30 years ago today, the Atlanta Braves made perhaps the best investment in their future they've ever made.
What you have to understand is that the Braves had come SOOOO close to winning the World Series but lost twice. And they also lost 3 players (David Nied, Armando Reynoso and - most importantly - Vinny Castilla to the Rockies in the expansion draft a month earlier. And there were a ton of free agents on the market, including:
Eric Davis
Doug Drabek
John Smiley
Jesse Orosco
Kirby Puckett
Greg Swindell
Joe Carter
Paul Molitor
David Cone
Dan Plesac
Jimmy Key
And then there were two guys on every team's want list: Barry Bonds and Greg Maddux.
And I can tell you right now that if you had told Braves fans "you can only pick one of the two," 100% of Braves fans would have taken Maddux even in 1992, which was BEFORE he was the best pitcher in the game (He was clearly on his way). Bonds had a history of choking in October, he was a train wreck to team chemistry, and as one anonymous Braves player said when they got word Bonds was coming to Atlanta in 1992 for his last pre-free agent year, "can you imagine having the two biggest (expletives) in baseball in the same clubhouse," referring to Bonds and Justice.
Atlanta signed Maddux for a song more than the Cubs had offered. Yes - the guy TOOK LESS MONEY to come to Atlanta than the Yankees offered, because he wanted to play for a winner.
(Side note: if the Braves had not lost Castilla, Chipper Jones likely would have been playing shortstop, his actual position, in 1995 or by 1996 at the latest).
Panama City (FL) Herald
What you have to understand is that the Braves had come SOOOO close to winning the World Series but lost twice. And they also lost 3 players (David Nied, Armando Reynoso and - most importantly - Vinny Castilla to the Rockies in the expansion draft a month earlier. And there were a ton of free agents on the market, including:
Eric Davis
Doug Drabek
John Smiley
Jesse Orosco
Kirby Puckett
Greg Swindell
Joe Carter
Paul Molitor
David Cone
Dan Plesac
Jimmy Key
And then there were two guys on every team's want list: Barry Bonds and Greg Maddux.
And I can tell you right now that if you had told Braves fans "you can only pick one of the two," 100% of Braves fans would have taken Maddux even in 1992, which was BEFORE he was the best pitcher in the game (He was clearly on his way). Bonds had a history of choking in October, he was a train wreck to team chemistry, and as one anonymous Braves player said when they got word Bonds was coming to Atlanta in 1992 for his last pre-free agent year, "can you imagine having the two biggest (expletives) in baseball in the same clubhouse," referring to Bonds and Justice.
Atlanta signed Maddux for a song more than the Cubs had offered. Yes - the guy TOOK LESS MONEY to come to Atlanta than the Yankees offered, because he wanted to play for a winner.
(Side note: if the Braves had not lost Castilla, Chipper Jones likely would have been playing shortstop, his actual position, in 1995 or by 1996 at the latest).
Panama City (FL) Herald
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