Baseball's opening day arrived in full Monday.
Games everywhere. Even the Atlanta Braves got to play a big-league game, a statement more attributable to their status as a franchise rather than talent on the roster. And they won it, 2-1, in Miami against the Marlins.
Yes, opening day, when two things are certain: There will be some player who hits a couple of home runs and somebody you know will say he is on pace to hit 324 homers; and the optimism is high for even the worst teams in baseball.
Jay GreesonWell, the timing of opening day was especially harsh for Braves fans, considering that in many ways Sunday was the closing bell on any chance this bunch had to be competitive for the long haul. Atlanta dealt the best closer in baseball to San Diego for a collection of journeymen, a top-ranked pitching prospect and a big draft pick.
You can make a solid argument that the best part of the deal for the Braves was sending all of Melvin Upton Jr.'s contract to the West Coast, and so ends the Frank Wren spend-and-stick legacy. The Braves had to correct Wren's reckless mistakes by wrapping the pork chop that is Kimbrel around the ugly baby that was Upton and his eight-figure contract so any big-league dog would be interested in it.
In fact, if you could imagine your average Atlanta baseball backer, we'll call him Johnny Braves Fan and pretend that maybe he believes in wearing the jerseys of some his favorite big leaguers to Turner Field.
So let's say he splurged after the 2013 division winners returned pretty much intact for last season. So he looks in his closet for the right one to start 2015 and realizes that in the last six months the Braves' deconstruction has jettisoned their best overall player (Craig Kimbrel), their best position player (Justin Upton), their best homegrown prospect who was arguably the best defensive outfielder in baseball (Jason Heyward) and their best feel-good story and raw power hitter because chicks dig the long ball (Evan Gattis).
Meet the 2015 Atlanta Braves, the No. 2 preseason pick to win the Southern League behind the Chattanooga Lookouts.
The logic has been clear and well-stated. This bunch is the first chapter in the rebuilding project that Braves management hopes will have the franchise in better times when the new ballpark comes into play in 2017. Sure, that begs the question that maybe some of the new guys actually are construction workers in the offseason. The Braves' order Monday was the far from murderous row of Young, Peterson, Markakis, Freeman, Bethancourt, Johnson, Callaspo and Simmons. Some of those names are familiar; some are foreign.
All are being counted on to overachieve to get the Braves to merely below average.
Still, this latest fire-sale move gives pause to even the biggest supporter of the Braves' theory of wiping the deck clean with a hope of being elite down the road rather than being good enough to contend for a postseason spot and be relatively harmless once they get there.
That question this morning centers on the long-standing message from John Hart on down that Kimbrel was not on the trading block.
Granted, there's not much need for the game's best closer on a team pegged to win 73 games, but without him that number drops by at least five.
And if they are going to deal the player they said they were not shopping, how serious are they about the rebuilding to begin with or the time frame they have offered?
The "winner in a new ballpark" theory is a nice narrative, but in truth, the first few years of any new ballpark will attract fans regardless of the competitive nature of the club.
Maybe 2017 becomes 2019, and then the days of simply being competitive in September become a fond memory rather than a hurdle to clear to take the next step.
Yes, the days and times of the lovable and losing Braves are far gone, and they never will return. The business model has changed since Braves fans were conditioned for dreck because the franchise was the only baseball option of a fan base that became all too familiar with wretched baseball. That was back in the gory days of pre-Glavine, Maddux and Smoltz.
Now there are anywhere from three to five baseball games televised a day, six days a week on average. It's plentiful on the traditional viewing platform and it's everywhere on the Internet.
The ultimate grade of all of this shuffling and selling off will be determined by how Hart and Co. move their pieces and shape their assets down the road. They have rebuilt the farm system, which is commendable and was desperately needed.
If they take the extra money saved from Upton and Kimbrel -- the club was on the hook for more than $77 million combined to the pair in the next three years -- to add more pieces, then that will soften the blow.
But for this opening day, even with a win behind starting pitcher Julio Teheran, the Altanta Braves are noteworthy for what they aren't more than what they are.
And it's mighty tough to be optimistic about that. So even if Nick Markakis is on track to knock in 324 runs after his four RBIs on Monday, at this pace the Braves likely will trade him before tax day.
Jay Greeson's column will appear on Page A2 on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. His sports columns are scheduled for Tuesdays and Fridays. You can read his online column "The 5-at-10" Monday through Friday at timesfreepress.com after 10 a.m.
Contact him at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter at @ jgreesontfp.