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
saywhat?
December 22nd, 2009
5:13 pm
bvillebaron I agree….”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.”,,, but even with that Javy was not the one to be let go,,, Hudson may come back stronger but at the time I would have let him go and kept Javy,,, but money gets the big talent and KEEPS the big talent,, and Liberty is NOT the answer, They ARE the problem
bvillebaron
December 22nd, 2009
5:13 pm
Mark:
Did it ever occur to you that the other move would be signing a free agent or two, rather than a trade?
F-105 Thunderchief
December 22nd, 2009
5:13 pm
I hope someone whispers in Frankie’s ear how big he stepped in it with the fans. He won’t care, but he should know how much he’s despised. Maybe it’ll light a fire to make an actual beneficial move.
Brian
December 22nd, 2009
5:15 pm
Oh yeah, we’re trading away a few years of Boone Logan, too. Didn’t mean to leave him out.
oldfart
December 22nd, 2009
5:15 pm
I don’t care about other deals, future or otherwise. This wasn’t announced as a 3-way or anything of the sort. Standing on its own merits, or lack thereof, it is clearly an inequitable trade. Yeah they save some salary but the direct result will be less people through the turnstiles, so where’s the upside?
Jackets2009
December 22nd, 2009
5:15 pm
The way to get on sports radio right now is to defend the trade since few want to. I’ll bet they are having a time figuring out which of the thousands against it to put on so they choose the one guy for it. lol.
BC
December 22nd, 2009
5:15 pm
I am amazed that Marlon Byrd is even being considered as a solution to the power in the outfield. Marlon Byrd? Seriously? Same goes for Xavier Nady…mediocre at best. I would try to package Shafer, Medlen, Freddie Freeman and whatever else it would take to get Adrian Gonzales. That is the big bat the Braves need…Marlon Byrd?
bvillebaron
December 22nd, 2009
5:15 pm
Mark:
If Part 2 of this trade is Ryan Howard for Matt Diaz, you will modify your opinion. Was that intended to be funny? Clever? Actually it just goes to show how clueless you really are!
Andrew
December 22nd, 2009
5:17 pm
Oldfart- If you look that the trade that way, then you’re just being ignorant. Obviously this trade doesn’t make us better. This trade was done to help out future deals and signings. So in effect, we traded vazquez for melky and whomever we sign with that money.
Bradley and old far
Tide Fan
December 22nd, 2009
5:17 pm
Mark,
The Padres MIGHT, however, trade Gonzalez for a package of Schafer, Vizcaino, Minor, Cabrera, and Medlen.
JM
December 22nd, 2009
5:17 pm
Viscaino indeed sounds like a very good prospect, but I think some of you are hyping him so much are missing the point of why some of us are so upset about this trade.
The Braves won 86 games last year and were 52-36 after June 27th. Before today, there was every reason to believe 2010 could be the year the Braves got back to the playoffs. I don’t know about you guys, but after four years being out of the money I am STARVED to see postseason baseball in Atlanta again. I woke up this morning thinking that was a realistic possibility next year. Now I’m not so sure.
Maybe this trade makes us better in the long run. That’s great. No doubt the Braves should have a very bright future with their loaded farm systems and some of the youngsters already on their major league roster. But what I’m feeling, and what I think a lot of other Braves fans are feeling today, is that moves like this mean we’re going to have to wait even longer to being able to compete for championships again, and we’re tired of waiting.
ArkyTech
December 22nd, 2009
5:18 pm
Compared to 2009, we swapped Vazquez for Hudson, Melky for Franceour, and still have about $20M for 1b and OF – plus added legit prosepects.
Yeah, we’re waaaay worse off than last year. Wren’s an idiot?
saywhat?
December 22nd, 2009
5:18 pm
Mark if Part 2 turns out something like that everyone would be happy and Frank would have worked a miracle,,, but its because of Liberty Media he has to do it,, lets face it,, Time Warner (post Ted) to Liberty took the Braves from dominance to middle of the road and it IS all about money,, can’t sign talent anymore or can’t keep it,, for lack of serious money,,, so the Braves fans need to accept middle of the road unless someone like Arthur Blank steps up to save the fans and he has his hands full turning around the Falcons,, but at least he has and will spend CASH! CASH IS KING
teddyballgame
December 22nd, 2009
5:19 pm
Fact, Melky is a tremendous upgrade to Diaz. Diaz will be lucky to start with mclouth and melky in the outfield, that is if Heyward makes the cut in Spring training. Sometimes it’s about defense, and the D we had with Anderson and Church made me want to curl up in the fetal position every time the ball was hit their way. Melky will start in Left, and the rest of you boneheads, watch Javi toss a sub 500 season, with at least a 4.00 ERA
Krishna
December 22nd, 2009
5:20 pm
Jeff Walker, Brian, and Andrew…
couldnt agree with u guys more. thank you – for being sane.
MB and the majority of u guys out there – seriously relax and straighten out those mental wedgies ya’ll have give yourself. Wren is still out to get a big bat. it will happen. understand the intricacies of baseball: the minimal leverage we had, Vazquez’s contract situation after next year, our need for Offense, the tremendous amount of Talent that is coming up very soon (Heyward, Freeman, etc), the payroll flexibility (or lack thereof we have, thanks To Liberty), and on and on and on. RELAX.
Mel
December 22nd, 2009
5:21 pm
Wooooo, I just read the Yank’s blog and their fans hate this trade just as much, or more, than most of the Brave’s fans. If you thought Wren was an idiot, that is mild compared to what the NY fans think of Cashman. It would seem the only way to tell is to play the season and see who is still standing.
Ted M
December 22nd, 2009
5:21 pm
Lowe may very well have a better yr then Javy in 2010, but the Braves are worse because Melky will be starting in the outfield not someone with power we all assumed. Wren did say he was a “perfect fit”.
Jackets2009
December 22nd, 2009
5:23 pm
Those who like the deal, don’t waste your time here. Go to Braves.com and buy your season tickets.
stinky
December 22nd, 2009
5:23 pm
this is a desperate, naked salary dump. if wren doesn’t pull a rabbit out of his @$$, he won’t save same.
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
5:23 pm
Andrew- Lowe led the league in hits allowed and did not even reach 200 innings pitched. he also allowed a .301 batting average against. He had HUGE run support, thus his 15 wins.
CharlestonBravesFan
December 22nd, 2009
5:24 pm
Beyond the many other points of why Mark Bradley is an idiot and why this is not the worst trade in history…
As stated by Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus “Any headline on this trade that does not mention Arodys Vizcaino is totally missing the point.”
Goldstein’s comments just further add to the point that Bradley is a narrow minded, negative, idiot…
Keith Law of ESPN has to say…”The key player in this trade for Atlanta is Arodys Vizcaino, who becomes one of the top five prospects in the Braves’ system and gives them a trio of potential No. 1 or No. 2 starters in the low minors with Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado.”
These are comments from professionals that focus solely and only on Baseball. Bradley has trouble remembering the distance between the pitchers mound and home plate.
This is a great article for the fact that it got hunderds of people commenting…most are stupid comments…but it worked.
JB
December 22nd, 2009
5:24 pm
Will everyone PLEASE stop making fun of Biff Pocoroba today? Comparing Biff to the 2009-2010 Braves is an embarrassment. For Biff. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Larry Pocoroba
bvillebaron
December 22nd, 2009
5:24 pm
ArkyTech:
Hey man, don’t let facts Like (1) Hudson always has been a better pitcher than Vazquez and Cabrera is a a better player than Frenchy; (2) Wren still has perhaps as much as $20M to spend and (3) added by all accounts a prime pitching prospect (one source says the Braves return for Vazquez was better than the Phils’ return for Lee) get in the way of knee jerk blasting of Wren, huh?
JM
December 22nd, 2009
5:25 pm
teddyballgame, Melky is not a tremendous upgrade over Diaz. In fact, Diaz is clearly the superior player. Cabrera is a career .269/.331/.385 hitter, compared to .310/.358/.459 for Diaz. Even if Cabrera is better defensively, it doesn’t make up for the fact that Diaz blows him away by over 100 OPS points as a hitter.
For what the Braves have now, Diaz should be in an everyday role, and Cabrera should be competing with Heyward for playing time in RF.
Jackets2009
December 22nd, 2009
5:25 pm
Headline in NY papers tomorrow: World Series Champion Yankees get better and add the Atlanta Braves to their farm system.
Ted M
December 22nd, 2009
5:26 pm
Mark,
Give us an estimate of the 2010 payrolls for the Braves, Mets, Phillys & Marlins
Skeezix
December 22nd, 2009
5:26 pm
Mark: You have finally seen the light; that is, that Wren is an idiot and no match for the guys on the other side of the table. If I was negotiating a deal, I’d want Wren on the other side. Even so, I didn’t think he was dumb enough to let Vasquez go; and worse, get nothing in return (another weak hitting outfielder and two promises)…..Going back to the Furcal fiasco (and many since then), he have been amazingly incompetent. He actually thinks he pulled off a great deal here. It has been sad to watch this once proud franchise sink to the bottom like this—and at this rate–if the Braves don’t get better leadership soon, they will sink to the bottom in 2-3 years. Wren doesn’t get all the blame—Liberty Media/corporate ownership is bad and JS should have fired Wren last year.
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
5:28 pm
teddyballgame, yes sometimes it is about defense. That’s wht the Yanks could afford him starting, they had enough bats. We don’t. We need bats. You are absolutely wrong about Church’s defense. He is a plus defender. He is the same player as Melky, Church just has a little more power.
Mel
December 22nd, 2009
5:29 pm
Mr. Bradley, is there extra credit for calling each other an idiot? It does seem to be the preamble of this blog. Was just asking.
ArkyTech
December 22nd, 2009
5:29 pm
If Melky is garbage, why did he have 485 at bats for the World Champs?
jackson
December 22nd, 2009
5:29 pm
Folks, no one is arguing whether or not Vasquez will be a winner next year. Personally, I like the guy a lot… he reminds me of Smoltz in his pitching style… Smoltz was never a great ERA pitcher but you just loved his moxie. Having said that, Mark is right on in the fact that with any commodity, you buy low and sell high. In this case, it seems we bought low and sold low. Yes we saved payroll. Yes we sent an inconsistent pitcher along the way…. but where is the sell value. The best organizations realize when a player has past his prime and ability to contribute significantly to an organization. Then they ship the player away. Yes there is a lot of pining for the good ole years… but hey, take a look at my two favorite Braves…. Murph and Smoltz… both were shipped away… both had mediocre careers after leaving… was there the heart strings of sending them away being plucked? yes but it had to happen. Therefore, Mark is right in the fact that we did not get fair trade value and that stinks as bad as just letting someone walk.
Jeff Walker
December 22nd, 2009
5:29 pm
Braves can compete for the wild card if not the NL East because they will be better. They will have a full season of Hanson, Prado, and Nate. Diaz will play full time hopefully and Chipper will bounce back. Yunel will continue to improve. We will probably end up with either Derosa or Nady and who knows how good Heyward could be? We could sign Nady and still have money to add even more talent to the pen in Fernando Rodney, Dotel, or Beimel. Its no secret that our offense won’t be top notch, but we could load up the pen and shorten the game. We get into a postseason series, our pitching will keep us in it
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
5:30 pm
This will be the first sports headline in a while about somebody getting screwed and Tiger’s not mentioned.
Greg
December 22nd, 2009
5:30 pm
The Braves and Frank Wren continue to be a pathetic joke. I won’t waste my time with them this year.
bvillebaron
December 22nd, 2009
5:30 pm
Skeezix:
Yeah, Fooky Furcal had a much better year than Yunel Escobar last season, right?
The Voice of Reason
December 22nd, 2009
5:31 pm
Brain…Mark’s just bitter now. Give him a couple of days to think though this.
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
5:31 pm
Arky- because Johnny Damon is a defensive liability.
Mark Bradley
December 22nd, 2009
5:31 pm
Don’t ask me: I’ve been called an idiot so often the word no longer registers.
Ripped Again
December 22nd, 2009
5:31 pm
Dumb and Dumbest running the Braves no wonder the sports talk shows up in New York making fun of us … another soso 2010 ,im saving my money for Falcons season tickets ….
Ted M
December 22nd, 2009
5:32 pm
Arky its because the yankees only needed defense
NY Frenchy
December 22nd, 2009
5:33 pm
Its a good trade considering it clears about 10 million to sign a left fielder (Nady, or DeRosa most likely) then put McClouth in center & Melky in right & move Diaz to first? You still have 4 quality starters, Diaz’s bat in the lineup full time & you add Melky a switch hitter & a new righty bat in left, what do you think MB?? Sounds good to me, do you think Diaz can handle playing first, I know he has in the past?
ArkyTech
December 22nd, 2009
5:33 pm
Baba, pretty sure outfielders still hit in the AL.
bvillebaron
December 22nd, 2009
5:34 pm
Jackson:
Smoltz was never an ERA guy? His career ERA is 3.33.
Scott
December 22nd, 2009
5:34 pm
Thank God! The late 1980’s Braves have returned! Will the ticket prices now be reduced?
Baba O'Riley
December 22nd, 2009
5:35 pm
Arky- pretty sure the Yanks have Tex and ARod, etc. to make up for Melky’s shortcomings offensively. We don’t.
Larry
December 22nd, 2009
5:35 pm
If somebody gives me enough money , ill buy the braves. Im a baseball man. My GM certainly would be Frank Wren, thats for sure. Ask Cal Ripken Jr. about him. He is a joke.
Ted M
December 22nd, 2009
5:36 pm
Mark – I like your articles, but your last comment has me wondering. How often do people call you idiot to your face?
1eyedJack
December 22nd, 2009
5:36 pm
Cabrera hit 9 of his 13 HR’s at hitter friendly Yankee Stadium (310 down the lines). What will he do at The Ted, a pitcher’s park?
Vasquez has a career year in pitcher friendly Turner field. How many of those long fly balls go out of Yankee Stadium? Already failed once in NY.
Both sides lose, unless the Bravos flip this trade for something better and the Yanks win a lot of 8-7 games with Javy on the mound.
Mark Bradley
December 22nd, 2009
5:38 pm
Not often, Ted. But that’s because I only go out of the house in disguise.
don
December 22nd, 2009
5:38 pm
Wren is a prostitute. He is continually screwed by the other GMs.
He should be fired.