The Braves waiting on Tommy

With only a few days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training, the Braves have offered veteran LHP Tom Glavine a contract believed to be between $1 and 2 million that does not offer incentives. Glavine was looking for a contract with a base salary between $2 and 3 million that was incentive laden. However, due to Atlanta’s financial status (they only have between $7 and 8 million left in the budget) they could not offer Glavine a more lucrative deal. So we sit and wait to hear back from Tommy.

I understand the Braves hesitance to spend on Tommy. He was injured much of last season and the Braves do have a couple of pitchers that could fill in if Glavine chooses not to return. However to think that Jo-Jo Reyes, Charlie Morton or James Parr are even in the same playing field of Tom Glavine is laughable. I am not concerned about the fifth starter in the Braves rotation. I think Jorge Campillo can very capably take over that spot. My concerns are based more on the inevitable injury that would force the Braves to once again do the dance with a Reyes or a Morton. Both players, especially with Reyes have had their chances to prove their worth as starters over the past two seasons and neither has really impressed me. I think Morton or Reyes would be best served as long relievers and I think Tom Glavine would be best used to fill in any gaps that may occur in the starting rotation. Although I keep holding out hope that the Braves will call up Tommy Hanson and insert him into the rotation for an extended period of time to test his wildly heralded skill set.

The concerns about a left fielder are more than warranted. If the Braves could trade for Nick Swisher or Xavier Nady to fill that hole, it will cost $5 million, leaving them precious few dollars in their budget. And if they could bring Bobby Abreu’s price down, it would cost a similar amount. Just because they recklessly overspent on Derek Lowe (they were $16 million over what the Mets were offering) does not mean they should neglect Tom Glavine. His presence on the bench more than justifies his salary, plus he can help with the youngsters on the staff, serving as a second pitching coach. If history has taught the Braves anything over the past few years it’s that they can never have too many pitchers and when it comes to position player prospects, there are a few gems to be had in the organization already.

News&Notes: Andruw Jones has accepted a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers.
(Photo: Getty Images; source)