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"-- There are rumors that Liberty Media, which now owns the Braves, will mandate a deep cut in this year's $89 million payroll. That could be difficult since the club is already committed to John Smoltz ($14 million), Tim Hudson ($13 million), Chipper Jones ($12.3 million) and Mike Hampton ($15 million) in 2008 and also needs to sign Mark Teixeira to a long-term deal to justify trading top prospect Jarrod Saltalamachia to get him."
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I believe this is from Richmond's paper right? And it's untrue. It was stipulated in the sale of the team that they must keep payroll at least at the level it was at the time of the sale.
http://www.savannahnow.com/node/286775
The deal was contingent on Liberty leaving the current Braves leadership in place and agreeing not to cut the current player payroll of about $80 million. And the total salary figure could well increase, as the deal gives Braves president Terry McGuirk at least some leeway to spend more.