 talks,i seem to listen better.you put it the best in tht long paragraph like thing. Are you a coach of somesort? because you know what to say that always makes the most sense

JudgeNY,

you know, its easy to knock a team for "weakness". The fact you can knock some of the players you just did is amazing to me.

Wow this is a great move by the sox. low risk and when Smoltz is healthy he dominates, as a starter or a reliever.
So now the sox will have 3 #5 starters come june but I bet if Clay or Penny steps up then Wake will be the odd man out. Without a doubt this adds great depth to an already strong rotation.

can u imagine a playoff 1 2 punch of smoltz and beckett. smoltz is the greatest postseason pitcher ever and beckett isnt far behind