Braves sign their arb-eligibles and bring back Moylan
After signing reliever Eric O’Flaherty late Monday, then center fielder Michael Bourn and pitcher Jair Jurrjens on Tuesday, the Braves successfully avoided any arbitration hearings and tidied up the roster and payroll a month before spring training.
The Braves also agreed to terms later Tuesday with popular veteran reliever Peter Moylan, who’s coming off shoulder surgery and hopes to be ready by the early season. He got a minor-league deal with an invitation to spring training and $1 million on a prorated basis for time in the majors.
Braves general manager Frank Wren indicated there was a good chance the team would make no bigger moves before pitchers and catchers report to spring training Feb. 19 at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
The Braves haven’t made any big acquisitions since losing 20 of their final 30 games and missing a playoff berth on the final day of the season, but Wren believes the team will be improved if some players bounce back after disappointing seasons.
“We’ve felt all winter long that we have a foundation of a very good team,” he said, “and I think this is likely the team we not only got to spring training with, but that we break camp with. We’ve talked about it before, how we have a good team. If it performs to its capability we’ll be in the running and we can make adjustments as we go along.”
Significant raises for the four arbitration-eligible players — Martin Prado was the first to sign Friday — raised the Braves’ salary commitments to nearly $90 million for 2012, a few million below 2011 payroll.
The Braves have said they would keep the payroll the same or slightly higher, and Wren said they want to retain some payroll flexibility to make potential moves during the upcoming season. The Braves have not divulged a specific payroll limit or said whether they might go over if necessary.
O’Flaherty, a left-handed setup man who led the majors with a 0.98 relief ERA, got a 178 percent raise to $2.49 million in his second year of arbitration.
Jair Jurrjens, in his second arbitration year, got a one-year, $5.5 million deal. He made $3.25 million in 2011, a season cut short by a right knee injury for the second year in a row. He went 13-6 with a 2.98 ERA in 23 starts, none after August.
In his third and final year of arbitration, Bourn got a $2.45 million raise to $6.845 million. He hit .294 with a .349 on-base percentage and majors-leading 61 stolen bases for Houston and Atlanta in 2011.
Bourn is eligible for free agency after the 2012 season and could be difficult to sign to a long-term extension. His agent is Scott Boras, who advises most clients to explore free agency when they get the right, rather than take a discount to stay with their current team before seeing what else is out there.
Prado got a raise from $3.1 million to $4.75 million. He missed more than a month last summer because of staph-infection surgery on his right calf, and his power and speed were off after he returned.
Moylan, a free agent after being non-tendered by the Braves last month, was offered a deal after the team was sure of its payroll situation and confident that his recovery was progressing. He had arthroscopic shoulder surgery in September.
The Braves listened to trade offers for both Prado and Jurrjens this winter, but haven’t been intrigued enough to part with either. Prado is difficult for them to replace because he plays left field, but also moves to third base whenever Chipper Jones, who turns 40 in April, is out of the lineup.
Jurrjens was an All-Star in 2011, but other teams have concerns about the knee after he missed the important September stretch for the second year in a row. Jurrjens plans to pitch with a protective brace at the beginning of the 2012 season, and potential suitors surely will be watching.
Wren said it’s possible that veteran pitcher Tim Hudson won’t be fully recovered from back surgery before Opening Day, or the Braves might be cautious with him in spring training after observing how he handles early workouts. That made trading Jurrjens unappealing for anything less than a big return.
With Derek Lowe gone — the Braves are paying $10 million of his $15 million salary to pitch for Cleveland — the Braves will have a young rotation after Hudson. Jurrjens easily is the most experienced from among Tommy Hanson, Brandon Beachy, Mike Minor and rookie candidates Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado.
