Thursday, December 17, 2009

Short End of the Stick... AGAIN

When offering arbitration to former closers Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano, the Braves expected to receive 2 first round draft picks and 2 sandwich picks when they each signed as free agents. First Soriano stuck to 'em by unexpected accepting his arbitration offer, forcing the Braves into a trade situation. While I like that the Braves were able to pick up Jesse Chavez in the deal, he comes at a high price; essentially costing them both Soriano and the two picks they would've gotten had Soriano gone the free agent route.

Today Gonzalez has reached a deal to sign with the Orioles, as their closer. While this offer does bring the sting of Soriano accepting arbitration, the Braves still aren't getting what they expected. Because the O's are terrible and therefore have one of the first 15 picks of next years draft, they don't have to give that up for signing the Type A free agent, Gonzo. In stead, the Braves will receive a sandwich pick and the O's second round draft pick.

Sure would be nice for Wren to go make a deal that would ease the salt-on-the-wound pain of these most recent transactions.

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