Posted 9:36 AM by Sean
Okay, so Tom Glavine signs with the Mets, which, along with Thome going to the Phillies, prompts Rob Neyer to declare that the Braves' run of division titles is over. Me, I'll believe it when I see it. With the departure of Glavine, John Smoltz becomes the last player on the Braves' roster to have been there since 1991, the year they began their domination, meaning that the front office has managed to turn over nearly every single spot and still win. That's unbelievable, and enough to give the Braves the benefit of the doubt until someone proves otherwise on the field.

Meanwhile, Peter Gammons lists the potential free agents in 2003 and 2004. Not only do the Angels have no everyday players on the free agent market this year, they don't have any until 2004. So two years from now we have to worry about Troy Percival, Troy Glaus, and Garret Anderson. Percival will be 36, and hopefully Frankie Rodriguez will be ready by then anyway. Glaus and Anderson we'll have to see about. Of course, thinking that far ahead is a fool's game to the extent that there are so many potential intervening factors, but it's nice to have that security of not having to worry about losing pieces of the puzzle (except to injury or diminished skills, which are themselves enough to worry about).

One other thing I've been meaning to mention: when the 2003 season starts, Mike Scioscia will become only the second manager in Angels' history to have held that position on opening day for four years in a row. The first was Bill Rigney, their first manager, who helmed the Halos from 1961 to 1969. He'll also be the longest-tenured manager in the AL West, which is a pretty strange thought.