John Smoltz in a Red Sox uniform may be painful to Atlanta for a lot of reasons.For nearly two decades, there has been one mainstay in Atlanta baseball: John Smoltz. The Cy Young Award-winner, dominating closer, nails in the postseason. And now, he'll end his career as a member of the Boston Red Sox.
For the Sox, Smoltz's signing is a luxury, much like Bartolo Colon's acquisition was last year. They've got a quality starter coming off a serious injury who, if healthy, can come in as a fresh arm and help carry the team during the summer and stretch run. If not, who cares? They should be fine with Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester, Brad Penny and Tim Wakefield.
It's a different story for the Braves.
The loss of Smoltz doesn't help a pitching staff in flux. Whether he'd be ready for the start of the season is a huge question mark, but he would add stability to a rotation that, right now, includes Javier Vasquez, Jair Jurrjens and Kenshin Kawakami (9-5, 2.30 with the Chunichi Dragons in 2008). There is no ace on the staff and, really, nobody you'd look to to help mentor Jurrjens, Charlie Morton, JoJo Reyes or Jorge Campillo (and, even if they sign Derek Lowe, they still won't).
But, more importantly, this is a PR hit the Braves really can't afford to take right now. The Braves didn't draw tremendously when they were winning the NL East every year, and that was when they were playing with the deep pockets of Ted Turner. They don't have that luxury anymore and the Atlanta area hasn't fared overly well with the recent economic downturn. Dumping the closest thing to an Atlanta sports institution certainly won't help the Braves in the eyes of the paying public.
Ok, to say the Braves "dumped" Smoltz is unfair. But General Manager Frank Wren really ought to know when to keep his mouth shut and wish someone the best of luck. Instead, he came off a little less classy than he could have with this comment to the AP: "We were willing to pay John as much or more than the Red Sox to pitch. We just weren't willing to pay him as much as the Red Sox not to pitch."
The Red Sox offered Smoltz $5.5 million whether or not he throws a pitch this year. The Braves wouldn't come close to that, which is understandable. But there may be a little more to the story than that, as stories have indicated Bobby Cox saw Smoltz throw on Dec. 5 and gave him a firm thumbs-up; Wren, on the other hand, was unimpressed. Insinuating that Smoltz is damaged goods and won't pitch this year is one way to avoid saying you didn't want to pay a 42-year-old pitcher a lot of green--it's just not the best way to do it when you're dealing with a local legend.
The Smoltz situation may prove to be a double-whammy, as Tom Glavine is still out there recovering from a surgery of his own. Glavine had said he'd only pitch for the Braves, but after seeing Smoltz walk away, he's re-evaluating his options (read: talking to other teams). Having both Smoltz and Glavine end their careers elsewhere would be a public relations debacle for the Braves.
This doesn't even touch the situation surrounding Bobby Cox, who may be more than a little irritated to that one (and maybe two) of his longtime horses may be getting the gate without the honorable exit they probably deserve.
For the Sox, Smoltz's signing is a luxury, much like Bartolo Colon's acquisition was last year. They've got a quality starter coming off a serious injury who, if healthy, can come in as a fresh arm and help carry the team during the summer and stretch run. If not, who cares? They should be fine with Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester, Brad Penny and Tim Wakefield.
It's a different story for the Braves.
The loss of Smoltz doesn't help a pitching staff in flux. Whether he'd be ready for the start of the season is a huge question mark, but he would add stability to a rotation that, right now, includes Javier Vasquez, Jair Jurrjens and Kenshin Kawakami (9-5, 2.30 with the Chunichi Dragons in 2008). There is no ace on the staff and, really, nobody you'd look to to help mentor Jurrjens, Charlie Morton, JoJo Reyes or Jorge Campillo (and, even if they sign Derek Lowe, they still won't).
But, more importantly, this is a PR hit the Braves really can't afford to take right now. The Braves didn't draw tremendously when they were winning the NL East every year, and that was when they were playing with the deep pockets of Ted Turner. They don't have that luxury anymore and the Atlanta area hasn't fared overly well with the recent economic downturn. Dumping the closest thing to an Atlanta sports institution certainly won't help the Braves in the eyes of the paying public.
Ok, to say the Braves "dumped" Smoltz is unfair. But General Manager Frank Wren really ought to know when to keep his mouth shut and wish someone the best of luck. Instead, he came off a little less classy than he could have with this comment to the AP: "We were willing to pay John as much or more than the Red Sox to pitch. We just weren't willing to pay him as much as the Red Sox not to pitch."
The Red Sox offered Smoltz $5.5 million whether or not he throws a pitch this year. The Braves wouldn't come close to that, which is understandable. But there may be a little more to the story than that, as stories have indicated Bobby Cox saw Smoltz throw on Dec. 5 and gave him a firm thumbs-up; Wren, on the other hand, was unimpressed. Insinuating that Smoltz is damaged goods and won't pitch this year is one way to avoid saying you didn't want to pay a 42-year-old pitcher a lot of green--it's just not the best way to do it when you're dealing with a local legend.
The Smoltz situation may prove to be a double-whammy, as Tom Glavine is still out there recovering from a surgery of his own. Glavine had said he'd only pitch for the Braves, but after seeing Smoltz walk away, he's re-evaluating his options (read: talking to other teams). Having both Smoltz and Glavine end their careers elsewhere would be a public relations debacle for the Braves.
This doesn't even touch the situation surrounding Bobby Cox, who may be more than a little irritated to that one (and maybe two) of his longtime horses may be getting the gate without the honorable exit they probably deserve.
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