On 27 Mar 97, Ron Kennedy was hit by a Mark Wohlers fastball, and then said:
 RK> Well it seems that the Braves have decided that they will trade away
 RK> players that cost alot so as to sign their pitchers next year who become
 RK> free agents. Now i know it cost alot of money to sign their pitchers but
 RK> can they win it on pitching alone. And what will they do with Lofton
 RK> after this season can they also afford to sign him too?
I'm sure they'll _try_ to sign Lofton.  Getting rid of Justice and Grissom 
helps a lot, and if they can get rid of McGriff before next year, that will 
help, too, though that is less of an option now, since they now need Klesko 
in the OF (especially with Dye gone, though he should've never been a 
starter, anyway).  Lofton also seems pretty excited about being a Brave and 
I'm sure he'd love to kick some Indian ass.
Worst case scenario, they lose Lofton, and AJ moves back to his natural CF 
position, where he'll likely be one of the top CFs for years to come.  That 
means they'll have to find a RF, which is a LOT less difficult than finding 
Cy Young-type starting pitchers.
Assuming their finances are as they say they are, I have no problems with the 
moves they've made so far.  They apparently HAD to dump salary and had to 
make room in the OF for AJ.  They accomplished both, while getting arguably 
the best leadoff hitter since Rickey Henderson.  And by getting rid of Dye 
they don't let Cox do something STUPID like start him over AJ.  (Of course, 
he can still do other stupid things, like platoon Klesko and/or AJ.)
... (^:b Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Neagle d:^)
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