AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2006 > October > 12
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Should the Braves Bring Back Glavine?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A few thoughts before catching the No. 7 Train to Shea Stadium for the NLCS opener….
Actually, just one main thought. Or question. Or whatever.
I’m wondering if most of you in Braves Nation, or at least those here at Braves and The Man In Black, would want to bring 290-game winner Tom Glavine back to Atlanta so he can win 300 in a Braves uni. Well, would ya?
And if so, how much would you be willing to give him? Because the Mets are almost certainly going to offer Glavine more than $10 mill for next season, assuming they ask him to renegotiate rather than exercise the team option on his contract that would cost them about $14 mill.
Would you give Glavine, who is 40, a two-year contract? Much as I believe it’s generally insane to give 40-year-old pitchers multi-year deals, I’d probably make an exception with Glavine, given that he’s NEVER been on the disabled list and his smooth mechanics and non-power approach could sustain good health for years to come.
Of course, he might also be a pitch away from his first major arm injury. But the same could be said for any pitcher, regardless of age. Again, the fact he hasn’t been seriously hurt or had any surgeries tells me he’d be worth the risk.
Of course, if you give Glavine a two-year, $20 mill contract (just throwing out figures here, it might take more than that), you’d certainly have to trade Horacio Ramirez and the $3-4 mill or so that he’ll probably make, and send Kyle Davies back to Triple-A or trade him (unlikely and not advisable, given his youth, his talent, and the fact that you’re probably not going to get a great deal for him right now).
But who’d you rather have? Think of a rotation with Smoltz, Hudson and three lefties _ Glavine, Hampton and Chuck James. And Davies in the wings, rebuilding his confidence at Triple-A and ready if any of those guys gets hurt or needs a 15-day DL stint during the season. Or putting up great numbers in the minors and rekindling trade interest and prospect status.
(Speaking of Hampton, as I’m writing this I just this moment got a callback from Schuerholz for a story I was doing on Wainwright yesterday. Too late for the story, but I did use the call to ask him about a few other things, including Hampton’s progress down in Florida, where Schuerholz and Bobby Cox and all the scouts were having their organizational meetings this week. They watched Hamptoin throw in an instructional league game, and Schuerholz said: “He threw fine. Nice, easy arm action.”)
(Oh, and here was the quote I needed for yesterday’s story, too late for that but not for our fine bloggers. Here’s what he said when I asked him if they were reluctant to include Wainwright in the J.D. Drew trade.
“Your assumption is correct. The deal literally almost didn’t get done when they insisted on him being in the deal. We didn’t want to trade him. That was too much [Wainwright, along with Ray King and Jason Marquis, in a deal for Drew]. “We got Eli Marrero [included] in the deal, looking for a utility player. It wasn’t Eli Marrero for Wainwright, I don’t mean that, but the package got expanded…. “We lost Sheffield and we needed someone [Drew] to generate offense, and he certainly did that. “We had a really high regard for Adam, and I’m not surprised that he’s done what he’s done.” He added, “That [closer] is the role they need him in right now, but that’s not going to be his role.” Obviously he meant Wainwright would be back starting in the future, and Cards GM Walt Jocketty indicated as much to me Tuesday.)
ANYWAY, back to our blog.
If healthy, that’s a strong rotation for the Braves, the one I mentioned above. If Hudson has any kind of bounce-back season, it’s potentially _ POTENTIALLY _ as good as any NL rotation.
And remember, one of the only things the Mets didn’t do exceptionally well this season was hit left-handed pitching. They hit .268 with a .796 OPS vs. righties, but only .254 with a .738 OPS vs. lefties. Since most of their core guys are under contract and they aren’t going to be making great changes to their lineup _ why on earth would they? _ I don’t see that stat changing too radically next season.
OK, I know, Mets fans _ your team isn’t likely to let Glavine go without throwing a lot of cash at him. But remember, Tom still lives in Atlanta, always will. All things being equal, he’d have stayed in Atlanta to begin with. But of course, all things weren’t equal.
The contract the Mets gave him, with the fourth-year option included, was worth a significant amount more than what the Braves offered, despite what some might have you believe. And remember, the Braves only raised their offer to anything comparable to the Mets’ proposal near the end of heated negotiations.
But that’s done. Past is past. I just want to know from Braves fans here, given Tom’s slightly (slightly?) polarizing effect with some fans, what the majority opinion would be about possibly bringing him back to win 300th and beyond in a Braves uniform.
Not for nostalgia, but to help the Braves try to reel in the Mets next season and help them get back to the postseason. Imagine how much Glavine and Hampton together might help James next season. The kid’s got a world of talent, and tips on a nightly basis from those two could only help him rise quicker and get the most he possibly can out of his abilities….
On another note, I forgot to mention this a while back, but it’s never too late for a laugh. If this wasn’t the least surprising news of the past few weeks, I don’t know what was: J.D. Drew, who signed with the Dodgers for five years and $55 million after the 2004 season, says he will not exercise an opt-out clause included in his contract.
“I don’t plan on [using] it,” Drew said. “I’ve enjoyed my time living in Los Angeles.”
Uh, yeah.
One can live well, even in L.A., on $11 mill per year. That’s what J.D. is owed over the next three seasons _ $33 mill. If he’d have opted out of that contract, the state might have stepped in and demanded a psychological assessment. No team is going to give injury-prone J.D. an $11 mill-a-year deal at this stage, not unless he plays 150 games next season and hits 40 homers and drive in 120 runs, proving he can put together back-to-back productive seasons.
