Burnett To Yankees…Now What?

Written by Jonathan on December 12, 2008 – 8:03 pm

It seems that Hal Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman and the Yankees have it out for the Braves this offseason.  As part of their $243.5 million thus-far shopping spree, the Yankees have now added AJ Burnett to their rotation, just shortly after signing CC Sabathia.  Burnett and the Yankees agreed to terms on a five-year, $82.5 million offer, pending a physical and some other small terms.

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.


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Peavy NOT to Cubs

Written by Colin on December 11, 2008 – 4:13 pm

With Jake Peavy not going to the Cubs, do the Braves have a chance of landing him? That’d be nice, though improbable.

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.


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Braves Extend 5 Year, $80M Offer to Burnett….Or Not

Written by Colin on December 10, 2008 – 5:06 pm

C.C. Sabathia’s 7 year, $160M deal with the Yankees puts the focus of the free agent arms race squarely on A.J. Burnett, who was expected to make his decision after Sabathia signed. The Braves offer now has 5 years and $80 million tied to it. When told of it, Braves.com quotes “one prominent Braves player” as saying “Let’s see the Yankees top that.”

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.


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Winter Meetings Wishlist

Written by Jonathan on December 8, 2008 – 1:14 pm

Winter Meetings get under way today in Las Vegas and here’s hoping that the Braves can pull together a few more deals to get the club heading in the right direction for 2009.  It looks like Wren will be using the week to try and fill the two main needs that he has for the Braves in the offseason:

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?


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