Bad News- No hometown discount for Braves

[lavell12]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2007/news/story?id=2772590

for Andruw that is.

[TheMatrix31]

"I want to be a Brave for life."

= Kiss of Death.

[Chief Knockahoma]

hmmm....assuming Andruw has a nasty first half, i wonder what we could get for him...

[vnodnarb]

hmmm....assuming Andruw has a nasty first half, i wonder what we could get for him...


lets get Bud to enact a new 11-5 rule

[Chief Knockahoma]

well, assuming Andruw would waive the no trade clause...

[jschafer24]

I'm a HUGE AJ fan, but resigning him to market value with this payroll would be pretty stupid for the braves. Say he gets 18-20 mil. That leaves about 60-62 mil left for 24 other players. Especially with the market this off-season, Soriano getting over 135 mil for 8 years. If we resign AJ, we won't be as competive as we would without AJ. Our young player deserve a raise.

I'll miss AJ in a braves uni as i doubt he'll be in one much longer...Hopefully he has a career year, heck maybe even lead us to a WS.

[McCarroll21]

well, assuming Andruw would waive the no trade clause...
DOB said in a blog today that Andruw won't allow a trade.

[Hobbes]

He has stated he will not allow himself to be traded mid-season. Of course he could change his mind, but I'm fairly confident he won't. He wants to be a free agent and doesn't want to mess with his marketability by becoming a half-year rental.

Andruw's ours for the duration of 2007.

[Chief Knockahoma]

yeah, i know, i was just playing what if...

[Nasadega]

We have to think about the day where Frenchy/McCann and other youngsters will come and ask for their new paycheck. If signing our young core for many years means we say goodbye to Andruw, then do it, even if I just can't think of Andruw in another jersey...

[dogmanx23]

if he really wants to retire a brave he will take a discount not a huge one but a reasonable one.Smoltz wanted to retire a brave he took the discount. So lets see what kind of man andruw is.

[Hobbes]

if he really wants to retire a brave he will take a discount not a huge one but a reasonable one.Smoltz wanted to retire a brave he took the discount. So lets see what kind of man andruw is.
But a discount for Andruw is still way too expensive for the Braves.

[Nic]

Who cares. Let him walk and sign someone that can hit higher than .270 to take his place.

[McCarroll21]

I say give CF to Lillibridge. Then we have our leadoff man, we can drop KJ down in the order and use his power more to our benefit and use the money saved on pitching.

[oyhstah crachah]

Nuh uh, can't deal with Lillibridge... ugh...

[McCarroll21]

Nuh uh, can't deal with Lillibridge... ugh...
Let's give the kid a chance to play. :) [I bet he's better than the SS we currently have]

[nickzilla6066]

I am pretty sure AJ said he would sign for 8 years @ 16 million a year, a considerable discount from his market value (he will get 20+ million). Not really a bad contract outright, but given his no trade ability it would be disastrous when he gets older and sucks in 5 or so years and we are stuck with a rotting mid 30's outfielder who will probably be breaking down by then (if he isn't already).

If we can't trade him mid-season (as some say) then we really only have two choices: sign him for big money that will cripple our financial flexibility just when it looks like we might actually have some money to spend in the next several years (as our big contracts expire and disappear) or watch him walk and get some draft picks. Neither choice is ideal, but realistically we will probably end up with picks in the draft and the chance to sign a replacement from what should be a deep outfield class. How about Corey Patterson?

[vnodnarb]

I say give CF to Lillibridge. Then we have our leadoff man, we can drop KJ down in the order and use his power more to our benefit and use the money saved on pitching.

will he be through puberty by 2008?

[FalconPride]

Did anyone think Andruw was coming back?

[KB 34]

Did anyone think Andruw was coming back?
Possibly, I'm going to go into my reasoning when I get around to writing some more columns.

[thegame10]

We have to think about the day where Frenchy/McCann and other youngsters will come and ask for their new paycheck. If signing our young core for many years means we say goodbye to Andruw, then do it, even if I just can't think of Andruw in another jersey...

He'll be a Yankee...

Wait and see...

[McCarroll21]

He'll be a Yankee...

Wait and see...
No to that. He's not going to play in the cold weather. He can get a similar deal to play in Texas, Houston or either LA team.