AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2005 > October > 31
Monday, October 31, 2005
McDowell move unconventional
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My initial reaction to Roger McDowell being hired to replace Leo: Strong move, and typical of Cox/Schuerholz in that it could be considered at least slightly unconventional.
Most teams probably would have sought to replace Mazzone with another pitching coach of great stature and record, but the Braves’ leaders don’t much care about perception when it comes to this stuff, and they heard enough great things about McDowell, then felt strongly enough after interviewing him, to go no further than one more interview (don’t know who that was with, but trying to find out), that they offered him the job. Probably a good thing, considering he would have gotten either the Seattle or L.A. Dodgers job if Braves didn’t hire him.
From talking to people since the hire, I hear same things Braves did — seemingly universal praise and approval. Sounds like his personality will fit in perfectly with Braves, and he’s another under-45 coach (with T.P. and Fredi Gonzalez) that can relate to players, along with being the second-most accomplished former player on the staff (behind T.P. obviously), for what that’s worth. And I think it’s worth something.
By that, I mean it helps when a guy steps into new situation, with such a unique mix of accomplished pitchers (Smoltz, Hudson, Hampton) and youngsters, to be able to command some instant respect for having been successful at the craft himself. Then they might be more inclined to listen and get the message than if they went in skeptical and had to have him prove to them he knows what he’s talking about.
Anyway, after my conversation with Roger late Saturday, I can say he comes across as a good dude, articulate, good sense of humor, etc. Can’t base much on what his pitchers have done at Las Vegas, so I didn’t even bother looking up the stats (they’re largely irrelevent because it’s such a hitters’ park, from what I’m told). Anyway, enough probably to know that Dodgers insiders said that team would have considered him a strong candidate for their own pitching coach job, once they got their management mess ironed out.
As for Smoltz, haven’t heard from him yet, but Schuerholz called him before announcement was made to let Smoltz know. Roger says he has a great respect for Smoltz and all he’s accomplished, and here’s what really impressed me about McDowell: He said every pitcher’s unique, not a robot. He doesn’t plan to try to make people fit a mold. I think that’s the former major leaguer in him coming out, and why I think past experience does help guys, provided they use it the right way; not like, say, Ted Williams, who got frustrated because hitters he managed weren’t half the player he was. A guy like McDowell, who had plenty of success as a reliever but wasn’t a superstar, seems like he’ll be able to relate to all the guys.
OK, enough about that (probably too much, actually). Couple other things: Braves will start talking to Furcal and his agent this week, probably Tuesday if Furcal gets back from Dominican. He’s been down there a couple of weeks and they haven’t had any contracts talks in the interim. I know that’s probably not enough for one or two of you who demand to know now, today, this minute if they’re going to keep him and if not who’s going to replace him andhowmuchthatpersonwillcostand;whydon’ttheykeepfurcalandwho’snextshorrtstopifthenextguytheysignisonlyforoneyear…. whew. You get my point, I guess. I’m dealing with real world of baseball negotiations, and it’s far more complicated and not at the breakneck speed that fantasy leagues can operate.
It’d be pointless to speculate on who’s going to play 2B if they get rid of Giles in order to sign Furcal, etc., when there’s nothing that I’ve heard that leads me to believe it’ll happen (at least not anything I’ve heard yet) and absolutely no reputable rumors or stories about anybody coming or going (only fantasy folks who like to e-mail about trades that never were going to happen and never will, like the Braves last year supposedly going to trade Furcal and Thomson for Teixeira. There was absolutely nothing to it, and if you did a Google search you’d find every single mention of it was either a blogger, a fantasy league, or a newspaper responding to the groundless rumor. Sorry, but even if my paper would allow me to print those unsubstantiated rumors, I don’t want to. Again, I’d rather live in the real world).
Found it interesting that someone in last week’s blog chain mentioned a Smoltz-to-Detroit rumor and said, if I’m not mistaken, that even though he knew that would never happen, that’s the kind of stuff he likes to read. Huh?
OK, if that’s the case: I hear Smoltz could be traded to Dodgers for Gagne, since the salaries aren’t too much different, and Braves are thinking of trading Andruw to White Sox, getting Manny from the Red Sox, and moving Francoeur to center field. There. How’s that?
I don’t know if there’s any validity to any of that (although most of it makes at least as much sense as Smoltz going home to Detroit), but what the heck? Run with it. It’s grist for the rumor mill, for those who don’t care about whether anything is fact-based or simply fantasy-world stuff, long as it’s in print somewhere (or even just on the internet) and they can play GM and respond to it.
But seriously, if we could discuss one other matter, hopefully for the last time (though I’m sure it won’t be): Chipper Jones is making $17 mil next season, folks. And if he gets 450 plate appearances next season, it’ll vest his $15 mil option for 2007. And if that happens and he then gets 450 plate appearances in 2007, it’ll vest another $15 mil option for 2008. And if that happens, he’ll get an additional $5 mil bonus on top of that, because the contract stipulates as much.
And those ‘07 and ‘08 options can’t be bought out unless they don’t vest, and even then the buyout is $5 mil. Are we painting a clear picture here?
Chipper Jones isn’t going anywhere. He will, in effect, be paid $52 million for the next three seasons of work, provided his options vest (and even if he misses a month, he can get 450 plate appearances). There isn’t one team, not even the Yankees, that’s going to pay Chipper that kind of money to hit 20-30 homers and drive in 90-105 runs.
The Braves would have to eat a large chunk of the contract to make a trade work, and the Braves would never eat a large chunk of a team icon’s contract to make him go away. This on top of the fact that Chipper is a 10-and-5 guy and thus as complete no-trade protection, meaning he’d have to approve of any trade.
Furthermore, in the interest of full Chipper clarification, he made it clear to me last winter that he’s not going to switch positions again, or that he’d strongly oppose such a move if the Braves came to him and asked him to move. That experience left him miserable in left field before, and now that he’s back at 3B and playing better defense than he did five years ago, I absolutely can’t see him accepting a move to 1B next season, even if the Braves had any inkling of asking him to (and they don’t, from what I’m told). Especially not to supplant his close friend Adam LaRoche, who did hit a grand slam in that final game, although that seems to have been completely lost in the fallout from folks upset over his lackluster attempt to score.
Anyway, I’ve rambled too much. Just trying to be all things to all bloggers, I guess. I know the vast majority of you want stuff you can believe, rather than groundless rumors, but it’s still real early and the hot stove league will get cranked up in the next week or two, trust me. I’ll be out at GM meetings in Palm Springs, and stuff should start happening, good rumors that have some weight to them.
Oh, just one other thing: We may have been too quick to dismiss chances of the Braves exercising the option on John Thomson’s contract. Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the deadline, and from what I’m told there’s a good chance they’ll bring him back by exercising the $4.75 mil option for 2006. We’ll know by tomorrow, for sure. But that’s not a bad point to start, if the top of the rotation is Smoltz-Hudson-Thomson, provided they can stay healthy.
