Braves may be close to a deal.

[KB21]

It looks like the Braves and the Cardinals will get together and make a deal. The Braves are looking to get J.D. Drew.

The names being thrown around right now are Jason Marquis and Ray King for JD Drew.

I think it would be a low risk, high reward deal. If Drew stays healthy, this deal could be a steal. However, Drew has yet to get 500 at bats in any season and has yet to play more than 132 games. His contract is up in two years. If he stays his injury prone self, Atlanta can just let him go in two years. By that time, Jeff Francouer may be ready to assume the right field position. Plus, I'm not sure if Jason Marquis will ever "get it", so I don't think Atlanta will be giving up very much in this potential deal.

[Plainview1981]

I don't know much about minor league baseball or the

baseball draft, but wasn't JD Drew a 1st pick in the draft?

That kinda makes him a bust.

[KB21]

He's a career .280 hitter with a .370 OBP and an OPS a shade under .900.

He's definitely not a bust when he plays. The problem has been getting him on the field. If he does go through a healthy season where he gets 500-600 at bats, he should put up his career averages at least while also hitting 30+ home runs. His swing is one of the purest left handed swings in the game.

[chillzatl]

Because he's a #1 pick, that makes him a bust?

I kinda expected you to say that....

[Plainview1981]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?statsId=6117

Well, if your the first pick in the draft and your best season

is 27HR 73RBI I'd say that makes you abit of a bust. The

Braves didn't give up alot so it's not a bad deal....It's just

that the guy isn't all that great. Injuries or whatever...it

makes no difference. If he plays 150 games a year he's

probably a 30HR 90RBI guy...And that isn't bad, but that's

what he'll give you in a healthy season. But he's not really

much of a replacement for Sheffield.

[KB21]

You forgot to mention that in that best season, JD Drew also hit .323 with a .414 OBP, a .613 SLG, and a 1.027 OPS while scoring 80 runs.

No, he's not going to give the Braves the power to replace Sheffield's overall power numbers. He will give the Braves a better defensive presence in right field though, and he's a native of Georgia.

[chillzatl]

Considering that in his best season, he only played in just over 100 games, that's pretty damned good. That's pretty close to the best Sheff ever did.

Not that I consider him as good as SHeffield. But he's far from a bust. But I wouldn't expect any to say anything good about him anyway

[KB21]

I've visited the Braves boards. There is a lot of belly aching out there. The doom and gloom guys are out in full force. Not offering arbitration to any of our free agents except Julio Franco has made them come out in droves. Now, because of all that, the Braves will fall to last in the division. We don't have a chance now.

Of course, the same guys said this last year after Tom Glavine left and Kevin Millwood was traded. The Braves were doomed. They even started 4-12 on the season, and boy, the I told you so's came out in full force. The Braves only won an unprecedented 12th straight division championship.

[Gray Mule]

What will this new guy make this year?

How much will Sheffield make?

Probable a little difference in dollars, I'll bet.

So, if his hits cost us a lot less per hit, that should be

taken into consideration.

Sometimes, we can't afford to drive a Lincoln Continental.

We have to settle for a Ford Focus.

We may not get there in grand stile, but we get there

a heck of a lot cheaper, and we still get there.

[KB21]

Drew will make around $5 million next season. That's compared to the $13 million or so Sheffield will make.

Of course, there is a lot of talk that the Yankees have cooled on Sheff and have decided to pursue Vlad.

The Braves have filed a grievance on this deal though.

[Gray Mule]

Almost three times as much !!

We save $8 Million and still get a good player.

Makes a lot os sense to me.

Heard a rumor Sheffield is now working the Mets for a

position - Stays in the big apple and in the N.L.

Also, this does away with the Yankees and the stigma

of dealing improperly.

[chillzatl]

I would have liked nothing more than to see them spend out the ass to get him and watch him fail to put up the numbers that lured them into giving him the contract.

While I'm sure he'd put up good numbers, he's not going to match last seasons spread.

I cross my fingers that they don't get Vlad though. He's a special player. MLB needs a hard cap.

[Plainview1981]

I don't think I said he sucked. I said he's a bust from what

a number 1 pick should be. Shouldn't a number 1 pick be

a superstar player?

"ut I wouldn't expect any to say anything good about him anyway "

I just said in my last post that healthy he's probably a 30-33 HR guy and about 90-95RBI guy....That's not

saying something bad. I'm just saying he's not a

superstar or anything, but I remember him having a

pretty good bit of hype and he's yet to live up to it.

Injuries or not it doesn't matter. Heck, I never said he never will putup great numbers, but as of right now he hasn't proved to be the star he was hyped up to be.

Nothing personal, but this is one reason why I'm reluctant

to support one team.....That way I don't take ever little

critism of the team to heart like some of you guys do.

When you think of a number 1 pick you think of a super

star type of player. Is JD Drew that? Unless you can say

that, then your comments are unwarranted because this

was all I was trying to say.

Ray King faltered the second half last season. I like

Jason, but the guy just doesn't get the job done...With

all of that being said, I think the Braves made a good

deal and got a solid player.

And no the Braves will not lose the division...Who's going

to beat them? The rebuilding Mets? The torn apart Marlins?

The never contending Expos? The Philles might fight abit,

but they haven't dethrowned the Braves the last several

years and there is nothing to say they will now. If anything,

this should be the biggest advange the Braves have had

in years.

I like Giles and I'm sure he'll continue to improve. I like

that one guy that pitched for the Braves last year...The

rookie with a bit of a hot head...Can't think of his name..

[Gray Mule]

What happened? Did they really have a falling out, then

get back together?

Or, did they simply run thru this to cover up the fact that

the deal was already in place long before it was supposed

to be? I'm betting that is what happened.

In the American League, I have been a Cleveland Indians

fan since before they won their last World Series.

Any one want to guess when that was?

There were no major league baseball teams south of the

Mason Dixon line then. Fans here in Western North

Carolina either were New York Yankee fans or New York

Yankee haters --- There was no middle ground.

I still feel the same way about the Yankees.

[KB21]

......that whole thing was a ruze to cover up the fact that they already had the deal done and intentionally waited on signing it so they wouldn't have to give up any compensation.

The Braves will file a grievance on this as well. Of course, Bud Selig won't do squat about it. He's in George's back pocket.

[Admin]

If the Braves and everyone else "knew" that the Yankees and Sheff had a deal all but finalized then why didnt they offer him arbitration? If they "knew" for a fact that there was already a deal then they would have done that and taken several of the Yankees high draft choices. The fact is that Sheff has a big mouth and went running it off before there was anything in writing and then he tried to squeeze a little more out of Steinbrenner and it wasnt until they started seriously talking to Vlad that Sheff agreed to be a man and sign the handshake deal that he and the Boss had worked out.

Bottom line is that the Braves screwed the pooch on this one because they were too scared of a Maddux situation to offer him arbitration and it cost them a few top draft picks.

[KB21]

Why offer arbitration when the deal was agreed upon before the deadline, meaning the Yankees would have to give up their 1st round pick anyway if signed?

The whole Sheffield trying to squeez more money out of the Yankees was a big ruze. That crap didn't start until the Braves let it be known that they were going to file a grievance with the league.

The Yankees should be forced to give their 1st round pick to the Braves, but with a weak commissioner like Bud Selig, that will never happen.

[Admin]

Why should the Yankees have to do that when there is absolutely no proof that he signed with the Yankees before the arbitration deadline? The only thing the Braves are even basing this off of is a player with a big mouth and no agent thinking that he had a finalized contract before he actually did. Now, I am not saying that there isnt a chance that the Yankees hadnt agreed and that the whole thing wasnt a ruze, but there is no definitive proof that the Yankees did anything wrong and the Braves are just going to have to live with that. Like I said, if they knew that the Yankees were going to sign him then all they had to do was offer arbitration to him and they would have gotten several high picks. [censored] even the worst case scenario is that Sheff comes back for one more year with the team and has another monster year for them.

[KB21]

Nothing will happen because stupid Bud won't do anything. If the league still had a guy like Fay Vincent as the commish, then the Yankees would be penalized for intentionally waiting to get the deal signed. They should be forced to give up their 1st round pick.