[SuperJon]

Please, for the love of David Justice, sign somebody in the off-season. You've already said you're not signing Andruw Jones, so the money is there. Someone who can throw the ball for strikes would be great. We could also use a person or two that can hit the ball as well. Remember when you used to be good? Yea, go back to doing that again.


Signed,

Tired of being bored in October

[Sly Fox]

The days of unrestricted payroll under Ted are long gone. Fiscal responsibility is mantra that the organization now must follow. Welcome to what the vast majority of baseball fans have to endure every year.

[TDDance234]

There are rumors that Blanton/Haren are going to be available with the O's trying to shed some payroll.

Other than that, the Braves have no money and no real tradeable pieces, except for Renteria--that's only if you think Escobar can play everyday at SS.

[flamesfilmguy]

Front page of the website yesterday says they might sign Glavine again. i smell a 90's throw back team again. only this time we'll need to bring the bengay.

[Hold My Own]

You should have NEVER let Dayton Moore (Asst GM) go...he's one of the brightest baseball minds in the game and will be a VERY good GM (maybe even in KC but they dont spend the money)

[JK37]

the Braves have no money

If they're choosing to not re-sign Andruw Jones (a good decision, IMO), how can they have NO money?

I'm a big Braves fan, too, and letting Dayton Moore go was a HUGE mistake! Good call, TF.

[SuperJon]

The Braves just sold to Liberty Media, so they won't spend too much anytime soon. Hopefully Liberty Media won't hold onto the team for too long and will sell it to someone who actually cares about baseball.

[whmatthews]

From religiously watching TBS and the Braves since I was 7, from what I understand, Liberty Media (or so far as they have announced) don't plan on cutting the Braves payroll (for right now, anyway). The Braves will save like, 8 million by not signing Andruw and the speculation is that Glavine would pitch for the Braves for the 6-7 million. If they could trade Renteria (I think Yunel Escobar is capable of being an everyday shortstop if they can improve his fielding) and get a 5-spot starter, they might can find the money from somewhere to sign maybe Mike Cameron to a one-year deal (he'll probably want more than a year, he's from Georgia) until they can get the kid who played in Rome last year (I forget his name, but I read they're high on him and want him in Atlanta in 2009). They certainly need a starter though, Smoltz is getting older and who knows if Hampton can still pitch, he hasn't pitched in 2 years. Other than that, I think Chipper, McCann, Tiexiera, Francouer can do pretty good with carrying the offense.

[thesportscritic]

a great decision not to sign andruw jones. he was terrible this year.

[olldflame]

All he needed was a "typical" Andrew Jones year and he would have been offered huge bucks as a free agent. He couldn't pull it off. I think his best years are behind him. He now has below average speed for a CF, and IMHO all of those swan dives onto the turf, robbing another player of a base hit have taken their toll on his shoulders and wrists, making him a less dangerous hitter.

[SuperJon]

He's fat. That's what happened. He doesn't take care of his body.

[bigsmooth]

as a long time braves fan form the bob horner, dale murphy, biff pocoroba days i think they will sign glavine and try to make one more run for a title. glavine still has something in the tank and i believe he wants to finish his career in atlanta. pitching is what cost the braves the post-season this year. they have plenty of bats, and as matthews said they can find a good FA center-fielder to replace andruw jones. an NL east title is still attainable with the current team, and the young pitchers the braves have will have another year of experience. let's also hope mike hampton is healthy and will really earn that big money contract.

[Fumblerooskies]

He's fat. That's what happened. He doesn't take care of his body.

Roid withdrawal tends to do that.

[Hold My Own]

seriously though your not far off with that statement. If you talk to baseball insiders you'll hear them talk about the Dominican players and heck Latin players for that matter if you take a look at bodies they've all changed. Miguel Tejada, Pudge (not so much now), Jones and as much as it sucks to say my buddy for Seattle as well. I havent had the nerve to ever talk to him about it but it's no mystery it's just one of those unspoken things that doesnt need to be said.

Luckily for a lot of them HGH is still an option due to there being no tests. Although 80% of steroid users have not gone to HGH after they stopped using b/c they are worried that it may be leaked not b/c of tests.

[whmatthews]

I wondered if he was on something. He had that monster year in 05 and he just seemed bulkier that year. Last year was a good year, but this year he had the homers and rbis, but he just kept striking out and he was a lot slower getting to some of those balls that are usually routine for nobody except Andruw.

[Hold My Own]

The biggest mistake the average fan makes trying to tell who's on them and who's not is size...Honestly you can only tell by size about 10% of the time...there are however times that it's obvious, sosa, pudge, etc...the reason why someone like Jones would look "fat" is b/c they are lazy when after you end a cycle everything begins to shift. That era of Latin ballplayers would literally hide in the weight room....the new generation of Latin ball players though are animals in the weight room, that's pretty much b/c of the Baseball academy's they have in their homeland and they begin training at a much earlier age

[Fumblerooskies]

I WAS being serious. You stop the workout intensity...the body softens. Of course, if your Tony Gwynn...not working out at all and hitting every buffet in California will do the same thing to the skills.

[El Scorcho]

Of course, if your Tony Gwynn...not working out at all and hitting every buffet in California will do the same thing to the skills.

What's wrong with that? Are you saying I need to change my training regimen?