Thoughts for Friday

So many things for the Atlanta Braves hinge on one pitcher's decision -- will A.J. Burnett choose the Braves over some other team. I'm reluctant to say it, because the Braves so rarely operate this way, but they seem to have put most of their eggs in one basket as it pertains to Burnett. Oh, I'm sure there are backup plans, but the overwhelming preference for the Braves would be to sign Burnett before the Winter Meetings, and then focus on the acquisition through trade of a right-handed left field power bat.

Burnett, for his part, seems to be taking a cautions approach and has a preference to wait and see where C.C. Sabathia ends up signing, and more importantly, how much he signs for. But as more offers roll in for Burnett, and as the Braves push harder and harder and guarantee more and more, the more Burnett will realize that he's not going to get that much more if anymore by waiting to see where C.C. sets the market. I suppose at this point, it's all about, "does A.J. want to come to Atlanta." As much as we want to predict what he'll do, only he knows that.

It's too early for us to really speculate as to what we would do if we lose out on Burnett; we'll have to cross that bridge when we get there, if we get there. Whether we get him or not, I don't know if you can even pencil in a rotation for the Braves until the middle or end of spring training. The only two guys who I see as having guaranteed rotation spots are Jair Jurrjens and Javier Vazquez (and of course A.J. if we sign him). Jorge Campillo is close, but a bad spring could punt him to the bullpen or the minors. After those three it's anyone's guess between the comebacks of Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, and the young guys Charlie Morton, Jo-Jo Reyes, and Tommy Hanson.

By the way, if we were to sign or trade for one more Latino starting pitcher, we could conceivably have an all-Latino rotation -- Vazquez, Jurrjens, Campillo, Reyes -- has that ever happened before? Omar Minaya would be jealous. (Though, is Jurrjens considered Latino? He's from a Dutch colony, but he's from the "Latin American" part of the world.)

I'm glad we finally got some action this week. I feel like all we've done for the last month is speculate about Jake Peavy... in thinking more about it, I feel that way because that's all we have done. I'm still amazed that the rumored package of Escobar, Gorkys, Locke, and Reyes didn't get it done. The Braves willingness to trade Tyler Flowers means that they probably would have added him into the Peavy deal too. Even if the Padres didn't get back a young starter close to the majors they would have gotten three everyday players who would likely be ready a year from now -- it's weird to pass up a deal like that, especially when you're also clearing tons of payroll space. Who knows, maybe we'll start hearing the Braves-Peavy rumors again; like I said, if we lose out on A.J. Burnett it's anyone's guess what we'll do next.

It seems like all of the baseball MSM pundits out there keep saying they feel the Braves are going to get A.J. Burnett. This is the same chorus of wrong predictions we heard before we cut off negotiations with the Padres for Jake Peavy. So keep that in mind when the next Lawstarkenthal says we're the front runner.

It feels strange that you haven't heard any real rumors about where Mark Teixeira might end up.

The Mets are mighty quiet... mighty quiet.

Because we have such a high pick, I wonder if we'll pick anyone in the Rule 5 draft this year.

Here are several links for your Friday reading pleasure:

• A positive MSM story about the Braves from the Sporting News.
• In a TC diary, VictorW breaks down the similarities between Vazquez and Smoltz.
• If I had the time and patience to do this I so would; check out Royals Reviews' Radio Affiliate Profiles -- they have turned into some fantastic vignettes of small mid-west towns.
• Even Astros fans don't expect more than 100 innings out of Mike Hampton.
• Paul Byrd wants to pitch close to his home in Atlanta next year. At 38 he is what he is, a no frills back of the rotation starter. Hopefully he's only plan-D.