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© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
2,843 comments Add your comment
Jeff R
December 8th, 2009
1:46 am
I don’t necessarily think that Soriano accpeted arbitration because he wanted to stay a Brave. It’s purely a money play. Evidently, he just couldn’t attract the sort of multiyear offers he wanted (DOB’s report). With his salary locked in at, what?, $7-8 million range, he might figure that the Braves will ask to trade him but he’s locked in a good contract without having to negotiate.
I imagine other teams will approach the Braves about obtaining Soriano. But they know that Wren needs to unload his contract for budget leeway, so the offers for him are probably going to be less what Wren would like in return.
On the other hand, if Wren is gutsy, he could sit on Soriano as long as through the spring, in the hope that the return improves for his services.
Tiger Woods
December 8th, 2009
1:46 am
Rupert would quit picking on me?? I didn’t do anything you wouldn’t do if you had the chance to……..
LOOGY
December 8th, 2009
1:46 am
Soriano and Prospect and Cash for Granderson
JOE
December 8th, 2009
1:46 am
i think soriano definitely has to be traded now. If you look at the pen we’ve got going into next year as of right now it looks pretty good already.
Wagner
Saito
Moylan
Proctor
EOF
Medlen
Kimbrel??
Adding Soriano for 7-8 million would be money wasted. Trade him for mid-level prospects if you have to.
ccrider
December 8th, 2009
1:47 am
Flatbill Kid: I think with the fact that Chipper and Delgado will be 38 next year, They wouldn’t mind the rest to keep them fresh. Glaus needs to reestablish his abilities after being injured the last year and a half. But, If Glaus found a full time job at more money, I would bet that one of Joe Crede, Garrett Akins or Hank Blalock could be signed to do the same thing: Glaus would just be my first choice!
Andrew in PA
December 8th, 2009
1:47 am
Alfonso had good years besides last..he kills the braves i know that. Saw him hit 3 straight homers against the braves in spring training with the nats.
Flatbill Kid
December 8th, 2009
1:48 am
Wayne did you just have a moment there or what? Sentimental stuff.
Andrew in P-Tang, I’ll pass on your Soriano.
Rupert, your Tiger jokes…well maybe you could sto…..aw heck its a free blog. So did you hear that one about the Tiger, the Swede, and the 3 iron?
Wayne in Utah
December 8th, 2009
1:48 am
Did Alfonso start to decline when ‘roids went into decline?
Andrew in PA
December 8th, 2009
1:48 am
DOB you sleeping?
Chuck James was Solid Until the 6th!!!
December 8th, 2009
1:49 am
I’m more or less irked of the fact that Swisher’s name is even being considered as the answer to ATL’s offensive woes. It actually sickens me… The fact that he would be playing in the outifeld in spacious Turner Field is enough to lose my dinner….
rupert
December 8th, 2009
1:49 am
I’m sorry el tigre. Don’t send your wife to get me.
Justin
December 8th, 2009
1:49 am
Still waiting on Chuck James to say he was wrong and that I in fact did not say to trade for Swish.
Justin
December 8th, 2009
1:50 am
DOB! DOB! DOB! DOB! DOB! DOB! DOB! DOB!
Tiger Woods
December 8th, 2009
1:50 am
Wayne I thought you were going to bed? I knew you couldn’t leave until DOB came back. STAY WAYNE!!!
rupert
December 8th, 2009
1:50 am
Someone get DOB some moderately priced coffee.
vabrave
December 8th, 2009
1:51 am
Soriano accepting arb. is concerning to me, but….
If we rewind the clocks back a year, there was no starting rotation to speak of and Smoltz took his ball and skipped town. Things looked pretty grim and looked like a repeat of 2008, but then Wren got Vazquez and then Lowe. He got Lowe for a lot more money than I thought the Braves could afford for him.
The rotation proved to be dominant, Wren pulled a rabbit out of his hat. That being said, if Wren is confident this sleeping policeman of a speed bump won’t affect his dealings then I put full confidence in the man. Of course this all means Wren probably knows then who he already wants and knows the ballpark estimate of what it will take to get them. He’s pretty calculative and crafty, lets just hope for our sake (and this blog’s server) he can pull another rabbit out.
And if nothing happens then needless to say this bullpen is STACKED. I saw where someone (can’t remember who) was playing GM and crunched the numbers to about $99mil with Soriano included plus Nady and Glaus. Reports are saying the Braves want to keep payroll around $92-$95mil, so what’s another $4mil to it all? If you get to the playoffs the homestand in the NLDS would pay that off.
Just my two cents, take it or leave it.
Justin
December 8th, 2009
1:51 am
We want Dave!
ccrider
December 8th, 2009
1:51 am
Wayne In Utah: You might be right, but at Delgado’s age and his wanting to make it to the World Series before he retires and looking at the two teams rotations and bullpens, which would you choose?
Tiger Woods
December 8th, 2009
1:52 am
Maybe the Braves are signing Holliday right now and DOB is waiting until it is official. I mean we do have so much money to spend this offseason………
TheAntiMe
December 8th, 2009
1:53 am
Hey, why don’t we trade for Mark Teixeira? OK, been there, done that. Nevermind!
Justin
December 8th, 2009
1:53 am
Tiger you want to donate to the Braves payroll so your wife doesnt get so much of your money??
Chuck James was Solid Until the 6th!!!
December 8th, 2009
1:54 am
I just can’t tolerate seeing his name considered as the “Right handed Power Bat to protect Chipper Jones and bat in front of Brian McCann” like Wren stated he is looking for since last year… On the other hand, I stand by LaRoche>Swisher, all around, all day, all night……
Tiger Woods
December 8th, 2009
1:55 am
I would but I still have some IOU’s to pay off with some of my women. Sorry.
rupert
December 8th, 2009
1:56 am
Tiger, donate the money and we’ll put a big red nike shirt on the cow in the outfield OR a Buick behind homeplate, your call.
Justin
December 8th, 2009
1:56 am
I dont think Swish is the answer unless all else fails and I mean all else fails.
Flatbill Kid
December 8th, 2009
1:56 am
ccrider, I like it. Delgado, Glaus, and hopefully they can afford a Cameron for the OF. Man, I really think that the athleticism of McLouth, Cameron, Heyward would be awesome out there. Delgado for RHP and Glaus for the LHPs. Youve got the makings of something. Anxious to see how it plays out. Goodnight all.
Tiger Woods
December 8th, 2009
1:56 am
Chuck I agree. We won’t get Swisher, it wouldn’t be smart and personally I don’t believe there is anyway he will be here. The guy does not add enough to a team to go out and pay him any kind of big money. Trash>Swisher.
chris
December 8th, 2009
1:57 am
man, i guess DOB wrote his article and took off. i guess we can take the first day of meetings to the books. and wait for reactions later
Andrew in PA
December 8th, 2009
1:57 am
maybe the braves will turn their attention to jj putz now?
Andrew in PA
December 8th, 2009
1:58 am
DOB is getting wasted at the hotel bar.
Chuck James was Solid Until the 6th!!!
December 8th, 2009
1:59 am
Since we’re all just waiting and rambling…. How much BS is it that Tiger Woods was all heroin pilled out on sleeping pills and alcohol, he crashes his car, refuses to give his blood or speak to cops, refusing them to approach his comfort zone and all he gets is a careless driving charge of what $164? Yeah that’s the treatment we’d all get…..
Tiger Woods
December 8th, 2009
1:59 am
Andrew in PA
December 8th, 2009
1:57 am
maybe the braves will turn their attention to jj putz now?
lol.
China Grove
December 8th, 2009
2:01 am
Keep the three relievers… trade Lowe or Kawakami for whatever position player you can get, and use the remaining money to sign a legitimate starter (pref. right-handed bat) at the other position. Overall, it’s not much more money at all, if at all.
rupert
December 8th, 2009
2:01 am
valverde is available as well, we can shorten the game to 3 innings.
Andrew in PA
December 8th, 2009
2:04 am
rupert,hahahahahahaha
Tiger Woods
December 8th, 2009
2:04 am
And I bet the Royals would trade us Soria for the likes of Jo Jo or Church. That way our starters would just need to go 4 or 5 innings. We would be sitting good then since our starting rotation is really not that good.
Justin
December 8th, 2009
2:05 am
While we are at lets get Clemens and Bonds with Piazza playing 1st base.
Andrew in PA
December 8th, 2009
2:05 am
if we get mo rivera we wont need starters…escobar for heath bell straight up
rupert
December 8th, 2009
2:06 am
I hear Clemens and Bonds are in really good shape
mr baseball
December 8th, 2009
2:06 am
Good thing for a lot of posters on here that rational thought is not required. Most of the proposed trades floated tonight are about as firmly based in reality as your nightly Glenn Beck delusional rant.
At $15 mil per for the next 3 seasons, Derek Lowe in untradeable, barring the Braves eating maybe half his salary. Which is something the team HAS NEVER DONE. And cost-cutting teams like the Padres are not going to trade for. No matter how much you might want A. Gonzalez.
At $7-8 million for next season, MFIKY is not going to be in the salary range of most teams that might want to employ him. And those handful of teams that can afford him are not going to give up much in the way of talent to acquire him because of his arb contract.
Keeping him is not a bad thing, considering that neither of the 2 relievers the Braves just signed are exactly what you’d call durable. The Braves played a whole lot of close games last season because of the quality of their starters, and will need at least 4 or so quality arms in the ‘pen capable of pitching in clutch late inning situations.
Remember how many times Gonzo and MFIKY pitched 3 days in a row? Wagner & Saito can’t do that.
Unless Cox is even dumber than I think (and I don’t think the guy is all that bright), MFIKY will fill the role the Braves signed Saito for.
Saito is old, a little brittle and after the first few weeks of last season, was the No. 6 guy in the Red Sox pen (No. 7 after they traded for Wagner). He pitched behind Papelbon, Okajima, Ramirez, Bard and even the greet Manny Delcarmen. That’s how much the Sox thought about him.
I’m guessing if the Braves decide that they are definitely not going to keep Soriano because of financial reasons, they will just about give him away to any team willing to take on his entire contract. Maybe some dumb team like the Orioles or Nationals will give up something to get him, but I certainly wouldn’t count on it.
I love all the suggestions about which broken down players the Braves should sign from Nady to Sheffield to Glaus to Jenkins. How about Nomar? Or Dmitri Young? Or Mike Sweeney? Is it too late to bring back Julio Franco?
Good grief.
Justin
December 8th, 2009
2:06 am
And with that my hope for a DOB sighting has flown out the window and I have to be up in 3 dadgumit 3 hours I stayed up for this? Im an idiot haha peace
China Grove
December 8th, 2009
2:06 am
stacked bullpen will help us hugely. as long as we can deal lowe or kawakami, it’s all good.
Chuck James was Solid Until the 6th!!!
December 8th, 2009
2:07 am
Alright, the blogs transmission has officially died out….. Goodnight all, may God bring us all a nice big RH bat and health….
Andrew in PA
December 8th, 2009
2:08 am
since we wont need starters anymore we can finally trade hanson for adrian gonzalez..then jurrjens and javy for braun
rupert
December 8th, 2009
2:09 am
9 Closers = 1 World Championship
Tiger Woods
December 8th, 2009
2:11 am
I don’t know much but I do know that the Nationals are now contenders and maybe even favorites in the East this year with their moves today. Adding Pudge and Burney gives them the talent to move into first place IMO.
rupert
December 8th, 2009
2:12 am
Tiger, Kasten is a freakin genius. Nats are to feared no doubt.
Andrew in PA
December 8th, 2009
2:13 am
Tigerrrrrrrrrr,couldnt agree more
Wayne in Utah
December 8th, 2009
2:14 am
Bobby’s Cox
Hey, it just ain’t my azz, it’s the whole danged decripit body!
(and btw, I think AG and others have been selling us a bill of goods for the past 20 years. Before that, the same folks were crying that just the opposite was happening. “Sun Spots” my friend!)
Now see how gullable some Californians are. It gets colder, and they buy into it’s because of global warming!?!?!
Enjoy the cool down my friend. (btw, I am not for polluting the earth either, I just don’t think that man is destroying it)
Tiger Woods
December 8th, 2009
2:14 am
You guys think DOB is still awake?
rupert
December 8th, 2009
2:16 am
someone pole DOB with a stick
chris
December 8th, 2009
2:16 am
tiger woods- i dont think so… which is awkward right after the soriano decision. but maybe, frank wren and everyone is asleep already for any comments
Wayne in Utah
December 8th, 2009
2:17 am
TW
Heck no, he’s down at the all night Hardee’s getting a $6.00 burger and some chili cheese fries…..
rupert
December 8th, 2009
2:18 am
frank wren doesn’t sleep, and if he does, i guarantee one eye is open
Marc D
December 8th, 2009
2:19 am
Well in all fairness, he could also be writing the story for the AJC
Wayne in Utah
December 8th, 2009
2:19 am
If FW can’t sleep, then he and I must be brothers from a different mother….
Tiger Woods
December 8th, 2009
2:21 am
I kind of figured he was interviewing for the Kansas football job, or taking shots with FW on the signing of Soriano.
Andrew in PA
December 8th, 2009
2:21 am
DOB
TheAntiMe
December 8th, 2009
2:22 am
Yeah, DOB is probably smoking a big fatty right now. We all know how he loves his cigars.
Andrew in PA
December 8th, 2009
2:23 am
DOB’s interviewing for papa johns,ajc let him go for soriano accepting arb.
rupert
December 8th, 2009
2:24 am
Better ingrediants, better bullpen.
rupert
December 8th, 2009
2:24 am
better ingrediants, better bullpen
Andrew in PA
December 8th, 2009
2:26 am
•The Orioles were interested in Rafael Soriano prior to his decision to accept arbitration from the Braves.
Andrew in PA
December 8th, 2009
2:26 am
DOB how bout a day 1 recap?
rupert
December 8th, 2009
2:26 am
Somone tell the Orioles not to fret, he can still be had.
The_Superhoo
December 8th, 2009
2:30 am
Andrew in PA,
I’m thinkin Soriano was pissed we offered arb with no intention of wanting him back, replacing him before he was gone and this is just a giant middle finger to the Braves.
Tiger Woods
December 8th, 2009
2:31 am
Adam Jones for Soriano?
Tiger Woods
December 8th, 2009
2:34 am
I must go to bed (sneak out of my house before my wife notices) so I will catch up with you guys tomorrow. Tell DOB hi for me if he leaves us a recap tonight, and tell him he is the man.
TheAntiMe
December 8th, 2009
2:37 am
Go get ‘em, Tiger!
Marc D
December 8th, 2009
2:43 am
Superhoo… I don’t think he would have made a decision about his own financial viability based on Frank Wren did, despite the fact that you are right to think he had a motivation to do so. I think that most clubs in this economic climate just decided they weren’t willing to give him a multiyear deal at 8-10million dollars (especially for a reliever who is so frequently hurt) so he took the arbitration offer hoping to net that on a one year deal.
Mekons
December 8th, 2009
2:49 am
This ain’t truly bad news, just unexpected. If the other team can’t score, we don’t need that big bat. And if things don’t work out, we have some great chips to play in June or July. Guys who strike out 100 in 75 innings are pretty rare. I think Carlos Lee will be available this year, and we could package Soriano and Lowe for him, with a few bucks added or another contract taken.
Owning Soriano is not a bad thing. He has huge appeal to a bunch of teams. But obviously, we have to get rid of him at some point. Now we have many months to think about it and find a good fit.
And with a high salary guaranteed, he will probably approve a trade before June, if we want that. But damn, that pitching staff is now the best in baseball, by a lot. It’s pretty tempting to just keep him and sign him to a long term contract and just rely on our minor league teams to fill our offensive needs.
Jurrjens4NLCY {In Wren We Trust!}
December 8th, 2009
2:53 am
Adam Jones for Soriano?
Thats a stretch…
MitchC
December 8th, 2009
3:42 am
The last time I remember something like this happening was in 2002. As everyone knows, when Glavine left to sign with the Mets, the Braves offered Greg Maddux arb. To everyone’s shock, he accepted, and ended up with a 16 mil salary, forcing us to trade Kevin Millwood.
At the time, I was happy to keep Greg. Rafael Soriano is not Greg Maddux. With us having just signed Wagner and Saito, Sori has to be trade bait. My hope is that both he and Lowe go, and a good hitter comes our way.
While I’d prefer not to see it happen, my bet is that FW will have to end up trading Vazquez, to get us the good hitter we desire. 37 year old Derek Lowe and his 15 mil a year contract for three years arent going to be attractive to many teams, but much younger Javy Vazquez, and a one year, 11 mil deal will be.
My call: Sori gets traded, Vazquez gets traded, Lowe stays.
TheAntiMe
December 8th, 2009
3:52 am
It would not be a bad thing to wait and see if anyone signs Adam LaRoache and maybe get him as economically as reasonably possible. Then, hopefully, the Braves can trade for a right-handed bat with some pop, in the outfield. Then they should have a pretty decent offense.
Especially, since Heyward should probably be ready to play RF by early to mid June, I believe.
Cab-daddy
December 8th, 2009
4:26 am
Let’s trade Soriano, Lowe to Cubs for 1B Dee Lee and Milton Bradley, Then turn around and trade Milton Bradley, OF Jordon Schafer, Top P prospect To Rangers (They want Bradley back, a nice, young, ready-to pitch pitcher after K. Millwood is gone, Jordon S for insurance for Bradley) for OF N. Cruz and A/AA prospect. Trade KJ, and Church for future prospects, sign Javy V and Nelson Cruz to longer contracts. That way rotation is set for a couple of years and you have a nice Bopper in LF signed for a few more years. (N. Cruz, McClouth, Heyward/Diaz- OF’s for next 3+yrs), Prado in line for 3B after Chipper, Conrad future 2B, Freeman 1B. With Lowe, Soriano, Bradley, KJ, and Church off the books, and you just added DEE LEE contract 1yr contract. The Braves just got stronger for 2010 (hitting, pitching SP/RP), Saved some money (now/future) and set for 2011+ .
2010 Lineup 2012+Lineup
1. CF-Mcclouth CF-McClouth
2. 2B-Prado 3B-Prado
3. 3B-C. Jones C -McCann
4. 1B-D. Lee LF-N. Cruz
5. C- McCann RF-Heyward
6. LF-N. Cruz SS-Escobar
7. SS-Y. Escobar 1B-Freeman
8. RF-Heyward/Diaz 2B-Conrad
Winning lineup now(2010), and Nice,young, inexpensive powerful righty/lefty combo future lineup.
DOB and all what do you think about the trades, the payroll and the future of my GM thoughts
Night Ninja
December 8th, 2009
5:46 am
Let me see if I got this sh!t straight.
Chipper is making 13 million and vastly overpaid. Lowe is carting the bank around at 15 million per season and Soriano just re-upped for around 7-8 million to pitch the seventh inning.
Our vaunted GM has approximately 35-36 million (one-third) of a sub 100 million dollar payroll tied up in some unwanted and unjustified contracts.
Dear Frank, I got your back. Knife in hand.
Eric In Albany N.Y.
December 8th, 2009
6:38 am
Dob Why wouldnt Wren go to Soriano and ask him the list of teams he would wave his no trade for and just go down the list of teams and get nothing more than a first round pick seems like it would be a wash if he went out and did that. doesnt seem like there is a reason not to do that.
wjones
December 8th, 2009
6:51 am
“Dob Why wouldnt Wren go to Soriano and ask him the list of teams he would wave his no trade for and just go down the list of teams and get nothing more than a first round pick seems like it would be a wash if he went out and did that. doesnt seem like there is a reason not to do that.”
Well, that does make perfect sense, except for the fact that you can’t trade draft choices. Stupid rule, IMHO, but a rule nonetheless. Apparently from Wren’s statements Moylan is safe, despite that he is up for arb. Don’t know what kind of money he will get this year, but of course it may not go that far anyway, as the Braves don’t like to go through the process. I do kind of wish their purse strings weren’t so constrained, as it would be great to have that kind of depth in the pen, especially considering that back in 07, when we built our “super pen”, that Gonzo and MFIKY both came down with injuries, and we cut Wickman before the season was over. Pitchers get hurt, and that is a fact of life.
NCBravesFan
December 8th, 2009
6:56 am
I wonder if the Soriano situation won’t come down to his agent providing the list of teams who expressed interest in signing him to a multi-year deal, seeing who the Braves match up with as trade partners,and working out a trade conditioned upon a multi-year contract being negotiated.
In that scenario, the Braves would probably have to kick in a few bucks to cover the salary Soriano would have gotten in arbitration. But it would allow each party to sacrifice a little in order to get their needs met.
Beyond something like that, it may be best to hold on to Soriano for a few months – his market value will increase, and he’s a good insurance policy to have in case someone else goes down.
raymond
December 8th, 2009
7:19 am
Wren proves again that he is not very good at this game. They go out and sign two relievers before knowing what the ones they have are going to do. Why in the world do this when they could have signed Soriano for about the same money, We signed two old guys instead of a stud like Soriano who is in the prime of his career. Can’t wait to see what kind of bonehead move he makes for a hitter,whats he going to do bring back Sammy Sosa.
wjones
December 8th, 2009
7:27 am
“We signed two old guys instead of a stud like Soriano who is in the prime of his career. ”
Well, I’m glad to see someone is praising MFIKY, because if you look back at the blog this summer you would have thought he had a worse year than Lidge to hear some of our more “reactionary fans” tell it. I think what Wren did was smart; he didn’t sit around and wait to see which closers were available–he went out and got what he wanted before most other people got started. Gonzo and MFIKY knew then and there where they stood–no wondering what the team’s plans were. It cut the agents’ legs out from under them a little–they can’t very well say “Well, the Braves still want him”. Now we just have to figure out what our best deal is. If he had turned down arb, then we would get two draft choices. Now that he’s accepted, we will get a player of some sort, or will include him in a multi-player deal. It does give us several options we didn’t have had he turned down arb, and by signing Wagner and Saito, we are the ones holding an ace in the pen AND an ace in the rotation. It’s all good, IMHO.
Burdell
December 8th, 2009
7:28 am
There is way too many people on here declaring that the sky is falling…
The Braves now control a good bit of the reliever market. Soriano will get $7 million in arb. There are plenty of teams that need a closer and are willing to pay that price (and surely Soriano will approve a trade rather than risk his 2011 salary by converting into a 7th inning guy). They won’t get the 1st round pick out of the deal, though.
Also, if the rumors are true that Lackey is looking for a contract north of the $82.5 million AJ got last season, there should be good demand for Lowe and his entire $45 million. Despite last season, the guy is still a good #2 arm that you can bank for around 200 innings.
The Braves will move both guys for low level prospects and will have plenty of money to spend on the offense.
Ted
December 8th, 2009
7:31 am
Some of you like Soriano more than the Braves obviously do. And you can want them to sign him to 2-3 year deals and/or keep him as an 8th inning guy (or even state he should have been closer) all you want – but it isn’t happening. Because all of this ignores the obvious – the Braves do not want him and will not keep Soriano on their roster any longer than they need to.
He was hurt in 2004, 2005 and 2008. To pretend he’ll be any more reliable than Wagner or Saito is pure folly. And after 2008, Braves know they can’t rely on him. As such, he’s as likely to get hurt as any of the others, especially after pitching career highs in games and IP in 2009.
If I were the Braves and could not deal him before the start of ST, then I’d cut him on the last day of ST, eat 1/4 of his salary and walk away. Of course, I will bet you now that Soriano gets hurt in ST such that the Braves can’t release him and are forced to put him on the DL – thereby guaranteeing his entire 2010 salary.
ignoramus
December 8th, 2009
7:33 am
Chipper is making 13 million and vastly overpaid. Lowe is carting the bank around at 15 million per season and Soriano just re-upped for around 7-8 million to pitch the seventh inning. Our vaunted GM has approximately 35-36 million (one-third) of a sub 100 million dollar payroll tied up in some unwanted and unjustified contracts.
as ignorant as it gets
ignoramus
December 8th, 2009
7:36 am
If I were the Braves and could not deal him before the start of ST, then I’d cut him on the last day of ST, eat 1/4 of his salary and walk away
dumb, dumb, dumb
Ryan M.
December 8th, 2009
7:40 am
What does everyone think about a Javier Vasquez for Juan Pierre trade? The Dodgers are looking for a starter and we need a leadoff guy.
O.J.
December 8th, 2009
7:45 am
Ryan M, you are officially banned from this site. Now be gone!!! But seriously, that is the dumbest thing I think I have ever heard.
WhatTheHeck?
December 8th, 2009
7:47 am
Okay DOB, we get it now. Let’s cover up the fact that you enjoy older women (much older women) by continuously posting photos of the younger Penelope Cruz in all your blogs.
That’s enough now. Let’s move on to bigger and better things.
chuckw/deadjournalist
December 8th, 2009
7:49 am
tampa bay needs a closer/late inning reliever. atlanta needs a short-term obligation to right handed power hitter for left field.
soriano for burrell. both are in the last year of their respective contracts. their salaries would be almost the same.
while burrell’s numbers were way off last season for the rays he would make a reasonable gamble for the braves. worst case he’s garrett anderson. best case, he re-finds his stroke back in the national league and hit 30 homers. (he didn’t get the nickname “pat the bat” for nothing.)
just saying …
Braves 4 Life
December 8th, 2009
7:51 am
“Chipper is making 13 million and vastly overpaid. Lowe is carting the bank around at 15 million per season and Soriano just re-upped for around 7-8 million to pitch the seventh inning. Our vaunted GM has approximately 35-36 million (one-third) of a sub 100 million dollar payroll tied up in some unwanted and unjustified contracts.”
Riiiigggghhhttt…. They are all worthless dude whatever. Lowe, Chipper, and Soriano are far from worthless. Lets see Brad Penny just signed a $7.5M base $1.5M incentive contract with the Cards and he had a worse ERA and lower win total than Lowe. Plus if you look back at his last three years he is not as reliable as Lowe. So if Penny is worth $9M per year and he does not win as many games, is less reliable, and is simply not as good as Lowe is then what is Lowe worth? Chipper is a Brave icon that had a down year but is one year removed from hitting .364. It may be just me but the sky isn’t falling on Chipper. As for Soriano he is in the top 3 for closers on the market and is likely to get a $7.5M or so contract. His price is hardly out of range for a top tier closer without the risk of a mulit year contract.
Just wait and see Wren will work his magic and trade not only Lowe but Soriano as well. We will eat some contract but not as much as you think and we will have a return on our investment. My guess we eat $3M of Lowes contract for the first two years for a total of $6M and about $1-2M on Soriano but we get a solid first baseman and/or an outfielder under team control for at least the next two years. Bank it….
CB
December 8th, 2009
7:53 am
Could I offer a moment of I think is logic? The Braves offered arb. to Soriano,and he chose to accept. If we had declined to offer,we would have recieved nothing,so by offering we could have received draft picks or a trade chip. Is there anybody silly enough on here to believe that Soriano is untradeable? He can give us a list of teams he would like to be traded to, trade him before the season if we find a suitable trade partner. If no trade partner,then use him until June 15 and then trade him to any team or keep him if injuries have occured in the bullpen.
Braves 4 Life
December 8th, 2009
8:01 am
CB- I agree it is hardly a panic situation. I am pretty sure that Wren was thinking along your lines. I mean his contract is not even guaranteed for goodness sake. I’m a realist though and I’m sure Wren would have preferred him declining arb but as with all good business ventures there are contingency plans when situations go array.
Marc in FL
December 8th, 2009
8:02 am
If the Braves did nothing else and left this as-is, we’d easily be in line to have the best pitching staff top to bottom in all of baseball. I hope keep MFIKY, that’s a intimidating bullpend right there man, 6th inning is your cut off to score runs of it’s game over.
And we’d have a #3 starter in our pen just waiting to fill in and be our new #5 if we had injuries (KK). Our rotation almost got us to the playoffs last year, a couple decent bats could be the difference maker without a ridiculous Holiday or Bay type contract. Mouth is watering here…
Billy Walsh
December 8th, 2009
8:03 am
Why would you cut someone who was one of the best available closers on the free agent market this year. If Baltimore did express interest in Soriano I wonder if they would be willing to trade Brian Roberts for Soriano. The braves have always liked Roberts and tried trading for him numerous times. Although Angelos loves Roberts, it would solve the leadoff problem and it would give the lineup more pop. You could them move prado to first or the outfield.
Dawg
December 8th, 2009
8:05 am
We have a bullpen that is good enough to win the WS. We have a starting staff that is good enough to win the WS. If we had this staff at the beginning of last year, we would have been in the playoffs.
If we can trade one starting pitcher, we will still have enough money to improve our offense. Stop fretting!
If we want to trade Soriano at mid season, we will get a lot in return. We can bring up Proctor, Kimbrel and Hyde as relievers. Relax Braves Fans! It will be nice to have a dominant bullpen. Cox still overused our bullpen last year. This year, we will have Wagner, Soriano, Saito, Moylan, EOF, and Medlen. Wow!
ignoramus
December 8th, 2009
8:09 am
Beyond something like that, it may be best to hold on to Soriano for a few months – his market value will increase, and he’s a good insurance policy to have in case someone else goes down.
and, oh yeah, he’s still the best reliever we have, no matter the propaganda that comes from the bravos. it should still be about collecting the best baseball players. that’s how you win.
Worm
December 8th, 2009
8:10 am
Will it be easiler to trade Soriano or Kenshin K?
Tommy T
December 8th, 2009
8:15 am
Maybe Wren could ask for Government Bail Out money to help with Lowe’s and Soriano’s contracts.
Jeff R
December 8th, 2009
8:20 am
Essentially Soriano is in the driver’s seat until June 15, I mean in terms of staying or going. He’s got, at least to mid June what no Brave other than Vazquez has: veto power over where he goes (Vazquez has a limited clause in his contract). I guess a 10/5 like Jones has it?
Why The Scowl went for a one-year money grab versus working through a two-year deal with another club that really needs and wants his services is beyond me. It seems very shortsighted and not very strategic.
If Soriano doesn’t go anywhere before June 15, I believe Wren is speaking truly: Soriano is going to be demoted to middle inning relief (barring an injury to Wagner or Saito). The Scowl is marginalizing himself.
Problem for Wren is budget now. Unless he gets a greenlight from the top brass to spend regardless, he’ll have approximately $23 million on the books that he doesn’t want (Lowe and Soriano) and needs to move.
Other teams, of course, are aware of this. I think that means they’ll drive harder bargins to obtain Lowe or Soriano – or Vazquez, if a Lowe deal proves tougher to make. In other words, Wren may have to move both for less than he would like to free up the cash to sign or trade for a power bat and a first baseman.
The Scowl has stunk up the works.
ignoramus
December 8th, 2009
8:21 am
Maybe Wren could ask for Government Bail Out money to help with Lowe’s and Soriano’s contracts.
soriano’s contract ain’t a problem. by accepting arbitration, soriano made kawakami’s contract even more problematic than it already was. that’s the guy they should be angry about being stuck with for the next two years at $7 million a year. soriano and kawakami arguably bring equal value but soriano is far better in his role than kawakami is. better to keep the elite players at their positions than to keep the marginal at best players, especially when their monies are similar