Feb 16 2009
Braves Nation buzzing about two old-school G’s
By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com
ATLANTA — For all the talk surrounding a new day for the Atlanta Braves, the white-hot focus of Braves Nation this morning rests on two old-school G’s.
As the Braves gathered Sunday in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., for their first official workout of 2009, even the players themselves buzzed about the possible addition of free agents Ken Griffey Jr., and Tom Glavine to the roster.
The Glavine talk isn’t a surprise. I think we all knew if healthy, Glav wanted to return to Atlanta after an injury-marred 2008, the first season of his Hall of Fame career wrecked by injuries. A two-win campaign in his return to the Braves following five years with the Mets certainly didn’t seem the proper way for the lefty to wrap up his brilliant career.
The progress Glavine’s made in rehabbing from surgery this offseason leads the Braves and the lefty to believe he can help the revamped rotation in 2009. And come on, did you really think the Braves and Glavine weren’t going to put their heads together and come up with a creative solution for the incentive money, and do you really think Glavine is going to leave the franchise again?
Glavine, we knew. But Griffey? Holy cow, didn’t see this one coming, did we? Even as late as Thursday, it appeared Junior would be rolling back to Seattle, where his star took off in the early 1990s. Then things behind the scenes began making their way to the forefront, and this story exploded Saturday afternoon.
It makes sense, folks, Junior being a Brave. With a kid playing AAU ball in Atlanta and his family based in Orlando, geography would dictate a stint in Atlanta would fit the bill for Junior. So, too, is Griffey’s respect for Bobby Cox, who was GM of the Braves when Junior’s dad was a Brave from 1986-88. Depending on who you listen to, Junior may have been the one who initiated this, calling Atlanta first and campaigning to play for the Braves.
Put Griffey – who still wears out right-handers – in a platoon with Matt Diaz, who smoked leftys in 2006-07 before enduring a miserable, injury-ruined 2008, and you’ve got the potential to generate 20-25 homers, 80-100 RBIs, and a .280 average out of left field. Note I said potential – I’m not predicting that will happen.
But the odds of better production from left field rise with Junior’s presence. I mean, who do you want platooning with Diaz, Brandon Jones or Ken Griffey Jr. No disrespect to Jones, and again, I’m not saying the Braves would be getting the Griffey who would win the MVP award or launch 40 homers. Not in the least.
I will say this: If the Braves get .280-25-90 from left field, and they get a bounce back from Jeff Francoeur, they will have one of the better lineups in all of baseball to go with a very good starting rotation, a very solid bullpen, and a deep and versatile bench.
Glavine and Griffey. Two guys on their way to Cooperstown. Two guys who were among baseball’s brightest stars of the 1990s, looking to end the 2000s with a bang. They’re not the superstars they once were, but looking at this team, they don’t have to be.
They’ll work just fine as the final two pieces of the puzzle.
—30—
Bud: I totally agree with you.