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
Elmore Spencer
February 8th, 2010
4:24 pm
$3.1 mil for Melky f—–g Cabrera. Unbelievable.
Agreed that is a little on the cheap side. We wont be able to resign him for that in a few years though.
ugaaccountant
February 8th, 2010
4:31 pm
n
February 8th, 2010
3:43 pm
I think Mitch Jones is a long short to make the team. Who do you leave off?
Heyward’s not breaking camp with the team. The financial ramifications of that decision are huge. The placeholder spot for Heyward is one chance M. Jones has.
Chance 2 is to tear the cover off the ball so much that Wren/Cox are comfortable trading Melky. Cox likes Melky so it will take a lot of convincing.
ugaaccountant
February 8th, 2010
4:36 pm
Elmore Spencer – Help me out here, as I’m struggling to figure out what kind of player you think Melky is. Please name a comprable player to Melky in your mind. This should be an established major leaguer that is making equal to or more than 3.1M a year for comparisson purposes.
WonderDawg
February 8th, 2010
4:40 pm
Elmore, I disgree with you on Cox, but agree with your take on the Melky trade, and I don’t think you mentioned the third player in the deal, Dunn. He is a hard throwing lefty certain to make the Braves opening day roster in the bullpen.
Elmore Spencer
February 8th, 2010
4:42 pm
baseballreference.com states that through Age 24 he is most similar (just based purely on performance) to Johnny Damon.
I think damon has made a little more than 3.1million in a season.
Jesse Stone
February 8th, 2010
4:49 pm
Melky = Timo Perez
ugaaccountant
February 8th, 2010
4:50 pm
Thanks for answering. I’ll just say baseballrefernce.com’s comps often look much more appealing than they should at first glance. For instance, Damon started boosting his HR’s, SB’s, and Average by a significant amount at this age. However, nothing in Melky’s scouting reports would tell you that Melky will do any of those.
ugaaccountant
February 8th, 2010
4:51 pm
Jesse Stone
February 8th, 2010
4:49 pm
Melky = Timo Perez
I don’t know who that is without looking it up. If it’s a current player then yikes.
Jesse Stone
February 8th, 2010
4:53 pm
Damon was 3rd on that particular list behind Curt Flood and Lee Mazilli. You obviously cherry-picked the biggest name from the list.
Jesse Stone
February 8th, 2010
4:58 pm
Damon’s stats went up when he left Oakland and went to Boston. Melky is leaving an all-star team to come play for a mid-market team. The likelihood of Melky’s next ten years approching damon’s previous 10 years is minute.
Elmore Spencer
February 8th, 2010
5:01 pm
Yes I did but the point is the same. Melky is 24 and his numbers have improved each season.
Ive seen the guy play and he plays with a Yunel Escobar fire in his belly something the Braves have been lacking lately.
Does anybody think he will not continue to improve. He is what he is at 24? How dumb is that?
Elmore Spencer
February 8th, 2010
5:04 pm
Damon’s stats went up when he left Oakland and went to Boston. Melky is leaving an all-star team to come play for a mid-market team.
What does that have to do with anything? So he would have sucked if he stayed in Oakland? Baseball is not a team sport its an individual game. You cant pass the ball to the teams best player when its your turn at bat. He would have been great in Oakland too.
jerry
February 8th, 2010
5:05 pm
Wise up, become a Yankee fan, and start having fun. You don’t owe the Braves anything. Avoid the misery.
Jesse Stone
February 8th, 2010
5:05 pm
How can you say that you’ve been on baseballreference.com and then LIE and say that Melky’s numbers have improved each season? The only number that has consistently gone up is his age.
Jesse Stone
February 8th, 2010
5:07 pm
No, but you can’t drive runs in with no runners on base, and you can’t score many runs if nobody knocks you in. That’s why your numbers are better with the Red Sox or Yankees than they would be with the A’s.
Elmore Spencer
February 8th, 2010
5:09 pm
No, but you can’t drive runs in with no runners on base, and you can’t score many runs if nobody knocks you in. That’s why your numbers are better with the Red Sox or Yankees than they would be with the A’s
Exactly my point. Those stats like RBI dont measure how good a player YOU are they measure how good a TEAM you play on.
Jesse Stone
February 8th, 2010
5:15 pm
Exactly MY point. That’s why Damon at age 24 was compared to the likes of Melky Cabrera. At the age of 30something he’s compared to Cesar Cedeno, Tim Raines, etc. Melky’s numbers have been the same for his first 4 years. They have NOT gotten any better. He is going from the Bronx Bombers to a rapidly aging Chipper and a rickety Glaus.
JabboRockefeller
February 8th, 2010
5:19 pm
I honestly believe Vazquez (even at his advanced age) had finally found himself as a pitcher. I look for him to have a year at least as strong as last. Keeping Hudson and letting him go was a mistake. Hudson won 15-games just once in the past few years. Now you can add to the mix that he’s damaged goods. Sometimes the first TJ surgery is the charm. Sometimes it blows-out rather quickly.
Vazquez will be winning close to twenty the next few years, IMO. He’s an innings burner too. Really gonna miss all those strikeouts….
Jesse Stone
February 8th, 2010
5:20 pm
Our team can’t afford the Melky Cabrera’s of the league. They are a dime a dozen. The Yankees can because they have great players and a DH around him.
Paul From Milton
February 8th, 2010
5:20 pm
The bottom line is that we traded an excellent starter and are really no better offensively. You can’t count Heyward until he actually produces at the big league level. Does anyone think Chipper will play 120+ games and hit .300 with 100 RBIs? Me either. In my mind, this offseason was a failure for the Braves and unless they find a big bat by the trade deadline will be out of the race by mid-August.
Nativebird
February 8th, 2010
5:21 pm
Deck chairs on a sinking ship…mildly interesting but all know the ship owners have no intention of investing in what it takes.
richbrave
February 8th, 2010
5:33 pm
Yea-s-s-h, ol’ BC’s a pip all right.
JabboRockefeller
February 8th, 2010
5:33 pm
They probably traded the deck chairs for milk crates…
longfreakness
February 8th, 2010
5:39 pm
Milky Carerra,( that IS his name right?) is the Len Barker of 2010. Hope Vizcaino is another Smoltz or Jurrjens.
Conyers Braves Fan
February 8th, 2010
5:50 pm
I am a Braves fan and will remain one regardless of how cheap they are. That said, I do not see
this team being any better than last year. No playoffs…..maybe 2nd behind the Phillies at best.
ugaaccountant
February 8th, 2010
6:06 pm
“Elmore Spencer
Yes I did but the point is the same. Melky is 24 and his numbers have improved each season.”
No they haven’t. As you said, we’re not talking team numbers here. His Avg. and OBP were highest in year 1. They declined in year 2. Both of them tanked in year 3. Then he got back to his career averages in year 4. I don’t think anybody would call that consistent improvement.
His slugging improved in a new hitters paradise stadium, but to be fair, he did improve a bit on the road as well. Still not a slugger at all though.
“Ive seen the guy play and he plays with a Yunel Escobar fire in his belly something the Braves have been lacking lately.”
I’ve heard this from numerous sources as well. I do agree this is one of his selling points.
“Does anybody think he will not continue to improve. He is what he is at 24? How dumb is that?”
I’ve never seen one scouting report speak glowingly of Melky.
After 4 big league seasons where you’ve been a starter close to everyday in a stacked lineup and you haven’t been able to reproduce your rookie year’s Avg. or OBP or park adjusted slugging, I would say yeah, it’s time to start thinking you might be about this caliber player. He was at his best as a rookie, back in 2006. Let that sink in.
mblanford
February 8th, 2010
6:28 pm
Mr. Bradley, I thought you had more sense than compare Tampa Bays 2008 season to the Braves of today. First of all, The Rays were SOOO bad for SOOO long that they drafted the top players for a long time. It was a matter of time before they all started to come together. The Braves have drafted some good talent, but not the cream of the crop year in and year out for 8-10 years. So please you your head and make a fair comparison. Liberty mutual has ruined the Braves. My son and I used to attend 15-20 games a year. Now, we’ve been to 1 game in 3 years and those tickets were given to us.We used to stay up and watch every game, even the west coast games, now I go to bed in the 3rd or 4th inning if watch at all. Well, maybe Mark Cuban will buy the Braves and we will have an owner who cares for his team and loves the game. Maybe than I will start going to games again……
Tailback U
February 8th, 2010
6:33 pm
Mark
Understandably Wren is catching grief for the Vazquez trade.
But doesn’t Schuerholz deserve some heat on this ?
After all he had to have gotten the final approval from
Schuerholz to do the deal right ? I was disappointed that
those above Wren allowed the deal to happen. Seems they
would have looked at Wren with disdain and asked him
he thought he would like living in Rome ?
Tampa
February 8th, 2010
6:40 pm
Tony Kornheiser of PTI said the Indy Colts are the Atlanta Braves of the 1990’s — good but not great. Tony described Payton Manning to Greg Maddux — great players but on teams that didn’t have the ability to “close the deal”. Do you have any comments on Kornheiser’s comments?
Mark Bradley
February 8th, 2010
7:13 pm
Yes, Tampa. They’re incorrect. Obviously both teams closed the deal once. Does the once not count?
fieldofdreams
February 8th, 2010
7:45 pm
Mark, maybe Frank is holding onto the money for another move, to take place either pre-season or before the trade deadline?
fieldofdreams
February 8th, 2010
7:48 pm
And our rotation is going to be just fine. Mr. Hanson might finish higher in the Cy Young race than Vasquez did last year. Who knows, he might pitch good enough to win the darn thing;
Tron5000
February 8th, 2010
8:06 pm
The question is, would you trade Vazquez (with 1 year remaining on his contract) for Melky and a 3-year, $25 million deal for Tim Hudson? I would.
siskel_god
February 8th, 2010
9:48 pm
Ted M
That is the tirade I was referring too, I still get a smile remembering it! Reminde me of George Brett, at least in the same wheelhouse. I remember thinking when TP grabbed him up that if he didn’t hold on tight Chipper was gonna hurt that guy.
Steve Brown
February 8th, 2010
10:20 pm
We live in the deep South where the big, long term dollars seem to mainly go to the good old boys. No way you pick Hudson over Vasquez unless going hunting with Chipper is the deciding factor.
NO MORE BOBBY
February 8th, 2010
10:23 pm
I think Skip Caray deserves a better t-shirt than the one listed by one of your readers.
MiamiBrave
February 9th, 2010
9:15 am
Our 2010 lineup should have Tyler Flowers starting at first base and hitting fifth or sixth. He’s the best power hitting prospect we’ve developed since Chipper Jones. But we essentially traded him for Melky Cabrera who is a fourth outfielder with zero power and a pitching prospect who’s a long ways off. Absolutely horrible decisions by Wren. Wren better pray that Hudson, Wagner, Glaus can hold up or he is going to catch a ton of heat this season with people calling for his job. I think we are going to regret that Flowers trade for a long time.
Jesse Stone
February 9th, 2010
10:57 am
Better GM: Frank Wren or Isaiah Thomas?
Roja
February 9th, 2010
11:03 am
We gave up a pitcher that had a so-so career before he came here (127-129 record with an era north of 4.00 against the NL). A lot of teams have signed a player for big money after one “great” season only to discover too late that they’d made a terrible mistake. I’ll let history judge the wisdom of the Vazquez trade.
Roja
February 9th, 2010
11:07 am
Hudson and Vazquez are virtually the same age. Hudson’s career stats are far better than Vazquez.
Should the Braves still pursue Johnny Damon? « Ace of Braves
February 9th, 2010
1:16 pm
[...] have criticized the Braves for being cheap this offseason but the fact of the matter remains they have a bonafide [...]
Bravesfan101
February 9th, 2010
6:57 pm
I still don’t understand why they signed Chipper Jones to an extension he’s old and injury prone.
Matt the Brave
February 10th, 2010
12:04 am
Mark, I don’t know if you have any potential information, but if Liberty sells (which I still think was the plan from the beginning, even if MLB made them delay it for a few years, which, in my opinion, was stupid), who are the potential buyers? Corporations, individuals, or a mixture of both?
If I had to guess on individuals, Arthur Blank, Ted Turner, David McDavid (he stated after he lost out on the Hawks that he would think about looking at Atlanta again, but I don’t know if the recession has hit him hard), or Mark Cuban (doubtful since he was rebuffed by MLB on buying the Cubs).
Know you might be sitting on something, so no prob if you can’t talk about it!
kazoo
February 10th, 2010
11:55 pm
To trade Vazquez for a middling outfielder was the stupidest move in all of baseball this offseason–and reflects what a joke the Braves have been for several years, dumping good players because they don’t want to pay them in exchange for marginal players (late career guys, guys coming off injury, average guys) who themselves get dumped for another 2/3 marginal guys one or two years later. And so it goes. Yes, the word is CHEAP–and cheap teams don’t win: That’s the bottom line.
The Damon offer is not only classic cheap Braves–trying to get a way past his prime guy for one year for a modest salary (by MLB standards), It also underscores what how lame the Vazquez deal was–because if the Braves were to get Damon Melky wouldn’t even play every day! Damon has benefited from being in power lineups and playing at fields with very short right-field fences. I can’t seem him helping the Braves enough to make a difference. This team doesn’t need another average outfielder.