This despite Hal Steinbrenner denying yesterday that the Yankees had an offer on the table to either Teixeira or Manny Ramirez. Apparently Yankees GM Cashman was cooking something up that Hal was unaware of. That’s roughly 4/10ths of a billion dollars spent this offseason.

Your thoughts?

I do not want to see Norton back as a regular position player - he saw far too much playing time last year for my comfort - but he’s a great bat to have as a pinch hitter. Are you glad to see Norton back with the Braves in 2009?

We’ll keep you updated as we continue to follow the Braves’ offseason. Please remember that you can reach the BravesBlast Mailbag by simply emailing us a question. We will address it as soon as possible - drop us a line!

“Having been in this business for 40-some years, I’ve never seen anybody treated like that,” Schuerholz said. “The Atlanta Braves will no longer do business with that company — ever. I told [agent] Arn Tellem that we can’t trust them to be honest and forthright. I told him that in all my years, I’ve never seen any [agency] act in such a despicable manner.

“It was disgusting and unprofessional. We’re a proud organization and we won’t allow ourselves to be treated that way. I advised Arn Tellem that whatever players he represents, just scratch us off the list. Take the name of the Atlanta Braves off their speed dial. They can deal with the other 29 clubs and we’ll deal with the other hundred agents.”

And here is Arn Tellem’s response (We can only assume he’s related to Soulja Boy?) as found on SI.com:

“With regard to the negotiations between the Atlanta Braves and Rafael Furcal, the essential facts are clear and cannot be disputed.

1. “There was never an agreement reached between Rafael Furcal and the Atlanta Braves.

2. “In fact, the Braves were fully aware that Furcal was not prepared to make a decision but had requested an opportunity to sleep on it, before deciding.

3. “Moreover, the baseball rules which all agents and teams operate under are clear that no deal exists between a player and a team unless and until: (i) there is a signed and executed player agreement or; (ii) the Player’s Union and the Commissioner’s office have otherwise confirmed the deal. Neither occurred here.

4. “Furcal ultimately decided to accept the Dodgers’ offer, taking into consideration a number of factors, the most important of which was his desire to continue playing shortstop and not make the position change to second base that the Braves were requiring.

5. “Losing out on an All-Star player like Furcal is always disappointing, and we understand the Braves’ frustration with the outcome of this negotiation, but it does not change in any way the fact that we conducted ourselves with integrity and complied with all rules of major league baseball throughout this process.

6. “Our primary obligation is to serve our clients best interests, and we will continue to do so in accordance with all relevant rules governing MLB negotiations and the utmost integrity.

7. “If it serves our clients, we will continue to present opportunities to the Braves, which in accordance with the rules governing Major League Baseball, the Braves must entertain. We hope that once emotions have subsided, the Braves will act in a manner consistent with not only their obligations under the Collective Bargaining Agreement and The National Labor Relations Act, but also the best interests of the franchise. In short, we would not want this incident to color their better judgment.”

Here’s my two cents (if you care):

Arn Tellem and Paul Kinzer need to realize that business is about trust and relationships. You don’t build a relationship with someone by negotiating a deal, asking for a signed term sheet, and then slapping that same team in the face with the fact you haven’t been upfront about other deals in the making. You don’t make that team want to deal with you. And you pissed off the wrong people - John Schuerholz and Frank Wren are very respected people in baseball. It’s not like we’re the Kansas City Royals.

Remember that all relationships are about trust - from the people you date to you and your boss’ interactions in the office. Build trust by being up front with those people. Don’t blast that trust - because in real life, a 7 point email refuting why they’re pissed off won’t do jack for you. You’ll end up single, without a job, or become someone nobody will rely on. 7 point emails do not make steps towards rebuilding that trust when they don’t apologize for betraying trust.

Arn Tellem and Paul Kinzer, go sell your mediocre players to other teams. I don’t see ANYONE on your player list that we need on the Braves. Also, good luck negotiating with people that have reason to doubt your word now. The whole baseball world will watch their backs around you now. You may not go out of business, but you will see fewer players select your company to represent them because teams will now be wary of your agency now.

Frank Wren said that he and Fucal’s agent Paul Kinzer negotiated all contract details Monday night and sent a term sheet over for Furcal to sign and return Tuesday morning. The term sheet was never returned, and Furcal appears to have reached an agreement with the Dodgers today.

Kinzer, who now reportedly won’t return voice messages left for him by major news outlets, but he said recently that there was no agreement reached Monday night and Furcal was going to sleep on it. By the way, Kinzer’s based in Atlanta, if you want to send him some holiday cheer.

Wren does not expect Furcal to end up in Atlanta. He’s quoted in the AJC as saying “I have not heard anything back yet. I don’t expect anything. What I’m hearing is that he’s going to L.A.”

Nothing is for sure - he could still end up in Atlanta, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.

And so the offseason continues.

Option 1

We have the most awesome double-play combo in the history of baseball. Watching Furcal and Yunel up the middle will be wicked-sick. Imagine the range and speed you’ll see displayed this season. That’d be ridiculous-awesome. Don’t know where Kelly Johnson would go, though.

Option 2

Yunel Escobar is now trade bait. He was the cornerstone of the Jake Peavy discussions and could potentially be used if the Braves made another offer to the Padres for Peavy. Furcal would play up the middle with Kelly Johnson, and maybe we’d see a pitcher come to Atlanta via trade. Escobar has quite a future in front of him, and many teams would love to see him on their roster.

Either way, I’m not sure how I feel about Furcal signing. If we’d already traded Escobar for someone else, I’d feel a lot better, but it feels like we’re signing Furcal with nowhere to put him. I’m sure Frank Wren and his genius staff have a plan, so I can trust them on this, but I want to know what they’re going to do to make our pitching staff not suck. This sure doesn’t fill the role of the power bat we need either.

What do you think? What are your thoughts?

So what are we going to do? Let Vazquez be our ace? Thrust Jair Jurrjens into the spotlight as a sophomore in the bigs? Make Jorge Campillo draw a ridiculous amount out of his arm?

Who else is on the market? Derek Lowe. Oh, the Yankees already made a move on him? The way they’re spending this off-season, who wouldn’t sign with them? We could always revive talks for Peavy, but Frank Wren has made it clear that the Braves will no longer offer the same package they did last month when they were in talks with the Padres. Brent Lillibridge is gone (must find new minor leaguer to talk about incessantly to bug Jonathan) and the Braves no longer have interest in trading Yunel Escobar (which I think is good). The Padres have probably not gotten more reasonable about it, which means the best pitcher in the NL will spend next year pitching for a horrible team in San Diego.

Meanwhile, we’re still without an ace. We have a good #2 guy in Jurrjens and Vazquez will be a decent #3 starter to eat innings, but where do we stand? In a very uncertain place.

And I’m not all that certain it’s going to get much better. Which scares me.

What do you think will happen?

The real question is, where does this leave the Braves in the pursuit to find pitching this offseason.  So far, extended discussions for a trade with the Padres for Jake Peavy have not panned out.  Then the Yankees outbid us for the services of Burnett.  So what do we do about an ace at this point?  I can’t even begin to figure out what the 2009 rotation looks like at this point in time.

It appears the next logical pursuit for Frank Wren would be Derek Lowe.  But wait, the Yankees have apparently moved on to pursue Lowe now as well.  Maybe I’m the only one that thinks the Yankees just have too much money to throw at players…..actually, no I’m not.  Everyone that’s not a Yankees fan thinks that.

I was planning on using this evening to put together a recap post about Winter Meetings but I think this news story pretty much sums it up.  The Braves need starting pitching….badly….the end.  So where do we go from here, Braves fans?  Things are starting to look a little grim on the 2009 front and it’s still December.

Imagine the rotation with me in your mind’s eye:
Peavy
Burnett
Jurrjens
Vazquez
Hanson/Morton/Campillo

Ok, so it won’t happen, but the main purpose of this blog was to let you know that Peavy is not in fact going to the Cubs. If the Braves fail to land Burnett, I think we’ll probably make another run at Peavy… If we don’t, we’re going to be in horrible shape this year - just imagine this:

Vazquez
Jurrjens
Campillo
Morton
Smoltz

Not a BAD rotation, but not very good. It’d need some help. Just as long as we never have to pencil in Jo-Jo Reyes or Chuck James as part of our planned rotation, I won’t be crying in a fetal position.

Here’s hoping we land Burnett. Word has it he won’t sign at the winter meetings, so don’t hold your breath. And also, let’s not give him too much money. We still need that power bat.

Other news: the Rule V draft happened today. I can’t really tell you what happened as I don’t see news about it in prominent places, and I’m currently unable to go digging. I’ll post something eventually, hopefully.

The concern is that they might. The Yankees aren’t happy with landing Sabathia. Rumor has it they also want to sign Burnett, Lowe, Sheets, Teixeira, LeBron James, The Olsen Twins, and Darth Vader. I hate the Yankees, and if they steal Burnett out from under us, I’m going to be PISSED. Absolutely livid. We need Burnett - we have to have an ace to anchor the rotation, and even though it’s a large bet on Burnett, we have to make it or we’ll flounder all season.

Also, Boston papers think Smoltz is looking at the Mets and Red Sox, among others. I just laughed when I read it. He’ll end up here, and he’ll retire as a Brave, or I’ll redirect BravesBlast.com to WTFWereYouThinkingFrankWren.com. And that’s a promise.

C’mon Burnett, sign the paper already.

UPDATE: According to Mark Bowman, the Braves have in fact not yet offered Burnett a guaranteed 5-year contract.  We’ll wait to hear more.

An Ace:
The Braves have had a primary objective this offseason of solidifying the rotation and I don’t think that has been any secret.  Earlier in the offseason, the hype completely surrounded Wren’s offer to acquire Jake Peavy. But after being drawn out for weeks and finally seeing the offer rescinded, the Braves were back at square one trying to fill the front end of the rotation.  Who knows?  Maybe there’s still some veiled hope out there that we manage to acquire him, but I’m not counting on that at all.

Since then, the focus has shifted to AJ Burnett, with Wren laying out a 4-year offer to him late last week.  Burnett’s agent, Darek Braunecker, is in the position to be one of the most popular people at Winter Meetings this week.  As one of the top pitchers on the free-agent market this offseason (aside from CC Sabathia), Burnett has potential interest from the incumbent Blue Jays, Yankees, Orioles and Phillies.  I think the biggest sticking point with the Braves’ offer right now is still the fifth-year option.  Braunecker has repeatedly said that Burnett will “definitely have the opportunity to accept a guaranteed five-year contract”.  He however has also indicated that Atlanta has become an even more attractive option after last week’s signing of Javier Vazquez.

Aside from chasing Burnett, there has been little word of Wren’s other interests in trying to track down an ace of the staff.  Let’s just hope we’re not putting too much hope on one target and that something good comes out of it this week.

A Power-Hitting Outfielder:
Wren has indicated that he is not too interested in the hard-hitting outfielders that are available on the free agent market this offseason.  It just doesn’t seem that the talent or fit needed for the Braves is available, but he’s always keeping an eye out for someone that can bolster the power numbers at the plate next season.  Wren’s focus this week will revolve around finding pitching and he has placed no real deadline for adding power to the outfield.

With such little interest in the free agent market, I’d look for Wren to make a move with a trade to try and fill this role, but I wouldn’t expect that happening until later this offseason, into the first few months of 2009.  Who would you like to see come to Atlanta to fill this role?

So there’s the general update on what we’re looking for Wren to try to track down during Winter Meetings this year.  Look for the big focus to be on pitching, but we’ve been surprised in the past by some moves that we had previously heard little about.  We’ll keep updating as we hear more out of Las Vegas. What’s on your Winter Meetings wishlist for this year?

Smoltz threw from a mound on Friday for the first time since his shoulder surgery in June and experienced no pain or discomfort.  At this point in his rehab, he has been described as being “way ahead of schedule”.  The official answer from the Braves at the current time is that they cannot yet count on Smoltz for the 2009 season, but it appears that his rehab is at least coming along fairly well.  It seems that Bobby Cox is very confident that Smoltz will be back on the mound for the 2009 season, saying, “oh, he’ll be back — no doubt in my mind”.

Though saying that he can’t yet count on Smoltz for 2009, Frank Wren has indicated that he hopes to offer him a contract when he reaches a point in his throwing program that it seems like he will be ready to pitch again.  It’s good to see that 5 arm surgeries throughout his career have not killed the desire in Smoltz to get the Braves back to postseason play.  

It’s not yet clear what role Smoltz would take up on the pitching staff and I presume that a lot of that would depend on how the rest of his rehab program goes.  He has, however, indicated that he would be willing to return in any role that would be helpful to the team, though he would love to return to the rotation.  Whether it be as a starter, in the bullpen, or as the closer, I’d be more than happy to see Smoltz back out at Turner Field.

So what do you think?  Will we see Smoltz back in 2009?  Will he be back in a Braves uniform?  What role do you see him serving on the pitching staff?

Burnett won 18 games with the Jays last year and led the American League in strikeouts. Frank Wren confirmed the offer had been extended to Burnett - who is probably the best free agent pitcher on the market other than C.C. Sabathia, who the Braves are not making a move for.

The Yankees are expected to make an offer soon - but they were waiting to see how much cash the Braves were willing to throw his way first. He’s receiving plenty of attention, and I’m not sure whether or not the Braves have a chance at landing him. I’d guess that Wren put together an offer he feels will be competitive, as we’re not going to just magically land great pitching without giving something up in return. I’m not holding my breath, though, as we rarely win bidding wars with major free agents.

Come to Atlanta, A.J. We have Bobby Cox, Chipper Jones, and a giant cow standing over left field. Not to mention the Varsity, a big fish tank, and friendly fans that’ll show up for games on weekends.

What do you think will happen? Do we land Burnett or not?

Santos Rodriguez is a 6′5″, 180 pound left-handed bean pole of a pitcher who will turn 21 in January.  In 2008, he played in the Gulf Coast League where he had a 2.79 ERA in 29 innings pitched.  He had 45 strikeouts, 13 walks, and led the team with 5 saves. He has an above-average pitching speed and consistently succeeded in his attempts to pitch around hitters.

More Rodriguez stats for you:

He appeared in 14 games, none of which he started, and went 1-2.  Hitters had 12 runs (9 earned), 16 hits, and zero homeruns.  What is the big deal about any of this? Well, Rodriguez’s stats aren’t nearly as impressive in the 2007 season. He had a 6.67 ERA in ‘07 in 28.1 innings.  He had 35 strikeouts but 21 walks with 29 hits, 25 runs, and 21 earned runs.  Rodriguez is a big part of this deal because of his potential and significant improvement in the past year, not because of his current numbers. With his youth, high pitch velocities, and obvious improvement, Santos Rodriguez has what it takes to become a very dangerous LHP.

Rodriguez was traded to the White Sox yesterday in the deal that brought Vazquez to Atlanta.  It will be interesting to see how Santos develops over the upcoming years.  He has potential, but a lot of growing to do. 

Maybe I’m just let down by Vazquez’s 12 and 16 (4.67 ERA) in 2008 and  15-8 (3.74 ERA) in 2007 with recent Peavy and Burnett talks, and the fact that he has been getting progressively worse (and older) over the past few years.  Some chalk it up to the White Sox’s hitter-friendly field, but that is not an acceptable excuse when the decline seems somewhat, well, linear.  Is Javier Vazquez worth Brent Lillibridge, Jon Gilmore, and Santos Rodriguez? Yes. Is he worth Jo-Jo? Heck, I’ll give you Jo-Jo for less than the Calgary Vipers accepted as a trade for John Odom. But here is my point: is Vazquez worth catching prospect Tyler Flowers? Nope, not with those numbers, and not with the past few years’ decrease in performance. I am not convinced that we have made a good decision on this one.

Peavy in Atlanta would raise some eyebrows and some hopes, but Cub’s pitcher Ryan Dempster trumps Peavy in my book and I wouldn’t mind seeing him step onto Turner Field time and time again.  Additionally, shelling out some money for C.C. Sabathia gives us a strong and consistent arm, including a pretty decent bat.  Heck, what about Brewer’s pitcher Ben Sheets? With Winter Meetings less than a week away, it’s time to get creative, optimistic, and make some good decisions for the club as a whole. Our needs are obvious, and it’s time for us to step up to the plate.

ESPN is reporting that the Braves are not likely to get Jake Peavy, but it could be revived at any time. Speculation is that our offer is still on the table and that if the Padres decide to play ball, we’ll end up with Peavy after all. Sounds like they’re just being unreasonable with what they want for Peavy.

ESPN also said that with $40 million to spend, the Braves will upgrade their starting pitching. No duh. That was helpful. I could have a TV show if that’s all I needed to say.

Looks like the Braves didn’t land Junichi Tazawa, the 22 year old Japanese phenom. Two separate newspaper reports indiciate he’ll sign with the Red Sox on a 3 year major league contract soon. That’s a shame - I’d have loved to see him pitch here in Atlanta. Here’s hoping two major newspapers are full of crap.

What do you think the Braves can do from this point forward to make the best of the offseason?  No CC? No Peavy? No Tazawa? Should we forget about pitching and just buy all the offense we want? If not, who do we want?

Wren also stated that adding a couple of new starters to the rotation remains the top priority for the offseason.  The question is, what are the next options for Wren and the organization to pursue in the coming months?

Today marks the deadline after which all teams can begin making offers to declared free agents that were previously signed by other teams.  We’ll see what develops in the upcoming weeks, but it’s time to move on from the pursuit of Peavy to see what other options are available. 

We pulled for the Rays. We wanted them to win. We watched a weird, short, continuation of a previous game.

They won anyways.

Jimmy Rollins is cocky, but I’ll let it go just for one night.

Congratulations. Watch out next year, though. The Braves will be back.

Bring a CD if you want - there will be a CD player, but you’ll need a 3-5 minute routine / dance / whatever you do in a groundhog suit. I don’t know if you’ll actually have to (or get to) wear the suit, but it’s worth a shot.

Details are here.

Go break a leg, because I don’t want to be forced into being a groundhog.

But then I got to thinking - wouldn’t it be cool to knock off the reigning World Series champs next year in the NL East? Or does it really not matter?

Regardless, I’m still pulling for the Rays (like most, if not all of our team) the rest of the series and hoping they come back from a 3-1 deficit. I’d love to see the Rays dominate the AL East for years to come, but that’s another article for another day (or week, if I continue writing at this pace).

Maybe, just maybe, one of the other writers will get online and write a post for y’all (but it’s not looking good). Until then, comment this one up.

Want to write for us? We have ridiculously high standards but can be bribed. Email mailbag@bravesblast.com to get in on the action.