Good morning. This is Leadoff, the early buzz in Atlanta sports.
If you missed it, John Coppolella's appearance on the Fox Sports South Chopcast from spring training is definitely worth a listen.
Three takeaways from the Braves GM’s conversation with Zach Dillard:
1. Spending limitations have made the Braves' rebuild different than, say, the Cubs'. "Since we are a publicly owned team, it is a finite amount of money," Coppolella said. "It's not where we can spend like the Cubs. Look at what the Cubs spent in the draft. Look at what they spent in the free-agent market. Look at what they spent on the foreign market. It would be great if we had those opportunities. We have not. We have had to make creative trades. We've had to go through a lot of other factors. We wish we had the time, the money, the opportunity that the Cubs have had."
2. The trade the front office may be proudest of is not the one you think. "For us in the front office — Terry (McGuirk) talks about this all the time — we may be more proud of that (Justin Upton-to-San Diego) deal," Coppolella said. "Because if you look at that deal, Justin Upton was due $14.5 million. So you trade Justin Upton and you get Jace Peterson, our second baseman the past two years; Dustin Peterson, who is one of our best hitters in the minor leagues; Mallex Smith, (who) played well for us last year and we trade to get a good young lefty arm, Luiz Gohara; and Max Fried, who pitched the South Atlantic championship game. … Now take that $14.5 million, put $10 (million) of it into a trade where you get Touki Toussaint. So we still have roughly 5 million left and have got Jace Peterson, Dustin Peterson, Luiz Gohara, Max Fried, Touki Toussaint. We feel good about that."
3. Prized international prospect Kevin Maitan, who signed with the Braves last year for a reported $4.25 million, was offered far more by another team. "There was a team that offered Kevin Maitan close to $10 million at the (July 2) deadline," Coppolella said. "And he wanted to be a Brave because we had formed a bond with his family, and we were able to sign him. … He liked what we were building here. So, for us, we have a lot of pride in what we've done. I wish we had more time. I wish we had more money. But, you know, we feel really good about where we're headed."
There's more good stuff, too, here.
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Thirty years after the great Phil Niekro threw his last pitch, the Braves have another knuckleballer.
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Will the Hawks make a move before Thursday's trade deadline?
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ACC coaches have a lot to say — all good — about Georgia Tech's basketball team and Josh Pastner.
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