You're all so WONDERFUL. Why did they ever have to remove you from the continuity? You'd have made for MARVELOUS stories. You WILL make marvelous stories. And the FIRST story of the new world will be a story of REVENGE! -- The Psycho Pirate, Animal Man 23, May 1990.
Well if it's not Maddux in their rotation then the five spot will be Jason Marquis, unless they dealt him like they did Moss and I didn't hear about it. This would leave Smoltz at closer.
ACTUALLY, according to one of the Sportscenter gusy, don't remember who, they will bring back Maddux for one year and have... Maddux Hampton Ortiz Byrd Marquis
Then they will trade Milwood to try and get some offensive help at first or third.
And not having a decent first baseman since Andres Galarraga hasn't stopped them from winning a division, so I kind of doubt they'll move their bread-and-butter (starting pitching) for one of the very few first basemen on the market.
Also remember that Millwood's season was his big huge bounce-back that they needed and he is again the future ace, and "the future" is after next season.
This also ignores that Fred McGriff is still out there and Atlanta and Los Angeles appear his likeliest destinations, then you have to consider that Shawn Green has told the Dodgers he'll play first base if they want him to, a very noble move from a very Jewish man.
So McGriff back in Atlanta (he wants a one-year deal, they could probably swing it) seems as likely as anything right now, and the fact that he hasn't slowed down much at all and is still a durable player gives them a one-year rental with power that could hit, what, sixth for them? Not bad (if it happens).
Or -- OR -- they could dig up Greg Brock or Hal Morris, because it doesn't seem to matter who the stupid first baseman is for the Braves.
And for a freakin backup catcher!!! Arggh...as a big time braves fan since '84 more or less, I really don't know what are they doing with the rotation. Seeing Tommy G in a Mets uniform was something that gave me nightmares, now they trade Millwood to the Phillies, two of our best pitchers traded to teams in the same division...my god. The first move i would've done is to fire Bobby Cox ass, he's good...not great, but in the playoffs he always messes with the lineup and chemestry and fucks it up badly.
Here's hoping Hampton gets out of his funk, Byrd and Ortiz have decent years, Maddux wins 20 so he can up his free agent value, Smoltzie breaks the save record and that some how...we dump Javy Lopez ass to the Oriols for Pudge Rodriguez when they sign him.
Has the Cincinnati Bengals' higher-ups been infiltrating the Braves' organization, or what?
This season will be entertaining, to say the least....
....if you're hoping to enjoy the Braves collapse.
Well i don't know about all that. Sure the Milwood deal was dumb and the Phillies and Mets have both improved their teams, but it's not like the Braves are going to collapse. They still have a pretty good pitching staff, I think Hampton will bounce back this year especially. They still have the best offensive outfield in the Majors and their infield may not be awesome but they atleast now how to do their job.
Wait, why am I defending the Braves? They suck! Go Mets!
It's called economics. The Braves cannot afford Millwood this year since he's arbi-eligible. They had no choice.
Baseball trades aren't always about how good the players involved are. Sometimes, it's about adjusting your team's payroll according to the league's restrictions.
This is just what I heard so i don't know if it's true. But when the Braves were making their decisions they were planning on a worst case scenario, meaning assuming Maddux wouldn't accept arbitration. So they went out and got a pitching staff of... Milwood Hampton Ortiz Byrd Marquis
Then Maddux DID decide to take arbitration so they a) had 6 starting pitchers b) didn't have enough money. So then Milwood was the only option. Of course they still could've tried getting something better for him couldn't they?
Exactly, Quezzy. My problem wasn't with them trading away Millwood. My problem was that they traded Millwood away for questionable (at best) talent, when I'm reasonably sure that they could've gotten more for him somewhere else.
I'm not entirely sold on Hampton returning to spectacular form immediately upon hitting Turner Field. To be sure, I've seen Leo Mazzone pull some pretty good jobs with basically nothing (see the Braves' bullpens), so if Hampton is still struggling halfway through the season, I'll be surprised.
I think Rob Neyer said it best: before this trade, the Braves had an impending hole at catcher, a hole at first, and a gaping hole at third. After the trade, they had an impending hole at catcher, a hole at first, and a gaping hole at third. All economics aside, this is all that I meant.
...You're also going to have a hard time convincing me that Ted Turner's going to be short of money anytime in the near future.
To the Rangers....David Eckstein and several pitchers, including maybe Jarrod Washburn To Anaheim....Nomar Garciaparra To Boston....Alex Fucking Rodriguez.