12/03/24
December 17, 2002
New look for Atlanta Braves rotation. Sign Hampton, lose Glavine to the Mets, trade Damien Moss for Russ Ortiz, sign Paul Byrd, but probably keep Maddux (scroll down). Add to this a shakeup in progress in the bullpen was the best in baseball last year, next year's Braves could have a whole new look. Aren't six starters too many? Or are one or more of these guys trade bait for a big stick?
Bag Man, I agree with you, but only from a salary perspective. Ortiz and Moss had similar numbers, and despite being know as a "young pitcher," Moss is only a year younger than Ortiz. The more I think about this, the more and more convinced I am that Maddux will accept arbitration to parlay it into a 3 year deal (or something like that), locking up a chunk of money--meaning another pitcher, most likely Millwood (who is also eligible for arbitration), is on their way to another club.
posted by trox at 03:16 PM on December 18, 2002
Update: Maddux is definitely staying for at least one more year. Now they'll probably have to trade Millwood. I still hope that he will be in the mix next year, but Ortiz and Byrd are definitely going to be the cheaper options under the new salary limitations they've imposed on themselves, so he's probably gone for economic reasons--I just hope they can get a big bat for him to take the sting out.
posted by trox at 04:49 PM on December 19, 2002
Update 2: Millwood traded to Phillies (per my prediction) for a 3rd string catcher. What the hell? Braves fans will revolt unless they bring in a HUGE bat now. Think Sweeney, think Giles, think better than Cliff Floyd.
posted by trox at 12:53 PM on December 20, 2002
Trading Moss was a mistake.