Bradley’s Buzz: SI’s Heyman calls Braves’ offseason ‘cheap’
I apologize. I've used this picture before, but it's too good. (AJC photo by Phil Skinner)
I don’t always agree with Jon Heyman of SI.com. He seems to believe Bobby Valentine invented the game of baseball, while I’m of the opinion Bobby V. only perfected the art of preening. But I can’t quibble with this assessment of the Braves’ offseason.
Heyman lists “eight teams that struck out this winter by not spending enough.” The Braves are No. 8 on that list. (The Mets are No. 1, intriguingly enough.)His rationale:
“[The Braves] were remarkably cheap this winter, and the result is a rotation diminished by the loss of Javier Vazquez and a lineup that still needs another big hitter. Melky Cabrera was the only immediate help received for Vazquez, who was brilliant last year. Troy Glaus could prove to be a $2 million bargain, and Eric Hinske seems to be a lucky charm [he played for the AL champion the past three seasons]. They also got former All-Star closer Takashi Saito. Meanwhile, the real goal had been to trade Derek Lowe so they could free up money for the much-needed impact bat. Unfortunately for them, there were no takers. Billy Wagner is a fair replacement for Rafael Soriano [though at this point, I'd take Soriano]. But overall, there was no discernible improvement.”
My two cents (hey, I’m cheap, too!): Even if the Vazquez trade helps the Braves down the road — I’m thinking of prospect Arodys Vizcaino — there was no way they should have surrendered the man who might well have been their Opening Day starting pitcher without getting a starting position player in return. (Cabrera is seen as a fourth outfielder.) And I don’t buy the argument that the Braves’ rotation will be just as strong without Vazquez.
With Vazquez, the fourth and fifth starters would have been Lowe, who even in a down year won 15 games, and Tim Hudson, who had Tommy John surgery in 2008. Without Vazquez, those two must move up a slot and Kenshin Kawakami, who won seven games last season, again becomes the No. 5 starter. I’m sorry, but that’s a downgrade.
And, since parsimony is today’s theme, I’m wondering about the money the Braves apparently saved in dumping Vazquez. He was scheduled to make $11.5 million. Cabrera will earn $3.1 million. Glaus will make $2 million, Hinske $1 million. That’s $6.1 million in new salaries. Where’d the other $5.4 million go?
I asked Chipper Jones that question last week. I said: “Will they just give that $5 million to you?” He, you should know, just laughed.
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294 comments Add your comment
hawesg
February 8th, 2010
1:52 pm
Additions since June 1st of last year:
Tommy Hanson
Nate McLouth
(having Frenchy gone is an addition)
Tim Hudson
Troy Glaus
Billy Wagner
Takashi Saito
Manchild Heyward
Hinske
Substractions
Javy Vazquez
Adam LaRoche
Mike Gonzalez
Rafael Soriano
(adding Meh-lky is a subtraction)
And the Braves were a good team since June 1st. Get a LF and they’ll be real good.
Ted M
February 8th, 2010
1:55 pm
(adding Meh-lky is a subtraction) – I concur.
DeBrave
February 8th, 2010
1:56 pm
Brave’s Clearance Sale— DING, DING, DING…….. and you are our WINNER today for the dumbest post! Congrats! How does it feel to be considered the dumbest of the dumb? By the way, it’s Braves’ clearance sale, not Brave’s. You idiot!
Exactly how many future stars has Frank Wren traded since he’s been the GM in Atlanta? How many? He’s only acquired Jurrjens and Hernandez for washed up Renteria… one was then shipped with crappy Charlie Morton for McLouth, so that’s basically Jurrjens and McLouth for Renteria. He kept Hanson when so many wanted him traded for Jackass Peavy, acquired Vazquez to only ship him for three players, one of who is already one of the team’s elite prospects. Heyward, arguably the best prospect since Pujols was coming up, will have a big impact soon, as will Freeman and probably Schafer. Also, McCann,Escobar,Prado,etc. are already here and will be around awhile.
So, that’s why you’re an idiot with your kindergarten analysis of this team.
Nobody Cares
February 8th, 2010
1:57 pm
One Hudred Thirty Fifth!
siskel_god
February 8th, 2010
1:57 pm
MB, I got up this morning and flipped on my mlbnetwork to find the 92′ NLCS game 7. Watching that game brought back some great memories. I can’t help but look at the Phillies now and see the Braves teams of the early 90’s. Not so much personel (J-Roll, Utley, and Howard are the hitting equivelants of Glavine, Smoltz, and Madduz though) but the swagger they play with and how they seem to have so much fun. Watching the Lemmer hop around in the dugout with the hat flipped backwards and watching the guys rub Greg Olsons cast for luck in the dugout makes me wonder why they seemed to have so much emotion then and play so loose and always seem to have a good time compared to the business as usual approach now and always toeing the company line. The clubhouse dynamic has shifted since Chipper became the “leader”. All the guys seem to have that same demeanor, and play (except for Chipper’s awesome tirade last year in Boston…classic) very uninspired baseball. I hope with this being Bobby’s last year the guys can just relax and get back to having fun because I really think that is what they need more than anything else.
Nobody Cares
February 8th, 2010
1:58 pm
One Hundred Thirty Fourth!
Nobody Cares
February 8th, 2010
1:58 pm
One Hundred Thirty Third!. (I have no life)
Braves Gone Cheap
February 8th, 2010
1:59 pm
The braves owners make millions from all the tv deals, merchandise, etc. even if they suck. Why spend a bunch of money on salaries that will get you to second place instead of third place in the division, when you’re still bringing home the top shelf cash anyway???
Ted M
February 8th, 2010
2:00 pm
did you really count all the posts?
phoenix falcon
February 8th, 2010
2:02 pm
am i missing something? some of you at as if Vazquez was nolan ryan, or bob gibson, he did an ok job, i’ll give him that, but where did it get the braves? he was 15-10 last year, not 22-6 , the braves rotation will be better without him as long as they stay healthy.
Empty Seats @ Braves Games
February 8th, 2010
2:03 pm
The moves the Braves made will ensure one thing…..More Empty Seats at home games……more empty seats=more salary dumping next offseason.More salary dumping=more losses…..more losses=less attendance….less attendance=more salary dumping……..ANY QUESTIONS????
phoenix falcon
February 8th, 2010
2:03 pm
(having Frenchy gone is an addition)
1000% agree
Ted M
February 8th, 2010
2:04 pm
Does anyone know what the Yankees profits were last year? I bet its a lot. Braves owners could make even more money with a winning team. Still… there is nothing cheap about a 95 mil payroll.
ugaaccountant
February 8th, 2010
2:04 pm
phoenix falcon – Javier Vasquez finished 4th in the Cy Young last year. Please don’t tell me you don’t look at a pitchers W/L record to determine his value. If you dare say Lowe was about the same as him since they both had 15 wins I’ll know you’re brain damaged.
todd grantham
February 8th, 2010
2:05 pm
Mark, Bobby looks in the pic like he’s about to “hurl”…
extremus
February 8th, 2010
2:07 pm
I hope Liberty Media is long gone and we have a human owner genuinely interested in giving this city a championship-caliber team before our young talent like Hanson, Heyward, Jurrjens, and Freeman hit free agency in a few years. Otherwise we’ll all get to watch them don another team’s (probably the Yankees, Red Sox, or Phillies) jersey during an ESPN newscast shortly afterward. Loyalty means absolutely zilch to a corporation, be it to the players or the fans.
Ted M
February 8th, 2010
2:07 pm
Siskel – remind me about Chipper’s awesome tirade last year in Boston.
Mark Bradley
February 8th, 2010
2:07 pm
I will concede that isn’t the most flattering likeness of Manager Cox.
Mark Bradley
February 8th, 2010
2:09 pm
There was indeed a sense of inevitability about those Braves teams of the early ’90s, siskel god. Even when they loss, it took something extraordinary to beat them. (Extra innings in Game 7 in 1991, extras again in Game 6 in 1992, an inspired series from Philly in 1993).
Mark Bradley
February 8th, 2010
2:10 pm
There are no consequences for journalists being repeatedly wrong on predictions, hawesg. Only nice big raises.
ugaaccountant
February 8th, 2010
2:13 pm
Phoenix falcon – Also btw, Nolan Ryan had a .526 winning percentage for his career. For example, he came back to the NL in 1980 and made 35 starts at the age of 33. He had an 11-10 record, a 3.35 era, pitched 233 innings and struck out 200. Call me crazy, but there are some key standards by which Vasquez with Atlanta outperformed a comprable year by Ryan. Not saying his career will get him to the hall of fame, but you cannot possibly argue that Vasquez wasn’t sensational last year for Atlanta.
bvillebaron
February 8th, 2010
2:13 pm
Well, Mr. Bradley I guess if Jon “I am Scott Boras’ No. 1 Shill” said the Braves were the 8th cheapest team in the offseason, it must be gospel and you must feel a tremendous sense of vindication, huh? Your comment about this year’s rotation being a downgrade from last year’s rotation because the Braves don’t have both Vazquez and Hudson is unfair. The true comparison is are the Braves better with the 4 other guys they had in the rotation and Vazquez or the same 4 guys and Hudson. I have said it here repeatedly that Hudson has historically been a better pitcher than Javy “Career Year” Vazquez and I expect him to do just fine this year. Many of the same people who were claiming that trading the prospects they did last year to get Vazquez who had been a durable and decent, but never a top of the rotation starter now feel that we just traded away the second coming of Greg Maddux or John Smoltz. Gimme a break! Vazquez’s history suggests that there is no way he has anything close to the type of season he had last year.
Wren’s decision not to spend big bucks this offseason was wise for several reasons. First, the Braves are extremely unlikely to beat the Phillies for the division championship this year even if they overspent for Bay or Holliday (remember the Texeira fiasco folks?). Second, the Braves have a strong core of young players who stand a chance to make this a very strong team for a number of years in the near future (e.g. Hanson, Jurrjens, McCann, Escobar, Heyward, Freeman, Schafer, etc.). Given the budget constraints he operates under, it made no sense to overspend now and thus have less money to spend next year or the year after when that core matures and it would be the proper time to add a piece or two to that strong nucleus (as the Phillies did last year and this year). Third, given the strength of their rotation (which that “idiot” Wren nicely rebuilt) and bullpen, the “cheap” additions that many are trashing before they ever played a single game in a Braves uniform IMHO give them a chance to compete for their realistic target this year–the wild card.
gerald perry's yoga routine
February 8th, 2010
2:14 pm
Where’s Clusters?
/namaste
Bring Back Francoeur!
February 8th, 2010
2:14 pm
The Braves should have never gotten rid of Jeff Francoeur. He’s going to be a huge star with the Mets. They’ll be begging him to come back in a few years, at some huge salary of $15-$20 mil per year! Typical of the dumb decisions these morons make that run the braves.
Ted M
February 8th, 2010
2:15 pm
Mark,
Do you care to share your salary with us? If you do, you’ll likely double your record # posts of 2009.
Larry
February 8th, 2010
2:15 pm
Despite the Braves inability to bolster the offense, I must admit that the rotation of JJ, Hanson, Kawakami, Huddy, and Lowe is pretty damn intimidating. That rotation gives you a matchup, at least on paper, that you should win nearly every single game. The problem now is that you have to score runs for these guys.
Mark Bradley
February 8th, 2010
2:16 pm
I would, Ted M, except that I’m currently sharing a great deal of it with the Internal Revenue Service.
extremus
February 8th, 2010
2:17 pm
Mr. Bradley, I have a question. When the current culture of baseball catches up with retiring players who’ve performed at Hall of Fame caliber a few years from now, how on Earth will they decide what jersey they’ll enter Cooperstown with if the current process of free agency and dominant spending by a few clubs means those players will have played their careers effectively as mercenary arms or bats-for-hire across several cities? Will they just end up going by the most common denominator (the Yankees) and call it a day?
Baseball needs to address and to do what it takes to FIX questions like this, and fast, otherwise our national pastime will be nationally passed-by for other summer interests by a great number of fans in many markets across America. Why root for a team that can’t or whose ownership simply won’t compete in terms of being able to keep up spending-wise with larger markets, and why root for or follow the progress of promising young talent like Jason Heyward if you know they’ll likely be in another city a few years from now? Just some thoughts.
Big Cox
February 8th, 2010
2:17 pm
DeBrave……you are the dumbest icehole this side of the Mississippi.U is so stew-pid,joe mama forgets to puts an ick in stud of the e afa the D…..Joe Mama met u fatha at a CLEARANCE SALE at ham hock and black-eye pee buff-a…..Use a must-a be-a releated to bird brain named Wren!
Ted M
February 8th, 2010
2:20 pm
Ha… Those bastards. Actually I just meant how much your salary is.
Mark Bradley
February 8th, 2010
2:22 pm
As I understand it, Extremus, the Hall of Fame now decides which cap an inductee will wear. Which is probably the best way. Look at Clemens, say — Red Sox to Blue Jays to Yankees to Astros to Yankees. Look at Maddux: Cubs to Braves to Cubs to Padres to Dodgers. And those weren’t just pitchers. Those were the best pitchers of the past 25 years.
Mark Bradley
February 8th, 2010
2:24 pm
It’s way more than I deserve, Ted M. That much I will reveal. (Please don’t tell Ms. Julia Wallace I said so, though.)
Ted M
February 8th, 2010
2:24 pm
extremus – Heyward will be a Brave for at least 12 year.
extremus
February 8th, 2010
2:28 pm
Thanks for your reply, Mr. Bradley. So my next question is, will you (or any other posters here) be happy if the likes of Hanson and Heyward do end up having Hall of Fame careers, yet end up being enshrined with another team’s cap because the talent the Braves farm system took time and care to develop and mature was “harvested” by another ballclub (as so often happens across baseball now) which ended up enjoying the greatest benefit from their careers? I know that wouldn’t sit well with me as a Braves fan.
Ted M
February 8th, 2010
2:29 pm
What did happen with Chipper in Boston last year?
LAC
February 8th, 2010
2:30 pm
Just AMAZING how we have two of the WORST owners in pro sports owning 3/4 of the teams and neither asg or liberty give a DAMN about Winning !
#1 Falcon Fan
February 8th, 2010
2:33 pm
The Braves will not make the playoffs this year…I mean we havn’t made it since 2005. In order to get better and make a playoff run you need to spend money and add players..We needed another quality starting pictcher and we needed a big bat in the lineup….so why did we trade Vazquez and Soriano??? Our starting pitching will take a hit without Vazquez and I’m not so sure Wagner is the answer to our closer problem. As always the Braves played it cheap and as always they will miss the playoffs. You get what you pay for, just ask the Yankees…yea they may have the highest payroll but they also have 5 championships since 1996…i would take that over 14 straight division titles anyday of the week!
Jesse Stone
February 8th, 2010
2:33 pm
We only got Melky because Oscar Gamble wasn’t available.
Ted M
February 8th, 2010
2:34 pm
I found it. now I remember.
Chipper had been punched out on a bad call in the first inning which surely contributed to his mounting frustration. Later on in the seventh, O’Flaherty quickly got ahead of J.D. Drew 0-2. The next pitch, which was replayed dozens of times, nearly split the heart of the plate and was a little over knee high. When the pitch was located in the K-Zone, it proved to be almost directly in the middle of the box. It was called a ball. Predictably, the next pitch was hit off the wall and drove in the go ahead run from second. O’Flaherty began letting the umpire know what he thought about his call on the 0-2 pitch as Cox came out to remove him from the game. When Bobby saw this, he then changed directions and went to confront the umpire to defend his player. Improbably, Chipper Jones snapped.
He was right behind Cox, his head was leaning in over Bobby’s shoulder. Screaming. Pointing his finger. Showing some fire. You have to understand the importance of seeing Chipper do this. He has always been an almost Tim Duncan-like figure. Always a great player, but never shows much emotion. He usually takes care of his business in a very professional way. Which is fine. Except that this team needs something to spark them. They have looked so lackadaisical it has been sickening. Braves fans have simply needed a reason to believe they actually care about wins and losses. Chipper provided that.
Mark Bradley
February 8th, 2010
2:36 pm
That’s the way of the game. But I must say the Braves have done a pretty decent job of locking up promising youngsters over the years. Think of Glavine, Smoltz, Chipper, Javy Lopez and now McCann. And they tried to do the same with Francoeur, who turned down the offer. The only really good homegrown guy who was lost because he was coming up on arbitration/free agency was Kevin Millwood.
(And I know Smoltz wasn’t technically homegrown. Close enough for me, however.)
Steve From Dalton
February 8th, 2010
2:41 pm
Mark- Any talk of who might take over for Bobby?
todd
February 8th, 2010
2:41 pm
I can tell you where FW would tell you the money saved by dumping Vazquez went – it went to pay for their new starter – Tim Hudson. Do the math – they signed Hudson for 9 million per year and signed the has beens and never weres for another 3-4 million. Once they signed Huddy they had to dump salary at least equal to what they were paying him. Once they lost the 11 million they were paying Vazquez they added the other players because they could afford the few more million. So they really is no missing money – just a cheapskate organization.
gayle
February 8th, 2010
2:42 pm
Hooray for Larry!!! All of this chatter is just so much chinwagging because at the end of the day – or the end of the season – you have that relic in the dugout “leading” this team into the post season. The love and adoration for this man is so misplaced! (about baseball – I do love what he does for animals and I always support that cause).
But the man is simply NOT a winner in the post season and you Braves fans have been lulled into a sense of complacency where merely making the playoffs is a successful season – even though the year ends shortly afterwards with the opposing team and a stadium filled with a majority of their fans celebrates and moves on.
The additional $5 million? Maybe they can expand the amusement park outside the field so the Ted will be even less of a ballpark and continue to compete with Six Flags.
Elmore Spencer
February 8th, 2010
2:42 pm
(Cabrera is seen as a fourth outfielder.)
I dont see him as that. He has consistently gotten better each year in the majors. He is only 25.
Maybe a fourth OF on last years powerful Yankees team but not on the Braves.
Yankee fans were upset about this trade. Not only did we get their best pitching prospect we also took away a fan favorite in Melky.Melkty will bring some much needed fire and enthusiasm for the game to the ATL.
Meanwhile Vazquez over performed last year. He is a career .500 pitcher with an ERA over 4. Last year he was fantastic no doubt but are we to believe that he just suddenly figured it out at 35? Odds are no and he will revert back to the pitcher he was pre Braves. I personally expect him to get lit up in pinstripes ( I dont think that ballpark suits him. A flyball pitcher in that place is not going to be pretty. )
extremus
February 8th, 2010
2:42 pm
I hope you’re right, Mr. Bradley, though I note that the first four players on that list were locked down during the previous ownership or shortly afterward, if I remember correctly. Hopefully things will change before we have to worry about our current youngsters leaving for greener pastures, and we’ll have a Braves team that will be stable enough to be able to retire some of their numbers someday. That would mean good things would have happened between now and then for the team and its fans.
Tech's nightmare
February 8th, 2010
2:44 pm
Gayle…I would settle for the opposing team celebrating on our field at the end of the year right now, because the Braves are so far removed from being in that position it is ridiculous.
Elmore Spencer
February 8th, 2010
2:46 pm
Gayle
The love and adoration for this man is so misplaced!
So you know more than people who are on the inside of Baseball 99 percent of who only have good things to say about Cox?
Who would know more about you as an employee? Me someone you have never met or your supervisor?
I love it when people rip Cox who probably dont know 1/1000th as much about Baseball as Cox does.
Bobby Cox played with Mickey Mantle. Who did you play with?
P Rose
February 8th, 2010
2:49 pm
People Get Ready
by Liberty Media
People get ready
There’s a train wreck coming
We don’t need no hitters
We just can’t afford
All we need is faith
In what this team’s becoming
We won’t sell no tickets
We’ll always be out-scored
People get ready
For the train to boredom
Picking up Tommy Johns
From coast to coast
Javy and Rochie
You know we can’t afford ‘em
Saving a buck
Is what we love the most
There ain’t no room
For yet another pennant
Out on the wall
Up over center field
Some things in life
Mean more than having winners
Such as tax breaks
And bonds with higher yields
So people get ready
For the train wreck coming
We don’t need no pitchers
We just can’t afford
All you need is faith
When they’ve got bases loaded
And Ryan Howard’s up
You just pray to the Lord!
Whopper Dawg
February 8th, 2010
2:49 pm
Quality starting pitchers are like finding diamonds in coal. Look at the salaries commanded by middling at best starters. You would have to be an idiot to trade Vazquez if you look at it from purely a baseball perspective unless you get an allstar position starter. It was purely a money deal driven by the inability to unload Lowe (signed last year) and the money spent on Kawakami also last year. Every GM in the league knew the bind Wren was in, so he couldn’t get value for Vazquez. Moves like these do not a contender make.
TheRealist
February 8th, 2010
2:50 pm
True or False: The Braves are closer to Nats than the Phils. Unfortunately I say TRUE