Atlanta Braves: Team of the ‘90s to the Decade of Death?

Ok, so maybe this is a little premature seeing as pitchers and catchers do not report for another month, and maybe the headline is a little sinister. In reality, the Braves were only a few wins shy of entering the playoffs as the National League Wild Card team in 2009. The ‘90s saw the Braves transform from the joke of the National League to winning 14 straight division titles, a feat seemingly taken for granted by all but the most die-hard Braves fans. Some would say the ‘90s was a love affair between the Atlanta Braves and America. They were a true underdog story. They represented the working class of this great country. Their quirky owner, Ted Turner (lets face it, he owns buffalo farms), had worked his way from ordinary Joe Blow to become a multi-millionaire. They were on the Turner Broadcasting System nationwide every night all summer long.

In the era of the sexy ‘juiceheads’ (McGwire, Sosa, Conseco, A-Rod, Clemens, etc.) and the slogan “chicks dig the long ball”, Atlanta won with pitching. Specifically, Atlanta won with three CY Young winners that have never sniffed the Mitchell report, and have never been linked to steroids in any way. And I don’t think they will. Let’s face it, Greg Maddux looked like he belonged in a science lab more so than playing baseball at its highest level. Tom Glavine was more like a college professor that had married one of his students (seriously, Google Mrs. Glavine) than one of the toughest southpaws in the National League. Finally, John Smoltz, even though originally from Michigan, had taken on the persona of a ‘Bible Belt’ preacher with an intense passion for God and Game. None of these guys, possibly with the exception of Smoltz, was physically intimidating. They simply won games. Even though the Braves only won one world championship from ’91-‘05 (1995), fans have to question how much more dominant that pitching staff would have been had the ‘juiceheads’ from teams like the Yankees (who beat the Braves in the '96 and'99 Series) not been ‘juiceheads’.

The last time the Braves won their division was 2005. Coincidently, that was also the last time they made the playoffs. Since that time, the Phillies, who are in the same division as the Braves, have won the World Series. The CY Young Trinity has been broken up, and none of the three played their last game in an Atlanta uni. Another trifecta has been broken, as well. Ted Turner, the owner that brought the Braves to the Promised Land did the unthinkable. He SOLD the team. And he didn’t just sell it; he apparently sold it to an organization (Liberty Media) whose #1 priority is not winning (more on that in a bit). Superstar General Manager John Schuerholz, the man responsible for cobbling together the teams of the ‘90s, the man responsible for signings such as Greg Maddux, Fred McGriff, Andres Galarraga, the man that drafted players like Chipper Jones, John Smoltz, Jermaine Dye, and Andruw Jones, is gone. Finally, the last, and possibly most important piece of the trifecta, Bobby Cox (the manager of the team during every division title from 1991-2005), is in his last year as manager of the Braves.

That brings us to the present. I mentioned earlier that the Braves had not been to the playoffs since 2005. The new GM, Frank Wren, appears to be returning the Braves to their roots and placing an emphasis on pitching again, which is a good sign. There is a great deal of promise in Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson, and the move that swiped Jair from Detroit will likely go down as completely lopsided in the Braves favor. But it hasn’t been enough. In the 2009 offseason the Braves had one of their own, Rafael Furcal, re-neg during contract talks and opt to stay with the Dodgers. Before that, when in the last decade did any player not want to be in Atlanta? Under Turner-Schuerholz-Cox, Atlanta was a player’s paradise. Players knew the Braves’ organization was first class. Turner didn’t mind spending to win, and Schuerholz and Cox weren’t overbearing on the players. The incident with Furcal, in my opinion, may have started the Decade of Death for the Braves. Their fall into the abyss of mediocrity.

Enter the 2010 offseason. The top needs of the Braves are as follows: a power hitting first baseman, a consistent outfielder with at least some pop, and revamp the bullpen to account for the inevitable departures of co-closers Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez. The following moves are proof to me that this will be the end of the Braves’ hopes of becoming dominant again in the near future as well as the end of their era as 'America's Team'.

First, the Braves offer arbitration to both Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano. Not a bad move, because the team will be compensated with draft picks if the co-closers sign elsewhere. They then promptly sign injury-prone closer Billy Wagner and set-up man Takashi Saito, both over 30 years old. Problem is, the Braves must not have checked the closer’s market or the declining economy because arbitration rendered Soriano $8 million, likely more than he could have fetched on the open market. They then traded one of the most consistent closers of 2009 (Soriano) for a no-name reliever from Tampa Bay. Next, one would think the strategy of acquiring the power hitting first baseman or consistent outfielder, or both, would be to trade one of the Braves’ surplus of starting pitchers (Vazquez, Lowe, Hudson, Jurrjens, Hanson, Kawakami), preferably Lowe because of his hefty contract and underwhelming 2009 season. Instead, the Braves traded Javier Vazquez, who was in the final CY Young balloting, for Melky Cabrera and two prospects? So Melky Cabrera is the consistent outfielder with some pop? Then, Frank Wren does not even offer Adam Laroche a deal. Laroche is a legitimate 25-30 homer per year guy who can actually play some defense at first base. No, instead Wren signs Troy Glaus, who missed all of last season due to injury, and who has played all of 15 games in his career at first base, to be the power bat that saves the Braves this season. Oh yeah, and Glaus has also been linked to ‘roids. Instead of saving a little cash to make a run at a guy like Johnny Damon, Wren signs Eric Hinske to be Glaus’ back up.

Atlanta as an organization should be ashamed of itself. This is how you want to send the savior of your organization, Bobby Cox, out of town? A number three hitter that hit .100 below his career average (Chipper Jones- .265), Troy Glaus Melky Cabrera, and an over 30 injury prone closer are what Cox has to work with on his swan’s song? That’s like saying “Oh, you’re the Pope? The leader of the Catholic church? What’s that?..... You are on your death bed? Oh well, we can’t have you in Vatican city for your last years. You are hereby banished to Columbia, South Carolina, the armpit of the world.” Some exit….its a disgrace.

I don’t want this to sound all doom and gloom, fire and brimstone. The Braves do have some bright spots in their future. Hanson and Jurrjens will be a formidable duo for years to come. Jayson Heyward, the Braves’ projected starting right fielder, is ranked by many as baseball’s number one prospect, compared to a hitter like Ryan Howard that can hit for average as well. Freddie Freeman is a future star at first base, and could be the reason the Braves only wanted to sign Glaus to a one-year contract. I just don’t think the Braves should get into the mindset of always looking to next year (just ask Cubs or Red Sox fans) and relying on rookies panning out for the team to be successful. That’s not how the Team of the ‘90s operated, and that’s not how this team should function. I hope to be proven wrong, but facts are facts. The NL East has been significantly upgraded. The Phillies signed the best pitcher in baseball when they inked Roy Halladay. The Mets signed the best free-agent hitter on the market with Jason Bay. The Marlins signed Josh Johnson long term and have some guy named Hanley at short stop. The Braves splashy signing? Troy Glaus. Wait..... or is it Melky Cabrera?