Troy Glaus was traded to the Cardinals in January of 2008, waiving his no-trade clause and exercising his '09 player option for more than $12MM. He recovered from surgery to repair a nerve in his foot and posted a fine '08, hitting 27 home runs and playing over 1,200 innings at third base. A year after the trade Glaus had arthroscopic right shoulder surgery, which ultimately limited him to 135 pro plate appearances in 2009. Glaus previously had a procedure on that shoulder in May of '04.
The lost '09 season drove Glaus' price down in free agency, as he signed for a base salary of $1.75MM. He'll get a $250K bonus with 100 days on the active roster and can earn another $2MM based on plate appearances. Glaus is currently on pace to exceed 600 plate appearances and max out his incentives, which would bring him to $4MM earned in 2010.
After a slow April, Glaus has a scorching .400/.460/.600 line in May. He seems headed toward 25 home runs and 100 RBIs. He's also settled in as a regular first baseman. Though the Braves' offense has shown a surprising lack of power, GM Frank Wren deserves praise for this low-risk signing. Glaus will turn 34 in August, so he won't be in line for a multiyear deal after the season. He's nowhere near Type B status, so free agent compensation won't be involved either. He still may be able to pull off a contract similar to that of Adam LaRoche and Hideki Matsui – around $6MM guaranteed.
This is why the Braves are smart and the Metsies aren’t. The Mets sign bad weight in Gary Matthews Jr. and the Braves sign likely contributor Troy Glaus at around the same price.
I am no Mets fan, but lets be fair. The Mets are paying GMJ practically nothing (1 mil this year and next). Still a bad move, but not nearly as much money (unless Glaus gets hurt, in which case both moves look bad).
Sorry, I didn’t see the 4Million possible total. What I was focusing on was 1.75Mil + .25 Mil for 2Mil for Glaus. GMJ is going to cost them 2Mil total if they do the right thing and DFA him ASAP.
I liked this deal at first, then hated it, but now I’m liking it. Glaus isn’t the best first basemen, but he’s certainly better than a lot. His size helps him make at least 3 amazing stretches that I’ve seen this year into outs. But his size also makes him very slow. I couldn’t believe how big he was and his lack of speed. Also, the Braves haven’t let him log an inning at 3rd this year, which is kind of weird, seeing as Chipper is out every other day. I see him landing with an AL team to be a 3B/1B/DH type. He still has some gas in the tank.
I don’t think it is all that wierd that Glaus hasn’t played any 3B because of the other options we have at third base on the bench. Prado is a better defensive 3B than 2B so he often slides over to third with Infante at second when Chipper misses time. Brooks Conrad is also a good defensive 3B who is a good hitter (bit too streaky to be a regular) who can fill in when needed. Hinske is our only real bench 1B type and he now being employed on the larger half of a LF platoon so he isn’t that available. We just have better backup options at 3B than we do at 1B so it doens’t make any sense to move Glaus around.
Its also important to not that his slow start was more due to bad luck and not to playing poorly. Its not like he was grounding out to second or flying out to left every at bat like Melky, he was hitting line drives right at people or doubles that would just miss going over the wall, things like that. Things are starting to fall for him now and is getting a bit lucky on some balls now.
I agree. I just find it weird that when Chipper was down, they didn’t move Glaus over and play Hinskie at 1B. Glaus was a very good defensive 3rd basemen.
Totally agree…move Glaus to third base…Hinske to first and let Chipper sit.
Chipper would be the first to tell ya …he’s not playing well. So , he should sit to help this team win.
Well, since he switched bats, the ball has traveled off his bat alot better. He totally got unlucky the last 2 nights, including that sure double that literally pulled a half circle back to Young.
Actually, he switched bats for one at-bat, and switched back to the 34 oz. one.
Well, maybe he’s just turning it around lol.
I hated him, now I like him. He’s actually working at it, unlike Melky, I see a trade in his future(melky)
Completely agree. Glaus has been one of if not the best offseason acquisition the braves made this offseason. All the braves need to do is trade Jesse Chavez and Melkey Cabrera for a 50th round draft pick. And thank Jesus Matt Diaz got hurt, (for Erik Hinske’s sake.) IF McLouth can continue the good D in Center, CHipper get warm, and yuney being back in the lineup, i see good things in the future for the bravos.
With Prado, Heyward and Chipper hitting in front of Glaus and McCann behind him, I forsee a lot of RBI opportunities for Glaus this year. Prado is hitting over .300, Heyward’s off to a very strong start and Chipper is walking a lot and is still getting on base a ton. McCann is pretty decent protection to have behind you! If the ball keeps falling for Glaus like it has the past few weeks he will have a solid line the end of the year.
sometimes, i feel the idea of protection is overrated. how much protection is McCann seriously gonna give you? probably not a lot…
yea they actually did a study and you generally see more fastballs when there’s people on base in front of you than you do when there’s a big hitter behind you. both help to a degree, but you’re more likely to get a hittable pitch if there’s runner’s on base.
almost seems backwards, doesn’t it?
True. But there is also no denying the type of success that Chipper had when Tex was behind him in the lineup.
And why the heck would you say that, like McCann is some scrub? When he can see he is an excellent hitter.
I don’t care about UZR. I watch people make amazing plays all the time that stat boys like yourself say are “terrible” defenders because of UZR. How has Orlando Hudson won 3+ Gold Gloves?
Isn’t that what the award is for? I’m pretty sure you don’t get it for your OBP.
You’re right. Like David Wright in 07, when Chipper played way better defense, but I guess that has since regressed…