Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Markakis, Lazarito, Speed

Padres Emerging as Favorites for Lazarito

In a subscriber-only story from BaseballAmerica, Ben Badler is reporting that the San Diego Padres are looking like favorites to sign Cuban teen Lazaro Armenteros (as written up by MLB Trade Rumors).  If so, that will require him to wait until July 2nd to sign.  The Dodgers and Braves are the other teams with significant interest in him, though if the Dodgers were to ‘win’ this race, Lazarito could sign immediately.

The cost of the ultimate contract for Armenteros will be interesting.  There were a lot of projections in the $15-20 million range, which really means an expenditure of close to double that for the winning club due to penalties.  Badler and others have been down-playing those numbers in recent days, and it’s really looking more like something in the $5-8 million range might be more realistic.

The Braves could still be a player at the lower end of that range, should the numbers could in like that.  Like San Diego, their wallets open up on July 2nd when the new International market monies kick in.  Atlanta is ready to spend big and to accept the penalties for doing so, but not until that window of opportunity opens in July.

Next: A Fleeting Glimpse of the Future