Bradley’s Buzz: Griffey, Frenchy, Knowshon, Vick and Kiffin!

So exactly what is it the Braves aren’t getting?

Ken Griffey Jr. — great guy, right? Not according to Gregg Doyel, who’s both a friend and a frequent contributor to these Buzz festivities. On CBSsports.com, Doyel tears into Griffey, calling him “unlikable” and “full of crap” for choosing to play in Seattle, which is 3,000 miles from the family on which Griffey claims to dote. Doyel also accuses Griffey of throwing a water bottle at him in the Reds’ clubhouse. (Griffey missed, prompting the eloquent Mr. D to write, “Gold Glove, my ass.”)

You’re free to agree or disagree with Mr. D’s opinion of Griffey, but I think we can all agree: As rips go, this one’s world-class.

As for Griffey the player … well, he’s not so hot, either. So writes Keith Law of Scouts, Inc. (I don’t know Mr. Law, but seeing as how I’ve linked to his stuff a half-dozen times now, I feel as if he lives next door. So, if you’re reading this, Keith: Howdy, neighbor!) Law believe Griffey has little left and thinks the Mariners’ move to re-sign him was “a cynical, insulting ploy to try to get fans into the park.” Whoa, Nellie!

So now you’re asking: Does anyone have sympathy for Junior? Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports does, in a wistful sort of way. He hopes Griffey as a Mariner won’t turn into Willie Mays as a Met, the memory of which remains among baseball’s saddest.

Meanwhile, back at Lake Buena Vista …

For all the teeth-gnashing Wren-bashing that has gone on this winter, you’d think the Braves have become the worst team in the history of baseball. I was beginning to think I was alone in my contrarian view, and then I came across a host of postings on FoxSports.com, which always does a nice job on baseball.

Ken Rosenthal was at Disney on Tuesday, and he left thinking the Braves look pretty darn good. In the pre-Grapefruit League power rankings, Fox rates the Braves No. 8 — no, not in the NL East, but in all of baseball. And yet another Fox nugget credits general manager Frank Wren as having had the fourth-best offseason — again, in all of baseball. And these assessments were written before the Braves signed Garret Anderson, which seems a much sounder acquisition than Junior Griffey would have been.

And now, for a contra-contrarian take, Ted Keith of SI.com quotes an unnamed scout as saying of the Braves, “I don’t think they’re that good a club.” But it should be noted that Mr. Keith — not to be confused with Keith Law, or Keith Richards, or Keith Moon — gives the Braves a “B” for their offseason moves.

OK, OK. But what about Frenchy?

On ESPN.com, Eric Karabell poses the $3.3 million question: Will Jeff Francoeur have a bounceback season? Karabell says yes, projecting Francoeur to hit .266 with 18 homers and 90 RBIs, but then he writes, “I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he tops those numbers.”

Me, either. As I tried to write last week, Francouer’s new stance looks pretty spiffy.

Enough about baseball. What about Michael Vick?

Glad you asked. According to Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports, the quarterback/felon has commanded little interest as a trade target. A subsequent Associated Press story by Cliff Brunt suggested the 49ers and Vikings might be in the market, but esteemed AJC college D. Orlando Ledbetter — D-Led to those of us in the know — knocked down the San Fran half of that.

Enough about Vick. What about the combine?

Knowshon Moreno might just be the first running back drafted after all. Tony Pauline of TFYdraft.com lists Moreno among those who improved their stock in Indianapolis, and Clifton Brown of the Sporting News has Mike Mayock of NFL.com calling Moreno his No. tailback.

Meanwhile, Don Banks of SI.com claims this year’s top quarterbacks — Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez — don’t quite compare to Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco because Stafford and Sanchez are leaving college early. But, as I recall, nobody was saying, “Matty Ice is a sure thing because he completed his eligibility” last spring. As I recall, some folks were saying the Falcons should have drafted Glenn Dorsey.

But enough about the NFL. What about Lane Kiffin?

The new Mouth of the South hasn’t had much to say in the past 24 hours, but that didn’t stop an enterprising satirist on 3rd Saturday in Blogtober from posting this (fictional) account of the Tennessee coach dining with AD Mike Hamilton at the Sevierville Waffle House. If you’ve followed the exploits of young Kiffy — and who among us hasn’t? — you’ll appreciate this.