From the cheap seats

“Take me out to the ball game, take me out to the crowd.”

Major League Baseball starts in just a few days. No one can be more excited than yours truly (well, maybe some people are more excited, but it’s okay).

I’ve made it apparent throughout my columns that I am an Atlanta Braves fan. I might not have always agreed with the off-season transactions (or lack of) of Braves General Manager John Schuerholz, but you can’t argue with success.

Schuerholz’s decisions have led the Braves to 11 National League East titles, five National League Championships, and one World Series
Championship since 1991.

Some of the off-season moves this year have baffled me. Tom Glavine’s release didn’t surprise or upset me. Either Greg Maddux or Glavine had to be released to free up the Braves’ budget. I thought, with the heftier contracts gone, the Braves would be able to keep their solid bullpen from last year.

Naturally, it came as a shock to me that the Braves let go of some of the veteran pitchers, such as Mike Remlinger (Chicago Cubs) and young talented pitchers like Damian Moss (San Francisco Giants) and Kevin Millwood (Philadelphia Phillies).

I figured with all of these moves, the Braves were setting up for a big acquisition to fill some of the many holes in the lineup. The possibilities were numerous and enticing for any fan.

Ivan Rodriguez and Luis Gonzalez were both free agents going into the off-season. The Braves could use help from Rodriguez as catcher to take most of the starts away from Javy Lopez who has not, in my opinion, lived up to his potential.

If the Braves could have signed left fielder Gonzalez and released Vinny Castilla, then that would move Chipper Jones back to the infield and there would be no need for Castilla when you have Mark Derosa on the bench.

Instead of making those moves, the Braves traded Millwood for back-up catcher Johnny Estrada and acquired Robert Fick as their first baseman.

The loss of Glavine hurts the pitching staff and the locker room, but I think that the starting pitching could be the least of the Braves’ concerns this year. What the Braves’ lost in Glavine, Millwood, and Moss could easily be found in new quality pitchers, such as Mike Hampton, Russ Ortiz and Paul Byrd, who is in his second stint with the Braves.

There are still question marks about the bullpen and positions like first base. I think Schuerholz did a very smart thing by keeping Javy Lopez for one more year. After the past few seasons, no team would sign Lopez for what he was asking for.

If the Braves signed a new catcher then they would have to still pay the rest of Lopez’s contract. By keeping Lopez, the Braves ensure a good year out of him and save money. Next year, Rodriguez will be available as well as a couple of other catchers, so the Braves are in a win-win situation.

The Braves are going to get a good year out of Lopez because he wants to do good in order to be signed by someone, just like Jeff Blauser in 1997, before being signed by the Chicago Cubs in 1998.

The National League East is going to be a very tough division this year
with the off-season moves for the Phillies and the New York Mets.

The Braves have the elements to make a run at another National League title, but everything will have to fall into place at the right time, unlike the previous years.

Next week I’ll give a division by division breakdown and my early season playoffs and World Series predictions.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 28 2003. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry