We were Furcaled!

Wow, what a trend that the Braves have gotten into this offseason. The trend of getting very close to signing a big name only to have that player back out at the last minute. It first started with Mike Hampton, (I wasn’t real upset about that one) then Smoltz (I was pretty upset about this on though), then Jake Peavy and AJ Burnett. All of these guys are pitchers that seemed set to sign with the Braves only to move on at the last minute for a better deal. Then there was Rafael Furcal who agreed to a verbal commitment to play for the Braves only to take that offer to get more money out of the Dodgers. That is a pretty slimy move! Now Ken Griffey Jr. has seemingly done the same thing. There were reports that he had verbally agreed to play for the Braves and this new leaked out earlier this week, but last night he signed with the Seattle Mariners.

Everything seems set for Griffey Jr. to sign with the Braves, he would get a chance to play plenty as well as get some needed days off, he would be only an hour flight away from his family and spring training is only 20 minutes from his house now, he would get a chance to play with his good friend Chipper Jones, he has always said he wanted to play for Bobby Cox, and he would be able to finish his career in Atlanta, the same place his father did. So what happened? Well, there are reports that Griffey was upset about the fact that the news of him possibly signing with the Braves was leaked before he could announce it. I really hope that he didn’t sign with Seattle out of spite! That is just silly and he needs to grow up! In this day and age, news is going to get out and spread quickly! But I think the real reason was the advice he got from Hall of Famer, Willie Mays. In a phone conversation between Mays and Griffey Jr. on Wednesday morning, Mays convinced Griffey’s that his legacy would be improved if he went back to where he started his career rather than finishing with a new team even if it were closer to his family. Listen, I respect Mays opinion and I still think he is arguably the best baseball player in history, but the league is different from the days when he played. Players don’t play for only one or two teams anymore, they move all over the league. Also, I think it would mean more to a player to be closer to his family if given the chance, at least that is what I would do. So I don’t think playing for the Braves would ruin Griffey’s legacy, it might even have made it stronger since he would have followed in his Dad’s footsteps and would have shown the world that he does care about his family and wanted to be closer to them! But who knows? Well, thanks for the help Willie, you are still a Braves killer!

Here is the article that talks about Mays and Griffey’s conversation:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090218&content_id=3847852&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Now the Braves are back in the spot of having one of the worst outfields in pro baseball. GM Frank Wren has a lot of work ahead of him, not only signing a solid outfielder that can hit, but also image repair. Right now the Braves are the laughing stock of MLB. We need to get things back to the dynasty days! Luckily, baring any major injuries, we should have a solid pitching staff and a decent infield.