Thursday, November 10, 2005
Braves ready for offseason challenges
11/09/2005
ATLANTA -- As the Braves prepare to reconstruct their roster, they have fewer holes to fill than they did entering last year's offseason. But with the possible departure of Rafael Furcal and the glaring need to improve their bullpen, this still will be a challenging winter for general manager John Schuerholz.
During the past four offseasons, Schuerholz's most important decisions have regarded the returns of John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Gary Sheffield and J.D. Drew. This year, Furcal assumes that distinction. His decision on whether to stay will have a direct effect on every other move the Braves make.
Since accepting his current role before the start of the 1991 season, Schuerholz has created his blueprint for every season with an emphasis on pitching. The result has been an unprecedented 14 consecutive division titles and the construction of what, despite including just one World Series championship, has to be deemed a dynasty.
As Schuerholz enters this offseason, he appears to have a solid and deep starting rotation that doesn't seem to need any additions. But the possibility of losing closer Kyle Farnsworth through free agency creates a need to strengthen a relief corps that undoubtedly was the team's weakness this past season.
"Pitching is the way we've structured our winning teams every year," Schuerholz said. "You can probably be safe to assume that will be our focus again."
Other than the 2001-02 offseason, when he landed Gary Sheffield, Schuerholz has centered his roster reconstruction around his pitching staff. Fortunately, that year he got lucky with Chris Hammond and Darren Holmes, who helped form the best bullpen the franchise has had in recent memory.
This winter, the Braves can't roll the dice and hope to be just as fortunate. There's a chance each of the three men they used as closers in 2005 won't return. Farnsworth could exit via free agency, and Chris Reitsma could be deemed too expensive to keep as an arbitration-eligible player. As for Dan Kolb, it's almost a guarantee that he will not be tendered a contract.
There are some who believe Reitsma can be retained for the price of $2.5 million. If that's the case, he'll return and serve as a much-needed veteran figure in a bullpen that is very young. The other expected returnees are Blaine Boyer, Macay McBride and John Foster, none of whom have played more than two full seasons in the big leagues.
Joey Devine and Anthony Lerew both have the potential to be closers at the Major League level, but their lack of experience prevents the Braves from being able to put either of them in that role right now. Thus, Atlanta will likely look outside its system to find more experienced relievers.
"We expect to be active in the trade market and explore the free agent market very thoroughly," Schuerholz said.
Exactly whom the Braves will target through a trade or on the free agent market depends on whether they can retain Furcal. It's believed they will offer him a multi-year deal worth approximately $8 million per season, but the Cubs and Mets are expected to offer him multi-year deals worth at least $9 million per season.
Furcal's agent, Paul Kinzer, has indicated that his client might remain in Atlanta at a bit of a discount, but if the offers are significantly different, the veteran shortstop will likely go elsewhere.
Obviously, the money allocated for Furcal could be used to land another top talent. But without him, they would need to replace his enormous value both as a leadoff hitter and at shortstop. At the same time, they would still need funds to land proven veteran relievers.
With their payroll expected to remain at around $80 million next year, the Braves have limited flexibility. With Smoltz, Hudson, Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones, they are committed to $42 million for just those four players. They also have to account for Horacio Ramirez, Johnny Estrada, Jorge Sosa, Marcus Giles and Reitsma, who all are eligible for raises via arbitration.
To free up some money, the Braves could choose to move one of those arbitration-eligible players or even John Thomson, whose $4.75 million option was picked up last week.
With the return of Hudson and the expectation that Smoltz's shoulder will be healthy, the front of the rotation is very solid. Its depth creates the ability to make a trade, and moving Thomson, instead of Ramirez or Sosa, would free up more money.
Any trade the Braves make will center around the needs to account for Furcal's potential departure, improve their bullpen or acquire a more veteran presence in left field. Ryan Langerhans showed signs of being a capable everyday outfielder, but if the price is right, the Braves could choose to go with a more experienced left fielder with more power potential than Langerhans, who had a .426 slugging percentage as a rookie.
As is the case every winter, there are a number of challenges facing Schuerholz. With basically the same blueprint he's used the past two decades, Schuerholz will again try to prove why he's considered by many to be one of the greatest architects the game has ever seen.
Source: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/
ATLANTA -- As the Braves prepare to reconstruct their roster, they have fewer holes to fill than they did entering last year's offseason. But with the possible departure of Rafael Furcal and the glaring need to improve their bullpen, this still will be a challenging winter for general manager John Schuerholz.
During the past four offseasons, Schuerholz's most important decisions have regarded the returns of John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Gary Sheffield and J.D. Drew. This year, Furcal assumes that distinction. His decision on whether to stay will have a direct effect on every other move the Braves make.
Since accepting his current role before the start of the 1991 season, Schuerholz has created his blueprint for every season with an emphasis on pitching. The result has been an unprecedented 14 consecutive division titles and the construction of what, despite including just one World Series championship, has to be deemed a dynasty.
As Schuerholz enters this offseason, he appears to have a solid and deep starting rotation that doesn't seem to need any additions. But the possibility of losing closer Kyle Farnsworth through free agency creates a need to strengthen a relief corps that undoubtedly was the team's weakness this past season.
"Pitching is the way we've structured our winning teams every year," Schuerholz said. "You can probably be safe to assume that will be our focus again."
Other than the 2001-02 offseason, when he landed Gary Sheffield, Schuerholz has centered his roster reconstruction around his pitching staff. Fortunately, that year he got lucky with Chris Hammond and Darren Holmes, who helped form the best bullpen the franchise has had in recent memory.
This winter, the Braves can't roll the dice and hope to be just as fortunate. There's a chance each of the three men they used as closers in 2005 won't return. Farnsworth could exit via free agency, and Chris Reitsma could be deemed too expensive to keep as an arbitration-eligible player. As for Dan Kolb, it's almost a guarantee that he will not be tendered a contract.
There are some who believe Reitsma can be retained for the price of $2.5 million. If that's the case, he'll return and serve as a much-needed veteran figure in a bullpen that is very young. The other expected returnees are Blaine Boyer, Macay McBride and John Foster, none of whom have played more than two full seasons in the big leagues.
Joey Devine and Anthony Lerew both have the potential to be closers at the Major League level, but their lack of experience prevents the Braves from being able to put either of them in that role right now. Thus, Atlanta will likely look outside its system to find more experienced relievers.
"We expect to be active in the trade market and explore the free agent market very thoroughly," Schuerholz said.
Exactly whom the Braves will target through a trade or on the free agent market depends on whether they can retain Furcal. It's believed they will offer him a multi-year deal worth approximately $8 million per season, but the Cubs and Mets are expected to offer him multi-year deals worth at least $9 million per season.
Furcal's agent, Paul Kinzer, has indicated that his client might remain in Atlanta at a bit of a discount, but if the offers are significantly different, the veteran shortstop will likely go elsewhere.
Obviously, the money allocated for Furcal could be used to land another top talent. But without him, they would need to replace his enormous value both as a leadoff hitter and at shortstop. At the same time, they would still need funds to land proven veteran relievers.
With their payroll expected to remain at around $80 million next year, the Braves have limited flexibility. With Smoltz, Hudson, Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones, they are committed to $42 million for just those four players. They also have to account for Horacio Ramirez, Johnny Estrada, Jorge Sosa, Marcus Giles and Reitsma, who all are eligible for raises via arbitration.
To free up some money, the Braves could choose to move one of those arbitration-eligible players or even John Thomson, whose $4.75 million option was picked up last week.
With the return of Hudson and the expectation that Smoltz's shoulder will be healthy, the front of the rotation is very solid. Its depth creates the ability to make a trade, and moving Thomson, instead of Ramirez or Sosa, would free up more money.
Any trade the Braves make will center around the needs to account for Furcal's potential departure, improve their bullpen or acquire a more veteran presence in left field. Ryan Langerhans showed signs of being a capable everyday outfielder, but if the price is right, the Braves could choose to go with a more experienced left fielder with more power potential than Langerhans, who had a .426 slugging percentage as a rookie.
As is the case every winter, there are a number of challenges facing Schuerholz. With basically the same blueprint he's used the past two decades, Schuerholz will again try to prove why he's considered by many to be one of the greatest architects the game has ever seen.
Source: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/
