Originally Posted by
Olympic Fan
I've been reading a lot of Braves sites and the conventional wisdom (FWIW) is that the Wagner signing almost certainly means that the Braves won't sign Mike Gonzales (especially since his agent is Scott Boras).
They offered him arbitration for the same reason that Boston offered Wagner arbitration -- that means if he signs with another team, the Braves will get that team's No. 1 draft pick (they are essentially trading their own No. 1 -- which will go to Boston for the Wagner signing; for whoever signs Gonzales).
And, yes, I have heard that the Yankees might be in the mix.
A lot of the Braves insiders seem to think that Atlanta might step up to keep Soriano. If not, they offered arbitration and he's a type A free agent, so they would get another first round pick if he signs somewhere else.
Signing Soriano and 1B LaRoche appear to be the Braves' top two off-season priorities. After that, much of the FA speculation centers on OF Mike Cameron, who supposedly has left it be known he'd like to play in Atlanta.
Jim, I don't know about Dye -- he's a gamble. He'll be 36 years old next season and he's coming off a mediocre year (.793 OPS). However, he's one year removed from an excellent season in 2008 -- .886 OPS (.292 BA with 34 homers, 96 RBIs, 96 runs scored).
Plus, he had a better year in a down 2009 season that Garrett Anderson, Jeff Francouer (with Atlanta), Jordan Shafer or Ryan Church, who combined to start more than 200 games in the OF for the Braves. Dye played almost every day in RF for the White Sox (he DH'ed just seven times).
When you look at it as Dye replacing Anderson in left, that's a clear upgrade.
As for the Braves being a contending type team, I think the starting rotation makes them a contender. It's probably the best six-deep rotation in baseball. Yeah, they need more offense -- a big key is Chipper. He was a great hitter in 2006, 2007 and 2008 (over 1.000 OPS all three years) ... he was only a good hitter in 2009 (.818 OPS). Does he bounce back or is he on a downhill slide?
If Chipper bounces back, the Braves can re-sign LaRoche and add one more slugger (either a FA outfielder or Heywood, if he's ready), then I could see Atlanta contending in the NL East ... or at least for a wild card.