>>> Part 1 of 2...
-=> Quoting Ed Grinnell to Stephen Frazier <=-
 EG> The Braves traded Stephen Frazier to the Pirates for saying:
 SF> I don't know what got into me. When you said they tried to get Belle
 SF> CHEAP, I had no idea what you call cheap.
 EG> I look at Belle the same way I do the situation with Bonds and
 EG> Bonilla. Both of those players had to go to arbitration on a yearly
 EG> basis because Pittsburgh would low-ball them on their contracts. If
 EG> Pittsburgh would have given both of them what they asked for, they
 EG> would have signed long-term deals and the Pirates wouldn't have
 EG> collapsed like they did. Instead, they chose to fight both of them
I hear you say that, and all the while I'm trying to remember just how great 
the Pirates were WITH Bonds and Bonilla. True, they faced the Braves two or 
three years in a row, but the both of them were not there all the time. I 
thought Bonilla left after the first one, and Bonds made the other two. 
Either 
way, the Braves did better than the Pirates during the B&B era, and they 
didn't even have any such superstars.
 EG> tooth and nail and THEN to add insult to injury, give Andy Van Slyke a
 EG> raise that he didn't deserve and hadn't even solicited.  In 1990 and
 EG> 1991, the Pirates drew, what was for them, an incredible 2+ mil fans
Incredible for anyone, really.
 EG> (That's something that they didn't do during their World Series
 EG> years). After Bonilla left in 1991 and it was apparent that Bonds and
 EG> others were going after the 1992 season, attendance dipped to 1.8+ mil
 EG> and then dropped to 1.6 mil and then 1.2 mil (1.6 if you adjust for
 EG> the strike). In the first 4 years of Bonds and Bonilla, the Pirates
 EG> AVERAGED $3.3 mil more in revenue per year than they did in the
 EG> previous 4 and in the last 3 years for Bonds (2 with Bonilla), they
All this talk about revenue and attendence. What did they do in the post 
season?
EG> after they lost him to another team). Albert (And I'm sure the others)
 EG> expected Cleveland to do the same thing, especially since they were
 EG> finacially stable because of the sacrifices that these players made
 EG> for the team. What he demanded was not only fair market value but a
 EG> little payback for those years of sacrifice.
Nuts. Its not like they could have earned such wages elsewhere. You really 
have me crying crocodile tears over a guy who "sacrifices " by accepting a 
couple million dollars to play baseball.
 EG> Let's tell it like it is, Stephen. If it wasn't for an incredible
 EG> pitching performance by Glavine, the Indians might have had a chance
 EG> rough up Smoltz in Game 7 and claim the title. If Smoltz is worth $7
That's true. And if my Aunt Esther had been a man, she would not have married 
my Uncle Fred.
 EG> mil a year after ONE good year, Belle is worth AT LEAST $10 mil (Let's
Well, the difference is that (Not that I agree ANYONE is worth seven million) 
Smoltz helped the Braves get to the World Series, and all Belle did this 
year, 
after all is said and done, is to go home and watch the series just like all 
those players who earned a fiftieth of what he did.
 EG> not begin to think how much Maddux and Glavine are worth if Smoltz can
 EG> command that kind of a salary).
I see Glavine dominate a game like John does now and then. I see Maddox do it 
more often than that, but I have never seen either of them dominate a whole 
season the way Smoltzie did this year. Even in the Series, Smoltz was the 
same 
dominating pitcher as he was during the season. His loss was a better game 
than his win, although he pitched fantastic both times. Maddox was great and 
not so great, Glavine, good as he was, was nowhere near the pithcer that John 
Smoltz was in the World Series. As a matter of fact, had Glavine and Maddox 
been as consistent as John, I'd be wearing my Braves cap instead of my NY 
cap.
I would not pay those guys SMOLTZ money unless they gave me a SMOLTZ year.
 SF> Sure. They may even buy as many as the Indians did the past five years.
 SF> But ehy will still watch the Series on TV jsut like I will.
 EG> The White Sox stand to lose one of their better pitchers but they
 EG> already had a team that could contend with the Sox sans Belle (They
 EG> were on the heels of the Indians until a mini-slump in July and then a
 EG> slump in September made the final margin bigger than it was all year).
All these excuses mean nothing. They didn't have what it takes and they still 
don't. Albert Belle can drive in a bunch of runs but he doesn't have one 
pitching victory to his name. Someone has to pitch.
 SF> If he can hit them out and not cause them any pain in the field, then I
 SF> think they made a goo d deal. The Indians will certainly get closer to a
 SF> ring than will the Sox next year.
 EG> I doubt that. You seem to think that there's a big gap between the
 EG> Indians and the Sox and there isn't.
Ok, the Giants will get closer to a ring than EITHER of them:)
 >>> Continued to next message...
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