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Atlanta Braves Come To Terms With Peter Moylan And Eric O'Flaherty; Final Thoughts On Today's Figures

According to David O'Brien, the Braves have avoided arbitration with the two remaining eligible players, Peter Moylan and Eric O'Flaherty. Moylan will receive a one-year deal worth $2 million. O'Flaherty will receive a one-year deal worth $895,000.

Moylan's number is a bit high for a seventh-inning reliever at best. What makes it high is the fact that he has no value or chance as a late-innings reliever. This makes him replacement level (-0.1 fWAR in 2010), and there is a combination of Stephen Marek, Cory Gearrin and Cristhian Martinez waiting in the minors.

I do understand Moylan has consistently posted solid ERAs the past three full seasons, but his trends don't point in that direction in the future. Since his 90-inning season in '07, Moylan's BB/9 has increased from 3.1 to 4.32 to 5.23. His strikeouts and home runs have remained on track, but aside from a flukish no homers allowed in '08 that dropped his FIP considerably, his FIP will continue to rise, which occurred in 2010 when he posted a career-high 4.30. One more year may not destroy the bullpen's success, but at some point the Braves will have to cut ties, and sooner they can quit paying him $2 million the better.

While Jair Jurrjens' number is reasonable and expected, I am thinking in a similar line with him as Moylan. Jurrjens will be made expendable with the eventual emergence of Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado, and even possibly Brandon Beachy. Also, Jurrjens' rates don't spell progression in his prime. Locking him up to a salary based on ERA is not wise. You can find my full thoughts on Jurrjens here. For now, I don't mind the number he got for a year, but I will be surprised if I hear serious extension talks down the road.

Martin Prado's number may seem high, but it should be expected. Consecutive legit seasons have made Prado a valuable top of the order hitter. How the move out of a prime position affected this number is not known, and it should be interesting to see what he receives next year if he handles a full season in left field. As for extension talks, it would be wise for the Braves to get into this soon with Prado. While Jurrjens is trade-worthy based on the prospects knocking on the door, Prado is very valuable as a starting left fielder, but even more as Chipper Jones' possible replacement. If the Braves are serious about extending him, they need to get this done before his prime years begin to hit.

Photographs by coka_koehler used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.