Melky’s gone, which tells us much about the Braves and Wren
"As long as I'm managing, you're on this team, Melky." (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Sooner or later we’ll start to ask ourselves, “How in the world did the 2010 Braves make the playoffs?” And I’m thinking that time is …
Right about now.
The Braves dumped Melky Cabrera and Takashi Saito on Tuesday, eight days after the former had made the 27th out of Game 4 of the Division Series. These were two of the bigger acquisitions Frank Wren made last winter — others were Billy Wagner, who has retired; Troy Glaus, who had nothing left after July, and Eric Hinske, who kept pinch-hitting home runs — and now they’ve been tossed aside.
The Saito move was expected. The Cabrera one was expected if you’d watched him play. And that’s kind of the point: The 2010 Braves had a lot of guys who didn’t do much — Cabrera, Nate McLouth, Yunel Escobar, Matt Diaz, Rick Ankiel, Glaus in April and August and September — and lots more who got hurt. And somehow they qualified for the postseason, same as the Phillies and the Yankees.
To say that every Wren move of the last offseason and this regular season panned out would be incorrect. Most of them didn’t. But the sum total of his tinkering was just enough to bleed out one more victory than San Diego, and that was enough. We can critique individual trades and signings, but we cannot carp about the overall effect. This team shouldn’t have been good enough, but it was, just.
Which is why the guy who traded Javier Vazquez for Melky Cabrera should be named executive of the year. Seriously.
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468 comments Add your comment
Shaggy1973
October 20th, 2010
10:28 am
Thanks.
semiballcoach
October 20th, 2010
10:28 am
welikebb22—–he had to wait to see what the braves needed before making deals….it takes 30-40 games to make that judgement (see if someone starts off hotor cold)…and then you have a chance to see what other teams are willing to to trade…like it or not wren is hamstrung by liberty media’s payroll restrictions…..if you want a team that buy players, better start rooting for the yankees, red sox, mets, or phillies
Newnan Jay
October 20th, 2010
10:28 am
All that I can think of when I watch the Rangers play is that we should have Elvis and Josh on our team…..
Mike S
October 20th, 2010
10:29 am
Welikebaseball it is kind of hard to be agressive in free-agency when YOU HAVE NO MONEY TO OFFER!!!!!!
Can’t some of you pie-in-the-sky (I say this to the sign Crawford/Werth idiots) types get it through your head – LIBERTY MEDIA IS ONLY ALLOWING THE BRAVES SO MUCH TO WORK WITH!
Last year the Braves had no money to go for any MEDIOCRE, much less top-line, free-agents. IS THAT SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND?????
Players like Glaus, Hinske (who was a damn good pickup), Saito, Wagner (Umm i think he worked out pretty well too) were ALL the Braves were able to go after. PERIOD. END OF STORY.
GOD, the ignorance on this blog today is astounding.
Bama Brave
October 20th, 2010
10:29 am
Why is Everybody wonting to put a infielder in to the Outfield? Does not make sense!
Newnan Jay
October 20th, 2010
10:30 am
It’s times like these that I miss the Heck out of TED!
Ted M
October 20th, 2010
10:32 am
Jonny Gomes probably could be had. Sometimes I think he’s pretty good other times not so much.
Newnan Jay
October 20th, 2010
10:33 am
Mike S,
Whoa there killer! Lay off the roids….. No need for name calling.
submariner
October 20th, 2010
10:33 am
Mark, have you crunched the numbers for Braves 2011 payroll to see what they potentially have to spend yet?
coach smith
October 20th, 2010
10:35 am
I’m a guy with an MBA and I just don’t get how WREN can say with a straight face that the Braves are subtracting these salaries
7.5 mil for Wagner
3.5 mil for Saito
3.2 mil for Melky
2 mil for Glaus
4.5 mil combined for Lee/Ankiel/Farnsworth (roughly)
for a total of around 17.5 – 20 million dollars off the payroll AND YET the Braves can’t afford either WERTH or CRAWFORD?
Even with arbitration increases the Braves should have 15- 17 mil to spend and ENOUGH with the “insurance” premiums BULL…what is paying equal dollar for dollar?
3 moves to fix the Braves that he should be able to do
Sign Crawford and put him in CF
sign Cody Ross and put him in LF allowing Diaz/Hinske to be on the bench
sign Andruw Jones for the league minimum for some right handed fill in power off the bench
We have our team already
October 20th, 2010
10:37 am
From what I’ve read we have the same team we had at the start of last year with the exception of 1st and closer. Wren even said it would be unlikey he can deal KK. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the #5 spot in the rotation. With the little we have to spend we will need to go after a average OF, a big bat isn’t going to happen….maybe we get a guy that can hit for avg and steal bases…try to be real here guys.
Ted M
October 20th, 2010
10:38 am
I think the Braves are still in the discovery process for a hitting coach. I haven’t heard of any candidates.
Nativebird
October 20th, 2010
10:38 am
Hate to say it, but there ARE no other options. We must trade one of our topline starters to get a right handed BIG bat in the middle of this lineup, and one that we CAN actually sign to a long term contract. that means HOME RUNS. period. Something this team hasnt had in a awhile, and is THE, say it..T H E, reason (not pitching, not fielding), THE reason it will not, it CAN not get beyond a WildCard prayer each year.
Exexutive of the Year? LMAO...
October 20th, 2010
10:38 am
The Braves rode a bunch of tired arms into the playoffs.
One SP out with a knee, several relivers worn totally out, and two others with a 12-12 record and a 1.20 era!
Give me a break.
The 2012 team has a chance. Chipper will be gone, McClouth gone, Kawakami gone (Can you say Frank Wren), which will be about $30,000,000 of the total $80,000,000 in salary.
In 2012, with Freeman, Heyward, Prado, Infante, MCCann/Ross, and FA’s at 1b, 3b, cf, and lf with the remaining $50,000,000, the Braves should be great!
Exec of the year…… Can you say Nate, KK, Glaus, and Melky? Give me a break.
coach13
October 20th, 2010
10:39 am
If trading a young arm gets us a 30 HR 100 RBI guy then do it. We won’t win without an offensive threat.
Prado- great role player but cannot be expected to carry the load
Infante- see above
McCann- see above
Freeman- can be expected to hit around 15-18 HR and 60ish RBI
Heyward- should improve his power number some but not to where we need.
Chipper- please retire so we can use your money to hire someone who isn’t 38 and will hit more than 15 HR out of the 3 hole.
WITHOUT A LEGIT MIDDLE OF THE ORDER HITTER THE BRAVES WILL NOT BE ABLE TO COMPETE CONSISTENTLY FOR A SPOT IN THE POSTSEASON.
Mad Mike
October 20th, 2010
10:40 am
First of all, I like Wren, but this was all Bobby doing the most with the least. His best managerial job to date. Period. It will be another year or two before we really know how good Wren can be, i.e. when the high-priced and aging players’ contracts are up and the young inexpensive talent is the backbone of the team. And we see how much we really wanted Fredi (I like Fredi.) We are two seasons away from some SERIOUS potential. Potential, I said.
John Sterling
October 20th, 2010
10:40 am
The “Melk Man” Delivers!
( Just not inside I-285.)
Ted M
October 20th, 2010
10:40 am
I’ll take Andruw Jones but only at 210 lbs. Anything over that no thanks.
NoleinDC
October 20th, 2010
10:41 am
JDGT
Infante is not an every day player. The braves need to bring back hinkse as the the primary bench player, and sign 2 outfielders.
Ted M
October 20th, 2010
10:43 am
I wonder if any of the Braves call out Gonzo for not running on his hit to short that was bobbled.
He’s not worth $2.5 mil. I was so disappointed to hear he’s coming back.
reckingball
October 20th, 2010
10:45 am
Again, I am just glad that they showed Melky, the door.
coach13
October 20th, 2010
10:45 am
Coach Smith- too bad they can’t get CHipper’s 13 mil a year to go along with that. With no speed or power I don’t know how people expect them to compete. Look at the teams that made the playoffs, they all have at least 1 LEGIT hitter and 1 threat on the bases. The BRaves have neither.
We may have a plethora of arms but every team in the playoffs has arms. We proved too many times this year that great pitching can be spoiled by anemic offense.
GPB
October 20th, 2010
10:47 am
Tell Chipper to be the hitting coach and use that money saved on Crawford. Farnsworth didn’t get his insane option. I dunno what the plan is for Diaz, Ankiel, and McLouth. I know Nate has another year and we can’t trade him so we’re prolly stuck.
jimbob
October 20th, 2010
10:48 am
I wonder if the Giants thought the Phillies would be easier to beat than the Braves?
collegeballfan
October 20th, 2010
10:48 am
I generally agree. Wren did a good job with the money on hand to buy and sell. And that is a factor that cannot be overlooked.
Everyone keeps calling the Javier Vazquez for Melky Cabrera tradse just that and leaves out Vizcaino.
The problem is not enough money to buy all star candidates.
I would say Bobby Cox for NL manager of the year and just give Wren a pat on the back.
reckingball
October 20th, 2010
10:48 am
The Braves just got rid of one dud(Melky), why would they want to bring back another dud, that they got rid of years ago(Andruw Jones)?
London Calling
October 20th, 2010
10:50 am
Mark you must be joking.
We get plenty of the usual fools posting about trading Vazquez for Melky, but you really ought to know better. That trade was for Vizcaino (sp?) & Dunn. Melky was the throw-in. He would have been 4th or 5th outfielder if McLouth hadn’t imploded, and that was about his level.
coach13
October 20th, 2010
10:52 am
Nole in DC- what season did you watch?? Infante is not an every day player??? He’s a .300 hitter and a solid 2b.
Owl Hunter
October 20th, 2010
10:55 am
coach smith
As much as I’d like a Crawford or Werth, either of their contracts would take up all the money we have and we’d wind up getting outbid by the Yanks or Sox. People over pay for these big free agents (especially in slow free agent years), and I guarantee that if we sign either of these two, people on these blogs will be whining about these crippling contracts within a year or two. The solutions will have to come through trades. All this talk people make about deferring Chipper’s moneey, and Arthur Blank/Ted Turner buying the team will never happen. Teams in our position need to be creative.
Dirty Bird
October 20th, 2010
10:55 am
http://pricezack.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/instant-replay-in-baseball-what-is-it-going-to-take/
JR
October 20th, 2010
10:56 am
braves haven’t made a good trade in years: well before wren hit the scene and continuing with him. john s. made a couple of good trades early on and rode the reputation that he garnered despite plentiful mediocre or just bad trades afterwards.
The Grinch
October 20th, 2010
10:56 am
Mark, I know you know we got more than Melky in the Vasquez trade; you just admitted as much. So why do you and Schultz both keep implying differently in your columns? It just makes WSren sound like an idiot, which he isn’t.
The Texiera trade was JS, not Wren. And it was horrible.
Hinske needs to be retained ASAP. And hopefully Fredi will have sense enough to use him to spell Chipper and Freeman occasionally, as well as start Ross 1 out of every five to save McCann for the long haul. That’ll be a managing flaw I won’t miss.
JR
October 20th, 2010
10:58 am
name the last good trade that wren or john s. made. john’s reputation was built on a couple of early trades and then he rode his reputaion despite many poor ones.
Ted M
October 20th, 2010
10:58 am
Jones is cheap and he hit 19 homers in limited AB’s and he can field.
Ted M
October 20th, 2010
10:59 am
Austin Kearns is my guess as to who we will probably end up with but I don’t want him.
JEB
October 20th, 2010
10:59 am
Coach Smith
I don’t think you thought through your 10:35 post very well.
7.5 mil for Wagner
3.5 mil for Saito
3.2 mil for Melky
2 mil for Glaus
4.5 mil combined for Lee/Ankiel/Farnsworth (roughly)
This is 7 players you are having to replace on the roster.
Do you swap out 7 players for the price of 1?? (Crawford)
Then you add in Cody Ross
Who is definitely going going to get 5 – 6 mil.
AJ is going to get somewhere in 1 – 2 mil. because he did have a much better year.
(maybe more)
Then you still have the spots of 4 more players to fill (at league min. that is another 2 mil)
These figures come out to around 25 mil.
nobody
October 20th, 2010
11:00 am
Infante in left would not be a terrible solution. As long as we can find a power bat to put in center, like Kemp or Pence.
Ted M
October 20th, 2010
11:01 am
Worse case scenario is Andruw is a 4th outfielder. He’s still young he might work out and play 140 games and hit .260 w/32 homers and 90 RBI
Owl Hunter
October 20th, 2010
11:02 am
No infielders in the outfield! No catchers at 1st base! You people think so small!
The Grinch
October 20th, 2010
11:03 am
When I see someone post something like ‘…sign Andrew Jones, he might hit .260 w/32 homers and 90 RBI” I know it’s time to go. Y’all hold down the fort.
Warren Spahn
October 20th, 2010
11:03 am
The tone of Forest Gump’s post is right on target. Schuerholz made that trade but Wrenn was his underling. Undoubtedly the dumbest trade in the history of the franchise with the Drew trade a close second. But, I must say that I enjoy watching Elvis and Feliz play for a team capable of winning.
Wren for executive of the year? That is too ridiculous for words.
Owl Hunter
October 20th, 2010
11:06 am
I’m right out the door with you, Grinch. Smell you clowns later.
Ted M
October 20th, 2010
11:06 am
Andruw Jones just hit .230 w/19 homers is only 278 at bats. That homer to at bat ratio is stellar.
nobody
October 20th, 2010
11:08 am
Is the retention of Hinske in question? He is a great pinch hitter and we need someone to back up freeman at first
Ted M
October 20th, 2010
11:10 am
and again worse case scenario is Andruw comes affordable as great defensive outfielder off the bench.
Bob
October 20th, 2010
11:13 am
Never have had confidence in Wren. Almost all or 4 out of 5 of his trades were duds. Glaus was good for 3 months and his age caught up with him. His bat was too slow for an 85 mph fast ball. Cabrera and McLouth were jokes. Wren talks a good and loud game but……….you can add the rest of the story.
NORRIS
October 20th, 2010
11:14 am
You cannot have your cleanup hitter sitting out every 5th day.
You need a power bat that plays everyday. McCann CANNOT be our cleanup guy!
Did we even have anyone that hit more than 20 home runs? We dont have a power bat period.
Ted M
October 20th, 2010
11:14 am
Melky hit 4 homers in 484 AB’s and he played crap defense. The Braves don’t have a lot of options you have to be realistic about who you can get.
Ted M
October 20th, 2010
11:15 am
McCann hit 22
USMC DAWG
October 20th, 2010
11:17 am
Chalk up the Teixeira/Anrus trade as one of the worst moves in Atlanta sports history. Ranks right up there with the Favre deal.