Braves.Today.Com

Updated 8:35 p.m.: Wow. Simply wow.

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

ATLANTA — In the end, The Kid decided to head home instead of play closer to home.

According to a report posted on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer just moments ago, Ken Griffey Jr. has spurned the Atlanta Braves’ overtures to play left field, opting instead to return to Seattle, the city where he rose to superstardom in the 1990s.

There is no confirmation from the Braves at this moment, but suffice to say this is a painful pill to swallow for a franchise that has now seen four prominent players say thanks but no things this offseason.

Griffey, a free agent who is the active home run leader with 611, looked like he was destined to return to Seattle late last week. But Griffey reached out to the Braves, and Atlanta entered the fray for the future Hall of Famer last weekend.

As late as Tuesday morning, it appeared Junior coming to Atlanta was a foregone conclusion. With a daughter playing AAU basketball in Atlanta and his family in Orlando, playing for the Braves seemed a natural fit for the 39-year-old. Several media outlets reported Griffey had accepted an offer from the Braves, reports that Griffey and his agent quickly refuted.

Now Griffey appears heading back to Seattle. That leaves the Braves with Matt Diaz anchoring one part of a platoon that looks nowhere near as robust as it did earlier today. Perhaps the Braves try to sign another free-agent, such as Garret Anderson, or attempt to revive trade talks with the Yankees for Nick Swisher or Xavier Nady.

Inside the organization, Brandon Jones and Gregor Blanco will vie for playing time with Diaz. But neither offers the power potential, the star quality, or the fan draw that Griffey does.

Those attributes appear heading for the Great Northwest, leaving the Braves to scratch their head. The move caps a frustrating offseason during which the Braves’ attempts at landing Jake Peavy, A.J. Burnett and Rafael Furcal fell through.

Even without landing those three and Griffey, the Braves have improved themselves markedly this offseason, hoping to rebound from a 90-loss season. Still, the pain of nearly having Griffey on the team will resonate with Braves Nation for quite some time. It’s a cruel kick in the stomach for a franchise that’s endured its share of heartache and frustration during the past 12 months.

Update 9:18 p.m.: I’m stunned, folks. Really. Not because Ken Griffey Jr. going to Seattle dooms the Braves to another 90-loss season. But part of the shock value is, for the past five days, I’ve thought about what Junior’s presence would mean to this team, from an offensive standpoint, from a promotional standpoint, from a leadership standpoint.

It was, as I wrote repeatedly, a perfect fit. Freaking perfect. And now? Well, you’ve still got Matt Diaz to rip it against leftys, but who is going to serve as the other half of the platoon? Doesn’t matter who it is. It won’t be Griffey, and the Braves find themselves still needing a power bat if they truly want to pull even with the Phillies and the Mets in the NL East.

And at this point, I don’t think the Braves are going to be able to find anybody with a lot of pop, unless they unload some prospects to the Yankees for Swisher or Nady. And I really don’t see them doing that. Frank Wren has — for all the big names who said no to this team — done a really good job of upgrading the roster, all without sacrificing the franchise’s top prospects (save Tyler Flowers, but he was a catcher, and he’s not moving McCann from behind the dish).

I can’t blame Griffey. He’s going back to a city where he helped save Major League Baseball. He’s going to have a chance to make more incentive money. No, I’m not hating on Griffey at all. Just one of those things.

And yet … I don’t blame you one bit for being frustrated, folks. I’m frustrated as all get out. I can’t wait for the season to begin, as this offseason continues giving its share of misery and frustrating events.

With that said, there’s plenty good that’s happened to this team this offseason, too. Lowe. Vazquez. Ross. Kawakami. Sign Glavine for the fifth spot, roll ‘em out there and let’s see what happens.

For now, for tonight, Braves Nation simmers at the boiling point. Ah, what could’ve been …

–30–

Update 1:12 p.m.: Twelve hours after the original blog was published, and no updates yet on Ken Griffey Jr. and his decision-making process.

However, an Atlanta TV station is reporting on its Web site that Braves’ officials believe Griffey may be leaning toward Seattle, the place where Junior became one of baseball’s biggest stars in the early 1990s.

And I certainly understand that, to a certain extent, the heartstrings must be tugging at Junior just a bit from the Great Northwest. I mean, you could argue he played a big role in saving Major League Baseball in that city. Those ties, even though he’s been gone for a decade, still run deep, I imagine.

When all is said and done, however, I still believe Griffey will sign with the Braves. It might not be announced today, though … heck, it might be tomorrow before Junior signs on the dotted line at the glacial pace this thing has taken. But at the end of the day — whatever day it is that Griffey signs — I think it’ll be Atlanta.

I’ve been wrong before, though. Time will tell, so stay tuned.

Now to this morning’s blog …

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

ATLANTA — Welcome to the early-morning hours of Wednesday … excuse the good denizens of Braves Nation if they’re exhausted.

The funny thing is, normally a fan base feels this spent in October, not February.

Alas, this is life as a Braves fan. It’s like living under the confines of an umbrella that, when removed, reveals either bright sunshine or driving rain. Nothing in between. And there are days like Tuesday where the forecast seems to change minute-by-minute.

As of this writing, Ken Griffey Jr. remains a free agent. And although I fully expect that to change in the next 24 hours and Junior will sign with the Braves – perhaps by the time I turn on the computer at dawn’s early light – the roller-coaster of “He’s A Brave, He’s Not A Brave” is just fitting, given what this franchise has been through this offseason.

It started with Jake Peavy in October. It reached the apex with Rafael Furcal in December. Now in February, Braves Nation sits waiting yet again for somebody to decide if they want to play for the Braves.

It wasn’t too long ago that players would climb over a pile of barbed wire, leaving money on the side of the road, to hang their hat in the Braves’ locker room. But three consecutive seasons of missing October baseball tends to dull the shine off the star.

Maybe that’s why the sudden emergence of The Kid last weekend as a potential salve for the gaping wound that was left field for the Braves in 2008 was met with such an emotional spark, a surge that wobbled through the fan base. Yes, we all know this isn’t Griffey circa 1997, but Griffey circa 2008 would be an upgrade over what the Braves got out of left field last season.

It’s the perfect fit, as I’ve wrote the past few days, Griffey and that smooth left-handed swing bashing right-handers, coupled with Matt Diaz, who wears out left-handed pitchers. Griffey, the aging veteran who still can play, still can contribute, getting the opportunity to play close to his Orlando home, to play in the city where his daughter’s AAU basketball team is based, play on a team that looks ready to contend.

Without one more power threat in the lineup, the Braves from an offensive standpoint would need a breakout season from somebody – be it Kelly Johnson or Casey Kotchman or Josh Anderson – to have the type of lineup needed to be a serious contender in the NL East. That, and oh yeah, for Jeff Francoeur to revisit his pre-2008 form.

But add in Griffey and the potential for 20 homers, 90 RBIs and a .280 average now that he’s healthy – the troublesome knee that slowed him down during the second half of last season now fixed – and you’ve got a solid offense that could turn into something spectacular if Johnson or Kotchman or Anderson raises their consistency at the plate.

Put Griffey and Diaz into the mix in left, and the Braves are right there with the Phillies and Mets. There. I said it. And I’m not saying it expecting the Griffey from yesteryear.

No, all the Braves need is for Griffey to do what he does against right-handers, for Diaz to pound leftys the way he did before a miserable 2008, and Atlanta is going to be right there for the duration of 2009.

But first, the Braves need Griffey to sign on the dotted line. That’s going to happen, folks, likely as soon as this morning.

My advice to you, good people of Braves Nation – get some sleep now. You’ll need it come August and September and, hopefully, October as well.

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