Braves.Today.Com

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

ATLANTA — Maybe when all was said and done, the lure of returning to the place where his star took off won the day.

Or maybe it was the extra incentive money kicked in at the last hour.

Or perhaps it’s my fault.

Awakening Saturday morning, I felt rejuvenated. All offseason, I wrote about the frustrations of the Atlanta Braves and their fan base as they attempted to re-tool the roster following the franchise’s worst season in 18 years. With the official start of spring training arriving Saturday and – with the exception of signing Tom Glavine – the reshaping of the roster complete, I allowed myself to think about how much fun it would be to write about the players the Braves actually employ, and not the ones they might.

Then Ken Griffey Jr. jumped into the picture, consuming the thoughts of Braves Nation for a dizzying five days that ended the same way the pursuits of Jake Peavy, A.J. Burnett and Rafael Furcal concluded:

No dice.

Griffey, who appeared poised to join the Braves and give Atlanta the power bat it sorely needs in the outfield, instead decided late yesterday to return to Seattle. In choosing the Mariners over the Braves, Junior heads back to the franchise where he made his major-league debut in 1989, where he blossomed into a superstar, where he helped save Major League baseball in that city with his stellar play in the 1990s.

And the Braves?

Left wondering what could have been. Again.

Just when you think this franchise has experienced every conceivable kick in the you-know-where the past 12 months, on and off the field, comes this: tantalizing close to landing a future Hall of Famer and the active leader in career home runs – so close, published reports early Tuesday afternoon (including one this site linked to) stated Griffey indeed had chosen Atlanta over Seattle – the Braves instead watched as Junior decided to accept the Mariners’ one-year, $2 million contract that provides him a chance to make an additional $2.5 million in incentives.

The frustration level of Braves Nation this early morning is immeasurable. That’s understandable. And while I know Braves fans across the nation are seething at Griffey’s decision – blaming everybody from Junior to Braves’ GM Frank Wren to newspaper reporters who ran with the Tuesday afternoon story – it’s important to try and step back and look at this from a holistic perspective.

Without Griffey, the Braves still have a gaping hole in left field, a position that generated a grand total of six homers in 2008. This we know. Granted, Matt Diaz should hit at least that many himself, and he did post back-to-back .300 seasons in 2006-07, before a miserable start and a severe knee injury wrecked his 2008 season.

And yes, anybody who thinks Brandon Jones or Gregor Blanco or Josh Anderson or Jordan Schafer will team with Diaz to produce what a Griffey/Diaz platoon would’ve generated is kidding themselves. I get all that.

But all is not lost, good denizens of Braves Nation – it just seems that way.

Yes, Peavy and Burnett and Furcal and now Griffey didn’t end up here. But Derek Lowe and Javier Vazquez and Kenshin Kawakami did (and Glavine will, of this I’m sure). Chipper Jones remains a Brave. So, too, does Brian McCann and Yunel Escobar and Jair Jurrjens. The bullpen looks strong – if healthy, Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano and Peter Moylan form a three-headed monster that anchor what could be one of baseball’s best and deepest bullys. The bench is better with the addition of David Ross, the presence of Omar Infante and Martin Prado and Greg Norton, and the subtraction of Corky Miller, Brent Lillibridge and Ruben Gotay.

Kelly Johnson and Casey Kotchman are still here, and those guys could help make up for the lack of Griffey’s presence by taking the next step in their offensive development. Neither is going to be Griffey and what he could have provided, but further production from both – which I think is a distinct possibility – will only improve an Atlanta offense that on paper doesn’t look bad, even with the lack of a power bat in left.

Then, there’s the guy who mans the other corner outfield spot, the one who would’ve played opposite of Griffey. Jeff Francoeur, the golden child who fell flat on his face during 2008, has to bounce back. Plain and simple. No matter who plays left, Frenchy reaches 2009 at a crossroads.

Now that he’s avoided arbitration with the Braves, agreeing to a one-year, $3.375-million contract late last night, what will we see from Jeff-ro this season? Will it be the kid who looked like an emerging star in 2005-07, or the player who was so overmatched and loused up at the plate last season?

Time will tell. What we do know if Griffey will not be here, and we also know it’s not the end of the Braves’ hopes. Now, it’s up to Francoeur – and the guys who are here – to make us forget about the ones who aren’t.

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