As time ticks down to baseball’s trade deadline, the Braves could be perceived as the envy of most teams. They had the majors’ eighth-best record going into Wednesday night, the National League’s fourth-best record, sat only a half-game behind first-place Washington in the N.L. East and led the wild-card field by percentage points.
All postseason dreams: alive.
So why does it seem this team is handcuffed to a lamp post?
As much as Braves general manager Frank Wren would never acknowledge this publicly and likes to say, “There’s always things you can do,” it would be stunning if he made a high-profile move before Thursday’s 4 p.m. trade deadline. The team you see on the field now, the team that was 41-42 heading into Wednesday night’s game in Los Angeles after the 17-7 start, is the team you likely will see after the deadline.
The reason: money.
Liberty Media, the Braves' faceless corporate owner, is an easy punching bag and frequently blamed for the team's October failures. But if Wren feels hamstrung at the deadline, it will be more because of financial mistakes and recent long-term commitments the team made than a stingy owner focused only on a spreadsheet.
Consider:
1. The Braves recently released Dan Uggla, effectively committing to paying him more than $18 million over the rest of this season to just go away. This follows the sting of paying Derek Lowe $10 million to not pitch for them in 2012 and Kenshin Kawakami $6.7 million to not pitch for them in 2011. One doesn't need an MBA to understand $33 billion corporations don't like it when $35.7 million goes up in flames. Avoiding those things is how they get to be $33 billion corporations.
2. Liberty Media extended itself — OK, extended might be a little strong — to allow the Braves to sign starting pitcher Ervin Santana for $14.1 million a few weeks before the season after Brandon Beachy and Kris Medlen suffered year-ending elbow injuries. So it would seem unlikely the team would be allowed to take on another big contract. (More on that shortly.)
3. Wren and the organization opted to lock up several of the team’s young core to long-term contracts: first baseman Freddie Freeman (eight years, $135 million), closer Craig Kimbrel (four years, $42 million), shortstop Andrelton Simmons (seven years, $58 million) and starter Julio Teheran (six years, $32.4 million).
It's also only the second year of B.J. Upton's five-year, $75 million, which resembles the first cousin of Uggla's deal.
The ripple effect of all this should be clear. They’re in no position to significantly increase their payroll.
As ESPN’s Jayson Stark reported on trade rumors involving Boston pitcher Jon Lester, “The Braves have been telling teams they can’t take on money. So the $4.5 million Lester still has coming this year might be an issue. But Lester does live in Sharpsburg, Ga., in the offseason and loves the area. So this is another team that makes sense — on that level, at least.”
Sure, if only the city of Sharpsburg were willing to pick up Lester’s salary.
As I wrote earlier this week, the Braves' best chance for postseason success probably lies with their starting pitching. Their offense remains too inconsistent and their bullpen is erratic. But for Wren to significantly improve the rotation, he would have to give up prospects (young and inexpensive) for Lester or Tampa Bay's David Price.
The problem goes beyond paying the prorated portion of Lester’s $13 million or Price’s $14 million contract. The Braves need younger, cheaper players in the organization to balance out the ledger sheet.
So where does this leave the Braves? If Wren does anything before the deadline, it likely will be a budget-friendly move for a relief pitcher or a utility player. We hear names such as San Diego outfielder Chris Denorfria and Boston reliever Andrew Miller. If the general manager follows the script of past years, he will tweak the roster, say how much he likes his team and point out that the Braves are right in the thick of the race and they just have to play better baseball more consistently.
He would be right about the inconsistency. But that could be attributed to a roster that lacks chemistry and veteran leadership. Those problems usually are fixed in the winter, not at the deadline.
Tweaks can help. But some problems require expensive fixes, and therefore are unlikely.
