I really am skeptical, because I've been hearing that Liberty are cheapskates just as Time Warner, and will not raise payroll. Time will be the best judge, I guess.The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Liberty Media has reached an agreement with Time Warner to buy the Braves.
Negotiations have been ongoing for more than a year now, and it was clear that a deal was close. Liberty Media's chairman is John Malone, who has before never owned a professional sports team. There's reason to hope that he'll up the budget from where Time Warner's been lately, though it seems doubtful that Atlanta will reemerge as the NL's top spender anytime soon. If Malone wants to make a strong first impression, he could make a big bid to extend free-agent-to-be Andruw Jones.