Anybody who votes for Norton should be banned from the site. ;)

I’d like to see Laroche and Gonzalez brought back. Let the Phillies or Cubs overpay Soriano. His injury history makes him too big a risk to be pursued by the Braves. Good riddance to Anderson and Norton.

It seems pretty obvious to me that only two Braves will be offered arbitration. LaRoche will be offered arbitration, it makes no sense not to offer it. With Freeman waiting in the wings, we would love to keep LaRoche on a one-year contract. Thus, if LaRoche accepts arbitration, it works for us. If he declines, obviously it works for us.

We will offer arbitration to one of Gonzalez or Soriano. We won’t offer it to both because we can afford to pay for them both and we can’t leave ourselves out there to that possibility. It would be great if one of them signed before the arbitration deadline elsewhere so we get a freebie arbitration offer, but teams are too smart these days to even think of doing that.

It is barely worth mentioning that we won’t offer arbitration to Anderson or Norton. Anderson will sign somewhere as a free agent for less than he would make in arbitration and he would jump at an arbitration offer, which we don’t want him to accept. The best Norton will get is a minor league contract and a spring training invite somewhere and would instantly accept an arbitration offer which we really don’t want him to accept.

…and I’ll revise my earlier comment—-if we can move Lowe’s whole contract before the arbitration deadline, we possibly could offer it to Gonzo, Soriano and LaRoche. Personally, I am not a big fan of moving Lowe just to move him—-his 2010 could just as easily be his 2008 as his 2009, so he may well be great, but it seems like we are selling low. If we could get more for Kawakami than Lowe due to salary cost, I think we should do that instead—-we just don’t have that many holes to fill and Heyward and Freeman are coming.

I would definately offer arb to LaRoche and Gonzo b/c Soriano is a gone anyway and with him constantly blowing saves and not knowing which closer is going to show up on any given game I am glad to see him go. LaRoche is a guy that has his best years as far as power and RBI’s in front of him. However it makes sense for the Braves to offer him arb and let Freeman develop another year and see how he does in AAA. LaRoche is key to the 2010 Braves and with Chipper and Bobby still in ATL for 2010 season I see know reason why Adam would not give us a home town discount and stay with the only Franchise that makes him happy and that he enjoys playing for. Now with that said I would like to sign LaRoche to a 2yr deal with a vesting opition for a 3rd but if the only way we can keep him is to offer him arb then hey it is worth it because he is by far the best opition on the free agent market at the first base position. Sorry I know he said how he liked playing with his brother Andy in Pittsburgh but please come on every player wants to win and that is at-least 5-7 years away for the Pirates given they don’t trade away more of their top talent.

LaRoche please stay.

Say we offer arbitration to Soriano and Gonzo and they both accept. Could we not then trade one of them?

Why are so many against Soriano? He had a dominate 1st half and an injury-plagued 2nd half. Assuming he is healthy, he is a stud reliever imho

If anyone watched the WS, one thing that stood out to me was the fact that the yankees and phillies were a very good balance team. They had good pitching and obviuosly tremendous hitting. Where am I going with this? The Braves have the pitching part but we lack hitting. It’s VERY obvious. Now that the Braves signed more pitching(Hudson) we need to focus on siging Adam Laroche to a 2year deal. Yes, I undertand that there’s a minor leaguer by the name of Freedman who is suppose to be good but I think won’t be ready. Sign Adam, who can hit you about 30 hrs. That leaves 1st base covered. Keep Prado at 2nd base and don;t even think about trading Escobar unless we get Puljous or ARod. Chipper I believe is going to bounce back next year and McCann is going to be McCann.

The Outfiled. We have Nate in CF who I hope he has a tremendous year like he did in Pitt. Now LF and RF are big holes. Jermaine Dye is a free agent and I always said it. Get this guy in here. He hit 27 homeruns and drove in 81.(.250BA) not pretty but he def has the power and we can get for cheap and he’s def an upgrade from Diaz, GA and anyone else in the OF. I can settle with Matt but I rather get another OF in there.

Power+Pitching+defense=Championship
Pitching+dfense=no playoffs

I really believe the Braves need to keep Laroche and if they have to sign him for 2-3 years well, go ahead. They won’t get anyone better for the price and Freeman may or may not be ready in a year. As they say,“a bird in the hand is better than 2 in the bush”. Just my opinion, seen too many “hot” prospects who didn’t turn out so hot, just the way it turns out sometimes. If Freeman tears it up in AAA next year they can figure something out. First base isn’t the only position and Chipper may not be playing 3rd in 2012.

Say Wren does the following:

Signs Xavier Nady. 2yr contract with option for 3rd thats incentive laden.
Signs Billy Wagner. 1yr contract with mutual option for 2nd year. Also incentive based
Trades Derek Lowe for a B Level prospect.
Non-Tender KJ.
Non-Tender Ryan Church.
Sign Adam LaRoche. 2yr contract with 3rd year club option. 9-10mil per year.
Sign JJ Putz. 1 yr contract with mutual option for 2nd year. Incentive based.
Extend Javy through 2012

Opening Day we look like
Diaz LF
McLouth CF
Nady RF
1B LaRoche
2B Prado
SS Escobar
3B Chipper
C McCann

Rotation:
1. Hudson
2. Javy
3. J.J.
4. Kawakami
5. Hanson

BP
Closer – Wagner
SU – Putz
Moylan
EoF
etc . . .

Would you guys be satisfied? I said Nady because he will be cheap and can give us 25ish HR’s in the cleanup spot and play a good RF. Once Heyward is ready we can move him to LF and have a great defensive OF. Wagner and Putz are basically cost effective guys who we wouldnt have to commit to long term because they would most likely be looking to prove themselves for a bigger contract next offseason. Also Lowe for a B Level Prospect is just doing it as a salary dump.

Thoughts?

why sign a guy with a tender arm who can’t be relied upon with
confidence. Gonzo may have more talent than soriano yet his medical
issues are less risky. soriano needs a decent guy to spell him. ideally that
would be kimbrell if all went well. in the interim a decent guy with closer stuff,
and when you add moylan to the mix it’s not so bad.
LaRoche seems to thrive in ATL. I’d offer him and sorianio arb. and negotiate
a mid-length deal with both. Freddie Freeman is the hoped for first sacker of
the future but is still unknown. If Brad Komminsk had been a stock IPO his
initial price would have shot up. you just never know. Brandon Jones was a lock
until he came up and now battles for a second chance, as a 5th OF.
Dye is an intriguing option for a year as we watch milledge season. Even at
35 Dye would hold LF with Diaz. Old farts recall the competitive fire of Lonnie Smith
and the difference he made in that crucial turnaround year.