Braves again watch while Phillies sign Lee, spend millions
If the Braves win a World Series with Liberty Media as the owner, it won't be because they spent millions in free agency. (AJC photo)
Let’s start with the obvious: Baseball teams don’t win championships in December.
If they did, the World Series would be on a consistent rotation between the Yankees, Mets and Red Sox, often coming down to which team lost a pitcher to a hyper-extended elbow at the drive-thru ATM.
But December says a lot about aspirations and expectations, and the Braves’ owners, in the holiday spirit, once again look like Mr. Potter telling George Bailey to stick it.
The Philadelphia Phillies – whose team payroll already was about $58 million more than the Braves’ last season – just added Cliff Lee to their pitching staff. It gives them four pitchers (Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels) in their starting rotation who have combined for three Cy Young Awards, 13 All-Star games, two NLCS MVP awards and one World Series MVP.
It turns the Phillies — pending any other acquisitions of Albert Pujols or a Swiss Bank — into the overwhelming favorites to win the National League East, the N.L. pennant and the World Series, after which they can move onto other solar systems.
But this isn’t about a division rival adding one pitcher. It’s about the Braves being stuck with one owner.
General manager Frank Wren has conceded several times that he has to work within the confines of a budget, while trying not to step on the Bruno Magli covered toes of team owner Liberty Media. Fans may live for checkbook roster building in the winter, but the Braves don’t have that option.
This is Greg Maffei. He makes more than the entire Braves' roster.
Liberty Media doesn’t really care about you, or the product, or the fact that the Phillies’ team payroll has jumped from $89 million in 2007 to $142 million last season. They don’t hand out peanuts and foam tomahawks at stockholders meetings. They hand out profit-and-loss statements.
In sports, we want owners who are as passionate as the guy who’ll show up for the Tuesday night game against the Florida Marlins. Sorry. You get the owner whose luxury suite remains empty on a summer weekend.
A recent Wall Street Journal survey of the nation’s top 10 paid CEOs showed Liberty Media’s Gregory Maffei’s total compensation was $87.1 million, four times his financial take of the year before. The Braves’ total payroll last year: $84 million.
Question: Can Maffei play center field or hit leadoff, because the Braves are still a bit thin in those areas?
Somebody once said money doesn’t buy happiness but it enables one to pick their own misery. Applying that to sports: Money doesn’t guarantee the Phillies are going to win the World Series, but it gives them a significant advantage over the Braves when they go shopping.
Wren told our Carroll Rogers that the Lee signing, “really has no impact on the construction of our roster.”
What would you expect him to say? “Dang! We should’ve signed Carl Crawford!”
Wren robbed the Marlins of Dan Uggla. That strengthened their lineup and will enable them to move Martin Prado to either left field or third base. But they’ve still got issues. They’re banking on Chipper Jones being able to come back from a torn ACL, and he turns 39 in April. They’re banking of Freddie Freeman being ready at first base. Most of all, they’re banking on some combination of Nate McLouth and Jordan Schafer not being a train wreck again in center.
With the Phillies signing Lee, some are now screaming for the Braves to acquire Zack Greinke from Kansas City. But the Braves really don’t need another starting pitcher. The rotation of Tim Hudson, Tommy Hanson, Derek Lowe and Jair Jurrjens doesn’t have the marquee value of Lee-Halladay-Oswalt-Hamels. But it’s better than most. What the Braves really need is a proven center fielder and/or leadoff hitter and/or another bat (especially if Jones can’t come back). But the lack of cash flow precluded them from going after somebody like Crawford or even Jayson Werth in free agency, or absorbing a big contract in a trade.
Once again, the Braves must shop with coupons. Sometimes that works. But it’s not the way to build hope.
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312 comments Add your comment
Braverman
December 14th, 2010
2:46 pm
How about a write in campaign begging Liberty to divest themselves of this drain on their balance sheet. I am not sure they would even know the name of the team except by its cost center code in the general ledger.
http://www.libertymedia.com/contact-us.aspx
Com'on Man
December 14th, 2010
2:48 pm
Justin1, your mom called and said she needs the Computer back.
Jeff Schultz
December 14th, 2010
2:49 pm
Ed Simmons — That’s a great idea. Thanks for posting the address.
Sanford Drive
December 14th, 2010
2:50 pm
still@the bar,
I also forgot to congratulate you on your racist banter on Tim Tucker’s blog, getting yourself banned.
His blog will be a MUCH better place without you!
Braves vs. Phills
December 14th, 2010
2:51 pm
There is really nobody left out there that can have a major impact like Cliff Lee. If Chipper does not make any kind of decent return from injury next seasonI see him retiring, & hopefully if we can unload KK & clear Nate off the books. That is the only way this team will make any moves.
Jeff Schultz
December 14th, 2010
2:51 pm
Justin1 — You mean Grienke? No. Dayton Moore has teams lining up and I don’t see any way Braves/Wren getting into trade bidding war and giving up in prospects/players what Moore would want.
Tweets that mention Braves again watch while Phillies sign Lee, spend millions | Jeff Schultz -- Topsy.com
December 14th, 2010
2:52 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by LKT, Jeff Schultz. Jeff Schultz said: #Phillies signing of Cliff Lee reminds us why #Braves owners are like Mr. Potter in "It's [not] a wonderful life." http://bit.ly/ggwSdD [...]
Jeff Schultz
December 14th, 2010
2:53 pm
Supes — Actually, it’s all part of the same point. Prospects/young players keep a team’s payroll low because clubs control salaries for the first few years.
Paul H
December 14th, 2010
2:53 pm
Jeff, I don’t know what Droopydawg is smoking but any relation to the guy from Mythbusters?
Jeff Schultz
December 14th, 2010
2:54 pm
Fergie…. They’ll probably hold onto team for at least another year. As for your questions: 1) Ted: not happening; 2) Blank: not happening.
Jeff Schultz
December 14th, 2010
2:56 pm
Meh — Are you going to throw in rights to Mike Hampton and Greg Norton too?
Braverman
December 14th, 2010
2:58 pm
Jeff,
How can the most profitable sport in the world, The NFL, get away with salary cap, non-guaranteed contracts etcetera when a sport that claims to be losing money and fan base still operates like Wall Street circa 2009?
ChiTownBravesFan
December 14th, 2010
2:58 pm
Time for the Derek Lowe rumors to heat up again. Yankees will be desperate, and Lowe is a “big game pitcher,” whatever that means. Dayton Moore loves the Braves, all signs point to Grienke.
southern hope
December 14th, 2010
3:01 pm
A few things:
1. Mr. Schultz, this is a *very* good column.
2. to person who wants to build stadium in Midtown – I actually like Turner Field a great deal and go to quite a few games. nothing bothers me about it . But I have to admit – it would *rock* to have the stadium on 14th street….sort of like the Boston experience…and it would be tremendous for Midtown. How about move the Falcons stadium there?
Vain Jangling
December 14th, 2010
3:04 pm
It used to be “Spann and Sain and pray for rain.” Now it’s, “Are we going to get 100 games out of Chipper for our $13 million?” Or, “Hey, here’s an idea. Let’s plug a rookie in at first and see what happens.” Or, “Maybe everyone will have career years.” Or, “HGH anyone?” Damn you corporate ownership! Damn you to hell!
joe
December 14th, 2010
3:06 pm
So what…the Yankees payroll is more than the Phils and they didn’t make the WS last season, so no guarantees Philly will this coming year. Plus, everything in Philly s*cks.
Dozer
December 14th, 2010
3:07 pm
Give us Barabbas……
Johng
December 14th, 2010
3:08 pm
Braverman-
The NFL union sucks, that’s how. And I hate salary caps. Look, it’s no secret the yankees outbuy everyone every year….but what’s their track record the last 25 seasons? Way less than 20% championships. So big dollars don’t equal rings.
Com'on Man
December 14th, 2010
3:08 pm
Jeff – “Greinke”
Johng
December 14th, 2010
3:08 pm
Nice Joe…..have fun watching NASCAR in your trailer this summer.
PMC
December 14th, 2010
3:09 pm
you sure you don’t want Jesus Dozer?
Smarty
December 14th, 2010
3:10 pm
Looks good on paper. But they are going to trade Ibanez and Blanton. They look on paper but we all know Utley will get hurt during the year. (Payback for roid use). Haladay put a ton of innings on his re-contructed shoulder so anything can happen. I also would not be surprised they turn and trade Oswalt to the Yankee’s.
Braverman
December 14th, 2010
3:10 pm
Johng,
No arguments that dollars dont guarantee anything, except that when somebody stops performing you dont pay them anymore. Kawakami, McLouth, those 2 contracts would net a nice piece to the puzzle to compete with Phils.
Bruce Mac
December 14th, 2010
3:13 pm
So, since the Phillies have shown themselves to be spend thrift idiots that want to pay men gazillions of dollars to play a boys game, then the Braves should too. I wouldn’t even want to support a team like the Yankees, Red Sox or Phillies. Anybody can over pay for good ball players, that doesn’t take any skill. The skill is in doing it within the reasonable bounds of common sense business practices. The Philly owner is an idiot so let him be an idiot. That has nothing to to with the Braves.
Com'on Man
December 14th, 2010
3:13 pm
2009 aquired Halladay, Sent Lee to the Mariners
2010 signed Lee, Sent Oswalt to the …………….
Braverman
December 14th, 2010
3:15 pm
Why can’t we just have the nutz to tell Chipper we got a 3 day a week spot at 1b for him and let Prado our most consistent hitter settle in and play one position. Then we can try to find some magic for a left/center fielder and if Chips goes down all we do is insert the rookie we already gave the job to anyway. Come on Chip, your hot corner days are long gone man, play some first base just like most over the hill hitters do in their twilight.
Apostle
December 14th, 2010
3:15 pm
The Braves are not interested in winning,why should I be.If When they get serious about getting back to the World Series I’ll be a fan again.
Com'on Man
December 14th, 2010
3:15 pm
You know if this was a business competition the Marlins are destroying everyone!
Com'on Man
December 14th, 2010
3:17 pm
Apostle – “The Braves are not interested in winning,why should I be.If When they get serious about getting back to the World Series I’ll be a fan again.”
The “Braves” are, the owners are RedSox fans.
Johng
December 14th, 2010
3:18 pm
Smarty
The one thing your missing is that if the Phils trade Blanton (now a 5 pitcher) the improve. If they trade Oswalt, they improve (both by adding to other needs) what the deal did was allow them to have bargaining chips. And dude…Utley on roids?????? Did you ever see him in person? he’s like 6-0 185 lbs, always has been. maybe leading the league fro 5 consecutive years for HBP adds to the injuries.
coach13
December 14th, 2010
3:18 pm
Been saying it for weeks now; wasting 14 mil a year on Chipper is really hurting this team. Over paying for KK hasn’t helped. That 20 mil a year signs a heckuva player!!! Still, 14 mil a year should get us an all-star caliber player easily. Instead we will get to see Chipper hobble through 110 games and pay him a million dollars per HR he will hit.
Geno
December 14th, 2010
3:18 pm
I think that the Braves will be fine this year. Look at how our rotation matched up with the Phils this past season.
We matched them almost pitch for pitch towards the end of the season.
Also, don’t forget that Freddie G. has a history of taking a low-budget team and making a contender out of them. Fla. was always competetive, and with the Braves he has much more payroll and talent than with the Marlins. Awesome job Mr. Wren! Keep up the great work.
Johng
December 14th, 2010
3:18 pm
now Ibanez…he was on roids…….
kgb
December 14th, 2010
3:19 pm
Please stop the whining about money……..in case you haven’t noticed last years WS’s winner was about 9th on the spending list……the Braves have a pretty solid team as is………I do agree ownership hardly gives the city that warm fuzzy feeling of giving a #%@& about the team………hopefully they will bail sooner than later………maybe we can put together Spirit Group II to buy the Braves………sorry, that’s too depressing a thought for this holiday season……..be careful what you wish for……..one final thought – after almost two decades of putting winning teams on the field, Atlanta fans are still lukewarm in showing up to support their team- ie revenue is always lower than it could be……..leading to lower payrolls…….oh the vicious cycle…….Braves 13th in attendance and guess where the Phillies were – you got it numero uno……..surprise! – that can pay some bigger salaries………..so where’s the real problem?…………..
Sinclair
December 14th, 2010
3:20 pm
The address you gave is for LIBERTY MUTUAL. The Braves are owned by LIBERTY MEDIA. totally different business… Liberty Media’s toll free phone number is 877-772-1518. To find out more, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Media
Braverman
December 14th, 2010
3:21 pm
http://www.libertymedia.com/contact-us.aspx
LAC
December 14th, 2010
3:23 pm
Idoits like the Braves “owner” should NOT be coroporations period.
Look what Ted did, he made it FUN and Exciting, and spent what he had to !
This liberty media, or whatever, and WHO CARES !!! needs to sell the team to local Atlanta people
and get out of the Baseball business, something the know NOTHING about and could CARE LESS about !!
Go away liberty whatever you are !
alex
December 14th, 2010
3:23 pm
I feel like Schultz/Bradley writes this EXACT article four to fives times a year. Scenario: Some team makes a big move for a big player, cueing said rant about our sub-90 mill payroll.
My take: Boo fricking hoo.
Think of all the contending teams in the past years who worked with less money. Our reality is our reality. We made the postseason last year and this off-season, we added an All-Star for a bag of balls. Winning the way we’re winning is WAY MORE satisfying/fun to cheer for than winning the way the YANKEES, RED SOX, METS, PHILLIES, ANGLES win. Which is by sheer force of checkbook, leading to empty, soulless championships.
Braves vs. Phills
December 14th, 2010
3:24 pm
@ Come’on Man 2:46 pm post. I feel the same on the supposedly guaranteed championship. The one thing that every single team has on it’s side when going up against these so-called unbeatable teams, is pressure. The Yanks face it every single year & the Miami Heat are facing it this year pressure is like a disease it will tear you apart, no rings have ever been won on paper. No reason to panic Braves fans, the Phillies will put their uniforms on just like every MLB team out there one arm & one leg at a time, they are human!
NorCal Brave
December 14th, 2010
3:26 pm
No argument that Braves ownership lacks passion for the game and we work with a constrained budget. Reports are the Yankees may not even pursue Greinke because he has history of anxiety issues.
Signing a free agent pitcher to a 100+ million dollar contract is also not guaranteed to work out. Anyone remember Mike Hampton? How about Barry Zito? Phillies will be prohibitive favorites, but the games still have to be played. Let’s just field an exciting and productive team and see what happens.
Braverman
December 14th, 2010
3:28 pm
Yea it must suck to celebrate a world series when your team is the highest paid. Probably not even watch the series if my team is the favorite to win. There are no degrees of satisfaction in winning, but certainly degrees of frustration in not winning. If you’re not first, you’re last.
kgb
December 14th, 2010
3:29 pm
……oh and one more thought…..while some lament the supposed dominance of the Phillies keep in mind that they have by far the oldest lineup in all of baseball (that’s position players as a group or just pitchers – both are the oldest)……..their window of opportunity is small and fragile (as in injury potential to significant players)……….they are buying for right now……..the Braves have many young players and can still compete now and the future looks bright also………
Johng
December 14th, 2010
3:30 pm
Alex…whoa there buddy. Are you now calling Anaheim and Philly BIG markets??? try #12 and 19. Look, I agree 100% that money is not a clincher to winning. but the last thing you as a Braves fan should do is talk about soul less wins, when your team was playing for a playoff spot in front of a half empty stadium. Where was the soul then?
I miss the Richmond Braves
December 14th, 2010
3:30 pm
I’m still mad at the “Atlanta National League Baseball Club” (the Liberty Media subsidiary that actually owns the Braves) for moving our AAA franchise from Richmond after 42 years. Lot of disgruntled Braves fans around here…
timber
December 14th, 2010
3:31 pm
@com’on man, ERA is the second worst stat (after Wins) by which to evaluate pitchers because it’s influenced by the team’s defense. Use FIP and xFIP instead.
Johng
December 14th, 2010
3:33 pm
braverman…I feel the frustration. The professional sports team with the most losses…Philadelphia phillies, over 10000……Look, we suffered for over 20 straight years while Ted Turner made something great. The Phillies have to buy right now because you are correct, the team is getting old, but at least the owners are doing the right thing and making moves now, rather than try to scrape by on “lightening in a bottle” that would not have happened here 10 years ago.
Ron
December 14th, 2010
3:34 pm
I usually attend 10-15 games per year. I will not go to another game until Liberty either opens up the purse strings or sells the team. To see a CEO make that kind of money sickens me. I hope the SOB rots in hell. The greedy hungry bastards. If people would only do like myself and stay home, I bet those money grubbers would make some type of move. I’m just a little peaved. And no, don’t be sending no cab for me with free tickets to the game. Don’t want neither.
Paul
December 14th, 2010
3:34 pm
Id be willing to bet my house and life savings that we have no chance of winning this year, because we have no leadoff hitter… when does derek lowes contract run out? he makes way to much money to suck in the regular season
space monkey
December 14th, 2010
3:36 pm
The way I look at this is: We are now playing for the Wild Card. And honestly, I don’t like our chances. We have no leadoff hitter, no outfield power except for Heyward, no real left-handed starter (Minor is a 5-spot at best), a rookie at first, a rookie as closer, and no team speed. It’s going to be really hard to top .500 this year, unless Chipper comes back strong.
Johng
December 14th, 2010
3:37 pm
Why don’t the Braves persue Micheal Bourne in Houston? Speedy outfielder, and Ed Wade is the GM. You guys could get Bourne for an old pair of Chippers cleats when dealing with wade.