With the World Series coming to a close on Wednesday, yesterday marked the first day players with six or more years of major league service could file for free agency. Four Braves filed on the first day, none of whom should come as a big surprise. So far, Garret Anderson, Mike Gonzalez, Adam LaRoche and Greg Norton have filed for free agency. Under the rules of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Braves now have until November 19th to negotiate a contract with these players or offer arbitration. After November 19th, any player who has not agreed to a contract or arbitration will be free to negotiate with the other 29 clubs.
LaRoche and Gonzalez have both expressed their desire to stay with Atlanta, but it remains to be seen if the Braves will have any interest. Rafael Soriano is the only other player eligible to file for free agency and is expected to do so any day now.
Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, free agents are classified as Type A or Type B players. Type A players are in the top 20% of players at their position. Type B players are ranked somewhere between the top 21-40% of players at their position. Both Gonzalez and Soriano are Type A, while LaRoche and Anderson are Type B. If a Type A player declines arbitration or signs with another club before December 1st, the Braves will receive the first round draft pick of the team signing the player and a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds. However, if the team signing the Type A player has one of the first fifteen picks in the first round, then the Braves would receive a sandwich round pick between the first and second rounds and the receiving team's second round pick. For a Type B player who declines arbitration or is signed before December 1st, the Braves would receive a sandwich round pick between the first and second rounds.
If the Braves decided they were going to keep one of these four...who would you want to see in a Braves uniform in 2010?
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Actually, I firmly believe that this headline should read 3 Braves, and a washed-up douchebag who cannot hit, run, or field worth a crap and yet still has a high sense of self-entitlement file for free agency. I’m very glad the Old Man Anderson is off of this team.
I’m glad Anderson and Norton won’t be 2010 Braves. Norton seems to be a nice guy who hung on too long. Between Gonzo and LaRoche, I dunno — I’d prefer Gonzo if he’s healthy and the Braves are able to target an adequate 1B. I’m mortally tired of LaRoche hitting like a #8 in the first half and a #4 in the second half. But if we can’t find another first sacker, we know what he can do better than anyone.
Also, this just in: J.J. Hardy traded for Carlos Gomez.
I’m not really at all hurt by any of these names on this list. If you were putting a gun to my head in order to choose one player, I’d have to take a healthy Gonzo or a second half Laroche. We all know that these are not things that can be guaranteed though. Thus, I don’t know.
I’d like to see Soriano stay and for us to pick up some solid defense and one or two good/great bats. We shall see though. I’m not the GM.
the big question is, who on the free agent market is better than laroche? Looking at the list, the only ones that catch my eye are hank blalock and russel branyan. Both are “swing hard in case you hit it” guys and I might rather have half a year of bad and half a year of good from laroche.
Good riddance to Anderson, Norton and hopefully Ryan Church too. They were mostly dead weight anyway.
Adam LaRoche would be hard to improve upon. The combination of his slick glove and solid bat are about as good as it gets for the moment. Losing Laroche would be a step in the wrong direction. Besides the Braves proved they cannot afford to pay for a top notch first sacker like Mark Teixiera.
Soriano and Gonzo were two of the top three bullpen mainstays. Losing one will hurt, if both leave it could be disastrous. At any rate, Atlanta already needed middle relief help and we know the Braves bullpen history in the postseason don’t we?
I expect the Braves to offer arbitration to Gonzo and let Soriano walk or at least they probably should as their payroll is an issue. LaRoche is almost a no-brainer unless the Braves can pull off some kind of miracle trade, which isn’t likely.
At any rate, this off season should prove whether Frank Wren is up to the task or if the Braves should be looking for a manager and a GM after next season…….