14 consecutive division titles will never happen again. Ever. Especially not from the Braves. Lets take a look at the downfall of a dynasty that could have truly kept it going, well, forever if they wanted.
The Mets overspend on horribly evaluated talent (Cliff Floyd) and make moves that are unexplainable (Kazmir for VICTOR ZAMBRANO?!). The Marlins apparently find it impossible to spend over 20 million on a major league baseball team, making them an uphill struggle every year. The Phillies get the right pieces but fall apart down the stretch. The Nationals are still the mess from
Lets go back 6 years to 2001. Here’s the pitching staff:
Greg Maddux; Tom Glavine; John Smoltz; Kevin Millwood; Jason Marquis; Odalis Perez
That was only 6 years ago. Every one but Smoltz is now pitching on a different team. Every decision not to resign these players had to do with MONEY. The AOL/Time Warner merger destroyed this team. When Turner was running the Braves himself, he went out and got the big guys. More importantly, he KEPT the guys who mattered. Lets fast forward to 2006.
Had the Braves kept just Maddux, Millwood, Glavine, Smoltz, Marquis and let Perez and Burkett go, the results would have been unsightly.
Maddux: 15 wins
Marquis: 14 wins
Glavine: 15 wins
Millwood: 16 wins
Smoltz: 16 wins
That staff would be one for the ages! In comparison to the current pitching staff the Braves are wielding: Smoltz is the ONLY pitcher on the team to have won over 13 games. Hopes cannot be particularly high so far…but wait lets look at hitting.
The Braves have some promising young hitters, but they are almost all still developing, especially the strikeout friendly Jeff Francouer. Simply looking at the years since 2000,
JD Drew
Marcus Giles
Rafael Furcal
Javy Lopez (this ones a stretch, but injuries have riddled him in
Gary Sheffield
Mark DeRosa (has developed into a very good everyday hitter)
Adam LaRoche (entering a PRIME and they sell high, typical)
Looking at who is occupying those positions now, with the exception of Brian McCann, there isn’t too much to impress. Craig Wilson? Ryan Langerhans? Jeff Francouer (yea, yea), Kelly Johnson (2B apparently…).
14 consecutive division titles, 1 championship. I attribute this completely to the corporations unwillingness to spend the money to field a championship team. In 1995, the Braves payroll was $45 million. The Yankees was $46 million. The one year that the Braves went all the way, they were being paid equal to what the Boss was paying his players. Since then:
Braves Yankees
1996: $47 mil $52
1997: $50 mil $59
1998: $59 mil $63
1999: $75 mil $88
2000: $82 mil $93
2001: $92 mil $112
2002: $93 mil $126
2003: $106 mil $152
2004: $90 mil $184
2005: $86 mil $208
2006: $90 mil $194
Sure, it isn’t fair to compare the Braves salary to crazy George and his Yanks, but keep in mind, with Ted in charge, the Braves kept up with the Yankees up until the AOL/Time Warner merger in 2000. Though they have been sold to Liberty Media, team president Terry McGuirk came out immediately to tell Braves fans, NOT SO FAST, “there will be no change in the current front office structure, personnel, or day-to-day operations of the Braves.” An apparent transparent transaction. In other words, want a payroll increase? FAT CHANCE.
Transparent is exactly how I see the Braves, who are gearing up for more years like the struggle-filled 2006, devoid of any big transactions or moves for fear of money burdens. The off-season said it all…so long LaRoche, hello Craig Wilson and Mike Williams. A bullpen can only save games that the hitters put the runs up for.
At least you'll always have this...
17 seasons...2 home runs. The man, the myth, the legend. Senor Belliard.
1 comment:
Bold call on the AL, NL seems to setting up for a sleeper year. Maybe the Mets will implode.
The Skins...who cares this bidy shop always has the same results at season end.
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