AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2005 > August > 26
Friday, August 26, 2005
Trust me, Vince and Jennifer are an item
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Clearing the decks after a day off spent in lovely Milwaukee, where you can buy Falcons gear on the discount rack at the sporting goods store in the mall next to my hotel:
OK, first things first. I’m told that Vince Vaughn and/or Jennifer Aniston deny there’s anything going on between them, that they’re merely shooting a movie together in Chicago. Folks, I know what I see, and what I saw Wednesday night at the Dwight Yoakam show at House of Blues in Chicago was Vaughn and Aniston with hands all over each other in an opera box overlooking the stage. And no, the movie cameras were nowhere around. If they’re not an item, they did a great job acting like one….
But enough of that. I know the seamheads are going, ‘If we wanted gossip on movie stars, we’d go to the lifestyle section.’ But man can’t live on Francoeur/Smoltz/Farnsworth/Chipper information alone, right? By the way, Yoakam was awesome, and I’d highly recommend purchasing a CD by his opening act, a dude named Jackie Green. He’s gonna be big, I predict.
OK, where were we? Oh, Francoeur. I can report … well, actually I can’t. He did nothing on the off day that I know about yet. I imagine he went fishing with some other Braves who had that on the itinerary. The team bused to Milwaukee after Wednesday’s day game, for once making the writers’ travel itineraries actually preferable to the team’s (we all stayed in Chicago the extra night, and a couple of writers stayed there last night, too. Me, I didn’t want to fight traffic driving out of Chicago this morning to get up here in time). This and Los Angeles-San Diego are the only driving legs of the baseball season for the team or the writers, with exception of spring training, of course.
But I did see Blaine Boyer at the Yoakam show. Smart rookie made his own travel plans to get to Milwaukee the next day.
So what do people who may have noticed it think about the little nugget in my Furcal story in today’s paper, about the team believing they can re-sign him? It was a surprise to me, honestly. I didn’t think there was any way they’d be able to afford him. But after being told otherwise by someone who should know, and examining where the Braves might save money because of all the rookies who’ve shown they’re ready, and realizing that Hudson will only make $4 mill next year in his heavily backloaded contract, I started to see how they might actually get Furcal signed if they can get him to a four-year deal for, say, $30-32 mill.
Folks, I think it’d be huge for them. Those who think you could just plug in Betemit and be on your way, think about it: Who’s gonna lead off? Giles? He’s no leadoff hitter. And who’s gonna be ready to back up the oft-injured Chipper if Betemit’s at shortstop?
They don’t have another legit leadoff hitter. The way Furcal’s played since late June, he’s been the best leadoff guy in the league for two months. Too bad he’s so inconsistent from half-season to half-season. But still, he’s a force for most of the time he’s in the lineup — and he plays most of the time, hurt or not.
The Braves will have dirt-cheap corner outfielder next year with Francoeur in right and either Johnson and/or Langerhans in left. They could have dirt-cheap catcher if they decide to go with McCann and trade Estrada (haven’t heard that they would trade Johnny, but since he’s gonna make some money next year as an arbitration-eligible player, it’s a possibility). They’ll have at least a few low-salary pitchers with Boyer, Davies, McBride, and a cheap utility guy in Orr, plus another low-salaried position at first base, assuming it’s Franco and LaRoche again.
The big money next year goes to the Joneses, of course, climbing all the way to $30 mill for that pair (Chipper gets $17 mill, though some deferred without interest; still counts against payroll). If Braves decide to bump payroll up a few mill in light of attendance improvement — and I don’t know that they will — they could keep Furcal and still make budget, but just wouldn’t be able to add big salary anywhere else, probably. They might be able to keep him even if they keep payroll around $80 mill.
Your thoughts?
