Now that the hot stove season has began the Braves like the rest of the league have to answer the question to whether they will tender contracts for arbitration eligible players. The Braves have five players eligible for arbitration including two outfielders, an infielder, and a pair of relievers.

Of the players the Braves have to make a decision on reliever Peter Moylan and Matt Diaz being the easiest while former second basemen Kelly Johnson figures to be the hardest.

Moylan appeared in a career high 87 games last season. While it’s been perceived that he struggled at the end of the season Moylan actually pitched better in September. In those 14 games he had just a 1.72 ERA and allowed 0 of  6 inherited runners to score while holding opponents to a .185 BAA and a .579 OPS. Despite the fact that he’s expected to command $1 million though the process theres little reason to think the Braves would shy away from again having Moylan be a near everday option at the back end of the pen.

Boone Logan is another reliever who is eligible for arbitration this winter. Logan who appeared in 20 games for the Braves was acquired in the deal that also brought Javier Vazquez to the club. Logan spent the majority of the season pitching at Triple-A where he compiled solid overall numbers. The truth about Boone Logan is that he’s really just a situational lefty. In 2009 he held lefties to a .231 average compared to the .364 righties racked up against him. For his career the lines aren’t much different but when it comes to what can only be termed as garbage time there’s nothing wrong with letting Logan finish a frame or two over the season. Boone Logan isn’t going to pitch to more then a batter or two in close games but with the ability he has to shut down left handed hitters the choice on whether or not to pick him up for next season seems clear. Logan would make $550,000 up from the $427,500 he made last year.

Despite more then respectable stats in 2006 and 2007 many figured that Matt Diaz had pretty much flamed out following a miserable 2008 season in which he dealt with knee injuries and hit just .244. Compared to other right-fielders Diaz actually led the NL in batting average and on-base percentage. If there is any concern over Diaz it’s that his splits are just that. Against RHP he hit .255/.349/.400 compared to .412/.464/.640 against lefties. Those numbers pretty much are close to inline with his career numbers as he’s hit 71 points higher in average and 199 points high in total OPS against lefties for his career. Diaz made $1,237,500 last season and his projected 2010 salary (if tendered) would be $2.2 million.

Ryan Church was traded from the Mets to the Braves in a deal for Jeff Francoeur, a deal that at the time was deemed the most even trade ever. If only we could do that one over again. While Francoeur seemed revitalized in New York, Church offered little to the Braves. He finished last season at .273/.338/.384 with four homers (a career low) and 40 RBI. Church would be a pretty solid fourth outfielder on any team as he can play all three outfield positions and for the Braves he would at-least buy the front office time for the second corner outfield spot. He would make $3.4 million in arbitration so  it’s questionable whether the Braves pick up the tab on this one as he simply offers very little in terms of what the Braves need from corner outfielders. With Church, possible more-so then any one else on the list, the Braves could always decline arbiration and bring him back at a lesser salary.

Then there’s Kelly Johnson who entered last season as the teams starting second basemen with a salary just north of $2.8 million. Johnson first emerged with the Braves as an outfielder in 2005, after missing 2006 following Tommy John surgery, and then was transitioned into a second basemen prior to the 2007 season. Johnson had his best season in 2006 with a career high 16 homers and .831 OPS while appearing in 147 games. His 2008 season was solid as well but he tailed off in 2009 and even lost his starting job to Martin Prado. His 2010 salary would be $3.4 million leaving it hard for the Braves to justify spending that much on a player who is not a regular in the lineup.

The case of Johnson is similar to that of Marcus Giles three seasons ago. After three productive seasons as the Braves second basemen Giles was coming off a disappointing 2006 campaign in which he suffered a drop in all of offensive categories. There were initially rumors the Braves would send him to San Diego for reliever Scott Linebrink but eventually the team opted not to offer him arbitration and he signed as a free agent with the Padres making $3.25 million. Giles figured to make in excess of $5 million had the Braves offered him arbitration a number that was scary then for a player the front office had lost confidence in. For what it’s worth writer Bill James has high hopes on Johnson, much like he did prior to 2009 .

Manager Bobby Cox has said that the Braves shouldn’t give up on Kelly Johnson but going by Johnson’s career trend which is similar to Giles can the Braves take a gamble of $3.4 million for a guy that could spend all season on the bench? Sure the idea has been floated that the Braves could trade Johnson once they agree to arbitration but if there’s teams interested in Johnson remains to be seen. Further, why would another team look to acquire a player at Johnson’s salary not having any idea what type of production he could give the lineup. The more you look at it, the more you have to think Kelly Johnson’s days as a member of the Braves are over. Then again stranger things have happened.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 8:57 pm and is filed under John, Most Recommended, News Headlines, Right Column. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.