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Old 11-30-2006, 07:52 PM   #2803
BGarrett7
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Re: 2006 Atlanta Braves Discussion

Quote:
Originally Posted by Klownpoet
I think we should give Hudson one more chance ( though if he sucks this year he will be impossible to trade unless we eat some of his salary ) We know the potential is there, and maybe just maybe he can finally get it together while in the Atl.
I think the risk/reward for Hudson is just too far out of our favor now to give him another opportunity to shine. It really doesn't matter how brilliant of a season he goes out and has next year, and even in the ensuing seasons, it is not going to balance out the astronomical salary he is going to be due. In my opinion, with the going rate for second-tier starters right now, we have gotten exactly what could be expected of Huddy -- a lot of inconsistency, the bads never being crippling, and the goods being great. In order to get our money's worth from him after next season, he is suddenly going to have to develop into Greg Maddux, circa 1998. And let's be honest, that simply isn't going to happen. So, I say we take what we can get for him now, hope that we aren't left holding much of the rest of his contract, and make the push for Tommy to be a one-to-two year solution to what ails us. Yes, I know I am semi-contradicting myself by saying drop Huddy's mega-deal because it isn't worth it financially, when Glavine will likely command just as much, but one pitcher is a proven winner who is consistently healthy even in his older age, while the other is up-and-down and routinely pitching in pain.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Klownpoet
That being said I really wish the ownership wouldn't tie J.S. hands every damn offseason. If they just allowed him to raise the payroll by 5-8 million dollars would could sign Glavine without having to unload a player that could be good in 2007.
Unfortunately, things are only going to get worse. I believe if and when Liberty Media completes the deal with AOL/Time-Warner to buy the Braves, our payroll is going to drop even lower than it currently is. The current ownership is one of the biggest corporations in the world right now, and we still can't even get a payroll that even approaches half of what the Yankees, Red Sox and Cubs will be paying out next season. With Liberty Media being an even smaller corporation -- but not tiny or having any sort of "personal" feel to it in the slightest sense -- I think we would have even less of the company's assets to work with. I really think things are only going to get far worse before they get even slightly better than what they are now. The fans need to start caring more, more money needs to be pumped back into this team so that revenue can be created and the ownership, whomever it may be, realizes that putting money into this team is going to equal money being produced. Granted, raising ticket prices while attendance continues to nose-dive and fan support is at it's lowest point in almost two decades, isn't exactly the best way to make fans start caring again. Then again, neither is having names of fan favorites like Giles and Andruw floated around as being potential trade-bait to cut payroll. That's one reason why I think the team should go balls-to-the-wall in trying to bring Glavine back to town. He is the biggest fan favorite the team has seen this side of Murphy, Chipper, and now Frenchy. I believe seeing #47 run back out to the mound at Turner Field would create a lot more buzz than the return of Mike Hampton -- which, for ungodly some reason, JS and management are banking on being huge.

But, I'm rambling. As you can tell, it's been a while since I've posted either in this thread or over at Braves Nation, so there's a lot of little thoughts floating around.
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