Braves re-sign Greg Norton; Yet still not fans of Paul Kinzer

The Braves have re-signed pinch hitter Greg Norton to a one year, $800,000 contract. Norton was one of Atlanta’s most dependable bats off the bench last season.

In other news, Rafael Furcal has officially signed with the Dodgers, pissing off Atlanta GM Frank Wren and leading President John Schuerholz to call Furcal’s agent Paul Kinzer despicable and saying Atlanta will no longer deal with him again. While I would love for the Braves to stand up to a guy who conducts his business in such an unethical manor, I would think making such a blanketed statement would be like cutting off your nose despite your face. You never know who you’re going to need down the road.

Oh and the Angels have pulled out of the Teixeira sweepstakes, removing their eight year deal from the table. The Red Sox had said they were also out of it, but rumor has it, that the Red Sox could easily swoop back in if they feel the need. This leaves the Orioles and Nationals as the two top contenders although the Yankees are never really out of anything. I would love nothing more than to see Teixeira go to the Nationals and widdle around in cellar for the rest of his career since winning is obviously not a priority for him.

I hate to get on my soap box when it comes to these things, but I will briefly. There is a difference between $10 million and $14 million. There’s even a difference between $30 million and $40 million. There is no difference between $140 million and $160 million. Mathematically I get there is a $20 million difference between the two numbers, but in life you, your children, your children’s children and your children’s children’s children can live off of either number. So when you’re talking about such high dollar figures, I would think that going to a contender, especially since in Teixeira’s case he’s only ever been on one team that has made it to the playoffs, the Angels, and they didn’t make it past the first round, would be a priority. It’s not like Aaron Rowand going from the Phillies to the Giants, he already had a ring with the White Sox (plus Rowand falls into that $30-$40 million category.) But what do you expect when you’re being lead by Scott Boras. Ok, I’ll come off the box now.

News&Notes: The Braves have signed Lance Nierko (son of Joe and nephew of Phil) to a minor league contract.
(photo: Tom Gannam/AP)