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Fresh Loaf

Atlanta news and views, one slice at a time

Atlanta Braves out of Time Warner’s clutches

February 13, 2007 at 11:37 am by Scott Freeman in Sports

Word trickled out last night that the deal for Time Warner to trade the Atlanta Braves
to Liberty Media has been finalized and is awaiting the approval of Major League Baseball.

So what does it mean for the Braves?

Itï¿½s far too early to tell. Liberty Mediaï¿½s motivation is a tax write-off, not fielding a championship team. But I see two major advantages to this deal.

First, it finally gets the Braves out of the clutches of a New York-based corporation that had sucked the team dry. The Braves have not been the same organization since AOL/Time Warner took over the team from Ted Turner and slowly began to strangle it. The Braves went from having one of the largest budgets in baseball to being in the middle of the pack, and it showed on the field. Itï¿½s no coincidence we havenï¿½t been to the World Series since 1999.

Remember when the Braves used to go shopping for big-name free agents such as Greg Maddux and Barry Bonds? Remember when they used to pull off daring trades such as the one that brought Fred McGriff to town? Remember when they used to lock in their star players to multiyear contracts?

Today, those stars come and go: Maddux, Tom Glavine, Leo Mazzone, Marcus Giles, Rafael Furcal. All lost because of budget constrictions. And it appears this will be Andruw Jonesï¿½ last season in a Braves uniform. And letï¿½s not even get into Skip and Don Sutton and what theyï¿½ve done to the announce team.

So, Time Warner, so long and good riddance. And donï¿½t let the door hit you on the ass.

The second advantage is that Liberty Media has talked about eventually joining forces with local ownership, namely Arthur Blank.

Considering how the Falcons have floundered under Blankï¿½s ownership, that might not be such a good thing. A meddling owner is never healthy in a sports organization, and Blankï¿½s role model seems to be Jerry Jones. But if he can learn to hire good people and then let them make the decisions, it could work. At the least, Blank would give the Braves enough of a budget that we wouldnï¿½t be facing the eminent loss of major players every winter.

All in all, this news makes me want to sing a revised version of ï¿½Mrs. Robinsonï¿½ (with apologies to Simon & Garfunkel): ï¿½Where have you gone, Ted Turner? A city turns its lonely eyes to you.ï¿½

Ah, hereï¿½s to the good old days.