General manager Frank Wren is going to have his work cut out for him this winter. Not that he wouldn't have anyway, but he is going to have to make two decisions even stickier than the one then general manager John Schuerholz had to make last year when the Braves declined to bring center fielder Andruw Jones back.
Wren should be so lucky. He will have to pull the plug -- or not, as the case may be -- on two icons: left-hander Tom Glavine and right-hander John Smoltz. Glavine, the realist, has tons to do with his life revolving around his four kids. If the upshot of consultations with Dr. James Andrews next week indicates that only tendon surgery is needed, he will do that and go through his normal off-season routine.
The estimated recovery time to repair a tendon would be three or four months, which would fit with Glavine's regular schedule: beginning to toss and throw in January, taking the mound in February, being ready for competitive pitching in early March.
He will not have ligament replacement (Tommy John) surgery, and he is not interested in trying to come back if a recovery time wouldn't allow him to return at the start of the season.
If his body won't let him pitch, he won't pitch. He'll call it a career.
Smoltz, on the other hand, is already showing signs that he will go only kicking and screaming. He is determined to show he can pitch again and will probably be offended if the Braves don't offer a contract even before he picks up a ball.
Wren showed us he's up to the tough calls when he sent struggling right fielder Jeff Francoeur to the minors in July to straighten out his swing. If he has to tell Glavine the Braves won't have room for him it will be sad but Glavine will probably live with it. If Wren says the same to Smoltz... well, you might want to duck.
GIANTS 3, BRAVES 1: Giants RHP Tim Lincecum said he felt out of sync early on Sunday but you couldn't have proved that by the way the Braves handled their at-bats against him. Lincecum gave up one run on three hits in 7 2/3 innings, striking out 10, to improve to 13-3 this season.
INSIDE EDGE: If it turns out that RHP Rafael Soriano's elbow has to be opened up again for an ulnar nerve transposition, he can thank that fact that his original elbow reconstruction surgery was performed by Dr. Lewis Yocum. Dr. James Andrews, who performs a countless number of these surgeries, deals with the ulnar nerve -- moving it out of the way -- at the same time as a matter of course. Yocum doesn't believe in that.
