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Stuart Crosby Columnist
Published Monday, September 29, 2008
Postmortem on ‘08 Braves season and the ‘09 resurrection
All season long in this column I have resisted offering my take on the progress or lack thereof for the 2008 Atlanta Braves.
I suppose there have been a myriad of reasons that I didn’t write anything about the team I have rooted for since one brother was a child and another didn’t exist from concentrating on other issues to just getting annoyed hearing other opinions. Now that the season is over, I think I can go ahead and finally give the state of the Braves according to me.
The 72-90 record was bad and the worst since 1990 when I was still in my 20s and living in another state (actual not state of mind) but this was different than most of the bad years.
This club got off to a good start with the pitching of John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Tim Hudson along with a kid named Jair Jurgens who was fleeced from Detroit and the Braves were still in contention until late July. Chipper Jones was hitting .400 and everything was going smoothly for others until the beginning of June when Smoltz was shutdown and Rafael Soriano could not take the bump in ninth and Jeff Francoeur’s batting went into the tank.
As bodies were going down, the Braves were getting players such as Jorge Julio, Julian Tavares and Elmer Dessens to fill the roster. These are guys who have several clubs on their resume with Tavares spending time with three teams this year, Julio was at Richmond and Dessens was in the Mexican League this year. Tavares actually did a lot better than I thought he would and Julio has pitched okay, but Dessens pitched more like Elmer Fudd and was banished after getting pelted by opposing hitters.
While there is debate in many financial markets in terms of money to spend, the Braves will have money to acquire players and re-sign some others. Before any or all of you think I have lost my mind you are too late because that happened a long time ago, but I have a suggestion on what to do.
The money paid to Mark Teixera and Mark Kotsay is off the books (approximately $17 million for the two) and the portion of Mike Hampton’s salary paid by the Braves is also bidding adieu. While it is slightly off, I think the Braves should sign Hampton to an incentive laden contract for 2009 and not the one the Colorado Rockies signed with him eight years ago.
Glavine and Smoltz ($17 million) will also come off the Liberty Media books while prorated portions of deals with some other players will also clear the ledger. If I am correct or at least close to it, I believe the Atlanta Braves will have approximately $60 million to spend. That’s especially true insurance covers any of Hudson’s salary next year.
Since there will be some names in the free agency market, the Braves will make a pitch for some but there are those that I would not touch. One is Ben Sheets who has owned the Braves, but I wouldn’t sign him because he seems to get hurt a lot and that will be proven this week since he will not pitch in the NLDS against the Phillies.
I have liked C.C. Sabathia and I think the Braves will make a pitch, but I feel he will be in pinstripes because they are the Yankees. Derek Lowe of the Dodgers has been mentioned and I think that would not be a bad signing because he has a good sinker and can eat the innings, however he will be 37 next season.
Carl Crawford of the Tampa Bay Rays is also a potential free agent and he is someone that Bobby Cox really likes and the guy can hit. By the way, no is my response to trading Francoeur because he will be fine and there isn’t much out there.
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