5:45pm: ESPN's Buster Olney specifies the dollar values within Glaus' incentive clauses (via Twitter).
2:24pm: The Braves officially signed Troy Glaus to a one-year today. He'll get a $1.75MM base, a $250K bonus at 100 games, and another possible $2MM in incentives. Glaus will play first base for Atlanta. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the agreement on December 23rd, while David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweeted the value.
The 33-year-old Glaus was limited to 135 plate appearances this year due to the effects of January shoulder surgery. He's played only 38.6 innings of first base in his career, all of them coming in the last two seasons. When he's right, Glaus is a threat to slug around .500 and hit 30 home runs.
By itself, I like the Glaus signing. I did not like the Braves trading Javier Vazquez to free up cash for Glaus and a potential outfield acquisition, however.
Its about time !….I was getting a little impatient lol.
Glaus will play at 1B, hmm?
welcome to Hotlanta Troy!!!!! Hopefully he will help us with the long ball a little bit and protect Chipdog
I don’t see him batting after Chipper. I think McCann will.
he will bat behind chipper or infront of him, listened to the interview where bobby cox told us his plans. though he may bat behind McCann as you said if McCann’s eyesight gets back to 100 percent.
I predict Chipper having a 30/95 year because of Glaus
I really hope he can return to his 2008 ways and bring the big bat we need.
Yes,all of us Braves fans hope the same thing…I’m glad we are done signing Glaus.Now on to the next step adding another ourfield bat so Dave O Brien says’…
Didn’t this already happen?
No he agreed to sign with him before Christmas but never got a physical done because the offices were closed for the hollidays.Finally its OFFICIAL though.
If this is the game plan then I would seriously be worried. Glaus has crazy upside but to put yourself in position where he has to play is very risky.
Glaus is a great sign! He hit very well in 2008 and that was with the bad shoulder. That’s right he was playing hurt the entire season, (maybe his work ethic will rub off on Chipper), and now that he is repaired and fully healed he should be a beast in Atlanta!Some people need to learn to define Injury prone, (look next to CJs picture), Glaus has had separate problems over his career, a bad back back in 2003-04, and the shoulder problem that first appeared in 2007. His only fault was trying to play through both instead of running to the surgeon right away like most players do.
I’ve followed Glaus since the minors (being a devout Angels fan). He has always dealt with injury problems – always. 03-04 was huge – playing in less than 50% of his games as an Angel. 07 was another short season (missed 25% of the games) and 09 was completely lost. Even when healthy he is complaining of one problem or another.
Like I said, Glaus is a great guy to have around. I wish the Angels would have brought him back to split time at DH and provide some insurance at 3B. However, to depend on him being healthy and starting for you is a stretch. I see no reason to assume that Glaus is suddenly going to be healthy going into his age 33 season. Other GM’s apparently agreed as his best deal was $2m. That’s the price you pay for a backup – not a starting 1B who is going to club 30+ HR’s (as some Brave fans have predicted).
Who’s next??!! I cant wait to see what Wren has up his sleeve…
Great signing. I’ll always rue the day the Angels let him go. If he’s right, he’ll have a monster year.
I meant ‘No he agreed to sign with the Braves before Christmas’*
I agree with Tim about moving Vasquez. Wren publicly shopped Lowe, and it’s reported Lowe “would never have played signed here [Altanta] if I knew I wasn’t part of the long term plans”. So the Braves managed to trade their best pitcher while disheartening their second best.
And the Atlanta crowd is excited about that blunder resulting in Glaus? (granted, another move presumably TBA)
Lowe is NOT the braves 2nd best pitcher, Hudson, Jurrjens, Hanson, then Lowe i guess
Fair enough. He’s still (presumably) a fixture of their rotation who they’re going to rely on every 5th outing.
right, but Lowe now has something to prove, I think he’ll be fine and have a nice bounce back season in Atlanta
Sure, but in a perfect world, Lowe wouldn’t have been publicly shopped only to actually move Javy. It could give Lowe the fire to prove something, but it could cut the other way as well.
Hopefully, for Braves fans, Wren knows Lowe’s psyche well enough that he didn’t make a major blunder.
Even if Lowe’s feelings are hurt if he doesn’t go out there and perform it will hurt him in the long run in future contracts.
Whats up with the Twins??? they just waiting for a bargain?
Yup. Same as ever. I can’t think of the last time we made a big splash on the free agent market. Maybe Jack Morris?
Lowe said just yesterday that there is absolutely no hard feelings and that everything has been smoothed out. He was just upset because he didn’t want to leave Atlanta and now that he is going to stay, he is happy.
Id put JJ in front of Huddy man…he is really good
In what world was Javier Vazquez the Braves’ best pitcher? Take a look at his career stats. There is no way he would stack another year on top of the one he had in 09. Not to mention if Hudson and Hanson had pitched all year, their numbers would have crumbled Vazquez’s.
I am so tired of hearing about how bad the Vazquez trade was. The Braves needed the money…they got one of the game’s top pitching prospects, and added to their outfield depth. And it’s not like they are starved for pitching and traded their only good one away. In fact, their pitching is so solid, I don’t even know who will be the opening day pitcher. Take your pick…Hudson, Hanson, Jurrjens. Take a look at Vazquez’s numbers at the end of the season compared to those three and we’ll see about the trade.
I think it’s a bit surprising that this seems to be the “bat” the Braves decided to get with the freed cash–that is unless there is some miracle that’s about to occur.
Hey ,it was cheap 🙂
I wasn’t saying the Glaus signing was a bad one, it just doesn’t add up to dealing a pitcher like Vazquez. That’s all.
Ohh I know…None of us Braves fans wanted Vasquez gone.But it is what it is now.We should be adding another outfield bat soon after this signing.I’m wondering who its gonna be..
You sure about that? I wanted him traded, he would get us the biggest return, and we only had 1 year left of him, and there’s no guarantee he repeats his career best year again.
You’re making it seem like he’s a one-year wonder. There are not many active pitchers who have endured as much success as Vazquez–and all before age 33!
No I never said he was a 1-year wonder, but that was by far his best year of his career, look at the stats. There’s a very slim chance he repeats that. Now we get Hudson for 3 years, Hanson, Jurrjens, Lowe, and Kawakami, I think we’re set and now that we let 1 year of Vazquez go, we get Glaus for a year, Dunn in the bullpen, a great 4th OF who could also start, and a top 3 prospect who could easily be better than Vazquez in the long run for many years to come. Good trade.
Javi WAS their most successful pitcher LAST YEAR. I would hardly rank him above Hudson, or Lowe based on his career work. Figure it out! Six starters tying up a ton of payroll so one had to go. They tried trading Lowe eating $3 mil per year. No takers! JJ and Hanson are untouchables, and no market for KK. Lowe has gotten over his little fit so all is well!
Hudson has pitched 184 innings the past two seasons combined. Lowe was ineffective last season.
To say that these pitchers are a notch above Javier Vazquez, who has struck out at least 150 batters in the past ten seasons while posting a 3.28 ERA and 1.21 WHIP during that period, is a bit of a stretch.
In terms of careers, Hudson and Vazquez are a wash (I guess), but I wouldn’t say Lowe is.
Dude you better learn to read stats!
How do you figure?
Hudson was injured for the majority of 2009, and for part of 2008. Derek Lowe posted a 4.67 ERA and 1.51 WHIP.
Then what is all of this???
“Vazquez, who has struck out at least 150 batters in the past ten seasons while posting a 3.28 ERA and 1.21 WHIP during that period.”
Explain how you get that 3.28 ERA over those ten years!
Lowe has a 3.84 ERA lifetime and has spent 2/3 of his career in the AL.
Javi has a 4.19 ERA lifetime and has spent 2/3 of his career in the NL.
Comparing him to Hudson is plain silly so I’ll let you try to figure out the stats, and yes Hudson missed parts of the past two seasons for the obvious reason. He is now healthy!
Ah, you’re right–he had a 3.98 ERA over those ten seasons. My bad.While I see your point about the AL/NL comparison, Lowe did not do well in the NL in 2009, so he’s obviously the weaker of the two.
Lowe was with the Dodgers as well. Lowe is the weaker of the two because he had a career worse and Javy had a career year? I don’t understand. Lowe may not be better than Javier, but I assure you that Lowe + (Whoever is signed) + Melky + Dunn + (money not given up in Lowe trade) will be better than Javier + (possible prospect in Lowe trade) just this year. I’m not even including Glaus and Vicaino.
Actually, Lowe had his second worst year (see: 2004).
I see your point, but if they were cutting salary to sign Glaus, they really could have just not signed Saito.
That’s why I didn’t include Glaus. The Javier deal wasn’t to make way for Glaus. It was for the prospects and so they could have only 5 pitchers instead of leaving KK in the BP. To make a team better, that’s not bad. It will be hard though to revert him back and signing a guy as a starter and using him in the BP looks bad too.
I’m pretty happy about Glaus, LOW rish with an extremely high reward. Nice Signing, I look for the Braves to bring in Damon now, or possibly Dye, we’ll see. but all and all nice job
I could see Dye but not Damon, he would have to lower his price alot and if he does that he will be back with the Yanks.
Glaus is NOT a low risk signing if you’re relying on him to be in your lineup for 150 games a year.
Glaus is a low risk moneywise, that’s why they should sign Nady to be a OF/1B backup plan for Gluas
And if neither one can play? Even $1 is too much if you are simply throwing it away…
Funny that so many fans are so concerned about the money part. If anything we fans should be up in arms, not glad that we got a low cost signing! I personally cannot wait until 2011 to see if Ted Turner or Arthur Blank would like to buy the Braves.
It has made me sick to no end to see the Braves give up great talent because these guys didn’t fit into the payroll. How many times has this happened over the years? And we want to get back to the playoffs???
There are two kinds of teams in baseball: Those who don’t know any limits to their payroll like the Yankees, and those who go for low cost, high potential minor league players like the Marlins or Twins. Where do the Braves fit in to this scheme??
YOu know I was think that since we got a right handed bat in Glaus, that maybe right or left handed doesnt matter for the outfield spot. We get a lefty and we go with Diaz, Mclouth and “new guy” to start the seaon and if Heyward is ready in ST then we go with Diaz/new guy platoon, Mclouth and Heyward. I was thinking we had to go with a righty but having Glaus (right handed bat) now really opens up some other options in the OF. Any lefty OF’s that maybe we havent been thinking of???
But where does Melky fit into that plan?
Actually I see Melky starting a corner position and leading off. Mclouth in Center and Diaz platooning with whoever they sign or even Schafer/Heyward. I would like to see them sign Ankiel. I think it would be a low risk high reward signing like Glaus.
There’s no way you hand Melky a starting spot while platooning Heyward, or even a healthy Schafer. Melky is a 4th outfielder, and should be used as such–occasionally filling in to give some guy a rest, or as a switch hitter spelling for someone facing same-handed pitching.
Dye or Damon is what I keep on hearing with an occassional Nady talk. All 3 are horrible in the field Dye has the best bat I think though. But can he still play in the OF. He would be cheap though how about signing him and Nady. I wonder if that is viable. Then Dye and Nady split time in the OF and Nady is there in case Glaus does get hurt (though I beleive his injury history is overstated & he did just pass a phsyical after handing out his medical reports like candy).
Agree! Dye could go out there on crutches and cover more ground then GA did last year!
Braves had to be freeing up money for something else…not sure if it’s a mid season acquisition of something else…but Wren’s got something up his sleeve…
The thing most people forget is our 1-5 opening day this year is better than 1-5 last year without Vazquez
2009:
Lowe
Vazquez
JJ
Kawakami
Jo-Jo/Morton/Glavine
2010:
Hudson
JJ
Hanson
Lowe
Kawakami
I’ll take Hudson and Hanson over JOJO and Vazquez anyday!!! nice point
Exactly, a full year of Hanson and Hudson should easily make up for the loss of Vazquez…plus we got a guy who slots in around our 3 or 4th best prospect…and Dunn should make an appearance or two out of this year’s bullpen…
That’s certainly a positive way to look at it, but the reality of the matter is that your rotation could have looked like this:
Hudson
Vazquez
JJ
Hanson
Lowe
Unless they make some big move for a bat, they could have just signed Troy Glaus instead of Takashi Saito.
Glaus, hopefully will not cost 2 mil. 2 mil is the base. Hopefully, there will be incentives paid.
Vasquez has also historically alternated between good year and bad year. And even his good years in the past were never THAT good. I like Vasquez but I think that year was a fluke.
Vazquez’s year wasn’t a fluke…but it is probably his one career year.The Braves found a suitor willing to take on his entire contract, and we got usable pieces for now(Melky, Dunn) and in the future(Vizcaino). Then with the saved money we basically signed Glaus and I imagine one more signing…Braves come out on top overall…IMHO
If he never pitched that good before and he never pitches that good again seems pretty flukey to me.
A “fluke” is when a player produces in a fashion they’ve never approached before and aren’t talented enough to approach again.
Both of those statements would be incorrect in regards to Vazquez. His “bad” years on the White Sox were more the result of bad luck than bad pitching.
I dont think we should be looking for another left hand bat (Johny Damon), instead we could go for Dye that will provide a better protection for Chip and Big Mc. If we could at least get Dye, I think we are set for the Wild Card. Go Bravos!
I like the deal for the Braves they freed up $ for glaus,but what about Laroche?
Obviously he has no where to play here now…he must have not been willing to take a 1 or 2 year deal to stay…
Laroche never got an offer from the Braves, but he made it known he wants 3yrs & 30million good luck to him, I say he signs with the Mariners.
Looks like LaRoche is about to lose the M’s as a suitor if this Kotchman deal goes through…only leaves the Giants…
yeah, I saw that. lol
Does anybody know how to put a team logo in the little box?
Nady makes the most sense. It would allow the Braves to rotate Glaus, Nady, Chipper, Prado, Infante, Diaz, Cabrera, McLouth, Heyward among 6 spots. Shortstop would be the only position without depth.
I’m not sold on Nady…
I would think some depth behind Glaus would be more important than an outfield bat right now. The Braves actually have pretty decent outfield depth. Nady or Scott would help in both areas.
If Nady was a sure thing he would probably be out of the Braves’s price range. Luke Scott would be a nice fit through a trade and provide similar skills with a lot more security. But then what do you do when Heyward arrives?
I agree on Luke Scott!
But don’t you mean to say depth behind Chipper? My guess is Glaus will be playing third for Atlanta in years to come.
Tim, when you look at the Vazquez trade this way:
Vazquez and Logan
for
Hudson, Vizcaino, Dunn, and Melky
and it looks very nice since thats just about a very even deal. Wren switches out Vazquez for Hudson (who has been a better more conistant pitcher than Vazquez) AND gains a blue-chip prospect, a nice cheap lefty pen arm, a versatile 4OF AND didn’t spend any extra cash.
This means we added talent to our club and still had all the cash saved from dropping Church, Johnson, Anderson, Soriano, Gonzalez and Hudson’s previous contract to add other hitters and relievers.
Its quite a nice deal when you look at it as whole flowing move.
And we still have an estimated 7-9 million free for another signing or midseason deal…
Yay, someone’s finally looking at it the way I’m looking at it.
How is it possible that Glaus got $2m and Garret Atkins got more than double that??
because even though he had a crappy year Atkins was still healthy while Gluas basically missed the whole year. And maybe it wasn’t the best signing on the Orioles part. lol
“The 33-year-old Glaus was limited to 135 plate appearances this year due to the effects of January shoulder surgery.”
Tim, I am confused about this sentence. I guess you are counting both minor and major league plate appearances? He only had 32 PA with the Cardinals.
Tim I wanna know the reason why you didnt like the Vazquez/Vizcaino trade…I mean the Braves got a servicable option for the outfield )and lets not forget how the AL to NL transition usually works) and a future top of the rotation starter for 1 year of Javy. Another year like that the Braves wouldn’t be able to afford him. Dunn/Boone is a lefty reliever/lefty reliever wash so I think the Braves did well in that and are getting Glaus to boot. anyone agree???
And evryone seems to forget that Hudson is replacing him in the rotation.
I completely agree, I’m sick of everyone crying about this. It was a fantastic trade and I’m really looking forward to what Vizcaino can do.
With the way Wren has been working this off season I think we’ll see his next move very soon. I haven’t been able to guess what’s on his mind this offseason but I think Wren goes out and gets Nady unless Damon plays for less to spite the Yanks. Then again he could be in money saving mode and hold on to some cash for a trade down the line.
Personally, I think whoever signs Nady will get a bargain cause he’s going to be in great shape and is gonna put up something close to his ’08 numbers this year. Probably going start out slow, but, given the chance and the right hitting position, I forsee something like .290/22-25/80.
I think Nady is way more of a risk then Glaus. For the same deal I might be interested. Otherwise spend it on an older proven hitter and if he can’t hang you bring on the kiddie corp!
I agree, Dye is less injury prone and has more power, but I like the fact Nady can play 1B.
I like this signing. Also some people think the Vasquez trade was him straight up for Melky. Vizciano was the centerpiece. He was third ranked in the Yankees system. I wish Glaus the best of luck in Atlanta.
be shocked if you even get Garrett Anderson Production out of Glaus. Don’t get tied up in names. Dude is done
Tied up in names? Take out last year which he had the injury. The last four years before that he averaged .261 30hr 90rbi. I dont think its the name we are stuck on its the production. Even if he never gets to that level for what we signed him for I will take 20hr 70rbi. Who was better out there. Obviously no one that special cuz I dont see a Texeria bidding war, and the biggest thing is this move doesn’t prevent Freeman from coming up next year if he is ready. Also Glaus is 5yrs younger than Anderson. At 33 you can come back from an injury
Btw to all who think he is injury prone before last year he was averaging almost 500 at bats a year.
That is totally lame!
Like I said elsewhere, the man played with the injured shoulder for the entire 2008 season and still had 27 HRs and 99 RBI in 151 games. The shoulder was repaired and is now healed. He’s 33 not 63.
Take your crystal ball and go play the lottery!
Tim, did you see the Vazquez trade? It wasn’t purely to free up cash. It was the basis of looking to trade him, but we got Arodys Vizcaino in the trade. He was the centerpiece of the trade, and is all of a sudden our #3 prospect in our organization behind Heyward and Freeman. This was anything but a salary dump, we got a great return for Vazquez. Essentially, we traded Vazquez for Vizcaino, Mike Dunn, who should be an above average reliever for years to come, Melky, who was the throw in, and now, Troy Glaus. How is that not a good trade?
I still think we should sign Nady because if Chip gets hurt Glaus can go to 3rd and Nady can move to 1st and Diaz can handle outfield….thoughts? I like Dye too always have, Id be happy with either but Nady would give us more options if he isnt too expensive.
There’s no way you hand Melky a starting spot while platooning Heyward, or even a healthy Schafer. Melky is a 4th outfielder, and should be used as such–occasionally filling in to give some guy a rest, or as a switch hitter spelling for someone facing same-handed pitching.
Melky had a much better season than Schafer last year, and Heyward is 20yrs old. Both of them would be fine platooning with Diaz. Diaz hit like .426 against lefties last year, you have to figure out a way to get him in the lineup agianst lefties, I don’t care who he platoons with even if it’s with Melky.
Schafer was also playing injured, and he has much more upside. We’ve seen Melky’s best.
People I don’t see the Braves signing another guy coming off injury…thats far too many if’s, Nady is not the answer…
I wish they could have dealt Lowe and extended Vazquez but it didn’t happen. Trading Vazquez is not the end of the world if they sign another OF.
There are two comments that are so far off base…..1) saying Glaus will put “Garrett Anderson” numbers must not have watched last year. GA was bad…..300 OBP. I realize that health is a concern but if he plays 130 games then I promise you, his numbers will be much better than GA. No contest. 2) Saying Hudson and Vazquez career’s about even…What? Hudson is 70 games over .500 (148-78), has never been under .500 in a season, career ERA 3.49 vs Vazquez who was under .500 until this year..now at 142-139., 5 yrs under .500 and career ERA of 4.19. Vazquez is a horse and is an innings eater but his career numbers pale in comparision.
Hudson, JJ, Hanson, Lowe, KK is a very good rotation. Maybe sign Nady and I think their line-up is above average and have alot of versaltility with Nady being able to play 1B along, Heyward waiting in the wings and Infante able to go all over the field. Prado too but he is going to play 150 games at 2B this year.
Great signing for the price.
If he stays healthy, Braves should be a favorite for the WC. Still don’t see them having the thump to catch the Phils.
NLE is going to be very, very fun this year!
Pitching wins championships. We may not hit like the phillies but they dont pitch like we do. I think it all depends on whose better the phillies pitching or the braves hitting. With Glaus, a rebound year for Chipper, young guns giving any production, and another signing like Dye, Damon, or Nady we may get the edge. Screw the wildcard I want the division and think its ridiculous to say the Phillies are gonna win it automatically.
It’s not like the Phillies have poor pitching. I think the adage “pitching wins championships” is a bit off. The Braves had the best starting pitching almost every year they were in the playoffs, yet only won one title. Great pitching will get you into the playoffs, sure.
Rather it’s all about balance. As it stands right now, the Braves may have the pieces in place for a very solid offense, but, in order to have that, a lot of things will have to fall their way. How will Prado do in his first full year as a starter? How will Hanson perform with a full-year’s workload ahead of him. Last year, he pitched almost 60 innings more than any other previous year. Will Lowe rebound? Will Chipper, Glaus, Wagner, and Saito all stay healthy? Will Chipper rebound? There are a lot of questions. It’ll be interesting to see how it all turns out.
You think the Phillies don’t have question marks? Can Ibanez at 38 come back from his injury and horrible second half?, Will Rollins ever stop declining and show that 2007 wasn’t a fluke?, was Werth’s first full season in his 7 year career a sign of what’s ahead or were the 156 Ks a better measure of what’s in store?, is the light hitting Palanco capable of MLB caliber 3rd baseman numbers?, Will teams finally learn that you don’t throw strikes to a guy,(Howard) with a ton of power who Ks 200 times per season?, (see Barry Bonds), Can Hamels rebound?, will pitching in that stadium bring Halladay down to earth?, and finally will an Orioles castoff (Baez) save that so-so bullpen?
All teams have question marks, but the Braves have 4 big pieces with both age and health concerns. I’ll take question marks that deal with younger players or with healthy players showing signs of decline anyday over older players with health and age concerns. That said, my comment was meant to suggest that before we jump around and prematurely crown ourselves division champs, or whatever, that we at least consider that we need to wait and see how our offseason additions respond from major health concerns and how well Chipper and Lowe rebound. I’m hopeful.
agreed the braves should have won more than the one but really besides Doc Hol who has never pitched in the NL before who do they have. I am not impressed by a team that had to throw Pedro out there when no one wanted him.
My main point though is every seems to be gunning for the WC why are fans giving up the division to the phillies already. SAD
Oswell it is time for them to go with a Troy Glaus and Derek Lowe trade for the halos halos give them Ayabar and Kazmir/santanna
Test
I am sick of these low cost high reward type players, if your gonna sign somebody sign one who hasn’t been injured half his career or who is old. I really do not think the Braves want to win this season!
LOL
You are 100% correct sir.
Funny that Wren did a heck of a job signing sure things for the pitching staff last year then this year he seems to think that it’s okay now to sign these low cost high reward type players. I thought we already learned our lesson about this!
I sincerely hope that the team works out in 2010–especially since I’d like to watch some baseball (it’s been tough stomaching the last few years and I haven’t watched much–I only watch the Braves!).
braves need to sign laroche
Not a chance.
Braves do want to win this year, but realize it will be tough regardless because of the Phillies. Listen, this team, I agree, doesn’t look that great and I don’t think we sniff the playoffs until at least 2011, but Wren screwed himself and maybe the organization in the ground with the Lowe and Kawakami signings. It’s really that simple, folks. you can’t grant a $60m contract to a 36 year old pitcher and another $23m to a MLB untested pitcher in Kawakami and expect it to be a wise business decision for the future. Hopefully Franky Wren has learned his lesson and I’m betting him being handcuffed this offseason has taught him a thing or two.
Handcuffed?So tell us, who would you have signed?As for last year we had very questionable pitching entering last winter and ended the year with one of the deepest rotations in baseball. Three years at $15 mil each was about right for Lowe in last years market. Wren had to add the forth year to keep the Mets from getting him. That’s how free agency works sometimes. as for KK’s deal it was reasonable for a pitcher of his talent. ALL players coming from Japan are MLB “untested” that doesn’t keep them from getting fair market value. The Dodgers gave Kuroda $35 mil+ for 3 yrs and his was back loaded so that they owe him $15.4 mil this year. Kawakami will make one million less then last year, ($7.3 mil) and the same amount in 2011. Not at all a bad deal compared to what’s being paid to a bunch of guys filling out the back end of MLB pitching rotations!
True. It would’ve been nice to have that money. I have a feeling that Wren is going to save the 7-8 million, that he has left from the Vasquez trade, until midseason for a much bigger addition via a trade, if necessary. There are some decent FA’s available, but nothing huge. Outside of Bay or Holliday, there wasn’t a true gamechanger on the market that the Braves could afford.
That said, I still feel as though Wren has done a decent job. We improved something like 14 games from the season before. This year, we won’t have Francoeur, Kelly Johnson, and an injured Schafer in our lineup for the first few months of the season, which has to be worth several games right there.
Wow, are you serious? I bet you loved the Lowe signing when they did it just like any other Braves fan. Wren is not handcuffed, he’s signing players we need. We wouldn’t have signed Holliday if we didn’t have Lowe, that’s not the way the Braves function.
I don’t quite get your problem with Lowe and Kawakami. Lowe was a lot better than you think, he was, according to FanGraphs, worth about $12 Mil, that’s only $3 Mil overpaid, and Kawakami was a giant slayer, he’s an extremely effective starter, especially for it being his first year in the league and his first year in a 5-man rotation. Wren’s doing a great job and I hope you realize that eventually and stop thinking so short-sighted.
Braves will be in last place this season. 70-92.
I know other teams have improved as well, but you can’t say the Braves have made some drastic changes from the terrible team we had at the start of last year. Braves will be better this year than last, but that leaves the question, is it enough to get into the play-offs?
I agree. Ultimately the purpose of every off season should be to improve on the previous year’s team. Have we done that? Yes, we have.
Instead of paying 7 million dollars to Laroche, we are paying 2 million to Glaus, who was a fine defensive 3B on top of being a slugger before surgery. Instead of starting the outfield with Anderson, Schafer & Frenchy (bad) we have Diaz, McClouth, & Heyward/Cabrera/Someone (better than last year). Instead of having a rotation of:
Lowe, Vazquez, Jurrjens, Kawakami & Hanson…
we have Hudson, Lowe, Jurrjens, Hanson & Kawakami…
Was trading Vazquez really THAT big of a deal? On top of saving money, based on names alone I think those are pretty much a wash. What team wouldn’t want our rotation to start a season?
We also have a 2B that isn’t streaky and a new main PH that can do more than strikeout with runners on 2nd and 3rd.
Bottom line, we have spent less and are fielding a better team. You can’t really dispute that. They only grounds for argument are whether or not some of the “older” players will hold up.
bravesfan are you an idiot?
One thing you’re definitely not is a Braves fans!
Dislike.
You’re an idiot.
Tim, I am going to have to disagree with you on this. The Braves were essentially unable to trade Lowe because nobody wanted the contract that followed him. Several teams baulked at Vazquez because he becomes a free agent. We are going to have to see how these prospects the Braves receive contribute to the organization which won’t be for a few years. Otherwise Wren did the wise thing of trading Javy for top dollar.
Agreed. The return we got for Vazquez, like it or not, was lightyears beyond what we could have gotten for Lowe. Plus, we would have had to pay for some of Lowe’s salary, which would have made any small return on that trade even smaller.
BTW, I never paid attention to Melky because I don’t care about the Yankees one way or the other but in my mind he was a big name. However, looking at his stats, he is very pedestrian. What’s the big deal with this guy? Why the hype?
Melky is a career .290 leadoff hitter. I think we should utilize him there. He is also a great baserunner. Braves ranked second to last in SB’s last year.
That sample of a .290BA is over only 255 ABs. Career wise and covering all positions in the lineup, he only has a OBP of .331 and an OPS+ of 88. That’s pretty atrocious. I don’t want that junk at leadoff.
McClouth isn’t much better at .342 OBP but at least his OPS+ is slightly above average at 109. My in-house option would be Prado, if he a touch more speed.
Hey, Cards fan here.. you guys shouldnt be disappointed if he can stay healthy.. he was hitting some loooooong looking shots in a bp session towards the end of the season last year… uppa deck yo. good look troy!
The Mets get Jason Bay to add him to Beltran and Frenchy, The Phillies got Halladay to add him with Hamells, Happ, Myers and Blanton and the Braves came and trade one of their best pitchers (to stayed with Lowe) for Melky Cabrera and refused to sign Laroche to sign a guy that was injured last year and K’o a lot. Now or pitching rotation doesn’t look that great and unless Chipper has a good season and Glauss come like a bomb our lineup doesn’t look that great either.
But I like this line up ….. Melky, Yunel, Macann and Chipper, Maclauth, Glauss, Diaz or Heyward, Prado …..
The Mets get Jason Bay to add him to Beltran and Frenchy, The Phillies got Halladay to add him with Hamells, Happ, Myers and Blanton and the Braves came and trade one of their best pitchers (to stayed with Lowe) for Melky Cabrera and refused to sign Laroche to sign a guy that was injured last year and K’o a lot. Now or pitching rotation doesn’t look that great and unless Chipper has a good season and Glauss come like a bomb our lineup doesn’t look that great either.
But I like this line up ….. Melky, Yunel, Macann and Chipper, Maclauth, Glauss, Diaz or Heyward, Prado …..