I don’t understand the furor being generated here. Braves scouts determined that Glavine couldn’t contribute to the team as much as the other available options could’ve and released him. That wasn’t the best thing for Tom Glavine’s wallet, but it was the right baseball decision. Save money, get a better pitcher, give Glavine a chance to catch on with someone else who doesn’t have better options, etc. Glavine should see this as a win-win because there are plenty of teams out there who need a serviceable #5 starter and who will pay him if he’s actually that kind of guy still.

I understand that Glavine is a confident guy, but this is ridiculous. He did some amazing things for this team a long time ago and he went to another team. That’s how baseball works. Why didn’t he just come out and say “YOU CAN’T TREAT ME THIS WAY!!! I’M TOM GLAVINE!!!” If he wants so much respect, go elsewhere. We love what you did for us Tom but we’re moving on. Quit ya bitchin.

Glavine knows better than anyone that it’s about the price:value relationship, and that neither ever stands alone.

Yes, the timing was related to the next stage of his payment schedule. But if the Braves felt he would contribute $1.5m worth of effective pitching for thirty days with a good shot of being worth $1.5 million more after that, they certainly would have re-upped him. After all, keeping TH down on the farm for a couple of more months could easily pay us back that and more in deferred arbitration costs down the line. Glavine’s own salary was also partially deferred, too, another incentive for the Braves to keep him if he could offer suffiicient value to justify the investment.

The money the Braves wasted was the million up front which he will keep. You could call that risk capital, but in retrospect it was a risk not worth taking, especially after the meagre return on their investment in Glavine last season.

I for one approve of the Braves making an unsentimental choice about this player. Yes, he gave us some great games and years. He is also among the most responsible for the excessive costs of player salaries in the last decade which have driven up the price of tickets for fans, and made it more difficult for the Braves to compete with teams from larger cities.

I agree 100% with the community. G/S left the Braves for greener pastures (i.e. more money) so they can’t be upset when the Braves put them out to pasture (i.e. to save money/better performance).

I do have one defense for Glavine and Smoltz. Baseball players get paid millions upon millions of dollars because they bring in billions of dollars in revenue. It’s a freemarket economic fact that workers should get paid for what they bring in. In my opinion, the Braves got the better of the deals for Glavine and Smoltz. Even though Smoltz and Glavine got paid tens of millions, I wager that they brought in way more money than any other Braves players over their careers through ticket sales, jersey sales, tv contracts, additional post season revenue, etc. How many of us bought tickets to see Rico Brogna? How many of us own a Raul Mondesi jersey? Even players that helped the Braves win (and made us, the fans feel better) were paid with money brought in by Glavine, Smoltz, Maddux, and the Joneses. I agree that the decision was the right one. But before we tear Glavine too big a new one, let’s not forget how much the Braves have profitted off them.

Glavine really needs to shut his mouth. I mean its been said 20 times already but he left us for the Mets, and got his 300th win with those bitches. Now he is mad at the Braves organization for not wanting to spend another 1 mil on him when our offense needed desperate help. The Braves are very classy they could have just kept his old sorry ass in the minors, and not allowed him to pitch in the majors this year. But instead they gave him options. Its sad to see it end this way.

Ok, so what’s the deal, now MLB TradeRumors is saying we (Braves) are interested in Brad Penny??? WTF?

MLB Trade Rumors Link

doesn’t exactly work here, though.

sure, they bring in revenue dollars but at what cost? you wouldn’t hire a 95 year old wolfgang puck to actually cook at your restaurant. especially if he had poisoned two people at his last restaurant.

that’s effectively what you’re saying. sure, slapping “wolfgang puck, executive chef” on the outside of the building brings in people initially. but it brings downt he quality of your product (using the hyperbole that he is old and poisoned people at his last place).

glavine/smoltz were likely a serious downgrade in the quality of the product. in an industry that is nearly entirely product/result oriented. giving glavine 5 starts to prove he’s not terrible could result in 2-3 games that the new Tom Terrific (hanson) likely could have won.

I, for one, don’t want to trade sentimentality for wins. (read: please replace FYF already)

When the Braves have a 70-80 record, are nowhere close to the Phillies or Mets in the standings and there are <10,000 fans in the seats watching Chipper sit on the bench nursing a sore muscle, while Bobby Cox picks his nose and a team with no chemistry or fundamentals continues to waste real money – $100 million worth.

I think then there may be a slightly different perspective on how Glavine was treated and how this organization is operating as a whole.

Newsflash: for those who want to remind Glavine that it’s not 1995 anymore, that goes ditto for the Braves management and coaching.

What does Mike Hampton think?