AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2006 > January > 16
Monday, January 16, 2006
Closer market dries up
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
And then there were none. With Danys Baez traded to the Dodgers there are no available closers, at least none we know of, for the Braves to sign or trade for before opening day.
That could change, of course. A team could decide during spring training that it has a glaring weakness in one area and enough of a bullpen surplus to trade an arm in order to fill that other need. The Dodgers, for instance, might decide that Eric Gagne’s elbow looks fine this spring and that they don’t need to pay Baez $4 mill for the former Tampa Bay closer to be a setup man for the $10 mill man Gagne. It could happen. Remember, it’s the Dodgers. Anything can happen at Chavez Ravine, and usually does.
But for now, the Braves will apparently make do with what they have, which is a proven setup man and sometimes-closer, Chris Reitsma, and a supporting cast that’s got lots of potential but little proven ability.
That said, let’s get to the important stuff: “Walk the Line” — best movie of the year? I think it was the most entertaining, being a huge Cash fan since before it became trendy to be one, and also being madly in love with Reese Witherspoon. (Wait, The 40-Year-Old Virgin was also highly entertaining, and the funniest movie in several years. And Hustle & Flow was damn entertaining, as well). But for best picture, I’d have to say the Oscar should go to Munich. Awesome movie. Best Spielberg movie EVER, and that’s saying plenty.
Most underrated and overlooked movie of the year? Easy — “Cinderella Man”. If you haven’t seen it, rent it today. Run, don’t walk, to Blockbuster (better yet, drive there). And while you’re there, rent Murderball. Also an incredible movie that I somehow let leave the theaters before I saw it last year. Forget any preconceived notions you may have about Murderball _ it’s just riveting, start to finish. And as for Cinderella Man, I’d have to put it with Raging Bull, Rocky and Million Dollar Baby as the best boxing movies of all time. And seriously, Cinderella Man might just be better than all of them. Even if you don’t like Russell Crowe, you will love this movie. And if you don’t, I’ll refund your rental charge (and if you believe that, I’ve got a couple of Falcons NFC championship game tickets I’d like to sell you).
OK, alright, back to the regularly scheduled blog.
Ultimately, this matter could be the deciding factor for the Braves. The bullpen could be the difference-maker in whether or not they win their 15th consecutive division title by fending off the newly fortified Mets and the somewhat renovated Phillies. Because if the Braves blow a bunch of saves early, like they did at the beginning of last season during Dan Kolb’s excruciating tenure as closer, there is the potential to fall behind in a division race that the Mets might finally be capable of winning going away. Repeat, might.
I still believe the Mets will finish behind the Braves, but have to admit most of my reasoning is based on the fact that they Mets are the Mets, and the Braves are the Braves. And until there’s a New World Order in the East, it seems like folly to pick against Bobby Cox, Smoltz and the Joneses over the course of the 162-game marathon they have clearly mastered. Picking against them in the playoffs, now that’s another matter entirely.
Did the Braves do the right thing in not overpaying for a free-agent closer and refusing to meet the Devil Rays’ demand for Kyle Davies as part of any trade package for Baez? I don’t know. Talk to me in July.
Part of me says they were right to not get into a bidding war for old man Trevor Hoffman or meet the ridiculous asking price for Todd Jones, or get into the four- and five-year bidding for the likes of aging Billy Wagner or largely unproven B.J. Ryan. But part of me says, are they ready to go into the season with a $2.5 million setup man (Reitsma), a journeyman-type lefty (John Foster) and a cast that also includes castoffs (Oscar Villareal, Jeff Bennett, etc.), talented youngsters coming back from injuries (Blaine Boyer, Joey Devine) and baby-faced kids with little experience (Chuck James, Macay McBride)?
Sometimes I think the Braves lack a healthy sense of urgency about their bullpen simply because year after year, they’ve continued to win the division with bullpens that are comprised largely of castoffs and kids, with not many of the high-priced and proven arms that other teams stockpile the way the Cubs have this offseason (not that that was a wise move by the Cubs, getting two $4 mill-a-year setup men, neither of whom warranted such a salary; but that’s another story).
While Schuerholz, Frank Wren, Cox and Leo Mazzone have managed to piece together ‘pens that get the job done well enough over the course of the season, last year they had to spend an inordinate amount of effort throughout the summer retooling their bullpen, trying to find answers before finally getting some order late in the season with Kyle Farnsworth closing and Reitsma setting up. Too much time and effort went into that bullpen project for most of the season. Even at the end of the season, the other roles in the ‘pen seemed ever-changing, and if the Braves had advanced beyond the first round, I’m skeptical of how their pitching staff would have held up during an NLCS.
But enough of that rant. It is what is is, and at this point, the Braves’ options are limited. After Baez was traded from Tampa Bay to the Dodgers for two young arms last week, it left no known available targets for the Braves to pursue. But Schuerholz and Wren and their scouts have a way of turning over rocks and nosing around all spring until they find someone at a suitable price, the way they got Chris Reitsma from the Reds and Juan Cruz from the Cubs in a couple of trades days before the 2004 season began. If they need to do it again, I’m sure they’ll try and probably succeed in coming up with an arm. Everyone knows that Atlanta has got plenty of pieces that teams want in trades, plenty of prospects and young players, and if they need to make a deal they’ll pull the trigger.
Still, the Braves don’t seem likely to get a top-notch guy at this point, not until late in the summer when teams fall from races and decide to deal away closers. If the Dodgers are 10 games behind in the NL West in July, do they really need to keep $10 mill closer Erig Gagne AND $4 mill setup man Baez, along with Yhency Brazoba, who saved 21 games last season and is still cheap? (Probably not a great example, since the Dodgers seem like they’ve spent enough this winter and filled enough holes to ensure they’ll at least be in the race through the summer, especially in that questionable division. But you get my point _ there will be teams that have expendable, high-priced arms late in the summer.)
Baez can be a free agent next winter, and the team’s $12 mill option on Gagne for 2007 probably won’t be exercised if the man who saved 152 games from 2002-04 doesn’t show that he’s fully recovered from last year’s elbow surgery.
The Braves also believe they have another big factor in their favor that shouldn’t be overlooked: Roger McDowell. Team officials and Braves veterans think McDowell, their new pitching coach and an accomplished reliever (and clubhouse prankster) for more than a decade as a player, can supply guidance and leadership for those kids and bullpen castoffs, that he will try and succeed in getting the most out of them. Mazzone, for all his talents, always put more of his emphasis on developing the rotation, and in turn developed his reputation largely through his indisputable results with veteran pitchers, be they stars in their primes (Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz) or others who’d slipped and needed reclamation (Burkett and Jaret Wright immediately come to mind).
He had success with some youngsters, too (Steve Avery being the obvious example), but some young pitchers in recent years have complained privately to older pitchers about Mazzone’s brash nature and said they felt a bit bullied by him. (Please, folks, I’m just telling you what was told to me. I got along great with Leo and hated to see him go. The man’s now the highest-paid pitching coach in baseball, and there’s a reason the Orioles believed he was worthy of a three-year, $1.5 million contract. Godspeed to you, Leo.) For that reason, some — plenty, frankly — in the organization believe McDowell will provide something missing for the relievers and kids, while the stable veterans Smoltz and Hudson will assure the rotation guys keep doing what needs to be done to stay atop the NL in starters’ ERA.
I think the best news for the Braves is, they still have Cox in the dugout and Andruw Jones in center field, and they still have a starting rotation that’s better than the Mets, even with Mike Hampton recovering from surgery and out for the season. They have Smoltz and Hudson at the top, and three from the group that includes John Thomson, Horacio Ramirez, Jorge Sosa and Davies, the kid from McDonough who showed more than enough in his first few starts in the majors last summer to reinforce the Braves’ belief that he’s got top-of-rotation talent and guts for the long term.
One from among Thomson, Ramirez and Sosa could be traded this spring if (when?) the Braves decide they must get another bat and/or another reliever, but they seem determined to hang onto Davies, much as they were set on not trading top catching prospect Saltalamacchia this winter when team after team inquired about the slugging 20-year-old.
If I had to predict now, I’d say Adam LaRoche is going to get a chance to play every day at first base, since the Braves lost Julio Franco to the Mets and didn’t land Jeff Conine or a suitable replacement. Oh, and while on the subject — did the Orioles really need both Conine AND Kevin Millar? The Braves tried hard to get Conine, but not sure if they made any effort to get Millar, who’s going to make at least $2 mill and possibly close to $4 mill with incentives added in the deal he signed last week. Millar would have fit perfectly into the Braves’ clubhouse and given them a good bat off the bench and help at first base and left field, but his glove’s a liability and the Braves like to get good defense from their bench guys.
OK, I’ve rambled again with nothing new of substance to give you bloggers. Sorry, but it’s just been a dead time. I can’t make chicken salad from chicken entrails, or something like that.
I think the Braves are set until they get to spring training. Not that this is exactly the team they wanted — they were outbid for many players this winter, as you know — but they believe it’s good enough, at least for now. Only time will tell.
