The Braves were the surprise winners of the Ervin Santana sweepstakes, signing a one-year, $14.1MM deal with the free agent right-hander earlier today. We've already published one batch of items about how the Santana signing impacts the other teams who were in the hunt for his services, but here's some news about what the signing means for Atlanta…
- Santana's deal will raise the Braves' payroll to around the $107MM threshold, but club chairman and CEO Terry McGuirk has no problem with the added money since the team is "in a winning mode," he tells MLB.com's Mark Bowman. "It's the right time. Money was not the issue so much as, 'Is it the right time to do it?' We want to send a message to the guys in this clubhouse, our fans and our sponsors and the whole organization that we expect to win."
- "The [Braves'] announced move to Cobb County has become the gift that keeps on giving," Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes (Insider access required). Since the team's new stadium plan was announced, the Braves have had the financial ability to sign Santana and ink several key players to multiyear extensions.
- Braves GM Frank Wren deserves credit for acting quickly to sign Santana, Jeff Schultz of the Journal-Constitution writes, once it became clear that Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy's injuries were serious. In Schultz's words, "more often than not [Wren] is not proactive in situations like this."
- The Braves didn't approach Medlen about an extension this winter, David O'Brien of the Journal-Constitution tweets. Medlen agreed to a one-year, $5.8MM deal for 2014 to avoid arbitration in his second arb-eligible season, and he is eligible for free agency following the 2015 season. Of course, both Medlen's future in Atlanta and his pitching future in general could be in question as it appears likely the right-hander will soon undergo his second Tommy John surgery.
{British narrator guy} Even though the Braves fan has done nothing wrong he still hides in fear from the Blue Jays fan. For the latter is in a rightfully foul mood and is quite dangerous at the present time. However, one courageous Braves fan sticks his head out to try his luck. Will he survive?,
I’m psyched about the Santana signing. Doesn’t seem to be a thing wrong with it. Obviously I’d prefer Medlen because of cost and familiarity but Santana is a nice addition.
That really stinks about Medlen. When he’s been healthy he’s shown himself to be among the best. I’m still stinging from the last time we lost him.
Not awesome editing on the first bullet. “Santana’s deal will raise the Braves’ payroll will rise to around $107MM,” So will it raise or will it rise… you decide!
Medlen is a serious loss. Most fans around baseball outside Atlanta don’t seem to realize this guy has been one of the best starters in baseball the last few years. I’m glad we were able to pick up Santana but frankly, he does not fill Medlen’s shoes. Another issue with the Medlen and Beachy injuries? We are razor thin with effective starters. The season hasn’t even started and we are already in a position that we cannot afford any more down time from front line starters.
Man this just really sucks for Medlen. Kind of a career underdog because he’s undersized compared to most pitchers. Was never considered the Braves top prospect by any means (came up with Tommy Hanson and was constantly overshadowed by him). Always giving back to the community. If he had stayed healthy the next 2 years he would have gotten a massive pay raise in the FA market. Just hate it for him. I don’t know the history of 2x TJ guys, but I hope he’s fully recovered in 2015 and has a career year for someone.
The history isn’t all that good. Chris Capuano had it twice and has had a decent back end of his career, but guys like Darren Dreifort faded out pretty quickly.
But if you’re a pitcher, would you rather pitch in Atlanta or Baltimore assuming the money was about the same? I’d have to think most would prefer the Braves, especially if you’re a pitcher looking to cash in next offseason.