Smoltz to Boston Deal: The Final Nail in The 2009 Atlanta Braves Coffin
By James Coates
With the total butchery of losing Smoltz to the Red Sox fiasco, Braves management has shown a total lack of the leadership skills needed to compete in today’s game. Maybe they flunked out of Negotiation 101 or just not good at the off-season process. Whatever the case may be, management has done the equivalent of putting the team in a 10-½ game hole before the season even starts………hell, before spring training even starts! With no promising deals on the horizon (unless you consider Derrick Lowe possibly being our ace of the staff promising), I’m sure this hole will help springboard the Braves to their ultimate place in the NL East standings: last place. Yes, even lower than the lowly Nationals!
Looking back, I was disappointed, but not too discouraged, when we couldn’t work out a deal to bring Peavy to Atlanta. I chalked it up to the Padres wanting too much for him. After all, we were able to trade for the “great” Javier Vazquez shortly after the Peavy talks ended. When Furcal played us like a fiddle for more money out in LA, I blamed his agent for shady business dealings. Then, when we lost the AJ Burnett sweepstakes to the Yankees, I was even a bit relieved due to what I thought was a high price tag for an injury-prone pitcher. Never once did I entertain the idea that the common denominator in all these misdeals was the Braves front office.
Only now, after seeing Mr. Brave himself, John Smoltz, have to walk away in favor of another team, do I see the real picture. Frank Wren (as in, Wren will this GM experiment be over?) has made it possible for the Braves fans, as well as Braves players more than likely; detest a member of our own organization more than we hate the Mets! I mean, come on. John Smoltz has spent the last two decades laying it on the line for the Braves. Taking less money to stay with the only major league team he ever pitched for, playing at less than 100% health, moving from starter to reliever and back to starter when needed are just a few of the on-the-field sacrifices Smoltz has made for us. It would get even sadder if you enter all his off-the-field participation into the equation.
After all this, the Braves front office can’t find the common sense required to make a sacrifice to keep a Braves legend around? Some will say: “But it’s not about common sense, it’s about money.” My response to that is if we can pay Mike Hampton mega-millions to sit around for the better part of three seasons, I think we can shell out an extra 3 million in guarantees to keep Smoltz around.
It will be interesting to see what kind of product the Braves field this season considering all the shortcomings of the front office this off-season. As bad as I hate to admit it, I hope Smoltz pitches against us in Turner Field when Boston comes to town June 26-28 and he throws a gem. I’m talking 7+ innings of shutout ball, 10+K’s and walks off the field to a standing ovation. At least then he’ll get something he deserves from the Braves!
