The Atlanta Braves essentially completed their roster late last night with the addition of outfielder and pinch hitter Eric Hinske:
After introducing Troy Glaus as his new first baseman on Tuesday afternoon, Braves general manager Frank Wren indicated that he was nearing a deal that would essentially end his offseason roster reconstruction.
It appears that the process has been completed with the signing of Eric Hinske, who is expected to primarily be used off the bench.
Another good move by Frank Wren. Hinske has a career slash line as a pinch hitter of .255/.371/.373 in 124 pinch hit appearances, including a .300/..421/.400 line last year when he split time between the Pirates and the Yankees.
I don't mean to constantly toot my own horn, but I'm so rarely right about potential moves that I feel I need to point out when I do get one right. Yesterday morning I wrote the post about the potential 2010 Baby Braves in which I listed Eric Hinske as a member of the team, and sure enough here he is. Now that's probably the only part of that post I hope comes true.
0 recs | 105 comments
Payroll
After terms of this deal are released, I’m really looking forward to seeing what our payroll looks like for ’09.
blairblink - January 6, 2010
No way Dude
Bring back Norton with his mad skills.
BeantownVol - January 6, 2010
I still don't like that Baby Braves dream...
but interesting roster, especially if Heyward makes the roster in spring allowing a 4 man rotation with Melky filling in for JH, NM, and MD as needed for about 120 games a piece.
Mr. Sanchez - January 6, 2010
If Cox doesn’t use a Hinske/Diaz in LF, he’s a fool.
timmy3 - January 6, 2010
Don't worry
Bobby Cox is smarter than you.
BMacAttack - January 6, 2010
Doesn’t mean he knows what he’s doing…
timmy3 - January 6, 2010
I like this move for rounding out the bench. I just wish Hinske, Glaus, and Cabrera weren’t what Wren settled for. The offense will be better than what the Braves started with last season, but not as good as it could have been.
redwards95 - January 6, 2010
To whom are you referring
That FW should have been gunning for?
BMacAttack - January 6, 2010
HOLLIDAY DAMMIT!
Sparhawk - January 6, 2010
He's not worth 17 mil a year!
CowboyCurtis - January 6, 2010
yeah it's at least 50 mil a year
Skyagusta - January 6, 2010
I agree.
The Braves start 2010 with a better offense than they did in 2009. They also possess more depth than they did last year.
Still, winning teams have to stay healthy. The Braves are plenty good enough if the lineup stays the lineup most of the year.
kalesi - January 6, 2010
Hinske
I think MLBTR had his splits wrong. Hinske, a lefty batter, hits righties much much better.
He’s a Diaz platoon option alright, although his range in left hasn’t been great. It’s better at first where he’s a backup option to Glaus. I think he’ll also be a top choice to fill in for Chipper when he’s ailing.
Nice addition, pretty much rounds things out. We could have bid on a bigger bat if we had been able to offload Lowe, but this will be a good team and a playoff contender if Heyward debuts big.
JimK - January 6, 2010
I think the other problem...
…was that bigger bats just weren’t available this offseason. Both Bay and Holliday were available, but they got much bigger contracts than they deserved and I am glad the Braves didn’t try to compete with those bids.
cavebird - January 6, 2010
Maybe we shouldn’t fire that Wren guy afterall…Perhaps is ISN’T a cotton-headed ninnie-muggins.
justincredubil02 - January 6, 2010
MLBTR has corrected their initial numbers to reflect Hinske’s strength vs RHPs.
JimK - January 6, 2010
id rather have GLaus at third when CHipper is injured while i feel like he is the better defender
Swo12bv - January 6, 2010
I would guess that is likely what we do...
…putting Hinske at first, although I don’t know if it makes a huge amount of difference.
cavebird - January 6, 2010
I'd think it depends on how long...
if it’s he’s coming back as soon as the 15 days on the DL are up, then it makes sense to keep Glaus focused on 1st and bide the time splitting Hinske and Infante there. If he’d be out for over a month or two, then Glaus probably makes the move (if the shoulder can handle it), and we readjust with Hinske, Glaus, or perhaps even Diaz at 1st.
Mr. Sanchez - January 6, 2010
That's probably correct.
Although I don’t think the shoulder is the big concern—it isn’t his throwing shoulder.
cavebird - January 6, 2010
Gondeee, you’re a modern day prophet. Can you tell me what I’ll be doing this time next year?
Bobby Cocks - January 6, 2010 via mobile
Good call Gondeee.
Still doesn’t get Murphy in the HOF though, LOL.
ChrisK562 - January 6, 2010
Yeah, good call.
Finally, a little bit of power on the bench.
nick9314 - January 6, 2010
Let's not forget about Infante.
Chief Noc-A-Homa - January 6, 2010
Sarcasm much?
Bronn - January 6, 2010
Sad part is
He has hit fourth in our lineup before.
nick9314 - January 6, 2010
Heyward RF Atlanta Braves
Unless Heyward has a terrible spring this almost guarantees that he starts the year with the big club.
Fear The Turtle - January 6, 2010
So we're looking at...
C-McCann
C-Ross
1B/3B-Glaus
2B/UT-Prado
SS-Escobar
3B-Chipper
OF-Melky
CF/LF-McLouth
LF/RF-Diaz
SS/UT-Infante
1B/3B/LF/RF-Hinske
add two more from the list of Heyward, Schafer, Thurston, Conrad, Hernandez, B Jones, M Jones, or Blanco (maybe a couple others in the mix)
Then pitching—
Hanson
Hudson
Jurrjens
Lowe
Kawakami
Medlen
O’Flaherty
Moylan
Saito
Wags
2 from Hyde, Abreu, Chavez, Dunn, Lyman, Cofield, Reyes, Valdez, Ortegano, Parr, and Venters (assuming Marek is DFA to make room for Hinske on the 40 man)
Not bad, with a decent collection of kids at AA/AAA ready to come up if need be.
Mr. Sanchez - January 6, 2010
I think Scott Procter makes the pen…
bwellnjonesco - January 6, 2010
Doubt it out of spring training...
he’d likely be among that AAA contingent ready to come up if needed. I didn’t list him because he’s not on the 40 man roster, and may still need time to recover from injuries.
Mr. Sanchez - January 6, 2010
I didn’t think about him not even being on the 40 man, good call..
bwellnjonesco - January 6, 2010
I don’t think Venters, Ortegano, or Cofield really stand much of a chance of making the team. Cofield and Venters because they kind of suck, and Ortegano because he could use some more experience. I think Dunn and Chavez are the favorites, mostly because they have good upside. The others I think mix between AA & AAA. It’s probably going to come down to whoever walks the least guys in ST, because a lot of these guys have control issues.
blindsided789 - January 6, 2010
They kind of suck? Why the hell did the Braves protect them on the 40 man roster then?
cbwilk - January 6, 2010
Good question.
I would have let them go. Who would even take them? Pitchers who can’t strike out that many guys while having poor control aren’t really who I would want on my team.
blindsided789 - January 6, 2010
As much as Wren has taken a bunch of criticism from various sources on the “injury risk” factor of this team, I’m seeing a pretty deep collection of interchangeable parts that most teams cannot match. Looks rather “injury-tolerant” to me.
carpengui - January 6, 2010
Of course, the problem is
That if Infante and Hinske are forced to play a lot, it’s still not a very good team. They’re very admirable fill-ins for guys who spend 15 days on the DL, but if either starts 30 games, that’s tough.
Bronn - January 6, 2010
Definitely. It certainly will provide Cox the ability to be creative with the lineup if injuries or matchups are warranted. I think only Ross is going to be the only non-starter who can’t play multiple positions.
kalesi - January 6, 2010
Not really Bronn...
in that scenario it’d depend on how the entire team steps up to fill a void. We’ve got a lot of pieces and versatility on the roster should one or two guys go down for a while. Now, if injuries are a major problem, like they were with the Mets last year or the Braves the year before, we’ll I’d be shocked if any team, including the Yankees with all their ability to add salary, would be able to endure such a significant loss of key contributors.
Mr. Sanchez - January 6, 2010
I like the flexibility this team has with prado, infante, melky, glaus, and hinske able to play multiple positions. If chipper can play closer to his career #’s and play 130 games I like our chances of competing for the division.
Any chance there is money hidden away if we’re nearing the break and need to add a piece? There was a lot of talk concering around $9M left for wren to use for a big bat.
Favorite line from ted turner: “you have one bullet if you need it”. I miss having private ownership.
Chesterhighwater - January 6, 2010 via mobile
It depends on how much Hinske signed for. Glaus has a ceiling of $4M (and if he reaches that, we should be happy, because that means he will have been healthy), so that leaves us with $5M from the Javy deal alone (not inlcuding Hinkse’s deal). From what I have read, we had somewhere in the $4M – $7M range prior to the Javy deal.
That gave us about $13-16M in room total, minus the 4 for Glaus, any raises via arb., bonuses and Hinkse. I would imagine that we still have somewhere in the $5M-$7M range tucked away for a rainy day.
Does someone have anthing more accurate for us?
justincredubil02 - January 6, 2010
I am pretty sure...
…performance based incentives outside of award based incentives are not allowed in MLB contracts per the CBA.
cavebird - January 6, 2010
Reply fail.
This was supposed to be in response to the post below, not the post above. Oops.
cavebird - January 6, 2010
A-Rod has a bonus if he hits 500 HRs, right? Is that classified as something different?
justincredubil02 - January 6, 2010
I think that you can have milestone awards...
…but not per se X dollars for X batting average, home runs, etc., in a season incentives.
cavebird - January 6, 2010
The owner of Liberty Media is from Connecticut, and has been described as, “the Darth Vader of business.”
Damn it. T-T-t….
Chief Noc-A-Homa - January 6, 2010
How is Glaus’s contract structured? If he plays x number of games he gets the $4M or are there stats put into it too?
Chesterhighwater - January 6, 2010 via mobile
That’s pretty much it. He gets 1.75M guaranteed, a 250K bonus for making the roster (a given), and up to $2M in bonuses based on plate appearances for a grand max total of $4M – all appearance based, not performance based.
justincredubil02 - January 6, 2010
-I assume that the Braves winning the NL East part you also want to come true.
Andy Braves Fan - January 6, 2010
I’d settle for wild card…
gondeee - January 6, 2010
I’m ready to make a run at the 14 straight divisional championships “all-sports” record…
bwellnjonesco - January 6, 2010
Rosterbation is pointless...
though I have dabbled myself. Okay I get just as sucked into it as many others here. The point is NOBODY envisioned us making the moves we’ve made this offseason. Maybe one here or there (Gondeee mentions calling the Hinske signing). But Melky, Glaus, and Hinske is completely different than the ballpark most people thought we were in. Sounds like the rosterbation can pretty much be over, though we know it won’t.
The fact is last year we were able to make a push and get within a week of making the playoffs. So we weren’t a bad team. But leaving out all of the possible trades, free agents and everything else, on the surface at least, the Braves look like a better team. Our bench looks really good and I am hopeful that Glaus can be the power bat we’ve needed since Tex left.
Good job Frank. Finding unconventional ways to solve problems is a key to being a GM and he has done a good job IMO.
Fischerking - January 6, 2010
Hinske
Excellent news. Any word on contract value?
Yakker - January 6, 2010
I still can’t find anything about it, other than it is for 1 year.
justincredubil02 - January 6, 2010
Guess we're done now
Barring any surprise offers from other clubs I think the Braves have finished their major winter dealing. With a good rookie year from Heyward wild card contention is reasonable for 2010, especially if the Mets aren’t all recovered from their injuries and pitching problems.
Don’t even bother with trying to determine how much is left in the budget, it’s all spent. Hope is Glaus earns the extra two million for a full season, and you need to keep a couple of million around for extensions, midseason signings, and overages on the amateur draft account.
Besides, who knows, maybe Lowe reels off a few wins in a row, the team falls 15 behind the Phillies by July, one of our young starters breaks out in AA or AAA, and we’ll need a few million to incent some contender to pick up most of Lowe’s contract.
JimK - January 6, 2010
If this team is 15 behind the Phillies in July, that will mean the Phillies have 3 Cy Young contenders in their rotation.
justincredubil02 - January 6, 2010
That, or
We’ll have done a great job assembling a 50 win team.
Bronn - January 6, 2010
why would any Braves fan wish the team was back 15 games of the Phillies in July under any circumstance? Here’s hoping Lowe earns every penny of his contract.
adc62 - January 6, 2010
Not a wish, of course. May the Phillies have the same luck the Mets had last year, despite all the talent on their roster.
And yeah, may Lowe develop a knuckleball or something and go 20-5 for us for each of the next three seasons, and earn his keep.
But just in case these dreams don’t come true, and the Braves do fall out of contention while they still have a chance to unload Lowe’s contract, and (perhaps the wildest dream of all) someone appears willing to take on his 2011 and 2012 salary, may it happen! Because with that extra $15m to play around with in ’11 and ’12 we can add a final ingredient to team with Heyward, Hanson etc in much the way we added Maddux to the low budget Smoltz-Glavine team of the early 1990s..
JimK - January 6, 2010
Love the Hinske signing
Above average hitter, above average defender. Great fit for the bench.
Bronn - January 6, 2010
Plus
He’s a winner. 2007 Red Sox, 2008 Rays, 2009 Yankees.
Let the luck continue!
Bronn - January 6, 2010
So apparently he's a great good luck charm for the AL
Mr. Sanchez - January 6, 2010
Or for the East
acie4mvp - January 6, 2010
Vlad?
he’s interested in playing the field now. and he’s working on his conditioning. anyone interested in giving him a 1 year / 8 million dollar deal? have him in RF and see what we can get for Melky? There are a few teams that could use him for a AA 3B with upside.
apoxonbothyourhouses - January 6, 2010
His knees are held together with twine and duct tape, which really means he’s only going to be healthy as a DH. His range is all but gone in the field (although he does still have the Arm).
FineHamAbounds - January 6, 2010
Ouch, no.
Vlad can’t play the outfield anymore, and he won’t get $8 million anywhere else. Plus, I don’t see how replacing Melky with Vlad works—-Melky is to be our fourth OF for most of the season; to do that, it helps to be able to play all three OF positions, while Vlad can’t really play any of them. Plus, it blocks Heyward and blows the money we have to make a mid-season addition.
cavebird - January 6, 2010
It doesn’t matter that he’s interested in playing the field when nobody else is
acie4mvp - January 6, 2010
Solid signing.
He can play all over, and he can hit a little, especially against righties.
FineHamAbounds - January 6, 2010
well, I guess this means the Braves will not be signing Johnny Damon after all.
/sarcasm (because it was never going to happen)
fandave - January 6, 2010
I like the move
More proven than Norton, though I did like him as well.
SmithnCompany - January 6, 2010
If we use him as infrequently as Norton was used last year...
I wouldn’t expect much more production. If we use Hinske more akin to Norton in 08 getting at least one start every week or two, then I’d expect something closer to Norton in 08 vs. Norton 09.
Mr. Sanchez - January 6, 2010
I think Norton's lack of use last year...
…had to do with the poor performance as well. A vicious circle.
cavebird - January 6, 2010
Andre Dawson Makes the Hall...
Dale Murphy should be there too.
CowboyCurtis - January 6, 2010
"The Hawk"
If Murph had a cool nickname like Dawson, he would be in
JFP - January 6, 2010
Roids Era ...
Might actually help Murphy and some other guys pre roids era. Big Mac got 23.7% which is a real indicator that voters still have issue with this period in baseball for being considered for the HOF. Once more of these type of players like Bonds and others get into the pool of players in may send these voters to vote for guys that are on the fence preroids era like murph more votes that would send a signal that steriods are not accepted as part of the HOF. But who knows how this plays out but if Rice/Hawk gets in than Murph should also gets in IMO…
Hanson-Ace - January 6, 2010
Muprh may be waiting on the veteran committee...
wonder if that would be the easier route to get him in.
Mr. Sanchez - January 6, 2010
Murph,...
oops on the typo. But this makes no damn sense. No Murphy, but yes to Dawson and Rice? The foolish refusal to vote for Alomar on the first ballot as if making him wait a year means anything other than the voters are assholes. Byleven is now considered a near lock, when for almost 15 years now his resume hasn’t been good enough. And he’s good enough, but Lee Smith isn’t? Some of the SSs in, but not Trammell or Larkin? You gotta draw the line somewhere, but this process is getting to be a complete and utter joke. What’s next, Maddux and Randy Johnson can’t get in until their 2nd or 3rd ballot because well, the BBWAA just felt they weren’t worthy of going in earlier and forced them to wait on the inevitable? The whole thing is becoming a farce.
Mr. Sanchez - January 6, 2010
Not disagreeing with all of that...
…but implying that Lee Smith was as good as Blyleven is just silly. There is about at 3700 IP difference for starters.
cavebird - January 6, 2010
So we discount saves for Smith?...
then Rivera, Hoffman, Wagner and others better see the same treatment.
Mr. Sanchez - January 7, 2010
Rivera, Hoffman, and Wagner are better than Lee Smith was, no matter which stat you use to compare them. Wagner’s the only one of them with fewer saves than Smith, too.
FineHamAbounds - January 8, 2010
I like the team FW has assembled,
and can’t wait for the season to begin! I think it is going to be an exciting year for us Braves fans….
Go Braves!
HEYJUDE - January 6, 2010
Hey, HEYJUDE!
justincredubil02 - January 6, 2010
Hey!
Can’t wait until the games begin! I hope to see ya on the open thread :)
HEYJUDE - January 6, 2010
+1
I agree completely. We have at least 3 who look like they can provide 25+ HR and a couple who can get 15-20. Lineup is balanced, we have an above average bench, and a very solid rotation. Can’t wait for 2010
GoBravesNY - January 6, 2010
What to do with Melky ?
So what to do with Melky Cabera is know the real question; I know we are going to keep him to start the season b/c Heyward is going to be great no question but I believe the Braves could use or call him up until after June.
Melky starting in the OF is still not my ideal OF but he is better the old worn out G. Anderson for sure.
Plus if he does decent at all and once Heyward gets the call in June if not before then we could trade Melky for something at the deadline b/c a switch hitter that can come off the bench and can start at OF position will have some value at the deadline for sure.
Go Braves, Hinske is a good quality player that will serve us well just wanna know how much we are paying him before I get to excited.
Holty_Panthers_Fan - January 6, 2010
But switch hitters who can start any OF position...
…are very valuable for us, too! I think we keep him as the fourth OF regardless of when Heyward comes up. Diaz and McLouth have had some bad splits lefty/righty in the past, and Melky seems like a very good fourth OF for us.
cavebird - January 6, 2010
Were all the FA signings for 1 yr?
It looks like we are going to have a much differnt team come next year. I have to say that i have not been a huge supporter of FW… however i do really like the fact that he didnt saddle us with any albatross contracts again (ala D. Lowe)
On paper it looks like we have a team which can compeate and a little extra cash if we run into trouble AND a fair amount of money coming off the books next year. Not bad… not great but really not bad.
Freemans - January 6, 2010
What’s not great about it?
justincredubil02 - January 6, 2010
Prado starting and Kelly on Arizona’s roster? jk not planning on starting or talking about this ever again
acie4mvp - January 6, 2010
We still have Lowe, we gave Soriano away, we have Melkey way on or team (and i dont want to hear about how he is a good player or has potential or any of that, he is all that but so are 1000 other players)
The bottom line is we ARE counting on how many players that are old or comming off of injury? Lowe, Wagner, Saito, chipper are all old. Wagner, Hudson, Glaus are all coming off injuries. We should have solid Sp. We should have versatility, We should have a fairly solid lineup. Now most teams have the same issues dont get me wrong but… Like i said we could do a lot worse but do i love it… hummm.
I would have loved it if we could have traded Lowe instead, had gotten someone else instead of Melky, signed only one of the Rp we did and someone younger like Kevin Gregg or Kiko Calero.
Tell you what i will love it if we still trade Lowe and sign Ben Sheets to a 1 or 2 yr contract.
And how about trade Melky for a prospect and sign Rocco Baldelli? or maybe Marcus Thames?
Freemans - January 6, 2010
Well, I get that it could always be better, but sometimes you have to play the hand you are dealt. Wren did just about a perfect job, considering the hand he was given (nobody wanting Lowe, being forced to trade a SP, lack of true hitters on the market, etc).
The only problem I have with what Wren did (other than non-tender KJ, but I understand the financials behind the decision) is how soon and how much he signed Saito for.
You say we gave Soriano away, but really, we did not give him away. Jesse Chavez is a great return. Our options were non-tender and lose out completely or tender and hope he rejects. He accepted and put us in a pickle that Wren did a masterful job of getting out of. Sure, I would have preferred he trade Soriano for Ryan Braun, but that just wasn’t going to happen. He got the best he could for him under the circumstances.
justincredubil02 - January 6, 2010
Hmm…you criticize Wren for signing old/potentially injury prone players yet you want him to trade Lowe and sign Sheets. Something there isn’t right. Lowe hasn’t pitched below 180 innings since 2002, when he first began starting on a regular basis. Sheets has pitched above 160 innings once since 2005 and didn’t pitch at all last season.
acie4mvp - January 6, 2010
If you are going to criticize me for wanting more this offseason than perhaps you should be carefull using words like perfect and masterfull.
Obviously we dont know exactley what goes on upstairs but Jesse Chavez is the best we could get…really? And how long did we have to trade Soriano before we would have ahd to do something with him?
And something which i have a major problem with is FW not taking enough heat for signing Lowe to that monsterous contract to begin with. What did he expect out Lowe? Honestly i think he will have a better year than last year but not worth his contract at any pt.
Freemans - January 6, 2010
Last season, he was worth $12M. With any bounce-back to his old self, he will (should) easily be worth the $15M owed to him.
justincredubil02 - January 6, 2010
Great move.
I have been calling for Hinske for a while now, but I kind of doubted that we would sign him.
Hinske is a great bat off the bench, and he would make a great platoon partner with Diaz until Heyward gets the call. After that, they could both serve as valuable pinch hitters and occasionally start.
Also, does anyone think we should just go with a 4 man bench and an 8 man bullpen? To start the season, the bench would be Diaz/Hinske, Infante, Ross, and maybe Conrad, Mitch Jones, or Thurston. Then, when Heyward gets called up, the bench would be Diaz, Hinske, Ross, and Infante. I want an 8 man bullpen simply because Bobby loves to overwork the ’pen. Does anyone agree?
GouldisGold - January 6, 2010
He definitely overworks the bullpen but I wouldn’t mind having Sammons on the roster so Ross could pinch-hit and actually play
acie4mvp - January 6, 2010
I agree,
because no matter how many he has in the pen, Bobby tends to send the same 3-4 out there every night.
HEYJUDE - January 6, 2010
I was thinking the exact same thing
acie4mvp - January 6, 2010
but usually its 3-4 god relievers and the rest kinda suck… this year we have a bunch of solid arms and i want to beleive Bobby will use them all… he loves o use Moylan and EOF, he will have to use Wagner and Saito…. he seems to like Chavez
so thats 5 right there. hopefully Bobby will use everyone
Swo12bv - January 6, 2010
What BS. Lowe was crap last year. Easily our worst starter & one of the worst in the NL. Wren was an idiot for out bidding himself & overpaying a player he didn’t even want at first. he deserves to be called out for that. If Lowe sucks this season, that will be 15 million dollars down the tubes In real life, not the stat sheet.
Nothing masterful about getting that re-tread Chavez either.
FitzFan - January 7, 2010
what?
ummmm, you sir, if i understand you correctly, are a moron.
apoxonbothyourhouses - January 7, 2010
THIS
How can you call a 15 game winner one of the worst in the NL? Do you know how many guys wish they won 15 games??
BravesCPO - January 7, 2010
Don’t think that’s what he meant
acie4mvp - January 7, 2010
Pretty sure he said Lowe was one of the worst SP in the NL. Don’t disagree with him being our weakest statistical starter, but to say he could be the worst in the NL is BS. Do I believe he is worth the money? No, but he really isn’t as bad as people are making him out to be.
BravesCPO - January 8, 2010
Fitzfan is legendary here for saying wacky things.
FineHamAbounds - January 8, 2010
Understood. Haven’t really paid to much attention to other posts. Thanks for the heads up.
BravesCPO - January 8, 2010
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