AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2007 > September > 27
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Sounds like Andruw’s good as gone
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My phone rang while I was in the visiting manager’s office this afternoon at Philly’s corporate-bank ballpark. I stepped out to answer, and 25 minutes later, the conversation with Scott Boras had ended.
I’m writing a lead note about it for my Braves notebook, which I’ve got to get started real quickly (I’m doing this blog late today, because I wanted to finish the Saturday story before tomorrow’s 7:20 a.m. flight to Houston, etc).
So I won’t go into great detail here. Suffice to say, I’ll be getting a five-year, $75 mill contract before Andruw Jones accepts a one-year deal. Boras made that pretty clear: There’s no way his client, Andruw Jones, would even have to consider a one-year deal.
In fact, Boras insisted that the market for Andruw is going to be at the “top” of the free-agent scale for the entire 32 years that Boras has been in the biz. Hey, that’s what he said.
His thing with Andruw, his big marketing points, are going to be these:
Andruw has durability that’s a “demonstrated unique characteristic” (he man employs buzz words like a political strategist) that Boras said makes him like a Greg Maddux (another of his clients) years ago when people assumed Maddux was about done.
Boras said that he’s still the best center fielder in the game, “bar none.” And the bad season, Boras is going to stress, is a one-year blip and nothing that a half-dozen or more players he named (Fred Lynn, Willie Stargell, Willie McCovey, etc) experienced before bouncing back with strong seasons. He’s got the list in front of him, ready to cite the stats.
And without giving me any salary figures, he made it pretty clear that five years and $75 mill ain’t gonna get it done for Andruw’s next deal. And again Boras reiterated there would be no hometown discount for the Braves.
Folks, I don’t think there’s any way the Braves will make Andruw an offer even close to what Boras wants. Not when they plan to try to sign another Boras client, Mark Teixeira, who’s going to cost at least as much if not plenty more a year from now.
I had been moving more toward the middle on the possibility of Andruw returning, thinking there might actually be a decent shot of it happening because of his poor offensive performance this season.
After that conversation with Boras. I can say I’m at least 95-percent certain Andruw is gone. Braves will get a stopgap guy like Mike Cameron for a year or two, then insert Jordan Schaffer when the kid’s ready.
Hey, stats say Braves are in good shape: You want more reason to feel lousy about the Braves not being one of the eight teams that still have legit postseason hopes in the NL? OK, here it is:
The Braves rank third in the league in pitching with a 4.12 ERA, are tied for second with a .275 batting average, third in runs scored, and rank in the top five in doubles, homers, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
In other words, on a purely statistical basis (again, purely statistical), they are one of the best three teams in the NL.
And while I’m thinking about it, do any of you realize the Braves once-maligned bullpen has whittled its ERA to 3.62, second in the NL - albeit a distant second - to San Diego (2.95).
And that they’ve blown just 15 of 51 save opportunities, after blowing 29 of 67 in 2006?
Anyway, as we’ve said, I think at the end of the year and all winter, the Braves are going to think about a lot of those stretches when they couldn’t get a bit hit, when they had bases loaded or two on with none or one out, and couldn’t hit a ball out of the infield.
Yes, the lack of starting-pitch depth was their biggest downfall, obviously. But when you look at the difference in their hitting in the first through sixth innings (best in the league) and in the seventh and later innings (middle of the pack), it’s clear the Braves let a lot of games get away when a hit here or there would have sealed the deal.
And there were stretches where nobody, or only one or two guys, could get a hit, period. Team slumps that went for nine games here, five there (remember 0-5 with a .150 average and one run in the stretch vs. Boston and Detroit? Or .195 and 1-5 record in the two late-season series against the Mets?)
And, of course, there are the averages with runners in scoring position, with RISP and two outs, with bases loaded, late-and-close — most of which aren’t bad for the team in general, but are brought down by the woeful numbers put up by Andruw Jones, who unfortunately had the second-most at-bats in most of those spots, behind only Jeff Francoeur.
I don’t mean to pile on Andruw, but I was doing a story for Saturday on team hitting and a couple of stats jumped out: With bases loaded, Andruw as 3-for-16 with a walk and six strikeouts. The rest of the Braves were 45-for-144 (.313).
After the sixth inning, Andruw has hit .199 with 50 strikeouts in 176 at-bats.
With runners in scoring position and two outs, he’s hit - brace yourselves — .169 (14-for-83) with 24 walks and 26 strikeouts. Only Braves lower were Langy, Salty, and Sneezy, er, Craig Wilson. And the three of them together only had 30 such at-bats, so they didn’t do much damage in those spots.
The only Brave with more at-bats with RISP and two outs than Andruw was Francoeur, who hit .333 in 97 such at-bats.
With two strikes, Andruw’s hit .156 (48-for-307). In interleague play, he hit .061 (3-for-49)…. Oh, I’ll stop. Enough.
September swoon: A bunch of Braves have been slumping in September, most of them youngsters in their first or second full season in the majors. Here’s the rundown before tonight:
— McCann was 9-for-42 (.214) with zero extra-base hits and four RBIs in 13 games.
— Francoeur was 10-for-49 (.204) with four doubles, no homers and six RBIs in 12 games.
— Kelly Johnson was 15-for-74 (.203, yikes) with two doubles, one homer, five RBIs and 19 strikeouts in his past 21 games.
— Matt Diaz was 15-for-61 (.246) with two doubles, no homers, seven RBIs and 15 strikeouts in his past 20 games.
— Willie Harris was 8-for-74 (.108; oh, my) with four extra-base hits, six RBis and 19 strikeouts i his past 27 games.
Whew. That about covers it.
”YOU GOT GOLD” by John Prine
Is there ever enough space between us
To keep us both honest and true?
Why is it so hard just to sit in the yard
And stare at the sky so blue?
I’ve got a new way of walking and a new way of talking
Honey when I’m around you,
But it gives me the blues when I’ve got some good news
And you’re not there to bring it to.
Life is a blessing, it’s a delicatessen
Of all the little favors you do.
All wrapped up together no matter the weather,
Baby you always come through.
It’s a measure of treasure that gives me the pleasure
Of loving you the way I do
And you know I would gladly say I need your love badly
And bring these little things to you.
Cause you got gold
Gold inside of you
You got gold
Gold inside of you
Well I got some
Gold inside me too
Well I’m thinking I’m knowing that I gotta be going
You know I hate to say so long.
It gives me an ocean of mixed up emotion
I’ll have to work it out in a song.
Well I’m leaving a lot for the little I got
But you know a lot a little will do
And if you give me your love
I’ll let it shine up above
And light my way back home to you.
Cause you got gold
Gold inside of you
Cause you got gold
Gold inside of you
Well I got some
Gold inside me too
You got wheels
Turning inside of you
You got wheels
Turning inside of you
Well I got wheels
Turning inside me too
.JPG)
-1.JPG)
Services »
