Location Specialists May Deal With Relocation

ATLANTA —  If it has been unusual for the Atlanta Braves, during their streak of 10 consecutive division titles, to trade one of their own pitching prospects, as they did in dealing Odalis Perez to the Dodgers in January, it has not been unusual to find them operating a revolving door behind their rotation cornerstones, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine.

Denny Neagle, Andy Ashby, Jason Schmidt, John Burkett and Steve Avery are only a few of the well-known pitchers who have provided a measure of stability behind Maddux and Glavine.

Which is why now, as the Braves hope home-grown Jason Marquis and Damian Moss are ready to start full time and Kevin Millwood can overcome a siege of physical problems and regain his 18-win form of 1999, that General Manager John Schuerholz said the transition process never really ends and that roster management is his most complex and critical job, a balancing act between soaring economics and the attempt to maintain a championship team.

“Sometimes you can keep the more talented player and sometimes you are forced to keep the more affordable player,” Schuerholz said. “You’re always trying to keep the right balance. It’s very difficult, but I think we’ve been very successful.”

It will get only more difficult, however.

As the Braves try to sustain their dominance in the National League East, a division with depth and talent that stretches from Montreal to Florida, as they go the more affordable route at the back end of a rotation that has long been the foundation of their success, they are aware that the ultimate transition could be only a calendar away.

Maddux and Glavine, the twin towers, are eligible for free agency at the end of a season in which they have already turned 36.

Schuerholz simply calls it “the next in a series of challenges,” and is reluctant to say much more.

For Glavine and Maddux, both desiring to stay and confident they can maintain their high level for another three years at least, no one has to explain the reality of a business in which loyalty carries a price tag. Of Atlanta’s $90-million payroll, Maddux is receiving $12 million this year and Glavine $9 million. How an attendance decline of about 5,000 per night and the precipitous fall of AOL Time-Warner stock affect their future is difficult to determine in May, but there’s the potential that 2002 could be the last hurrah for both in Atlanta.

“I don’t really look that far down the road or worry about what’s ahead,” said Maddux, who has worked through his lower back problems, is 2-2 this season, 259-148 overall and has a shot at 300 wins, as does Glavine, who is 5-1 and 229-133 overall.

“I only worry about what I’m doing now,” Maddux continued. “If this is our last hurrah [in Atlanta], I’m sure there’ll be a day that I’ll look back on it and appreciate it more than I do now, but right now I’m trying to keep it simple--locating and changing speeds, enjoying friendships and watching a game that never

bores me. I wasn’t even bored during those 16 innings [Tuesday] night.

“Obviously, I’d love to stay, but the game has given me so much for so long that I don’t feel it’s right of me to expect more [in the form of a multiyear extension]. If it comes, I’ll be glad to take it, but I don’t ever expect anything more than what I ask of myself when I’m pitching.”

Similarly, Glavine said he can only live “in the here and now,” but then he suggested that the window on the future is never completely closed.

“By nature we all think about the future and certainly more so in a free-agent year ... [but] all I can do is continue to pitch and assess other clubs as we play them to decide if I want to pitch for them next year.”

The fate of Glavine and Maddux, of course, is intertwined with that of their team, economically and artistically.

Atlanta has its rotation in place now after April injuries to Maddux, Marquis and Millwood.

The staff earned-run average before Wednesday’s game was the major league’s fourth best, and the Braves were only 21/2 games out of the division lead despite their inconsistent and injury-marred start.

“People are still trying to figure out where we’re at and how much we have, but personally I think our pitching is fine,” Glavine said. “We may be in a little bit of transition, but it’s a transition that has a chance to be successful. It’s not a transition where we’re throwing out a couple young pitchers to see what they can do and hope they improve. We’re throwing out quality young pitchers who can help us win now.”

Maddux agreed, but what’s his choice? At this point, the Braves have to hope Moss and Marquis can do the job.

“There’s no age limit to good pitching,” he said. “These guys have good enough stuff to get people out.

“We had three of our five starters go down in April. Now hopefully we have our rotation set up and in a groove to take advantage of it.”

The Braves face a difficult test in a tough division, but the competitive balance, Schuerholz said, has worked to his team’s advantage in that no one has been strong enough to run away and hide, giving the Braves time to recuperate physically and find a rhythm.

Perhaps, but it is not the rattling rhythm of the tomahawk chop.

The middle of the infield has struggled defensively, and the addition of Gary Sheffield, battling a sore wrist, has failed to invigorate an offense that ranks near the league bottom in most categories.

In addition, after Brian Jordan returned to collect two home runs and four hits in Tuesday night’s 16-inning Dodger victory, Perez came back to haunt them Wednesday night.

He pitched a 3-1 victory in which he defeated Millwood--the pitcher whom the Braves would have preferred to package with Jordan--and he did it by pitching hard inside rather than try to emulate the outside styling of Glavine, as he claims to have been instructed in Atlanta.

All of that represented a transition of the type the Braves weren’t and aren’t accustomed to, but they face the possibility of a deeper, darker transition when free agents file in November.