Atlanta is still right in the thick of the wild card race, but even so, the lure of the hot stove is undeniable given their relative embarrassment of starting pitching riches. As MLB.com’s Mark Bowman notes, other teams are thinking about it too:
The Rockies and D-backs both sent scouts to watch Tim Hudson make his return last night. Like Hudson, these clubs are wondering whether the Braves will bring the veteran right-hander back to Atlanta next year.
Even as recently as the All-Star break, it appeared the Braves weren’t going to be willing to bring both Hudson and Javier Vazquez back next year.
But while there’s still a chance that one of them will be gone before the start of the 2010 season, there’s also a growing sense that both could return to provide Atlanta with a rotation that would be deeper than any of the great ones it possessed during the 1990s.
As a Braves fan I’d like to see them keep all six. You have to expect a starting pitcher to go down at some point in the season, and it would be awful nice to have a backup, especially in a year when the Braves will have a good shot at the division. Jason Heyward could probably play in Atlanta next year, and in light of the Adam Dunn contract this past winter, there’s no reason to think that the Braves couldn’t find a good first baseman or corner outfielder on the relative cheap without parting with starting pitching.
The most depressing possibility -- but a distinct one given the Braves’ conservative corporate ownership -- would be if they simply declined Hudson’s option and decided to go with the five other guys in order to save money while failing to either ensure or leverage their rotation depth.
Obviously, how Tim Hudson does in his final few starts this year may go a long way in determining what’s going to happen, but here’s hoping for a little imagination on the part of the Atlanta brain trust.