Money Down The Tubes And ARod's Links

• Tom Glavine returns to the Braves for $1 million+incentives:

If Glavine can provide anything----leadership, a few innings, a win here or there----I suppose it's worth it, but the Braves have some young pitching that would undoubtedly deliver more on the field than Glavine can at this point. It's easy to look back and say he should've retired after that final game debacle for the Mets in 2007; and I probably wouldn't have wanted to go out on that note either; but he returned to the Braves, didn't pitch well and got hurt. Truth be told, he looks like he's got nothing left in the tank. The Braves have James Parr, Charlie Morton and Tommy Hanson off the top of my head who deserve the rotation spot more than Glavine does based on ability alone.
I only hope for Glavine's sake that he'll know when to quit if he pitches poorly and his body doesn't respond in spring training. It's obvious why the Braves are bringing him back: if he can pitch, he can be of some use; they're reeling from John Smoltz's stunning defection and recent comments about the organization; and they're being loyal to Glavine for his years of service. This, however, is a major part of the Braves current problems; they're clinging to the past and reluctant to do what needs to be done to rebuild the orgnanization properly; and part of that is cutting ties with the past and guys who can't do it anymore like Tom Glavine.

• Nothing more needs to be said about this:

This guy's in trouble. Read this link to the story about Alex Rodriguez: NY Daily News Story and I'm sure you'll agree.

The Most Important Thing About Junior Returning To The Mariners

• Ken Griffey Jr. returns to the Mariners:

Never mind that Ken Griffey Jr. will finish his career with the club he, in retrospect, never should've left; never mind that he's going to put some enthusiasm into the fan base in Seattle coming off 100 losses and give the fans a reason to go to the games as the club starts a retooling project; the most important part of all this is that I don't have to change the first draft of my baseball guide.
Having generally assumed that Griffey would return to the Mariners when I wrote that selection, I took the artistic liberty of adding Griffey into the equation as if he'd already been signed. I wavered as the rumors of his impending agreement with the Braves was stated in various terms as being "done", but left the manuscript as is and was rewarded. Clearly this should be seen as the most important development of the whole thing----that I wasn't inconvenienced.

All (half) kidding aside, the Mariners and Braves are going to end up with win totals in the low-to-mid 70s; the Mariners with a total of around 70-73 and the Braves with maybe 75-79, there isn't much difference between the two; and I'm not buying this stuff about Griffey making a pledge to finish his career as a Mariner either; you have to wonder what's going on with the Braves and why so many players are reluctant to join them unless the money is above-and-beyond what others are offering.
Is this a divinely intervened comeuppance for all those years of consecutive division titles? The Braves were an arrogant team during those years; they played and behaved professionally, but there was a smug condescension to their opponents that may have contributed to the determination the more feisty teams like the Phillies, Marlins and early Yankees teams had when denying the Braves their self-anointed place in history. Now they've been bad for three straight years and aren't getting any better; in fact, they're getting worse. Players are shunning them for other options and one has to wonder whether GM Frank Wren's relationship with Cal Ripken Jr. as the GM in Baltimore has something to do with it.
In September of Wren's lone year as Orioles GM, Ripken was stuck in traffic and called ahead to the team as they were set to take off on a chartered flight to California; Wren ordered the flight to take off as Ripken arrived moments later and had to make his own travel arrangements to join the club. In doing something so self-immolating, you have to wonder what's going through Wren's head; and you also have to wonder whether Ripken, who holds a lot of sway with a lot of people, has let it be known to steer clear of any organization that's being run by Wren.
The Braves used to laugh at the Mets when their organization was so shambolic that they were unable to attract even the most negligible free agents (the most notable being journeyman catcher Henry Blanco, who spurned the Mets higher offer after the 2004 season to join the Cubs), but now it's probably not so funny because the Braves are appearing similar, if not identical, to those mediocre and poorly run Mets teams. On the bright side, the Braves winter has been so hideous that the actual season can't be much worse. (Or can it?)

• The funniest part of Greg Maddux's role as a spring training instructor for the Padres:

Greg Maddux was a pitching craftsman during his career----Prince of New York Blog 12/6/2008----and has a lot to offer as a teacher, but the Padres are in such a state that if their "spring training instructor", the 43-year-old Maddux, were activated, he'd be their number three starter on opening day; then their number two starter when Chris Young begins running out of gas at mid-season. If I were a Padres fan, Jeff Moorad couldn't arrive soon enough.

• Arrogance unfettered:
  

With the economy in the state it's in, the Yankees have been having trouble selling their most expensive seats for the upcoming season in the new stadium, so they've taken to advertising in the newspapers, something they haven't had to do in years; there's nothing wrong with that, but the ads themselves are giving me shaky chills at the obnoxious arrogance. The one line that stands out: "Own the Greatness".
Own the greatness? Own the greatness?!?! Uh, let's take a step back, shall we? The last time there was any evidence of "greatness" was eight years ago. If any organization at this point has a right to say they're "great", it's not the Yankees, but their rivals, the Red Sox. Own the greatness indeed. Did Michael Kay write that copy? My God....even the hardest core Yankee fan must squirm at this nonsense even more than they did during ARod's press conference. Yeesh.

Braves Should've Taken The Diamondbacks Deal For Teixeira

• Braves trade Mark Teixeira to Angels for Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Stephen Marek:
  

It's hard to criticize an aging, fading, injury-riddled team for getting some good return on a player that they weren't going to have past this season anyway, but if the choice for the Braves was between the deals offered by the Diamondbacks and the Angels, then they picked the wrong one.
The rumored Diamondbacks deal----Chad Tracy and Micah Owings for Mark Teixeira----is superior to what they got from the Angels in Casey Kotchman and minor league RHP Stephen Marek. Tracy has had injuries over the past two seasons that have curtailed his production, but he's been healthy since being activated in late May and his production should return to what he showed in 2005 and 2006 in which he hit 20+ homers and had solid batting averages and on base percentages; he can also play first and third base and the outfield. Owings has been terrible since his 4-0 start, but at the very least, he can be a middle-to-back of the rotation innings-eater assuming he's healthy. After his start on Monday in which he got pounded by the offensively-challenged Padres, Owings was sent to Triple A.

I'm admittedly not a fan of Kotchman. He doesn't have enough power for a first baseman or a player of his size (6'3", 215) and he's moving from one pitcher's park in Angels Stadium to another one in Turner Field. Eventually he'll perhaps develop into a consistent 20 homer guy or thereabouts. Minor league pitcher Marek is going to be 25 next month and was moved to the bullpen in Double A; his control has been good enough and he racks up the strikeouts. Keith Law writes on ESPN that Marek has a "bad body" and a delivery that isn't smooth. Unless Owings is hurt, the assessment of Marek and that he's still in Double A at age 25 as he's making the transition to the bullpen makes the decision to choose the Angels deal all the worse for Braves GM Frank Wren.
Teixeira fills a massive void in the Angels lineup and makes them genuine championship contenders instead of a team that wins their division then runs into the Red Sox in the playoffs and loses because of their lack of power. As good a player as Torii Hunter is, he wasn't the sufficient lineup bodyguard for Vladimir Guerrero that Teixeira is. The ballparks are similar enough that Teixeira's production for the Angels should be close to or better than it was with the Braves; he's a Gold Glove first baseman which also fits into the pitching and defense philosophy that permeates the Angels organization. It's not going to hurt that he's entering a situation where the team has needed a basher for years and he's well-suited to be the missing piece to lead them to a championship; this should also appeal to Teixeira's desire to get paid after the season when he enters free agency.
Considering Teixeira's free agent status after the season is a major factor as well.
Teixeira's agent is Scott Boras and there's never been any pretense with the player regarding where he wants to play and whether or not he'd be willing to take a "hometown discount" to go anywhere. He wants his money and in an era where the players who feel the same way are using a public relations spiel to justify where they end up (it's usually with the team that offers the most money), Teixeira has never implied any intention of signing with a team that doesn't offer him the best deal and that's refreshing.

The problem he's going to have is that there are only a very limited number of teams that have the ability to pay him what he's going to want; and even fewer teams that are willing to pay him the money he's going to want. Jayson Stark is reporting on ESPN.com that Boras's initial demand is going to be for an ARod-like (of 2000 anyway) $230 million over ten years. The teams that could meet the asking price are as follows: the Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, White Sox, Tigers, Angels, Rangers, Mariners, Mets, Phillies, Cubs and Dodgers. Going one-by-one, how many would be willing to meet that asking price?
The Yankees are a possibility considering the money that's coming off the books after this season, but it's hightly unlikely if Brian Cashman is still the team's GM. In looking at the way the team has functioned since Hank Steinbrenner took over, Cashman has had his judgment usurped several times in the off-season, specifically with Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada and it looks like Cashman was right about not committing four years to Posada. Other than that, despite Hank's bluster, he hasn't really interfered with the running of the team; there was the move of Joba Chamberlain to the starting rotation, but they were going to do that with or without Hank demanding it. If Cashman is still the Yankees GM, he won't want to have another $200 million player especially as he's trying to pare down salary.

The Red Sox aren't going to go that high either, but they're a workable option if they do finally move on from Manny Ramirez; Kevin Youkilis could play left field just as adequately as Manny does. Teixeira's from Maryland, but as said before, he's not giving the Orioles a discount and baseball boss Andy MacPhail seems to break out in hives at the mere suggestion of committing so much money to one player; plus the Orioles are about three years from contention, so what do they need Teixeira for?
The Tigers have some money coming off the books and a spot open at first base since they've moved Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Guillen all over the chess board this season, they could move him to the outfield next year; they're a possibility. The White Sox aren't going to go as high as Boras wants, but if they can unload Paul Konerko and decline Jim Thome's option, they've got the holes and the money available if the price comes down. The Angels aren't going to meet Boras's asking price either and whether or not Teixeira likes playing in Anaheim won't enter into the equation (he liked Atlanta as well), but he might end up staying there. Forget the Rangers and if the Mariners are starting a rebuilding project, they don't need Teixeira. The Mets are starting to look likely to pick up Carlos Delgado's contract option and aren't paying an outsider $200 million to anger David Wright and Jose Reyes; they also just gave Johan Santana $137 million and the vault for those massive long-term deals is closing for the Mets. The Phillies and Cubs don't need him; and the Dodgers aren't going to pay another player that amount of money after the Andruw Jones disaster.
Teixeira's problem with seeking such a monster contract isn't only the limited number of teams that can pay it, but that some of those teams might pull themselves out of the bidding because they already have a first baseman or they might look at how the Braves didn't contend with Teixeira, so why would he be worth that kind of money to begin with? Winning a title will only help his cause though and for a team like the Angels, he's exactly what they needed to protect their big hitter and supplement that great pitching staff by adding a proven run producer and they didn't give up all that much to get him.

• A quote from The Sopranos that fits the Jarrod Washburn situation:

Buster Olney linked a Seattle writer, Larry LaRue, who suggests that the Mariners shouldn't give away a pitcher like Washburn who's, "a potential No. 3 or No. 4 starter next year". This assertion reminded me of the next-to-last episode of The Sopranos as the Lupertazzi crew plots the assassination of the Sopranos family's upper managment team:

Butch DeConcici: Tony Soprano, obviously. Plus Silvio Dante, and we think, Bobby

Baccilieri.
Ray Ray: That mortadell's number three? He used to be Junior Soprano's driver.

I couldn't help but think of this quote at the mere suggestion that Jarrod Washburn would be a number three starter considering his performance (the last two months notwithstanding) over his time with the Mariners. If they think he's going to be a number three starter for any team other than one that's going to win a max of 73 games, they're kidding themselves; if someone offers to take the contract, the Mariners should jump at the chance no matter what's coming back.