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
shmoe
December 14th, 2010
6:21 pm
we’re gonna pull off the upset of the ages against the phils.
shmoe
December 14th, 2010
6:23 pm
the pressure to win almost completely derailed them last season. there will be even more pressure now, having failed in 2 out of the past 3 postseasons in spite of having marquee players and a bloated payroll. welcome to braves country phillies, how does it feel?
extremus
December 14th, 2010
6:28 pm
As frustrating as having to watch our Braves sit idly by while the filthy rich (Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, Greg Maffei) get richer each offseason is, I’m beginning to think the big picture is even more dire for MLB. You don’t perennially have two or three legitimate contenders to win a World Series out of thirty teams and expect the turnstiles for the other 27 teams to just keep bringing in fans (and hence profit margins). This is bigger than just the Atlanta Braves; this is a problem that will inevitably destroy professional baseball. No gloom and doom, just simple facts, because the other 27 teams that are left watching the other three grab every superstar on the market have ownerships that prefer staying in the black as well. When they can’t do it any longer, you’ll see one of two (possibly both) things; 1) a LONG, BITTER players’ lockout/strike come the next round of labor negotiations, and 2) the disbanding of entire MLB franchises.
Compared to how the NFL handles player salaries and makes a genuine attempt to maintain equity among its teams when the free agency season comes around, MLB is a bad joke. How ludicrous is it to say that “because so and so got XX million over X years, that’s what the market dictates so that’s what I want”? I have a few choice words for pro sports about guaranteed contracts: Albert Haynesworth, Mike Hampton, Kenshin Kawakami, Jon Koncak, among MANY, MANY others who for various reasons didn’t measure up to those bucks that clubs obligated themselves to so stupidly. The idea of a “market price” with no upper limit in baseball is as stupid as the same folks (players and agents, mostly) comparing economic sharing and parity among the teams with Communism; they just don’t want to let go of a system that’s become a “good thing” for them. Most of us would take a tiny fraction of what those guys are making in a single year to do us the rest of our lives…and we’d live WELL off of it. What more than personal pride and arrogance are they trying to satisfy by continuing to ask for more? Don’t blame the Yankees or Phillies; they’re working within the system, such as it is. Blame MLB as a whole for the mess we have now.
They’d better wake up NOW, because it’s definitely NOT a good thing for the game of baseball. The mishandling of money and corporate and individual hubris and unbridled avarice may cause the demise of America’s pastime…along with America itself, as things are going (but that’s for another blog).
TheAntiMe
December 14th, 2010
6:34 pm
The Phillies better hope that their old gun rotation can keep runs off of the scoreboard because they are going to miss Jayson Werth’s bat in the line-up more than they know.
Dan
December 14th, 2010
6:57 pm
To: C’Mon Man
How would a salary cap “kill” baseball unless your idea of baseball death is not having the Yankees in the playoffs every year and the season being over in Kansas City and Pittsburgh by Memorial day?
NFL seems to be fairly lively with a cap rather than a luxury tax
Braves vs. Phills
December 14th, 2010
6:57 pm
Werth prove his value when guys went down for Philly. We had injuries but loss a key player for the rest of that season. With the new changes pending next season, there is no way around we must have depth in the OF, or this could prove a disaster. As for Philly they may have picked up a decent arm, but they also lost a key bat from a lineup that couln’t get them to the world series.
Andrew G
December 14th, 2010
7:00 pm
What’s the average age of these aces? It’s not like they are in their prime by any means (I know, Lee is coming off a career year, but still). I think that their rotation looks unreal on paper, but the season is still 5 months away. Although I was deflated seeing this happen, it only makes me hate Philadelphia more.
Braves vs. Phills
December 14th, 2010
7:04 pm
If Freddie Freeman gives us any type of pop at first base, it will be like Christmas in July. On the other hand if he struggles badly like Shafer or McClouth we will be juggling lineups all season. All I can say is Good Luck FF
Rose4HofF
December 14th, 2010
7:06 pm
schmo
what you don’t seem to get is that philly fans don’t care about braves country, in fact they are by and large much more concerned with the mets and even in some cases the marlins than they are of the braves.
also, what comes around goes around, I hated the braves in the 90’s because of their great rotation and their regulars (justice, pendleton, etc) now its time for you to hate the phils and their regulars. at some point the pendulum will swing again and your blood pressure will once again come down to about 150/110
dylan125
December 14th, 2010
7:07 pm
Can we at least sign Greg McMichael?
dylan125
December 14th, 2010
7:09 pm
I think we should bring back Wally Joyner to place first base
jerry
December 14th, 2010
7:09 pm
Let’s see, the Braves have been in Atlanta 44 seasons and have won 1 WS. One divided by 44 = 2.2% chance of doing it again. Sounds about right, Lee or no Lee.
fire Richt now!
December 14th, 2010
7:13 pm
for once, i agree with jeff. For all Atlanta sports teams, Falcons’ owner is the only one we can count on. he is visible, passionate, and most importantly he is down there on the field during a majority of the games. the good results from having a great ownership shows this year… in order for us to be competitive sports town with more national coverage and visibility, we need these types of winning-driven and passionate owners. no acceptance of mediocrity.
TheAntiMe
December 14th, 2010
7:24 pm
So, Jeff, does this mean that Ruben Amaro Jr. has stolen Theo Epstein’s genius hat right off of his head? Or do they both do some sort of a sharing thing with Theo getting it back on even-numbered days?
extremus
December 14th, 2010
7:28 pm
SI.com’s front headline today ran something along the lines of “Phillies Land Lee; Are Yankees In Trouble?” Um, maybe SI; by the way, have you considered the OTHER 28 teams in MLB at the moment? Sheesh, they and ESPN don’t even TRY to hide their preferential treatment/coverage of the northeastern market teams anymore.
I guess when all the other franchises in baseball fold their tents and disband due to fan disinterest, the national media will STILL have their beloved Eastern Seaboard teams (Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies) to cover, so it won’t make any difference; those teams already get the lion’s share of the sports coverage now.
But make no mistake; that SI.com headline might actually be a harbinger of what lies ahead for the game as everyone with any power to change the system seems to keep ignoring the signs that things can’t go on like this forever. And by the time they do realize it, it’s going to be too late to matter, I believe.
extremus
December 14th, 2010
7:33 pm
As much as I’d love for Arthur Blank to take over the Braves, from what I’ve read neither he nor Ted Turner are capable of purchasing the team any longer. Liberty Media will probably sell the Braves after their tax write-off ends (I believe after this coming season), but after that it’s anybody’s guess who (or what, if they get handed off to another corporate entity) will take them, and hence whether Atlanta will ever again be a legitimate player during the offseason meetings.
aubrey
December 14th, 2010
7:40 pm
Where would the Braves budget be if they sold out every game like the Phillies do? Might that not be worth the ability to be aplayer in the premium freee agent market? Braves fans and AJC writers complaine about LIberty Media impsed budget restraints bet lets be honest and recognize that part of the blame rests on the empth seats at the stadium.
aubrey
December 14th, 2010
7:40 pm
That is empty seats.
Katherine
December 14th, 2010
7:41 pm
So..I guess we should just give the championship to the phillies already right? Oh wait…weren’t they supposed to win it last year and the yankees too? Geesh Schultz you have turned into such a debbie downer.
Mark
December 14th, 2010
7:42 pm
I’m not stressing over the Cliff Lee signing because I like our rotation. I do wish we could afford Werth. I also wish Liberty would sell the Braves to someone who isn’t afraid of spending some money on a good center fielder.
Katherine
December 14th, 2010
7:43 pm
The falcons also have a marta train that takes you right to the georgia dome. With the cancellation of marta service to turner field next season, the attendance is only going to get worse as the traffic gets worse…count on it
Braves vs. Phills
December 14th, 2010
7:50 pm
@ Dan 6:57 pm I think that what he was saying is that there is no turning back now on this salary cap issue. Selig was sitting back enjoying the revenues during the steroid era & teams were clamoring to sign those sluggers out there to ridiculous contracts. Pitchers were also receiving serious money as the long ball stoppers.
How would you implement a salary cap now when teams have guaranteed money they have to pay those guys, is MLB gonna help pay those salaries already on the books? Selig not gonna do anything to address this issue as long as MLB gets their cut of huge TV contracts & merchandise profits from the major market teams. He has his new stadium in a small market city as well as a decent TV contract for the Brewers.
This thing is so outta control its like trying to stop a runaway train. Selig is like a high roller in Vegas that won’t leave the crap table. The hand writing was on the wall in New York when they couldn’t sell those luxury seat at those outrageous prices & were cut almost in half!
Bob Horner hit lollipop HR's to LF
December 14th, 2010
7:53 pm
Werth needs a hair cut….
witko
December 14th, 2010
7:53 pm
Look who made the World Series last year. The Yankees bought everything in sight and sat home watching television.
The Braves have more pressing problems than their roster. They need to rediscover how to play the game of baseball. Moving a runner with a bunt is an adventure. (It would have almost been worth bringing Glavine back just for this role.) The fundamentals of fielding the ball–the ones we learned in little league–are no longer applicable to the Braves. A number of times fielders failed to cover the correct base. These pitchers are not Maddux and gang. They take little pride in bunting, hitting, or fielding their positions. Now, if they take care of these matters then we could address the issue of team speed. But there is no point of doing that until the organization makes fundamentals important.
Bob Horner hit lollipop HR's to LF
December 14th, 2010
7:55 pm
@ Kat. I’ve never met a cute girl on a MARTA train…but I have gotten yelled at by a girlfriend because my phone had no service on a MARTA train…I digress…Turner Field is in a bad location…can we agree on that..??
aubrey
December 14th, 2010
8:03 pm
Just looked up attendance and ticket price figures for Braves and Phillies. Philly attendance 3,777,322 Braves 2,510,119 a difference of 1,267,203. Braves average ticket $17.05, Phillies $32.99. So total ticlket revenue Brabes 42,797,529, Phillies $124,613,853 a difference of over $81M. If Braves matched Phillu attendance with their ticket prices additional revenue would be $21, 605, 811. And all of this does not include impact on parking, concessions, etc. Again, it is nice to blame budget disparity on the stingy corporate owner but better attendance might cover some of that difference.
Katherine
December 14th, 2010
8:15 pm
Agreed turner is in a bad location….and I always take marta to the games so I guess you just weren’t looking very hard
Since I will have to drive now, and sit in horrible traffic and pay for parking…I probably won’t go to as many games next season.
Kevin
December 14th, 2010
8:16 pm
Honestly as much as I hate to say it the people that talked about the location of turner field are kinda right when it comes to having bigger attendance numbers then teams like the phillies. The Braves are the more popular team and have more fans than the Phillies fan base…The braves are actually still the third most popular team in baseball even after struggling from 05 to 09… I personally enjoy going to Turner field and when its sold out its as loud as any baseball stadium if not louder. This team we have now though will increase attendance for the next season but I would like to see a smaller more fan friendly stadium within the next decade.
Braves vs. Phills
December 14th, 2010
8:22 pm
Have any Braves fans been watching the last five years Its not like someone has ran off five straight world series, then that would be ugly, payroll or salary cap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
n2u1989
December 14th, 2010
9:04 pm
Please sale the braves to someone who cares about the Atlanta Fans and winning!
blazerdawg
December 14th, 2010
9:14 pm
Liberty & Philly fans should not blame attendance on the Braves’ unwillingness to go after a top tier free agent. The attendance at Philly did not spike until they began to win big time. Attendance for both teams is about equal over the past 20 years. If the Braves had signed Crawford I expect there would be alot of excitement for the team.
Love the Uggla signing, and our starting pitching, and our bullpen, and our catcher, and the young stars. Give us a center fielder and we will be in the race.
For those complaining about MARTA, get off at GA State station and walk!
For those complaining about the neighborhood, hang out Downtown or Grant Park before the game!
DawgDad
December 14th, 2010
9:19 pm
That big four of the Phils should land them on top again in the East. They are repeating the Braves formula of the nineties. Hard to play for the wild card if a team like the Phils is consistently beating you down in your Division. The Braves have multiple question marks in their lineup, their pitching is more fragile and not as top-heavy as the Phils, and their defense figures to be – ahem – atrocious, except at first base (perhaps center field and shortstop won’t be “atrocious”, but Gonzalez and McLouth aren’t plus-players anymore).
juice sourcer
December 14th, 2010
9:30 pm
This whole thing is just sickening. The CEO making more money than the entire roster…it really makes me want to vomit. Sell than damn team and the CEO should be thrown out…capitalisim must die and these CEO’s must die also. Now I know how the Pirates feel..they have no chance…how the hell does Phili afford what they do.
juice sourcer
December 14th, 2010
9:35 pm
extremus is all over it
juice sourcer
December 14th, 2010
9:48 pm
Sanford Drive is dead on the money…dead on. Would take vision though…does the ATL have it.
Something smells fishy
December 14th, 2010
9:50 pm
Money can’t buy true love but it will be so close that you can’t tell the difference, I would be happy if we finished third or fourth or worse if all the tickets were less than $20.00 and hot dogs and drinks were a buck. I can’t and won’t spend half my paycheck on watching these overpaid athletes. TV is fine because it is cheap and no parking problems. Other than thal PLAY BALL.
bravesfansince66
December 14th, 2010
9:50 pm
I hope Jordan Shaffer is ready to play so we don’t have to live with another year of McSlotch. If Chipper can come back and hit like he was starting to last year when he got hurt and Freddy has a decent rookie year, I like our chances. We just need to beat the Philles every chance we get. Go Braves!
Lester Miles
December 14th, 2010
9:59 pm
Juice Sourcer The CEO makes too much money but so do the greedy players. There should be a cap on what the players make too if you are going to limit what the owners make. A million dollars is more than enough for any player and the CEO is limited to 2 million. No more capitalism. And your salary should not be more than $10.00 per hour like everyone else’s. Socialism and Obama rules.
Lester Miles
December 14th, 2010
10:00 pm
And, have a great day.
brave
December 14th, 2010
10:04 pm
yea i miss ted. if ted was still the owner we wouldnt be talkin bout the cheap owner now
Delbert D.
December 14th, 2010
10:10 pm
This is a lot tougher rotation than Steve Carlton, Larry Christensen, Randy Lerch and Suspect #4.
Ross
December 14th, 2010
10:15 pm
You know, I don’t even care – if getting to the post-season involves shelling out millions on a Ramirez or Teixeira, or even Lee, I just do not really care. Baseball has made itself so much a clique of haves vs have nots, that by the time September rolls around, no one even cares, deep down – admit it, this year, despite the Braves participation in the post-season, we were all into football by mid-September, and baseball was a boring side-show.
When baseball has lost someone like me as a committed fan, it’s really in trouble. Of course I will follow with interest during the summer, but baseball championships have been rendered meaningless by free agency and enormous salaries.
juice sourcer
December 14th, 2010
10:15 pm
Capitalism must die to save the earth…ecolism is the future of mankind. Capitalism is not sustainable and neither is baseballs system.
Liberty sucks
December 14th, 2010
10:26 pm
Just reading Bowman on MLB and he said Braves only had 1 million to spend on back up outfielder. Thats a alot of crap…screw the Braves and there cheap a@@.
Ddb
December 14th, 2010
10:37 pm
Nice blog Jeff. That is the reason why I don’t give money to the Braves. That is the only reason. I’ve been preaching this since the days of Time Warner when they let arguably the best rotation in history rot on the vine without becoming THE dynasty of the 90s. I’ve been through with corporate run baseball, especially my team.
Gop Cannon
December 14th, 2010
10:42 pm
Dang, I thought Philly was pretty much invincible last year… those 18 games are going to be tough.
Jim
December 14th, 2010
10:59 pm
Until we have another owner like Ted Turner (or Arthur Blank), an enthusiastic rich guy who just wants to win, a Braves post season appearance will be the exception to the rule.
mark
December 14th, 2010
11:08 pm
I totally agree that the Braves need to grab some more bats. When will the ownership change?
Matt the Brave
December 14th, 2010
11:21 pm
Long Beach Schultz, if not Ted and not Arthur, who then? David McDavid? Or another gawd-awful conglomerate?
Mike in Canton
December 14th, 2010
11:50 pm
Mr. Schultz, this would have been a nice article without the subtle hints of “wealth envy” and over played scenario of the horrible Liberty Media ownership and having “only” about a $90 million payroll.