Posts tagged ‘Braves contracts’

Where does MLB and the Braves stand in today economy?

Will the economy affect your attendance to games this year? The Braves and MLB are hoping not. To answer my own question, I may have to settle for staying home for a few more games then in previous years. Like some many of you, I have had cut backs at my jobs and won’t have the same extra money to spend as in recent years. This week’s show will cover how to save some cash at the ballpark and also what I want to get into today, Braves contracts and options for the next few seasons.

I would like to start by saying a good portion of my information has came from a great site Cot’s Baseball Contracts. An absolutely great site! Check it out. The Braves have made some great pitching moves to lock in a solid rotation for the next few years. Lowe just signed a 4 years deal, Kawakamia is signed for 3, Vazquez for 2, and Hudson has an option through next year. The Braves also own the services of Jair Jurrjens till at least 2012. The heart of the Braves pitching staff will remain in tact for the next few years. In addition the players just mentioned, the Braves still have young upcoming pitchers like Tommy Hanson, James Parr, Charlie Morton and Jo-Jo Reyes. All these players are expected to hold down jobs in the Major Leagues at some point in time. Although the starting pitching looks great, there are some concerns after this year in the bullpen. Braves relievers Mike Gonzalez, and Rafael Soriano can file for free agency after this season. Gonzalez just signed a 3.45 million dollar contract to avoid arbitration.  Some other pieces to the pen such as Peter Moylan and Jorge Campillo do not have the required MLB service to file for free agency for the next 2 seasons. In a whole Braves’ GM frank Wren should have a solid base for pitching for year to come.

When it comes to position players after 09 the one question that come to mind is, will the Braves resign Chipper Jones? Many would say they would be crazy not to, but we just seen what happened with the Smoltz situation. I think the Braves may offer a year or 2 extension because Chipper’s batting stats have actually gotten better with his age. Chipper also seems to be a better defender at 3^rd base then in his younger days. The only question is about his health. He would be a perfect fit with an AL team when if he ever choices to become a DH somewhere. I hope Chipper can remain healthy and stay a Brave till retirement. As for the rest of the position players things are looking good. McCann signed that 6 year deal to keep him a Braves till 2012 with an option for 2013. Along the infield Kotchman, Johnson and Escobar are all locked up with the Braves due to their lack of MLB service. The Braves may elect to offer some arbitration over the next few years but Atlanta is good at settling contracts before it gets to that. In the outfield things get complicated. Jeff Francoeur turned down a contract offer and elected to peruse arbitration. This means a 3^rd party will determine his pay for this year.   He still has 2 more years before he can file for full free agency. It will be interesting to see if the Braves offer him a long term deal after this season to avoid arbitration again. Finishing out the outfield the Braves have a real young core of Gregor Blanco, Josh Anderson, and Brandon Jones. Blanco has the most experience with 1 full year of service.

The Braves continue to save money year by year by producing some of the best minor league talent around.

Throughout this bad economy, the Braves have been in a position where they only seek a hand full of free agents compared to teams like the Yankees who only have a few of their own minor league players. I believe this will keep the Braves extremely competitive throughout the rest of the decade and beyond. The Braves may not have ever be interested in the top free agents over the years like Manny, A-Rod, or any of those other guys, but they really don’t have a need to spend that kind of money . One of the coolest things I can say about being a Braves fans is that I seen McCann, Francouer, and many others when they were in the minors increasing their skills. Where autographs are free and you can hold a conversation with the players. Times are tough, hopefully we can all get out to some games this year and support our Braves!

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