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Tuesday, August 28, 2007
We would miss Andruw’s candor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Not that Andruw Jones has ever been one to bite his tongue, but did someone slip a little truth serum in his PowerAde on this road trip, or what?
On Saturday he offered his candid appraisal of the Bob Wickman situation, saying the veteran closer (who was dropped by the Braves) had complained about how he was used and that it wasn’t fair to the team or manager Bobby Cox.
On Monday, I asked Jones how much it would stink (I used the “su” word) if the Braves didn’t make the postseason for a second consecutive season. Figured he’d be a good guy to ask, since this could be his last season as a Brave and since he is refreshingly honest and unguarded in comments on most subjects.
(Besides, it gave me an excuse to approach his locker and have Jones insult me or my sartorial tastes, as he does on an almost daily basis, and which keeps me level-headed and humble. Sorry, ‘Dru, but Air Jordan doesn’t outfit me for free.)
Anyway, his response: “It would be bad if we don’t make it. But you’ve got to understand, sometimes it’s tough if you don’t have an owner who can get what you need to help us compete with other teams for the playoffs.”
(OK, a rare trip into the so-called journalist’s brain here. This is the point where a reporter pauses, quickly processes what was just said, has a fleeting debate with himself as to whether to ask again to clarify, or whether to leave it alone for fear that subject may have second thoughts, decide to back away from comments or worse, add something along the lines of, I don’t mean that in a bad way, or worse still, say “That’s not for the record.” Oh, that’s bad when that happens. Hate that. Then you’ve gotta decide, was the comment really good enough to use and tick off a subject to the point where he might not give you anything good in the future? Because really, it’s a fine line, he said it and he obviously meant it, and can a person say “off the record” after the fact? Sometimes, yes. Just the way it is. Because sometimes, if you don’t honor an after-the-fact “off the record,” you’re going to cut off your nose to spite your face. You just have to way these things, again and again, under various circumstances, including whether this is a regular source or subject on your beat, and this one certainly was/is. Now if you’re dropping in for a one-day feature on a subject you don’t cover regularly, or a visiting team’s player, etc., you’d probably not honor an after-the-fact “off the record.” Fortunately, it was Andruw, so there was no “that was off the record,” because he doesn’t do that; the man has swagger on the field, regardless of whether he’s slumping or surging, and that carries over off the field, too. So why did I just go through that whole scenario anyway?)
OK, now where were we?
Oh, the quote. Anyway, Andruw is from Curacao and speaks with a heavy accent. English is not his first language (he speaks three or four languages, which is two or three more than I speak). And sometimes, in one-on-one interviews, he’ll speak while distracted, in this case while glancing at an incoming call on his cell phone.
So I just wanted to make sure he said what he said, and asked him again. Same response, in so many words.
Since he hadn’t be clear on exactly what he meant, but had inferred, I asked if that meant it would have been helpful for the Braves to acquire another starter to supplement John Smoltz and Tim Hudson. Yes, he said, that’s what he meant.
Then I asked him if he thought, like others including Jeff Francoeur and Kelly Johnson, that this Braves team had the stuff to win in the postseason, the 1-2 combination at the top of the rotation and the lineup, etc. He said yes, in a short series he thought they could compete and win.
But like others in Braves uniforms, and many in Braves Nation who’ve watched this team falter so many nights when Smoltz or Hudson isn’t pitching, he’s no longer so certain about the team getting to the postseason. Thinks they can, but knows it won’t be easy. Not at this point, with 30 games left and still facing a four-game deficit in the wild-card race and six-game deficit in the East.
So I asked if that additional starter was needed more for the 162-game season, to get them to the playoffs, than for winning in the playoffs. Yes, Andruw said. That’s what he meant.
And he was right, of course. If the Braves miss out on the postseason, the No. 1 reason, more than an inconsistent bullpen and far more than Andruw’s season or the first-base debacle pre-Teixeira, it’ll be because of their lack of quality and depth in their rotation behind Hudson and Smoltz, or Smoltz and Hudson.
Yes, that’s stating the obvious. But it’s fascinating, isn’t it, to see how the component that was far-and-away most responsible for the Braves’ success throughout the 1990s, their amazing starting pitching rotations, is now the biggest reason they face possible exclusion from the postseason for a second consecutive season?
And, of course, Andruw’s right — ultimately that comes down to money and ownership. Because the Braves could have signed Tom Glavine or one of several other starters last winter, if they’d had another $10 mill or so to spend. They wouldn’t have needed to try to trade Tim Hudson to do it.
(By the way, how ‘bout if that had actually happened, if they’d been able to trade Hudson to clear up room for Glavine? Where would the Braves be today? Probably out of playoff contention completely. As much as I thought signing Glavine would have been a good move, doing so at the expense of Hudson would have been a horrible decision, in retrospect. But what if they could’ve had Glavine along with Smoltz and Hudson? Oh, how different things might’ve been.)
Of course, from the Braves’ perspective, they already had Hampton coming back at a huge salary, and he was untradeable after missing the 2006 season. So realistically, it would have been tough paying four high-salaries veterans in 2007 (even if Hudson is only making $6 mill this year) and also would’ve blocked the path of Kyle Davies, which, as it turns out, wouldn’t have been such a bad thing — but who knew then?
Hey, these are complicated decisions, made so much more so by an arbitrary budget figure that corporate ownership or its representatives came up with. And once in a while, you should throw in a bold-face line to make sure folks are reading. You still there? Good.
Just another $10 mill, that’s all. You could find that in the cushions of the waiting-room lobby couch at Time Warner, and probably at Liberty Media. (ut if they’d found it, and spent it, folks on the Braves/MIB blog would have nothing to complain about today. So maybe it was a good thing they left it back there, down in the cushions with the lint and the gum wrappers and other crap you put there when you’re waiting and no one’s looking).
But if they’d scraped it together — the money, not the gum wrappers and other hairy, hardened crap — and spent it before anyone in accounting asked for it, then right about now, the Braves would have another starter they could have picked up this summer when it became apparent that Davies wasn’t the answer and no one else was going to pick up the slack created by the loss of Hampton for a second consecutive season.
The good news for the Braves: Hudson is under contract for the 2008-09 seasons (at $13 mill each season) with an option worth $12 mill or $13 mill in 2010. Smoltz will be back next season. Hampton? Theoretically, he’ll be back. They’d better not pin their hopes on that, though. Not again.
Maybe they should ask Andruw. Man’s got some good ideas and isn’t afraid to share them. And he might not be around here too much longer, so they should ask soon. Unless, of course, Braves ownership/management knows something about the Andruw situation that I don’t. Which they obviously could. Wouldn’t blame them for not sharing that with me.
Maybe I’ll ask Andruw today. If nothing else, he can crack on my Chuck Taylors.
“MAN ON THE MOON” by Michael Stipe
Mott the Hoople and the game of Life. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Andy Kaufman in the wrestling match. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Monopoly, Twenty one, checkers, and chess. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mister Fred Blassie in a breakfast mess. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Let’s play Twister, let’s play Risk. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
See you heaven if you make the list. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hey, Andy did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy are you goofing on Elvis? Hey, baby. Are we losing touch?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon.
If you believe there’s nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool.
Moses went walking with the staff of wood. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Newton got beaned by the apple good. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Egypt was troubled by the horrible asp. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mister Charles Darwin had the gall to ask. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hey Andy did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey, Andy are you goofing on Elvis? Hey, baby. Are you having fun?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon.
If you believe there’s nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool.
Here’s a little agit for the never-believer. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Here’s a little ghost for the offering. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Here’s a truck stop instead of Saint Peter’s. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mister Andy Kaufman’s gone wrestling [wrestling bears]. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hey Andy did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy are you goofing on Elvis, hey baby, are we losing touch?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon.
If you believe there’s nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool.
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