Braves, Cabrera Avoid Arbitration

[Dreamscape]

Yahoo Sports
Braves outfielder Melky Cabrera(notes) has agreed to a $3.1 million, one-year contract with his new team to avoid arbitration.

Cabrera, who made $1,425,000 last season with the New York Yankees, was acquired by Atlanta in a five-player deal that sent 15-game winner Javier Vazquez(notes) to the World Series champions. Cabrera was the Yankees’ starting center fielder most of the last three seasons, hitting .274 with 13 homers and 68 RBIs in 2009.
So, if you are keeping track at home, a career .716 OPS is worth a shade over $3M.

Peter Moylan is the only arbitration-eligible guy left to be signed.

[Lauren T.]

Peter Moylan is the only arbitration-eligible guy left to be signed.
I'm pretty sure he's still in Australia for the off-season. We may not hear anything on him until next month.

[Dreamscape]

I'm pretty sure he's still in Australia for the off-season. We may not hear anything on him until next month.
They don't have phones in Australia? :)

[Lauren T.]

Nope, no fax machines or Adobe Reader, either. ;)

[sdp]

I could put up a .716 OPS for $3.1 mil. BTW, the Yankees pick up $500k of Cabrera's 2010 salary as a part of the trade terms.

[Wahoo]

I could put up a .716 OPS for $3.1 mil. BTW, the Yankees pick up $500k of Cabrera's 2010 salary as a part of the trade terms.

We are still paying $1 mil more than we should be. Good grief, what a waste of payroll.

[KB 34]

Dump this utility outfielder and use the money to get a real outfielder, or a reliever. Come on Wren, I was feeling so much better about this team before the Vazquez trade.

[quick]

For what it's worth...

If this is the type of money they projected to give to Melky from day 1 and they are thinking of giving Moylan a significant raise based on his solid contributions from 2009, I can see why there's no "room" in the budget for another outfielder.

Right off the top of my head, we come pretty close to $90M (quoting Schuerholz for that figure) as the roster is right now. I think we'd only have $3M or so left to play with if Moylan were to get a $2Mish salary.

EDIT:

Additional thought...

$3M is what we would have paid Church to do essentially the same thing as Melky but he would've run greater risk of spending half the season on the DL. I'll have to stand by my opinion that Hinske will be Diaz's platoon partner if it comes to it and Heyward is being handed the right field job despite that being a terrible idea to just give it to him as a birthright.

I think we alotted about $2.5M to pay a 4th outfielder and (combined with the $500K in salary assistance from the Yankees) that is exactly what we got.

Your analysis makes pretty good sense. I am going to hope and pray for a new, rich, want-to-win Braves owner as soon as we can get one. It galls me that we did not get Matt Holliday, but it galls me even more that we cannot compete in the Matt Holliday sweepstakes because of our payroll limitations.

In the meantime, if the Braves don't perform, at least I can razz Cub fans for being so flippin' loyal to the greatest example of futility in all of pro sports (I believe their last WS title was in 1908). I have a theory that so long as they are in Wrigley (into which they moved about 1916, I believe), with its tiny dimensions, weird wind patterns, and brick outfield walls that prevent many of the wall-climbing or wall-banging catches we see at other parks, they'll simply not win the Series. And, since their identity is so melded with that ball park, I don't see how the Cubbies will be able to move without alienating their fan base.

Lucky them.

[Agent-X-]

Yahoo Sports

So, if you are keeping track at home, a career .716 OPS is worth a shade over $3M.

Peter Moylan is the only arbitration-eligible guy left to be signed.

So, you're pretty certain Melky won't touch last year's .752 OPS this year?

[Dreamscape]

So, you're pretty certain Melky won't touch last year's .752 OPS this year?
Gosh, he may be even able to touch .753!

[bravos4evr]

Any guesses of what Cabrera would've gotten in arby? I would think it woulda been around $2.25 mill , I guess that FW decided that when you consider the $500k the Yankees threw in that the extra $350k was worth not having to do the ugly battle that usually happens in arby....