#34

This isn’t about Brian McCann, but he’s the most recent example so he’s prominently featured.

I’ve seen several variations of the following theme lately: The Braves should NEVER let Brian McCann leave.

I responded with something along these lines: Let’s say you’ve used a shampoo your entire life. You love it. Works wonders. You decide you will NEVER change shampoos. Then the cost of the shampoo doubles. Then it doubles again. To the point where it costs five times as much as a shampoo that works better. Then you find out the shampoo is causing your hair to fall out. Do you still keep using it?

No, you don’t. You do not (or at least should not) have a deep emotional attachment to a shampoo, plus you can realistically feel the negative repercussions of an ineffective, overpriced product.

No one wants to see a player like McCann leave. I love him; everyone loves him. But if we can find someone who can help us win better, then we need to look in to the matter.

Chipper’s story book retirement and farewell tour has served to romanticize an already biased fan base. Every player will leave the team they are on. And 99.9999% leave in a manner far less poetic than Chipper did. In fact, the vast majority of players who spend their entire career with one team do so only because their careers last less than a few years and aren’t good enough for another team to give them a shot.

Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Lopez and Murphy all left the Braves. The team and its fans survived, and none of their departures made the team appreciably worse on the field. If anything, Murphy staying around as long as he did caused more harm than good- the Braves had multiple large offers for him in the late eighties, but refused out of loyalty. When they finally dumped the shell of his former self in 1990 all they could get were spare parts.

Every single player who has had their number retired by the Braves eventually left the team not entirely of their own doing. Aaron, Mathews, Murphy, and Spahn were traded, Niekro, Maddux, Smoltz, and Glavine left to free agency, and Cox was fired in the 70’s. And while we’re at it Glavine was let go a second time, being released in 2010. The team survived. No one looks back on Aaron or Spahn’s career and rues them spending a year with Milwaukee or the Mets. I guess it would have been ideal for them to go out like Chipper, but virtually no one does.

If you know me, you know Chipper is my man. He’s been my favorite since third grade, covering more than two thirds of my life. I named my dog after him and wore socks up throughout elementary school to honor/emulate him. If the Braves had traded him, or he left via free agency I would have been devastated. I would have been irate at Schuerholz/Wren for letting it happen. But if the move made us better, pushed us closer to winning the World Series, I could deal with it.

Which brings me to my point, the one thing I want to scream at misguided tweeters every day: If you’re a fan of a team and your allegiance is greater toward individual players than to overall team success, you’re doing it wrong. If you’re a (insert player name here) fan, and not a team fan, good for you, but don’t confuse what’s good for your player/your psyche with what’s good for the team as a whole. If you don’t want McCann to go and replace him with someone else because the Braves would be less likely to win, great! Tell me why you think so. If you don’t want McCann to leave because you think he’s cool and you can’t ever imagine anyone else catching for the Braves, you need to do some more research and reassess your priorities.

There will come a day when Brian, Jason, Craig, Andrelton and all of the Braves are no longer wearing a tomahawk across their chest. Almost all will leave for one of three reasons: 1) they just couldn’t cut it anymore, 2) someone could pay them more, or 3) we found someone who could do it better than them/made more sense for the team. To delude yourself in to thinking we can somehow keep everyone we like forever does nothing but hinder your understanding of the game and set you up for heartache when they do inevitably depart.

The Braves are a midmarket team. We can’t afford to give sweetheart contracts to veterans who’ve done us well. (Ask the Phillies how that’s working for them) Our ownership/financial state is such that we have to make difficult decisions. A player who provides 10 units of production at ten million dollars is wonderful, but if we can find a youngster who can provide 4 units of production at league minimum, the latter is likely the better fit. Feelings will get hurt and good, decent human beings will get screwed over. What happens on the field is a game, everything else is a cold, brutal business. Keeping this in perspective will help lessen future disappointment

You think the Braves should keep McCann? Tell me why. Show me how his option is affordable to the Braves or how we wouldn’t be able find a decent replacement. Believe we should let him go? Come up with a coherent plan for replacing him.

Until then I’ll keep saying this refrain: I’d rather win a World Series with players I’m getting to know than sit at home in October with players I love.

#33

Let me preface this by saying I highly doubt any of this to happen and that by the time you read this, my entire thought bubble will have likely popped. But nothing symbolizes the hot stove more than coming up with theories destined to be debunked, so here I go.

I think the Braves could be a darkhorse suitor for Zack Greinke. Let me be clear, if Greinke wants top dollar (or anywhere near top dollar, for that matter) the Braves won’t be giving it to him. But that doesn’t mean we can’t snag him. It will require a great amount of cunning, strategy, and most importantly, a desire from Greinke to go against the norm.

The battle plan for getting the premier free agent pitcher on the cheap comes from an odd place: the Phillies. Two winters ago Cliff Lee was the premier arm available. The entire narrative was a bidding war between the Yankees and Rangers. He would go to the Yankees if he wanted money, Rangers if he wanted to be comfortable and close to home, pundits speculated. There was talk of a mystery team, but most assumed this was agent speak to shake a couple extra dollars out of a team.

In the end, the mystery team won. The Phillies sat on the sidelines, showing cautious interest, but refusing to get involved in the bidding war. Once the Yankees and Rangers had shot their proverbial loads with 6 and 7 year deals with 150 million dollars plus, Philadelphia swooped in, and offered Lee substantially less- 5 years, 120 million- and sold him not on money, but going to where he was wanted and could best thrive. It worked.

Granted, this entire scenario boils down to one tenuous factor: Cliff Lee was willing to leave 30 plus million dollars on the table. Most players and agents aren’t willing to even entertain the notion, let alone act on it. A couple million to go to a preferred destination, sure. But not 20% off the largest paycheck of their life. If Greinke is to be a Braves, he’ll probably have to leave an even greater share. The team labeled the favorite to sign him, the Dodgers, has as close to unlimited funds as possible.

There is adequate reason to believe Greinke might take less. He is a unique individual to say the least and there have been persistent murmurs he’d like to play for the Braves. His mental health history may persuade him to seek the lesser spotlight of Atlanta rather than  the “win at all costs” sideshow the Dodgers are seeming to become.

Frank Wren and John Schuerholz are usually fairly blunt when it comes to their free agent pursuits. They’ll tell you if they’re done or not interested. But they’ve been somewhat coy with Greinke. What I would do, and would not be surprised to see them do, is wait until Greinke has his final offers in hand then make their move. Something noticeably less than top dollar, but enough to make him happy (5 years, 90-100 million). Make a last minute pitch on why Atlanta is the best fit for him as a baseball player and person. It almost certainly won’t work, but it’s worth a shot.

Making room for Greinke in the budget wouldn’t be too difficult. The team could move Maholm and O’Flaherty and have close to 20 million available in this year’s salary, then use the pieces obtained in those trades and some of our own prospects to get a young, cheap bat for left field. 18-20 million a year isn’t ideal for a team with our budget, but it’s not outlandish. And unlike trading for a Justin Upton type, we wouldn’t have to clean out our farm system to get our man. As this last year’s playoffs showed, aces matter. Putting Greinke at the top of our rotation, giving him starts in Game 1, 4, and 7 of a playoff series is the most beneficial move the Braves can make.

But that’s not how the game (almost always) works. He’ll go to the Dodgers or whichever team throws the most money at him. I’ve just wasted a half hour writing this, and you’e wasted 10 minutes reading it.

But you never know…

#32

I was trying to avoid doing work so I made a list of the top 150 Atlanta Braves in terms of wins above replacement. WAR is generally considered to be one of the best measuring sticks for player value. It takes all aspects of player performance- hitting, running, and fielding and compares them to a basic norm (replacement level) for that position. It’s a nifty tool as it allows you to compare a slick fielding shortstop to a slugging first baseman and a player in the mashing steroid era to the light hitting 60’s. A few tidbits on WAR: it is based on value rather than output. If Freddie Freeman and Brian McCann put up identical numbers, McCann would have a much higher WAR was it is far more difficult to find production out of a catcher than it is a first baseman. (I used FanGraphs version of WAR, if you were curious)

I only based the countdown on a player’s performance with the Braves in Atlanta. For this reason Hank Aaron isn’t #1 (much of his damage came in Milwaukee). Also players who spent time with other organizations (Maddux, Justice) are hurt. Lastly, for pitchers I only included their WAR on the mound and not at the plate. This actually would have pushed a guy like Tom Glavine- with a career offensive WAR greater than Kelly Johnson- multiple spots higher.

Enjoy!

1.       Chipper Jones 90.4

2.       John Smoltz 80.9

3.       Phil Niekro 77.4

4.       Greg Maddux 74.4

5.       Andruw Jones 69.0

6.       Hank Aaron 58.4

7.       Tom Glavine 56.9

8.       Dale Murphy6 47.1

9.       Brian McCann 28.7

10.   Javy Lopez 28.2

11.   Darrell Evans 26.8

12.   David Justice 25.9

13.   Ron Reed 22.2

14.   Steve Avery 21

15.   Jeff Blauser 20.8

16.   Bob Horner 20.7

17.   Rico Carty 20.5

18.   Pat Jarvis 20.5

19.   Kevin Millwood 20.3

20.   Rafael Furcal 19.9

21.   Rick Mahler 19.6

22.   Marcus Giles 19.4

23.   Ron Gant 17.9

24.   Felipe Alou 16.9

25.   Carl Morton 16.5

26.   Joe Torre 16.3

27.   Dusty Baker 16.1

28.   Martin Prado 15.8

29.   Lonnie Smith 15.6

30.   Ralph Garr 15.6

31.   Fred McGriff 14.9

32.   Glenn Hubbard 14.3

33.   Zane Smith 13.8

34.   Jason Heyward 13.7

35.   Ryan Klesko 13.6

36.   Terry Pendleton 13.5

37.   Gary Sheffield 13.3

38.   Clete Boyer 12.3

39.   Felix Millan 11.8

40.   Yunel Excobar 11.8

41.   Charlie Leibrandt 11.2

42.   Gene Garber 10.8

43.   Gary Matthews 10.7

44.   Orlando Cepeda 10.6

45.   Brian Jordan 10.5

46.   Jair Jurrjens 10.2

47.   Tommy hanson 9.9

48.   Chris Chambliss 9.7

49.   Mike Lum 9.4

50.   J,D. Drew 8.9

51.   Pascual Perez 8.9

52.   Kelly Johnson 8.8

53.   Denny Neagle 8.7

54.   Steve Bedrosian 8.5

55.   Edgar Renteria 8.4

56.   Bruce Bendict 8.3

57.   Davey Johnson 8.2

58.   Mark Lemke 8.1

59.   Derek Lowe 8.1

60.   George Stone 8.1

61.   Mark Wohlers 8.0

62.   Mack Jones 8.0

63.   Jeff Burroughs 7.7

64.   Dick Ruthben 7.7

65.   John Burkett 7.7

66.   MichaelBourn 7.6

67.   Craig Kimbrel 7.3

68.   Pete Smith 7.1

69.   Andres Galarraga 7.0

70.   Otis Nixon 7.0

71.   Doyle Alexander 6.8

72.   Greg McMichael 6.8

73.   Jeff Francoeur 6.8

74.   Earl Williams 6.6

75.   Mike Hampton 6.66

76.   Rick Camp 6.5

77.   Javier Vazquez 6.5

78.   Kris Medlen 6.5

79.   David Ross 6.4

80.   Matt Diaz 6.2

81.   Mark Teixeira 6.1

82.   Marquis Grissom 6.1

83.   Ken Johnson 6.1

84.   Dan Uggla 6.0

85.   John Thomson 6.0

86.   Dennis Menke 5.8

87.   Kenny Lofton 5.5

88.   David Palmer 5.5

89.   Andy Messersmith 5.5

90.   Tommy Boggs 5.5

91.   Deion Sanders 5.4

92.   Ozzie Virgil 5.4

93.   Denny Lemaster 5.3

94.   Mike Remlinger 5.3

95.   Kent Mercker 5.0

96.   Ken Oberkfell 5.0

97.   Claudell Washington 5.0

98.   Brandon Beachy 4.9

99.   Gerald Williams 4.9

100.                        Rafael Ramirez 4.9

101.                        Jaret Wright 4.8

102.                        Julio Franco 4.7

103.                        Russ Ortiz 4.7

104.                        Omar Infante 4.6

105.                        Buzz Capra 4.3

106.                        Craig McMurtry 4.3

107.                        Jeff Treadway 4.2

108.                        Eddie Solomon 4.2

109.                        Quilvio Veras 4.1

110.                        Michael Tucker 4.1

111.                        Milt Pappas 4.1

112.                        Adam LaRoche 4.0

113.                        Jim Nash 3.8

114.                        Cecil Upshaw 3.8

115.                        Len Barker 3.8

116.                        Jonny Venters 3.8

117.                        Johnny Estrada 3.7

118.                        Eddie Mathews 3.7

119.                        Paul Assenmacher 3.7

120.                        Eric O’Flaherty 3.6

121.                        Greg Olsen 3.6

122.                        Walt Weiss 3.5

123.                        John Rocker 3.5

124.                        Mike Minor 3.5

125.                        Larry McWilliams 3.5

126.                        Ryan Langerhans 3.4

127.                        Tony Gonzalez 3.3

128.                        Eddie Perez 3.2

129.                        Rick Matula 3.2

130.                        Tito Francona 3.1

131.                        Sid Bream 3.1

132.                        Jimmy Wynn 3.1

133.                        Horacio Ramirez 3.1

134.                        Mike Bielecki 3.1

135.                        Jim Acker 3.0

136.                        Roric Harrison 3.0

137.                        Dion James 3.0

138.                        Gaylord Perry 2.9

139.                        Dick Kelley 2.8

140.                        Freddie Freeman 2.7

141.                        Mike Stanton 2.7

142.                        Odalis Perez 2.7

143.                        Donnie Moore 2.6

144.                        Ron Schueler 2.6

145.                        Kerry Ligtenberg 2.6

146.                        Terry Mulholland 2.6

147.                        Derek Lilliquist 2.6

148.                        Brett Butler 2.5

149.                        Kenshin Kawakami 2.5

150.                        Tony Brizzolara 2.5

#31

The scouting report on Christian Bethancourt is pretty simple: Pure 80 arm- throws as well as anyone in the game at any level. Major league ready defense and game calling. Pretty swing with excellent potential. Puts on a show in batting practice. Can’t get the ball out of the infield during the game.

In short, if the offense ever comes close to matching the defense, he’ll be a stud.

Bethncourt put up promising numbers between low and high A as a 19 year old, and continued the good work by raking in the Arizona Fall League. He followed this up by completely laying an egg at Mississippi in 2012. A .243 average isn’t terrible, but combing that with only 11 walks and 8 extra base hits in nearly 300 at bats is. Breaking a wrist in the final weeks was the cherry on top of a disappointing campaign.

There is still plenty of time for the youngster to improve. The Arizona Fall League is as good of a place to hit as Mississippi is bad; his true potential is somewhere between the .306/.325/.556 .243/.271/.295 he posted months apart. The timetable for catcher development is slower than any other position; Bethancourt being so far ahead of the curve defensively will buy him time for the bat to come around.

The comparisons to another catcher who made his mark with an excellent arm and a bat that evolved are inevitable. Bethancourt’s defense is so strong he’ll probably end up in the bigs even if he doesn’t develop as a hitter. While he is being hailed by many as the next Yadier Molina, the more appropriate question is which Molina brother will he turn in to? Will it be Yadier, who used average offense and elite level defense to make himself a perennial all star? Or Jose Molina who has bounced around but keeps getting jobs because his other wordly defense makes up for the fact he can’t hit a lick.

With the departures of Ross and Boscan and likelihood McCann will miss at least a portion of April, Bethancourt’s name has come up as a potential short term backup. This is something that will almost certainly not happen. The question is not whether he is ready for the show, but rather will he repeat Double A (I believe he will). The Braves will find a Boscan type 4A player to soak up a few at bats early in the season and wait at Gwinnett in case of injury. While Christian could provide excellent defense, it is not worth starting his service time clock for him not getting at bats when we can find a journeyman to provide similar service. Putting him on the Opening Day roster would essentially steal games from him when we don’t need him and he can’t hit that would be better served years down the road when he’s matured

and can produce

While we’re on the subject of Mississippi Braves back stops… Evan Gattis is as much a catcher as Matt Diaz was. When he was young his coach put him behind the plate and he was decent enough to stick there for a while, but eventually he became a man, packed on muscle, and outgrew the position. The Braves will give him innings behind the dish to keep him fresh behind the plate in case a slew of injuries arises, but at this point his position is hitter.

Few storylines pack as much intrigue as that of Gattis,the 26 year iold former drug addict/nomad who just won’t quit hitting.  While he’s shown he can mash in the low minors, the bar for players stuck in the “can’t really play anywhere but a corner or first” mold is high. The level of performance needed to be a valuable left fielder or first baseman is drastically higher than that of a skill position. In a lot of ways Gattis finds himself in the opposite position of his teammate Bethancourt. While Christian’s superb defensive skillset means he just needs to eek out a passable offense to succeed, Evan must mash with consistency to make up for a lack of defensive skills. Further more, while the younger catcher has plenty of time to adjust, Gattis is already entering the age most players are hitting their prime, yet he has but half a season at Double A under his belt.

He will likely start the year at Gwinnet and if he keeps the hit parade going he’ll be on the short list for the call once the Braves need a bench bat or if Heyward/Freeman/whomever is in left goes down. Needless to say, he is not an option for the backup catcher option either. 

#30

Giancarlo Stanton is the epitome of what the Braves are looking for this year. An affordably priced right handed, mashing corner outfield. The thought of Jason Heyward and Stanton manning Atlanta’s corner outfield spots for years to come is a drool worthy proposition. But even amidst Miami’s latest firestorm, the odds of the man once known as Mike having a tomahawk across his chest are minimal.

All of Miami’s moves thus far have been salary dumps. They could have gotten a much greater return shipping Johnson and Reyes off separately, but they chose to bundle them with the far less desirable contracts of Buehrle and Buck, in essence choosing money over talent. Stanton makes close to minimum wage and as of right now is the absolute only reason anyone would pay to see the Marlins play. With their third dump in 15 years it seems likely MLB seems likely to exert pressure to make sure Miami at least pretends to put a quality product on the field. Moving Stanton gives up any pretense of trying to win. Trading their only remaining player of value wouldn’t be waiving a white flag; it would be swallowing a bullet.

In short, he doesn’t fit their firesale blueprint. (one they’ve mastered) Maybe in a year or two when his salary spikes, but not now. That’s not to say he won’t go. No one knows what Miami is thinking (they might not even know themselves) Furthermore Stanton could asked to be moved. If I had to bet, I’d say he stays, but would not be surprised either way.

Even if the Fish decide to move Stanton, he’s by no means a lock to be a Brave. He’s desirable to us for the same reasons he’s desirable to the other 29 teams; young, cost controlled superstars are hard to find. On the open market there could easily be 15+ legitimate bidders for his services. And even if Miami pulls a Miami, and screws the pooch, selling for less than market value, they’re going to get a king’s ransom for Stanton.

Dave Cameron of FanGraphs does a fascinating series each year where he ranks the top 50 most valuable commodities in baseball. The list ranks players by the amount they could return on the open market via trade. Stanton is 5th in baseball, behind only Trout, Harper, Longoria, and McCutchen. He ranks ahead of such players as Heyward, Strasburg, Posey, and Verlander. Let that sink in for a second. A trade for Stanton would, in theory, would require the 5th largest package for any baseball player alive.

So what would a Braves trade for Stanton look like (other than gigantic)? First off if Stanton is a Braves, it’s almost certain Julio Teheran is taking his talents to South Beach. There was a time 15 months ago or so when Teheran himself would almost be enough to get Stanton, but his value has clearly regressed. Beyond that, expect the Braves cupboard to be pretty empty after a trade for Stanton. Think Teixeira type package, only more. Bethancourt, Graham, Ahmed, Salcedo, Delgado, Gilmartin… most of them are Marlins. The Braves farm system is at its weakest in years. It would take most of them to get the job done. Even if the Braves offer the farm to the Marlins, we might not be able to win a bidding war, especially if another team gets crazy and offers an elite talent (think Profar or Bundy) that we don’t have. Considering most of baseball would want him, this isn’t unthinkable. A Braves deal would be more quantity over quality. It’s unclear which the Marlins prefer, although their needs are so vast matching up wouldn’t be an issue.

The Braves could get creative to make a deal. One option would be to flip the soon to be departed O’Flaherty for prospects then ask the Marlins to include Mike Dunn in a trade. Another would be to take on Ricky Nolasco (the only remaining high salary player) to offset the prospect haul. Braves could either use Nolasco to replace the pitching sent to Miami or flip him to restock the farm. Wren is creative enough to figure something out.

The odds of Stanton donning a Braves uniform are slim, but certainly not none. Dreaming is the official pastime of winter, and few players in baseball give you more to dream on than Giancarlo Stanton

#29

Good ideas

1.       Trade with Royals- The match between Braves and Royals goes beyond Dayton Moore’s affinity for our unwanted parts. They need pitching and have extra corner players, we need corner players and have extra pitching. A deal centered around one of our young pitchers for Gordon or Moustakas (not Frenchy) could work

2.       Explore E’OF trade- If Brandon League is worth 3 years, 22.5 million (I think this is an aberration, but still) EO’F will be worth significantly more than we can pay him next offseason. Wren would be foolish to not look in to the possibility of selling high as we’ll lose him for nothing in a year.

3.       Extend Heyward/Prado- They’re in line for a lot of money, might as well get it out of the way now so we have cost certainty. Something between Andrew McCutchen and Nick Markakis for Heyward, 6 years, 60 million-ish, and 4 years, 40-50 million for Prado

4.       Mike Olt- Texas has the best 3B and SS prospects in the game and have second, third, and short locked down for years to come. While he’d be pricey, he’d lock down the hot corner for years to come. (I wrote this one before word of the Simmons/Olt

5.       Getting an ace- I’m probably the only person that thinks the Braves should go big on a frontline starting pitcher, but darn it, I want an ace. Greinke is probably out of our budget but if I’m Wren I at least call to see if Felix, Price, or others even might be the teensiest bit available.

6.       Victorino/Hunter one year deal- Victorino is only a good idea on a one year, low dollar amount. While I’m generally loath to sign anyone over 35, Hunter intrigues me. He had a higher OPS than Bourn or Upton (both Uptons, for that matter) and played an excellent corner outfield. He’ll probably get a multi year deal, which sours me on him.

7.       Right handed set up man- A righty to pitch the 8th was a huge weakness on the 2012 Braves. Assuming Brandon League was a fluke, there are plenty of options we could pick a solid counterpart to EO’F. One of Soria, Adams, Broxton, Grilli, Uehara, etc… would work.

8.       Denard Span. He’s Bourn Lite. Excellent defense, gets on base, runs. Minnesota desperately needs pitching, we have plenty to spare.

Bad ideas

1.       Dexter Fowler- Fowler is the epitome of a Coors Field hitter. His triple slash line is remarkably similar to Andrew McCutchen at home and Alicedes Escobar on the road. The Rockies will want a package far closer to the former than the latter to pry him away. He’s not worth it until there’s reason to think he can hit outside of Colorado.

2.       Josh Hamilton- He’s old, ridiculously expensive, no longer a center fielder, and would take up our entire offseason budget. He’s also as injury prone as they come- think Chipper at the end of his career type tweaks/aches/and pulls. Then there’s the x-factor: no one knows how several years of cocaine use and alcoholism will effect a fragile body. All I know is I don’t want the Braves to be the ones to find out.

3.       Extend Medlen- He’s not going to have a 0.97 ERA, 0.80 WHIP forever. He’ll come back down to earth sometime, we’re just not sure where earth is. Will he settle down as an elite #2 starter or more of a middle of the rotation guy? It’s better to figure this out (and see if he can stay healthy) before committing big money to him.

4.       Angel Pagan- My man crush on Pagan is well known (and he has the coolest name in baseball). That said, the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced he’s priced himself out of our market. The love/lust was based on the idea he could be had for something in the neighborhood of Jason Kubel money- 2 years, 15 million- but the general consensus is that he’ll get 3-4 years and 10+ million per. If it’s affordable, I love it. But I don’t think it will be.

5.       Josh Willingham- It wouldn’t be a Braves offseason without mumblings of Josh Willingham. While his right handed bat in left looks good on paper, paying Minnesota for an expensive, soon to be 34 year old isn’t our best move.

6.       Big time contracts- Young, soon to be arbitration eligible, players will swallow up a huge chunk of our payroll 2013-2016. Locking down huge chunks of our payroll during this period will only haunt us.

7.       Spend money for the sake of spending money- If it’s January and there’s plenty of money left over, don’t throw it at someone. Use it for extending our young players or keep it for a midseason addition. Goes along with #8

8.       Force it- Wren’s biggest mistakes have come when he feels he *needs* to do something. Needing good publicity as much as a good pitcher, he threw 60,000,000.00 at Derek Lowe. (Imagine what the 2012 Braves could have done without paying Lowe to pitch elsewhere) Conversely, Wren has showed the patience of a Jedi acquiring Michael Bourn, waiting other teams out and pouncing at he last minute picking up the best available player. Don’t give in to the media or the fans, wait and make the best move.