The Braves: Serious about saving $$$, less so about winning
Melky Cabrera: The latest in a series of cost-cutting imports. (AJC photo by Jason Getz)
The Braves just traded the man who might well have been their Opening Day starting pitcher for an outfielder who might not start on Opening Day. Think about that.
Think also about this: The Braves just traded a man who finished fourth in the National League Cy Young voting because he was making too much money. And here’s how much Javier Vazquez is scheduled to make in 2010 — $11.5 million. That’s not even half what CC Sabathia, his new Yankee teammate, will earn. And that tells us all we need know about the Braves.
They keep making noises about contending for division titles, but it’s just noise. They can’t afford to do real business any longer. From the day the 2009 season ended they were looking to dump a starting pitcher, ostensibly to add a power hitter, but Melky Cabrera isn’t a power hitter. He was the eighth-best position player on the Yankees. He might not beat out Nate McLouth in center field here. He might wind up in a platoon. And he’s what the Braves got for the man who was their best pitcher last season.
“A perfect fit,” Frank Wren called Cabrera, speaking on a teleconference Tuesday, but the only thing perfect about this trade was how completely it detonates the Braves’ claim to being serious players. You don’t trade an ace unless you get a big bopper in return. The Braves got a guy who hit 13 home runs with 68 RBIs last season.
Yes, there’s more to the trade than Cabrera. Mike Dunn should help in the bullpen and Arodys Vizcaino is a young power arm, but the cold truth is that the Braves just played what they deemed their trump card — a surplus of starting pitching — without improving their run production one whit. And don’t fool yourselves: That $11.5 million they saved on Vazquez won’t allow them to splurge on Jason Bay or Matt Holliday. Those guys are out of price range, out of sight.
“We’re very fortunate to be able to make a deal like this,” Wren said. Then this: “We’ve been focused on [finding a run producer] all offseason, and we were waiting on the right match. And we’re still waiting.”
But Vazquez is gone. Can’t trade him twice. And the Braves can’t trade Derek Lowe because they’re down to five starters. So the best that can be reasonably hoped is that they find a Marlon Byrd or a Xavier Nady or — knowing as we do that the Braves love recycling old favorites — a Mark DeRosa or a Jermaine Dye. Except none of those players will make them better in the way that losing Vazquez makes them worse.
Loading ...As someone who has defended Wren in the past, I have to say I’m stumped. Obviously the Braves’ salary constraints are worse than we’d been led to believe if they had to make this sort of deal so soon — Santa Claus hasn’t yet come and Javier Vazquez has left the building — but even more puzzling is Wren’s contention that this enabled him “to improve our club.” Maybe it improves it in 2012, when Vizcaino is ready to join Tommy Hanson and Jair Jurrjens. But the way the Braves operate those pitchers will have been sold off by then.
Nothing about this offseason suggests that the new Braves are any better than the ones who finished third in the NL East. Is Billy Wagner an upgrade over Rafael Soriano? No. (But he’s cheaper. And also older.) Is Takashi Saito better than Mike Gonzalez? No. (But he’s cheaper. And also older.) Is the new first baseman … oh, wait. They don’t yet have a new first baseman.
For all this motion — Wren is forever in a hurry — the Braves will enter January 2010 a lesser team than in September 2009. That’s not the way it’s supposed to work. But that is, sad to say, the way it works here, where $11.5 million for a big-time pitcher is considered too much, where the drive to win is trumped by the need to scrimp.
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748 comments Add your comment
F-105 Thunderchief
December 22nd, 2009
5:01 pm
You just thoroughly undressed and spanked Frank Wren and Liberty Media, Mark. Thank you. It needed to be done in the most withering way possible and you gave it to them with both barrels. Good. They deserve it. Heck, I think God may consider this trade a damnable offense.
oldfart
December 22nd, 2009
5:01 pm
I see ostrich races in our future. On the bright side maybe we’ll get back to the days of buying the cheap seats and moving down to field level after the 1st inning.
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
5:02 pm
We will get ONE of Laroche, Nady, Byrd, or Derosa. No, that’s not enough.
Brian
December 22nd, 2009
5:02 pm
Tide Fan: “Maybe the Yanks and Mets were the only eastern teams who could afford him.”
Ah, some much needed critical thinking. Anyone who thinks we could have gotten a 40-HR hitter, or even a 30-HR hitter, for Vazquez, is overvaluing him.
Also, anyone who thinks he should be projected to repeat what he did last year doesn’t understand how projecting baseball players works.
MarkBradleyHasNeverBeenABravesFan
December 22nd, 2009
5:02 pm
Seriously, who cares if you’re first, or third, or fifth to make your comment. Most of you are a bunch of crybabies that starting wathcing the Braves in 2004.
Bradley, go cover the Hawks!
lawton
December 22nd, 2009
5:02 pm
i agree with everything you said mark. the braves remind me of the hawks, BEFORE this season, you wonder if they have a plan. sure, the APPARENT plan is to get rid of salary. ok, if so, then why spend all that loot for derek lowe, unless it was a organizational save face move after being duped by everybody last year. the braves dont have speed or power, lol. they dont hit for average either. on defense, they are a nightmare. now, they have added questionable closers to the rotation, depleted their starting pitching by one and have yet to sign a first baseman. they are a mess.
Andrew
December 22nd, 2009
5:03 pm
Seriously Baba?
Who would have pitched for us without Lowe. He won 15 games. I realize they weren’t pretty. Hanson wasn’t up yet, so thats 2 starting spots open without lowe in the rotation. And spare me on the “he should have brought Hanson up earlier.” While I agree that he should have started the season with the big club, maybe the braves did it right by allowing him to pitch in the minors a little longer. Remember Jordan Shafer. And you can’t judge this trade until after we make a few more moves. If we don’t sign a hitter, then by all means, you have the right to criticize Wren, but until then, you don’t. Just about every move he has made has worked out well for us.
yeamat728
December 22nd, 2009
5:03 pm
this is why people CANT support the Braves…i’ve had my fill of the Diaz. Cabrera, and Prado types…I WILL NOT PAY to see a Braves game next season…we have not made a credible trade in 2yrs (and that being nice).. where in the hell was John Scherholtz when this trade was sent through… “Come on son”
mikey
December 22nd, 2009
5:03 pm
That trade stinks! If people would stop buying the tickets and put a financial hurt on the organization then maybe someone like Sir Arthur might buy the franchise for a steal. The current owners are not out to win but just use this team as a tax write off. THEY WONT GET MY MONEY TO WATCH SUBPAR BASEBALL! Bobby Cox diserves better.
Ted M
December 22nd, 2009
5:04 pm
That’s bullcrap about not being able to trade Lowe. In fact we will trade Lowe before the trade DL and find someone to take all of his salary and give us a couple of decent prospects. The Braves will be 18 games back of the philly’s asTDL approaches.
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
5:04 pm
With Wren at GM, can we look forward to remnants of the 80’s when Ted Simmons and the rest of the “Bomb Squad” planted a garden by the Braves bullpen in AFC stadium?
Steve
December 22nd, 2009
5:04 pm
Horrible trade. Our best pitcher for this guy. The braves just handed the yanks another world series. Stupid idiot wren. Trade our best pitcher for this guy? Ugh.
Jeff Walker
December 22nd, 2009
5:04 pm
Mark, your still an idiot. I want you to write on this article when the NY media is ripping Vasquez because he still can’t pitch in NYC and he still can’t produce back to back high caliber seasons. You Probably thought trading Renteria for a couple of prospects was a bad move too, Wren has made good moves in the past. This may not be a good one, but we didn’t have a whole lot of leverage. Its not like Texas was offering up Nelson Cruz anytime soon
GMR
December 22nd, 2009
5:04 pm
I think we are all missing the obvious – another Brian Jordan comeback.
Seriously
December 22nd, 2009
5:05 pm
Yankees have just clinched a repeat before spring training and we now become one of their farm teams.
Dap01
December 22nd, 2009
5:05 pm
Good column MB. Why are we constantly told that the payroll is going to be not an issue but Wren trades like a scared man. Wouldn’t you like to play poker against Wren, he could never bluff anyone.
We are below average in the outfield. We trades our best pitcher. We have NO cleanup hitter.
We will be worse at the beginning of 10 than at the end of 09. That means that our GM did a BAD job.
Krishna
December 22nd, 2009
5:05 pm
MB – i think u do…the “off-chance” is actually very likely to happen…and the only way it was going to happen is if we freed up some money (in the amount of around 8.5 million) by trading Vazquez (since no one bit at Lowe). and let’s be honest, we wouldnt have been able to keep Vazquez past this next season anyways…so at least we got something decent for him now…and gave us a good chance to bolster our offense.
1eyedJack
December 22nd, 2009
5:06 pm
When the Yanks were making the deal with the Tigers for Granderson it was thought the Tigs were coveting Dunn in the trade and the Yanks wouldn’t give him up. Now they trade Dunn and Cabrera to the Bravos who need both like a hole in the head. So what you do is package Dunn and Cabrera along with another low level prospect and trade with the Tigers who now also need a centerfielder for Miguel Cabrera. Wishful thinking?
Jack
December 22nd, 2009
5:06 pm
I predict the Braves will finish so far out of first they will end up in the West!!
wawel78
December 22nd, 2009
5:06 pm
For those of you who don’t think Cabrera would be an outfield starter for this team, did you even watch the team last year? He could potentially be the best outfielder the team has.
I don’t like the trade but one of the pitchers had to go. I assume the market just wasn’t there for Lowe.
Brian
December 22nd, 2009
5:06 pm
Mark, my response would be that I don’t think Wren would have made the deal if he wasn’t confident it would help our mission to improve the offense. Take that however you want it.
I don’t want to get fans’ hopes up, but a package of Schafer, Medlen, Freeman, and Vizcaino would, IMO, be attractive to the Padres for Adrian Gonzalez, and without giving up Heyward or Hanson. And there is probably some name out there no one has even mentioned that we are looking into.
All I’m saying is…the offseason isn’t over. The column is premature.
CharlestonBravesFan
December 22nd, 2009
5:06 pm
MarkBradleyHasNeverBeenABravesFan…
I totally agree. How can you say the Braves are not committed to winning and only care about cutting costs when their Payroll in 2009 was over $100,000,000 and they will spend the same amount this season. It seems to me that the execs (which is NOT JUST WREN) that includes the beloved Johnny S agreed that the priority was to divert money to offense. Think about the TRUE WARP between Lowe and Javy. What, maybe a single game? This was about priorities and they got the best deal available. Period. Quit you’re crying and buy some Falcons or Hawks tickets if you think its more fun over there.
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
5:07 pm
Andrew- Without Lowe, we MAY have dropped to 4th place instead of 3rd whoop-ti-damn-doo. With the amount of run support he was given, we may have finished 2nd place WITHOUT him.
Seriously
December 22nd, 2009
5:07 pm
This reminds me of the Dominique Wilkins trade.
Welcome Braves fans to the Yankees farm system.
Andrew
December 22nd, 2009
5:08 pm
Bradley, you’re unbelievable!!!!
I’m pretty sure that Wren has some moves already in the works while he made this trade. I cannot believe how uniformed you sound right now. You sound like my buddy AK47, the producer of Mayhem in the AM right now. Just freaking out without seeing the big picture. You and AK47, two idiots.
MLB Fan
December 22nd, 2009
5:08 pm
I say hold on and let wait and see. I still think they will unload DL too. Then you will have dropped 20 + mill from the payroll. Then you can go get your big bopper
saywhat?
December 22nd, 2009
5:08 pm
This just in,, Wren traded Hansen and Jurrgens… for THREE big bats… so take that negative people.. and they are those really big 33 inch bats like the ones Chipper uses. so that is THREE for TWO… way to go Frank.. you are a miracle worker
Dean
December 22nd, 2009
5:08 pm
What bat is out there to get? This is the point we’re missing here. Who can the Braves even trade for that’s going to put them into competitive range with the Phillies? A. Gonzalez is a long shot and after that there’s no one that is cheap and controllable that can help. Look around, it’s just not there. And the free agent market is thin. It’s just not looking good.
Mark Bradley
December 22nd, 2009
5:08 pm
The Padres won’t trade Adrian Gonzalez for a package of Schafer, Medlen and Cabrera. Maybe a package of Heyward and Hanson.
bvillebaron
December 22nd, 2009
5:08 pm
Mark:
At least you have been consistent; blasting the trade this morning and blasting it againt this afternoon. Honest to god, you would think Frank Wren just traded Roy Halladay for Biff Pocoroba. Vazquez had a CAREER YEAR last year. He is going to be a free agent after this year. This means there was no guarantee the Braves could sign him to an extension. I want to win now as much as the next fan, but there is NO GUARANTEE that (1) Vazquez would pitch this well again next year (his history says otherwise); and (2) the Braves will win next year with Vazquez.
You also seem to think the 2010 season starts tomorrow, not at the end of March. Wren said recently that the Braves did not necessarily need to acquire a big bat when they traded Lowe (preferably) or Vazquez (yes, folks, trading Vazquez was unfortunately a consideration). He has clearly freed up money in this deal and others (e.gl over $3 million by signing Hudson to a 3 year extension at $9.33 million per year rather than paying him $12.5 million for this year only). Can we please see what additional moves Wren makes between now and the start of the season?
P.S. If you want to criticize someone about the Braves’ interest in saving money, place the blame squarely where it belongs: Liberty Media, not Frank Wren.
Smack
December 22nd, 2009
5:08 pm
Oy! Do you even know what kind of depth we have in the system Mark? Do your homework. Between what’s left on the market (200+ players at last check) and what is always possible on the trade market, how can you already write this post season and this move in particular off as a failure?
FunkyBobbyJ
December 22nd, 2009
5:09 pm
Brian (et al), you have someone who was a top five starter last year in the NL. You do not give that away to free up cap space to make another move. This is one of the biggest bargaining chips our club had. If we can’t keep him, let’s rake in the profits for having that pitching depth. So, we rake in two not-ready-for-prime-time prospects and a marginal outfielder? We do not even get the Yanks top prospect, but their 3rd-rated prospect? It really is a damn shame. I am still watching, but my expectations and anticipation for next season just took a huge belt to the body. This is hugely disappointing.
DawginLex
December 22nd, 2009
5:09 pm
So who are the likely starters next year?
Lowe(15-18 wins)
Hudson(15-18 wins)
Hanson(15-18 wins)
Jurrjens(15-18 wins)
Who is the 5th starter?
Surely, to goodness Wren is going to make another move and get some more RBI’s to support these guys
Jackets2009
December 22nd, 2009
5:09 pm
Column is not premature.
It is spot on.
Andrew
December 22nd, 2009
5:10 pm
Please explain to me your math baba….
He won 15 games. So if someone else had pitched, we would have stuck another pitcher in and he would have won 20 games?
I’m not defending lowe, he didnt pitch well. But he still won 15 games, no matter how you look at it. I’m not happy about trading vazques, but if it means trading vazquez and getting a hitter in return (im talking about the hitter we will sign, not melky) then i’m alright with it.
Brian
December 22nd, 2009
5:10 pm
Don’t know if you were replying to me, Mark, but I didn’t say Schafer, Medlen, and Cabrera. Cabrera wouldn’t likely be involved. Getting Cabrera gives us a little more depth in the OF and makes Schafer a little more expendable. I said Schafer, Medlen, Freeman, and Vizcaino.
The Grinch
December 22nd, 2009
5:10 pm
We have PLENTY of pieces left for a major trade, and enough money to sign Roche or Nady as well. Stop freaking out, everyone. Wren has an ace up his sleeve; he’s no fool.
melkycabrera
December 22nd, 2009
5:10 pm
What? They traded me to where? The Atlanta Braves! OMG! Wait. I just had a brainstorm! I’ll pull a Greg Norton on them and they’ll trade me back to the Yankees for their 167th best prospect! All right! The check is in the mail Frank.
Jeff Walker
December 22nd, 2009
5:10 pm
Your still an idiot Mark. Vasquez will probably do what he usually does and not have back to back good seasons, and everyone will be saying how Wren sold high on Vasquez instead of selling low on Lowe, who will more than likely be much better next year. You will be wrong no matter what, because that’s what you do best
jim
December 22nd, 2009
5:11 pm
Mark, you are on point with this article. The Braves fell off the real radar when Ted sold them. The folks since then are far more corporate minded. Bobby Cox and Chipper must be angry when they think back about the way this organization used to run. I am not a Frank Wren hater but this is a pound foolish and penny wise move at best. The Braves should stop telling the public how much they want to win. No one left here believes them.
The Grinch
December 22nd, 2009
5:11 pm
DawginLex: Kawakami (12-14 wins) and/or Medlin (10-12 wins).
Mark Bradley
December 22nd, 2009
5:11 pm
If Part 2 of this trade is to get Ryan Howard for Matt Diaz, I will modify my opinion.
ArkyTech
December 22nd, 2009
5:12 pm
I’m ready to fight the next fool who bashes Martin Prado!
Jackets2009
December 22nd, 2009
5:12 pm
Lowe 15-18 wins.
What if we get the Lowe of last August and September.
Guy on radio says to chill out on it.
It will save me money.
Those who like the deal can buy tickets but not me.
I’ll attend Tech baseball for the first time ever.
trey
December 22nd, 2009
5:12 pm
Somebody with real money who’s really interested in baseball needs to buy this team. Ever since this team was sold off to Liberty media it has continously gone down hill because the Braves can’t keep good players once they get them due to lack of funds. It’s pathetic and sad at the same time.
Jeff Walker
December 22nd, 2009
5:12 pm
Im with Chuck also, people can’t say the Braves are the cheap ones, when they made every effort to lower ticket prices and people still failed to show up. That’s why Philly is jacking their payroll up, while Wren is forced to make ends meet w/ a sub $100M payroll
Krishna
December 22nd, 2009
5:12 pm
umm, our 5th starter is Kawakami (and he pitched darn well for his 1st yr here…and received one of the lowest run supports in the league)
Smack
December 22nd, 2009
5:13 pm
Time will tell this tale…
DawginLex
December 22nd, 2009
5:13 pm
thanks grinch. I had a brain lapse about Medlin and for some reason, I thought Kawakami was gone.
Brian
December 22nd, 2009
5:13 pm
FunkyBobby…you’re not trading away Javier Vazquez’s 2009 season. You’re trading Javier Vazquez’s 2010 season for 9 million dollars, at least three years of Melky Cabrera, and 6+ years of Vizcaino and Dunn.