04/24/24
November 18, 2002
Mike Hampton traded to the Braves.: My guess is that this means that either Glavine or Maddux will not be returning to Atlanta. The fan reaction is mixed. Local columnist's definitely aren't. Glavine's already been offered contracts with the Phillies and Mets, while Maddux's agent, Scott Boras, is looking for a large payday. Do you think this is the right move for the Braves? Or will Hampton continue to pitch the way he did in Coor's field?
this is real good news for mets fans, imho. glavine has been a serious met killer for years. i don't have the numbers in front of me, but i'd venture to say that he's probably in the top 5 pitchers with wins against the mets in the past decade. he's dominated us. with the addition of hampton's large salary, the probability of the braves signing glavine again is lowered. and that's just gravy if the mets can sign him, though by no means does it make the mets a contender. hampton is a bit over paid. he's not worth the money and the braves would have been better off with glavine...who knows why these moves are made? i watched hampton for a whole season when he was with the mets and i wasn't impressed. he's not over powering and he's not going to strike out a lot of hitters. he wasn't even the mets number one pitcher in 1999 despite that year being the best he's had the previous three. he is not and never has been among the top 10 pitchers in the league, even during his nice run as an astro. the same cannot be said of glavine. age shouldn't be an issue as long as randy johnson, roger clemens, and curt schilling are collecting cy young awards, and glavine's name will be mentioned in the same breath as them when it's all said and done. will mike hampton? as for the marlins. imagine if they left the team they had 2 years ago intact? it would not have required a ridiculous combined salary to field that team. imagine if torberg didn't drain the wealth of valuable arms the team once had? this was a team that was designed to compete this coming year. loria is a bonehead and although attendance for both florida teams has been low, the fans of south florida deserve better.
posted by oliver_crunk at 03:29 PM on November 18, 2002
Chipper's the real Met killer! Actually, the Rockies and Marlins each picked up significant chunks of Hampton's salary. My concern about the rotation isn't so much financial as finding room. I doubt that Schuerholz would have pulled the trigger on Hampton unless he thought either Glavine or Maddux was definitely heading for another team (though it would KILL me to see either one playing for the Mets). It would be odd having a Hampton/Glavine match-up in those circumstances though... kind of like bizarro-MLB.
posted by trox at 03:44 PM on November 18, 2002
you're right trox, the braves are picking up $35 million of the remaining 6 years of his contract. but it still makes me think....is six years of mike hampton at $35 million a better situation than tom glavine for 3 years at $30 million? it's a tough call. glavine has been one of the most consistent pitchers in all of baseball for quite a long time. we haven't seen hampton's true colors in colorado, but i think it would be asking a lot for hampton to perform up to glavine's standards. chipper sure has been the ultimate met killer, the numbers he has against the mets are insane, let alone the clutch hits.
posted by oliver_crunk at 03:58 PM on November 18, 2002
Well, as long as the Braves are content to continue with their holes at 1b & 3b and ingore better options at 2b to give ABs to aging journeymen, does it really matter who they sign to pitch? 11 years. 1 WS win. It's pretty clear that the formula in Atlanta doesn't work. I know it's not Maddux and Glavine who are to blame Ñ but if they both returned to the team, would it matter? Anyone really think this team has anything left in it?
posted by herc at 01:23 AM on November 19, 2002
Yeah, I can't believe they keep ignoring DeRosa. He's proven he can hit. I've seen some rumors that Marcus Giles is on the block (who may turn out to be a fine 2B). As for 3B. Move Chipper back now. Outfielders are easier to find than a quality third baseman. The Vinny experiment officially failed, and I've never understood moving the best player in the league at one position to one where he'd be mediocre.
posted by trox at 08:35 AM on November 19, 2002
If the formula in Atlanta isn't working, can the Rangers have it?
posted by rcade at 10:46 AM on November 19, 2002
Oliver, well, the first 3 years of Hampton they'll be paying him almost nothing (I still don't quite understand how that helps either Colorado or Florida at all, eating all that money) so they could, most likely, still sign Glavine and Maddux to shorter 3 year deals before the big chunks of hampton's salary kick in. I think Hampton will struggle for 2 months but end up winning 14-15 games. He'll be a fine but not dominant (and not Glavine-like) pitcher, but if they had all 3, then damn, those Braves would be good. I hate the Braves but I'm actually sort of pulling for them to keep Glavine and Maddux, especially Glavine, because I like seeing someone play his whole career with one team... not all that common...
posted by Bernreuther at 06:17 PM on November 19, 2002
Bernreuther, I agree with you on Glavine, and I'm a braves fan. I'd rather keep him than Maddux if it came down to it because of that (and the fact that he's stunk it up a little less in the postseason).
posted by trox at 08:47 AM on November 20, 2002
My concern is more like 'does this mean Jeffrey Loria has taken his first steps towards destroying yet another franchise? And which will he be given to destroy next?'