Avoiding Arbitration With Diaz

http://blogs.denverpost.com/rockies/2009/01/15/cubs-cedeno-braves-diaz-avoid-arbitration/

The Braves avoided arbitration with Matt Diaz by signing him to a one-year, $1.2375 million deal. He can make $50,000 more by reaching 600 plate appearances, which hopefully won't happen for everybody's sake.

The four Braves left who filed for arbitration are Casey Kotchman, Mike Gonzalez, Jeff Francoeur, and Kelly Johnson. The Braves can accidently forget to bring the last two back for all I care.

Smoltz Talking and Olney's Take on the Offseason

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3833606

I figured Smoltz wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut and an article such as this would appear. In the beginning he says of the Braves, "...and the plan here was, 'We just always assumed he wouldn't leave.'" His quotes come off to me as if he feels the Braves took him for granted, but I truly do not believe a weak contract offer is a sign of taking a player for granted. I believe it is more of a sign that his time with the team is coming to a close because he is not in the team's future plans. Smoltz isn't going to play forever and Frank Wren realizes that they can't rely on his old arm any longer. What is so bad about this I will never know.

Of course, near the end of the article he has quotes saying he will forever be an Atlanta Brave and the such...which he will.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3831815&name=olney_buster

And, of course, Buster Olney gives his opinion on the Braves' offseason. He gives a sure-fire, easy solution to Jake Peavy's no-trade clause coming to Atlanta, which makes no sense whatsoever and should have never been published. While a player or two preventing the deal from being completed is dumb on Wren's part, standing firm on a no-trade clause being shipped to Atlanta is not dumb. If this was a problem in Peavy's eyes then he simply wasn't going to become a Brave.

He then goes on to list the differences between Peavy and newly-acquired Derek Lowe, which was a complete waste of time. He also gives the famous suggestion of signing Orlando Cabrera as a stop gap at shortstop after trading Yunel Escobar in the Peavy deal, which is also a waste of time and makes no sense. Who exactly will take Cabrera's place?

He lists fallback options to Lowe as well, and this makes no sense because none of them are of Lowe's caliber and the Braves were in need of an ace, which also explains the amount of money that the Braves spent that Olney also questioned. Thank you to ESPN for providing two articles that wasted my time...yet I still took the time to respond to them.

Braves Sign Derek Lowe to Four Years

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3829521

The Braves continued their big free agent spending spree today with the signing of Derek Lowe to a four-year, $60 million deal. The signing comes a day after re-signing Omar Infante to a two-year deal, two days after signing Kenshin Kawakami to a three-year deal, and several days after saying bye to John Smoltz.

Lowe will take over the role of ace of Atlanta's staff. Behind him will be a combination of Kawakami, Javier Vazquez, Jair Jurrjens, and Jorge Campillo. Not only is this signing good for the front end of the rotation, but it also prevents rushing Tommy Hanson to the Majors or any possible trading of prospects. Despite no Smoltz or Tim Hudson, I am excited to see this rotation in action.

Braves Re-Sign Infante

http://myespn.go.com/s/conversations/show/story/3828353

Braves re-signed Omar Infante to a two-year deal with a club option for 2011. I really love to watch Infante play and I'm excited to see this news. Go ahead and stick him at second, Bobby. You know you want to.