RE: Furcal
As Gregor notes, Furcal is going to the Dodgers. I had thought that we would keep him (see comments here) so just know that my prognostication skills should be taken with a grain of salt when it comes to baseball. However, there are a couple of reasons why I’m not so worried:
- For $40 million over 3 years, the Dodgers can have him. That’s a lot of money for a career .284 hitter who has been twice convicted of drunk driving. Furcal is now the second highest paid shortstop in the Majors (after Jeter) – is he really the second best? I like Furcal and I like seeing him play, but I thought the Braves offer of $36 million over four years was far more in tune with his actual value
- Wilson Betemit. Pete Orr. Kelly Johnson. Our potential replacements at short are really really good and a whole heck of a lot cheaper. Betemit in particular. The Braves have been looking for a slot to play him every day for years and last year, when Chipper went out, Betemit proved that he can perform well given the chance. Orr was also spectacular when he filled in in the infield.
- Apparently, Rafael wasn’t even the best baserunner on the team last year. Giles was.
So, I’m not worried. John Schuerholz and Bobby know what they are doing. They’ve proven that time and time again in the past.
I wouldn’t turn down $13 million a year either. With LA’s large Hispanic population he will be very popular. Sorry he’s not here but not at that price. Now the money we just saved on him we can give to a “real” closer.
I stopped worrying about Braves offseasons a long time ago. As long as JS and BC are around, I’ll believe that we’re done on the day that we are mathmatically eliminated from contention, and not a millisecond earlier.
I totally agree on Furcal, I would have liked to have seen him stay, but 13 million a year is just ridiculous. If I had to pick between him or Giles as a Braves lifer it would be Giles, and that’s purely using baseball skills as criteria. Furcal is obviously more gifted than Giles, but Giles has been a better hitter for longer and he (as Furcal) has developed into an outstanding second baseman.
The question is, who is our closer now that we have bucks to play with? Hoffman? Or do we go for a guy like Todd Jones and use the extra $$$ to try to shore up the middle relief?
All the good free agents are going to be gone by the time the Braves are done with the fire sale.
Fire sale? By selling something we would have gotten something in return. Instead we had Farnsworth who said that he did not want to come back (fine by me) and Furcal chased the dollars (also fine by me).
The Braves don’t normally go after high $$ free agents but rather trade for them. So nice try Ortiz. Oh yeah, say goodbye to Manny for me on his way out of Beantown.
Alright, not a fire sale. A giveaway. Condemn your own players if you must, but when the dust clears the Braves are going to have a lot of cash and no one to spend it on.
Funny you think losing Manny is going to bother me when in the previous sentence you say the Braves prefer to trade. Think of what they could get in return for one of the best hitters in the game.
Man, I dont get people who write off Farnsworth like hes trash just because of one game. With the numbers he put up last season the Braves would be lucky to keep him. I think you people have gotten too used to making the postseason. Its like you think the Braves are just a bottomless well of talent and if one guy pisses you off you can just go pick out a new batch of winners. A few decades of last place will cure you of that.
Think about that next season when Kyle is mowing down the American League for the Yanks.
Ortiz: That was sarcasm. I wish Manny wouldn’t leave Boston and if I could get him here I would.
Nullus: I wasn’t writing off Farnsworth at all. His numbers prove that he had a good year last year. But at the same time he has blown many a big game. Ask the Cubs’ fans.
One day the Braves will stop winning and I will still watch them and care whether they win or lose. I followed them when they lost, won and will follow them when they lose again. It is gonna happen as all teams will eventually fall. I love the game and in fact I like it when teams have won the Series that no one expected (Angels, Dbacks, Red Sox, White Sox).
I don’t live with blinders on and am mostly disappointed that there is only one championship for the last 14 seasons. But I’m thankful that the Braves at least get to the playoffs.