Braves cutting Payroll?

Could Atlanta Braves GM Frank Wren secretly be cutting the payroll for the 2010 campaign?

The Opening Day payroll for the Braves in 2009 was $94,313,666 million. Frank Wren has trimmed the payroll by dealing Javy Vazquez and his $11.5 million contract to the Yankees in exchange for Melky Cabrera's $3 million contract, prospects and $500,000 cash.

After the Braves officially sign 1B/3B Troy Glaus to a 1 year/$2 million they should have approximately $7-9 million left according the 2009 payroll. Mark Bowman the Braves-beat writer for MLB.com suggest after the Glaus signing "the Braves appear to be done with their major offseason projects." Could this be bad news for Braves fans? I would say so. As of now the 2010 lineup is projected to be:

1. Nate McLouth, CF
2. Martin Prado, 2B
3. Chipper Jones, 3B
4. Troy Glaus, 1B
5. Brian McCann, C
6. Yunel Escobar, SS
7. Matt Diaz, LF
8. Melky Cabrera, RF
9. Starting Pitcher

The Braves finished the 2009 season with the following lineup:

1. Nate McLouth, CF
2. Martin Prado, 2B
3. Chipper Jones, 3B
4. Brian McCann, C
5. Adam LaRoche, 1B
6. Yunel Escobar, SS
7. Matt Diaz, RF
8. Garret Anderson, LF
9. Starting Pitcher

So, the Braves have replaced LaRoche with Troy Glaus who is capable of hitting 30+ HR's and 80+ RBI's if he stays healthy. Frank Wren has essentially swapped Anderson for an equally hitting Melky Cabrera and no other adjustments have been made. With LaRoche in the lineup the Braves still needed another power bat in the lineup to compete with elite teams such as Philadelphia and Los Angeles Dodgers. Should Braves fans panic if Wren does not sign another power bat prior to the start of the 2010 season? Wren has stated he is confident that Heyward can play OF for Opening Day but do we want to take the Schafer approach and potentially have our best prospect in the farm system of this decade fail, or should we take the Hanson approach and let him develop into a better player in the minors? Hopefully Wren will pull the plug and sign a power-bat or acquire a bat via trade. Until then "In Wren we trust."

Dump the Slump

The Atlanta Braves began the 2009 season by heading into Philadelphia and taking two of three from the World Champs. Following a successful stint in Pennsylvania the Braves swept the Nationals at the Ted. All the woes from the past few seasons seemed to be in the rear-view mirror. The only lurking hole was the bullpen.  

After going 5-1 the Braves dropped 5 straight. The Braves eventually took the series finale versus the Pirates, but are now 6-7 after dropping last nights game to the 1-win Nationals. As a Braves fan I am mildly concerned with where this team is headed. The off-season appeared to be successful. Wren revamped our starting pitching by adding two veterans and Kenshin Kawakami, a SP deemed a better version of the Dodgers Hiroki Kuroda. 

Brian McCann visited an eye-specialist today to receive treatment for his blurred vision. The good news is that apparently his sight problems have been solved with some contact lens. On the other hand, Garret Anderson appears to be headed to the DL to recover from a strain in his left quad. Makes me wonder if signing Tommy Glavine to a 1-year deal was necessary and if the Braves should have forked over some more money for a more reliable OF such as Bobby Abreu. I would not be surprised if the Braves end up dealing some of starting pitching for a power bat. The Braves have a surplus of SP's and could definitely use another pop in the lineup.  

Overall, it is still fairly early and the difference between this Braves team and the past years is that this team expects to win. The Braves are not going to allow the team to continue to fail; most of the players have missed out on the playoffs the past three season and I am sure they have that craving to play post-season ball in October. 

aBn Approves Ken Griffey Jr. Signing

The Braves are on the verge of signing outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. Braves beat-writer Mark Bowman says, that the deal is 1-year contract worth $1.5 million. Griffey Jr. would platoon at LF with current Brave Matt Diaz. Signing Griffey would give the Braves a power lefty bat. Griffey would most likely serve as the cleanup hitter, batting behind Chipper Jones. Chipper is confident that he and Griffey can rotate between the 3 and 4 spots depending on whichever serves the "team" better. 

Griffey may not be 20-year's old anymore but he is still capable of putting up strong numbers from the plate. Fan Graphs predicts, that Jr. will hit 20 long balls, 60 RBI's while tallying a near .250 batting average. The interesting thing to note here is that their predictions come off only 400 at-bats. Sounds like their projecting that he will platoon wherever he ends up. Griffey's defense is nothing spectacular but I think he can benefit from the pitcher-friendly Turner Field and a strong defensive CF such as Jordan Schaffer. 

How do ya'll feel about signing Griffey Jr.? Would this be Raul Mondesi all over again or is it one of the better moves this organization would make this off-season?