Glavine’s #47 To Be Retired

Mark your calendars for August 6th, Braves fans.  Before the Braves take on the Giants that evening, Tom Glavine will be inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame and then, in a pre-game ceremony, his number will be retired.  This will be the seventh retired number for the Braves; Glavine will be joining company of Dale Murphy (3), Warren Spahn (21), Greg Maddux (31), Phil Neikro (35), Eddie Matthews (41) and Hank Aaron (44).

In 17 seasons with the Braves, Glavine amassed 244 of his 305 career victories and attempted to return to the Braves in 2008 but was placed on the DL and had surgery after just 3 starts.  Glavine has assumed a new role with the Braves this season, however, working as a special assistant to John Schuerholz and taking some TV and radio broadcasting duties.

Welcome to the club, Tom.  We’ll see the likes of Chipper and Smoltzie up there with you soon.

Glavine Returning To Braves

Tom Glavine’s coming back to the Atlanta Braves organization, just not in a Braves uniform.  As we discussed in mid-January, Glavine has been mulling over this possibility for some time and it appears, finally, that he has reached a decision.  With the announcement of his retirement, Glavine will assume the role of special assistant to team president John Schuerholz.

As part of his new role, Glavine will assist the front office on a number of projects both on the baseball and the business end of the team.  Additionally he will be making some appearances in both the television and radio booths for the club mostly with 680 The Fan (a new partner for the Braves this season) and when games are broadcast on Fox Sports South.

Glavine leaves the game with 305 career wins (244 of which came in a Braves uniform) leaving him as the 4th-ranked left-handed pitcher in baseball history.  Additionally, he won the NL Cy Young with the Braves in 1991 and 1998.  I’m glad to have Tommy back with the Braves in some capacity and hopefully we can leave behind the ill-will caused by the fiasco with Glavine being cut from the squad as he neared his return to baseball last season.

Glavine Could Be Back With Braves

Tom Glavine’s final experience as a baseball player with the Braves front office was far from favorable.  A day after pitching 6 scoreless innings in single-A Rome and five days before he was expected to make his season debut in Atlanta, Frank Wren made the decision to release Glavine.  Wren claims it was performance-based, Glavine claimes it was financially-based, and so on and so on.  We all know what happened, but it’s in the past.  Now it looks like there is a chance for a new chapter with Tom Glavine in the Braves organization.

The details of the possible role are far from finalized, but the Braves have presented many options for Tommy.  Some include the opportunity to serve as an announcer or work in the front office in some capacity.  Additionally, there is the opportunity to work with the Braves’ minor league affiliates to assist in player development and coaching.  Though he hasn’t officially announced his retirement from baseball, Glavine realizes it’s not likely he’ll pitch again, and will likely retire once he assumes a new role in the game.

It seems as if the issues revolving around Glavine’s release last season are one big factor standing in the way of his return to the club.  It’s a situation that wasn’t favorable and, in the eyes of many, wasn’t handled as best as it could have been.  In a situation where he will have to work daily with the same man that decided to release him, Glavine wants to make sure he’s not jumping into a decision he will regret.

Make it official, Tommy.  Announce your retirement to cap off a sure-fire Hall of Fame career and take a new role with the Braves.  It’ll be interesting to see what becomes of the situation, but I hope that Glavine and Wren can work out any animosity and make this a done deal.  I, like many, took exception to Glavine’s departure for the Mets, but I grew up watching him pitch in Atlanta and that’s where I want to see him again.

On Glavine and PR

OK, so the Braves have a damn good rotation. We don’t have room for Tom Glavine, a Hall of Fame lock 43 year old coming off shoulder surgery. We paid him $1M without seeing him pitch and then rehabbed him, only to tell him we didn’t think he had the stuff to make it in our rotation. Now he’s upset, along with a lot of other people.

And one side of me says they’ve got a little room to complain. No, Glavine shouldn’t be on the roster. But maybe we could have told him Hanson gave us a better rotation and we’d prefer to give the young buck a chance.  Maybe Wren didn’t have to comment on his “stuff” and how it wasn’t as good as it used to be. Now, the problem with not commenting on his “stuff” is that the move then looks like a money issue. There was no real easy way out of it for the Braves. And it’s really hard to win with PR when you have a griping Hall of Famer who thinks he still has said “stuff” whining on talk radio. It’s really hard to pick a good position here.

Mark Bradley of the AJC has a good point. We paid him $1M to rehab his shoulder when nobody else would go near him. We gave him a serious look. And now he’s whining.

The bottom line is that Wren shouldn’t have given Glavine a contract without seeing him pitch. That’s a lot of risk to put on the shoulder and elbow of Glavine. And it didn’t pay off – not financially, not in the game of baseball, and certainly not as far as public relations goes.

There’s another side of me that says we owe Glavine no loyalty because he ditched us for the effing Mets. It was about money for you then, Glavine, so shut up and stop whining. You’re coming off as a bitter has-been who can’t admit when his best days are behind him.

Why The Braves Didn’t Need Glavine

Tom Glavine was released yesterday by the Braves because Frank Wren and company determined that he wasn’t going to be effective at the big league level. They’re right. It was my opinion when Glavine was signed that once he finished rehabbing, he’d only be a mediocre pitcher. It’s just not needed on a club with all the pitching talent we currently have.

Last year, when Glavine was healthy and started 13 games before he was injured, he was only a shadow of his former self. He only had 5 quality starts – 38% of his starts were considered Quality Starts (> 6 IP, </= 3 RA). His career average is 64%, including last year. We saw him break 100 pitches thrown once out of those 13 appearances. The Braves scored an average of 4.9 runs per game while he was on the mound, and yet he still ended up with a 2-4 record and a 5.54 ERA. The bottom line is he just isn’t as sharp as he used to be. Sure, he’ll pitch alright for someone, but that’s not us. We’ve got Tommy Hanson coming to start Saturday – and if the hype is right, he’s ridiculously sharp.

Yes, it’s definitely surprising and somewhat sad to see the Braves release someone who has such history with the team and with baseball, but this is a baseball move and frankly I don’t feel much connection to Glavine the way I did to Smoltz. It’s just not there, ever since he decided to play traitor and move to the NY Mets for a while. Sure, he’s a great ballplayer and a nice guy, but he had no loyalty for his team and I don’t feel a need to stand up and be emotional about his release when he wasn’t going to provide a boost to the pitching staff.

The bottom line is that with a good starting four, Tommy Hanson ready to come up, and Tim Hudson coming back from surgery later this year, we just had no room for a mediocre, shell-of-his-former-self Tom Glavine. That’s a little sad, but not that sad. Farewell Tommy – thanks for all the good memories and best of luck looking for another job. I hear the Mets could use an arm or two.

Braves Release Tom Glavine

Sources cloes to Major League Baseball report that the Braves have released pitcher Tom Glavine, who, just days ago, was reportedly healthy and ready to return to pitch for the Braves.  Glavine was set to be paid $1 million when added to the active roster and another $1.25 million each for 30 and 90 days on the active roster.

After returning to Atlanta last season, Glavine had shoulder and elbow surgeries and has been attempting to regain the ability to pitch at the major league level.  After throwing eleven scoreless innings in his latest two rehab starts, Glavine indicated that he was ready to head back to Atlanta.

Glavine, 43, has 305-career wins and spent the first sixteen seasons of his major-league career with the Braves.  Since returning to the Braves in 2008, he made only 13 starts before being sidelined by injuries.  His return in the 2009 season was set back in April by some recurring injuries however.  Glavine has stated that he is not ready to retire and was fully looking forward to pitching in Atlanta this season.  It’s not yet clear what options he will pursue.

I wonder what this signifies for the Braves?  Are there bigger plans in the works? Or is it just time for Tommy to hang it up?  More on this as we find out.

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Braves’ Pitching Abounds

The Braves starting pitching continues to excel this season – and while Frank Wren searches for some more offense to back up the staff, the Braves are not lacking in starting pitching depth.

Derek Lowe is 6-3 with a 3.49 ERA (8 quality starts), Jair Jurrjens is 5-2 with a beautiful 2.59 ERA (7 quality starts), and Javier Vazquez is doing ok – he has an even 4-4 record with a 3.58 ERA (7 quality starts). Behind that, Kenshin Kawakami appears to be struggling at 3-6 with a 4.73 ERA, but you’d be having trouble too if you only got an average of 1.7 runs scored per game when you were pitching. With such lousy run support, it’s a wonder Kawakami has three wins.

Glavine is ready to come to Atlanta and start. Whether or not he’ll be good, we’ll see. He’s ready though. Kris Medlen had two rough starts but was great in his last start as he struck out nine in six innings of work. He may just have a chance to stick around and prove he has the stuff he needs to excel in the majors. And of course we have Tommy Hanson honing his skills in Gwinnett, waiting to make the 45 minute drive south and show us his stuff. Oh, and Tim Hudson is on track for a return in August or September.

So what happens now? We’ve got Tommy ready to pitch, Medlen to give some playing time to, Hanson to fit in, and 2 pitchers that are doing alright.

I think the odd man out, interestingly enough, is Javier Vazquez. He has a high strikeout rate, but the Braves give him the most run support while he’s on the mound (5.5 runs per game) and yet he’s only 4-4 – and the Braves are only .455 when he gets the ball. To give you an idea of how bad that is, the Braves are .400 with Jo-Jo Reyes starting. Kawakami needs more run support, but with that run support he’ll likely be much better. He could end up being the odd man out too.

Who’s the odd man out? What does our rotation/bullpen look like at the end of the year?

Glavine Says He’s Ready

With five scoreless innings for AAA-Gwinnett last night, Tom Glavine notched his first minor league win since 1987.  Afterwards, he expressed his opinion that he was ready to start again in the Majors as soon as next Tuesday against the Cubs.  Bobby Cox, however, has said that Glavine will make one more minor league start for Class-A Rome on Tuesday before being considered to come back to Atlanta.

Glavine will likely fill the fifth spot in the rotation that has been a struggling point for the Braves since being filled by the combination of Jo-Jo Reyes and Kris Medlen.  Between the two, they have compilied an 0-4 record across 7 starts with a 7.64 ERA.

Though Glavine is still working a little rust out of his control since returning from elbow and shoulder surgery that ended his 2008 season, he is still likely a better candidate for the spot in the rotation.  Honestly, it can’t get much worse.  I think we’ll be seeing him back in Atlanta by mid-June definitely.  What’re everyone’s thoughts on Glavine?

Braves Fall To Fish, Glavine Considering Retirement

Javier Vazquez struck out 12 last night against the Marlins in six innings of work. He gave up three runs in those six innings and the Braves bullpen surrendured two in the eighth to spot the Marlins a 5 spot. Chris Volstad shut the Braves down and gave up only a solo homer to Kelly Johnson. Braves went down 5-1. Garret Anderson dropped not one but TWO foul balls and was charged with two errors. I’m a bit worried about Anderson – if he can’t catch routine fly balls maybe he needs a little more time to rest his leg. Diaz should play tonight, so that’ll be good for Anderson to take a seat for a game.

Glavine’s MRI came back to reveal an inflamed rotator cuff. And yes, it may be about time to stick a fork in him – he may be done. The Braves are reporting that Glavine is frustrated with the rehab process and is considering retirement. Frankly, if we’re paying him this year, I don’t want him to give up and retire in a couple weeks. I want him to fight back as long as he can. I’m torn on this – I really don’t WANT Glavine back in anything but fully effective as a starter (with his historic first inning woes, I don’t want him in a relief role).

I’m not really sure what I want to happen with Glavine – I don’t want him back unhealthy and I don’t want him stuck in rehab forever – I really wish we just hadn’t signed him when we did. Couldn’t we have spent that money towards Smoltzie? I’m just bitter about the whole thing. Why sign Glav when we don’t know he’ll pitch? I’m not just an armchair GM, I’m a bitter armchair GM. What are your thoughts on the situation?

Glavine to See Dr. Andrews On Shoulder

Tom Glavine was scratched from his AA Mississippi start yesterday with shoulder discomfort after just two innings. He was pulled throwing warmup pitches before the third as a precaution. Obviously this sets him back a little bit – but maybe more than originally thought. He’s scheduled to see Dr. James Andrews Tuesday morning in Birmingham, Alabama. Andrews performed the surgery on Glavine’s shoulder in August of last year and is famous for his proficency with sports surgeries.

Glavine was supposed to start for Atlanta on Saturday – but he won’t make it now. So, with their veteran pitcher down with an injury, the Braves have called up young pitching phenom… wait – Jo-Jo Reyes? Really? Yeah, Jo-Jo will come make the start on Saturday. The obvious thing here is that Jo-Jo is a left-hander and the Braves need a left-handed pitcher in their starting rotation. That said, there are a lot of people clamoring for the young and ridiculously talented Tommy Hanson, who struck out 10 of 13 in his first start at AAA Gwinnett.

There are arguments against using Hanson this early in the season – they want to keep him on a regular pitching schedule and get him his innings and a nice routine – they don’t want to start his arbitration clock yet – they want a lefty right now and Jo-Jo has more major league experience (is bad experience really better than no experience?)

What are your thoughts? Debate it. Is Jo-Jo Reyes (referred to affectionately as Blow-Blow by at least one of our staff) really the answer at this time? Should Tommy Hanson be brought up? Or is Jo-Jo the right call and Hanson needs a little more time to season before he’s ready to pitch?

Braves Have Added More Than You Think

There has been plenty of buzz this spring about the new faces the Braves have added by way of trade and free agency. And rightly so. Derek Lowe, Kenshin Kawakami, Javier Vazquez, and Garrett Anderson, among others, signify a major upgrade to last year’s injury depleted squad. But if you think these four players represent the only substantial improvements to the Atlanta roster… think again.

Unable to help the Braves much, if at all, in 2007 (because of injury, underperformance, or having not yet arrived in the big leagues), there are several bats and arms in the Braves’ camp that could have a substantial impact on the ’09 season.

EACH OF THE FOLLOWING PLAYERS COULD PROVE TO BE THE EQUIVALENT OF A SIGNIFICANT FREE AGENT SIGNING:

Rafael Soriano: Having spent the majority of last season on the disabled list with discomfort in his pitching elbow, Soriano now appears healthy and ready to help anchor the back end of the bullpen. Since moving to the ‘pen in his sophomore season with the Mariners, Soriano has a career ERA of about 2.50. When healthy, the hard-throwing righty is one of the top setup men in the game.

Peter Moylan: The submarine-tossing ‘Ausie’ posted the third best ERA (1.80) in baseball in 2007, over 90 innings pitched. After missing most of last season recovering from “Tommy John” surgery, Moylan’s rehabilitation is ahead of schedule, and he is expected to be ready on opening day. The return of Peter Moylan could give the Braves another dominant late-inning reliever to go with Soriano and closer, Mike Gonzalez.

Tom Glavine: The legendary lefty’s rehabilitation from off-season surgery (to repair his pitching arm) is on track, and Glavine is expected to make his first start, on schedule, in late April. In 2007, Glavine was fifth in the NL in quality starts with 23, and not coincidentally, he finished the season with 13 wins. If healthy enough to regain his ’07 form, baseball’s only active 300-game winner could once again notch double-digit wins for the Braves.

Tommy Hanson: Considered by many to be the top overall pitching prospect in baseball, Hanson this spring has given the Braves all the more reason to believe he’s ready to record outs in the big leagues. With an already fully staffed starting rotation, it appears that an injury to a Braves starter would be the only immediate path to the Atlanta’s 25-man roster. However, while not particularly likely, it is conceivable that the Braves might consider trading one of their starting pitchers at some point during the season, creating a Major League job opening for Hanson in ’09.

Tim Hudson: The Braves ace is currently ‘rehabbing’ from “Tommy John” surgery, and is believe to be on track for a late August or early September return. While the Braves certainly are not counting on Hudson in any way for the upcoming season, he could give this Braves team one more considerable weapon down the stretch.

Jeff Francoeur: After experiencing a season-long slump in ‘08 that saw him hit just .239 with only 11 homeruns, “Frenchy” is on a mission to (at least) regain his pre-2008 form. So far, so good. As of this writing, he is hitting .350 for the spring. He has just 1 strikeout in 40 at-bats, to go with 6 walks and 9 RBI. He is driving the ball to all fields and has shown nothing of his prior tendency (even in his better seasons) to swing at pitches well out of the strikezone. Replacing the ’08 model of Jeff Francoeur with the ’07 version – or better- would be tantamount to having inked a big free agent slugger over the winter.

Matt Diaz: Diaz lost much of his ‘08 season to a knee injury after getting off to a slow start as the Braves everyday left-fielder. But it should not be forgotten that he hit .333 in 655 combined at-bats in ’06 and ’07. While the addition of Garrett Anderson undoubtedly represents an upgrade to the Atlanta outfield, the return of a healthy and sharp Matt Diaz may prove every bit as valuable. Diaz is currently batting around .400 with 5 extra-base hits and 11 RBI in just over 40 at-bats this spring.

Jordan Schafer: One of the most heralded prospects in the Braves organization, Schafer appears ready to contribute at the Major League level. Despite frequent strikeouts, Schafer has hit nearly .400 so far this spring, and has demonstrated why he is considered a “5-tool” top-quality prospect. For a variety of reasons (NOT related to his spring performance), he may start the season at AAA, but don’t be surprised if Schafer makes a big league splash in 2009.

If the afore mentioned players are healthy and performing well (and so far this spring, all systems are “go”) the Braves will have essentially added the following for the 2009 season:

4 quality starting pitchers, including a #1 starter… 2 dominant late-inning relievers… 1 big middle-of-the-order bat, and at least 2 other quality hitters.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Braves expect better things from Mike Gonzalez (who is now entirely healthy/rested and back at “100%”), and Blaine Boyer, who won’t be overworked or prematurely thrust into late-inning duties, as he was last year. What’s more, Braves officials feel we haven’t seen the best of Yunnel Escobar, Kelly Johnson, or Casey Kotchman.

When you put it all together, we are looking at a Braves team that could surprise a great many people in 2009.  How do you feel about this team? What do you think about the pieces the Braves have added, both from without and within the organization?

Braves Top Yankees, Panama

The Braves topped the Yankees today behind Kenshin Kawakami and Casey Kotchman. Kawakami walked three in three innings, but gave up no hits and no runs in fairly good outing and Kotchman’s first inning double knocked in two of the Braves’ three runs on the day. Yunel Escobar added an RBI on a sacrifice fly in the fifth. The Braves improved to 4-2 in spring training as they continue their spring tuneup.

Yesterday we saw Tommy Hanson start and struck out the side in the first against the Panama World Baseball Classic team. He allowed one unearned run and two hits over three innings of ball and I think I read somewhere he hit 95 on the radar (down from a 99mph fastball in his first appearance). Hanson also showed excellent control in his outing. Jason Heyward added a two run home run in the eighth inning as both of the Braves’ top prospects shone in a win over Panama.

Tom Glavine arrived in Lake Buena Vista today – and his shoulder – while healing – isn’t pain free yet. He’s not concerned – Glav has said the pain is bearable and better than previous springs. This is encouraging. Soon we’ll see Glavine back on the mound pitching for the Braves – the uniform he’s looked best wearing.

That’s the Braves update for today, folks. Until next time, take care. Drop us a suggestion via the Mailbag or Suggestions form if you have article ideas.