Peter Gammons tonight offered some insight into why the Braves abruptly cut ties with closer Bob Wickman.

According to Gammons, who was interviewed during the Mets v. Dodgers game on ESPN, The Wick stamped his ticket out of Atlanta when he refused to pitch in a recent game.

So there you have it. Wickman was such a horse’s ass that Bobby Cox decided he’d rather not have him around. That’s pretty impressive, when you consider just how forgiving Cox can be. Atlanta is where jerks flourish. J.D. Drew. Gary Sheffield. Raul Mondesi. John Rocker. Deion Sanders. The list goes on and on.

So tonight we learned that Bob Wickman must be a special kind of moron — something we previously suspected, but info we treasure nonetheless.

The Gammons report came on the heels of an earlier story from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which said Wickman had made a habit of voicing his displeasure over being brought in to pitch in non-save situations.

Bob, Bob, Bob. What are we going to do with you?

Now that Wickman is no longer a Brave, the question is: where will he land? The Cleveland Indians seem like a good fit, but they’ve taken themselves out of the running. Who’s left? The Phillies could certainly use bullpen help, but Wickman would have to agree to serve as a spot reliever, and he doesn’t seem to anxious to play that role. The Mets bullpen has been shaky of late, and the Dodgers just signed Wick’s doppleganger, so they might as well bite the bullet and add a fat bald guy to their relief staff.

I think the smart money is on the Yankees. Strong clubhouse leaders like Jeter and Clemens could keep Wickman in line and the Yanks could use some insurance for the aging Mariano Rivera. Plus, it’s not like they don’t have the dough.

The Braves just cut Bob Wickman. The man who was supposed to anchor baseball’s strongest bullpen was shown the door despite the fact that Atlanta is desperate for relievers. And fans are trying to figure out why.

Occassional Umpbumper and life-long Braves fan Zvee posted this question on our fantasy bulletin board recently, regarding the Braves decision to cut closer Bob Wickman:

Speaking of Braves, what just happened with the Wick? I know he sucks…and he’s fat…but how did the braves just cut him? Dotel on DL, Gonzalez out for year, Sturtze not returning, Soriano still giving up gofers. I would still rather have Wickman in the 7th than no wick at all…just for the sake of having a pitcher. right???

I sat down for beers with an Atlanta journalist one night recently and he told me several stories — all about the Wick. I think the conversation was understood to be off the record, so I won’t go into details. Long story short — Wickman didn’t come off looking like a candidate for the Lady Bing award.

Was that the reason the Braves to cut him? Probably not. But it probably didn’t help. That, and Wickman’s six blown saves.

Bob Wickman blew a save chance today. He came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and got two outs, while giving up one hit, three walks, one hit batsman and two runs. Not pretty. The Rockies tied the game against Wickman and went on to win it in extra innings.

On Friday, Wickman entered the game in the ninth with a five run lead, only to surrender three runs on two hits and two walks. It took a miraculous over-the-shoulder basket catch by Braves RF Jeff Francoeur to salvage a win for the Braves.

During Friday’s game, Wickman motioned to the dugout, drawing an imaginary line across his throat as if to signal, “Cut!” It’s no secret why he wanted to halt production – he couldn’t find the strike zone with a map. But when was the last time you saw a pitcher beg his way out of a game?

So far, there’s no indication that Wickman is hurt. But fantasy owners might want to go out and pick up dynamite set-up man Rafael Soriano, just in case he gets promoted this week.

Meanwhile, the Braves need to decide if Wickman’s struggles were merely a result of pitching in the thin Denver air, or if there’s something more serious going on. Because right now he looks awful.

The fans in Atlanta are excited about the Atlanta Braves’ bullpen. Last season, the team traded for Cleveland closer Bob Wickman. This winter, they traded for Pittsburgh closer Mike Gonzalez and Seattle setup man Rafael Soriano.

On paper, the Braves’ pen looks great. But will it live up to expectations?

Bobby Cox seems to think it will. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

The bullpen is so strong that manager Bobby Cox believes it’ll have an effect on the starting rotation akin to what good hitters can do for other hitters in a lineup. In other words, give them protection and make them better.

The Braves believe they have basically reduced games to six innings.

Starters don’t have to pace themselves and try to get through seven or eight every night, now that they know now that the trio of Rafael Soriano, Mike Gonzalez, and Bob Wickman is anchoring a ‘pen that has gone from perhaps the weakest in the NL to potentially one of the two or three best in baseball.

Here’s the problem with Cox’s optimism: building a bullpen isn’t an exact science. And Cox should know that better than anyone. In 2005, the Braves thought they had a sure thing in closer Dan Kolb, who pitched 57 innings the previous season for Milwaukee and recorded 39 saves and a 2.98 ERA. But Kolb didn’t repeat his success in Atlanta. In 2005 he pitched 57 innings, recorded 11 saves and a 5.93 ERA. Ouch.

Relief pitchers are by far the most unpredictable players in sports. Players like Rheal Cormier, Guilermo Mota, Mike Stanton, Jose Mesa and Armando Benitez have great years followed by bad years followed by great years.

Other players, like recently departed Braves closer Chris Reitsma, just fall off the map entirely.

But one thing is for sure: the Braves’ bullpen needs to be better than it was last season, when it blew nearly half its save opportunities. Again from the AJC:

Last season the Braves lost a division and finished under .500 (79-83) for the first time since 1990. They finished 18 games behind the New York Mets.

The bullpen blew 29 (of 67) save opportunities – the second-most in the majors behind only Kansas City (31), which is to assume Kansas City is in the majors.

The Mets blew 15 saves.

Do the math. There’s a race buried in the difference.

The Braves honestly believe that if they had Bob Wickman all last season, they would have made the playoffs. And maybe they’re right. Who knows?

But here’s some food for thought. While Wickman was good last year (33 saves) and better the year before that (45 saves), he was lousy in 2004, recording only 13 saves and a 4.25 ERA.

The lesson: with relievers, you just never know.

Bob Wickman signed a one-year extension with the Braves yesterday, meaning that there is almost zero chance that Atlanta fans will face the prospect of entering another season hoping that Chris Reitsma will somehow, some way turn things around.

From the AJC:

The Braves reached agreement on a $6.5 million, one-year contract extension with the burly right-hander Wednesday. Wickman made $5.4 million, counting incentives, this season.

The 37-year-old converted 15 of his first 16 save opportunities with the Braves and had a 1.19 ERA in 24 appearances. He struck out 22 and walked one in 22 2/3 innings.

Asked where the Braves would be if Wickman had been with the team all season, general manager John Schuerholz said emphatically, “We’d be in the playoffs.”

It’s hard to say if the Braves really would be in the playoffs if they had had Wickman all this season. But consider this: other than Wickman, Braves relievers this season blew 27 of 47 saves. That’s just ugly.

Getting Wickman is big for the Braves, but there is still more work to be done. The team’s rotation has an aging Smoltz, a recuperating Mike Hampton and, well, after that it’s anybody’s guess. Chipper Jones continues to be good when healthy, but he’s not often healthy. Marcus Giles is coming off a subpar year. The Braves never found a leadoff hitter and Edgar Renteria, who has cooled dramatically lately, is about to turn 75.

Will the Braves rebound and retake the East next season? Will Wickman be the missing piece? 

At the urging of John Smoltz (and just about every resident of the city of Atlanta), John Scheurholz went out and traded for a closer.

The Braves just picked up Indians reliever Bob Wickman, who hasn’t exactly been automatic this season, but who has been good over the last few weeks and will be a DRAMATIC improvement over everybody else the Braves have used to close out games this year.

So now that the Braves have a closer and their offense has come to life, can the team win the wild card? Why stop there — is there any chance that the Braves will catch the Mets, whose pitching is starting to head south with Pedro Martinez both injured and ill and Tom Glavine rapidly aging?

I’ll tell you what, you can feel the excitement here in Atlanta. Even in this city notorious for lackluster fans who don’t even buy tickets until the team makes the world series, there is an energy. Everybody loves an underdog. And make no mistake, this Braves team is an underdog. Anytime you’re in the same division as the carefree-spending Mets and the Mets are 12 games in front, you’re an underdog. Doesn’t matter if you’ve won the division 14 years in a row.

And I never thought I’d say this. But let’s face it, the Phillies aren’t going anywhere and I just HATE the Mets. So…(oh god, I’m gonna regret this)…go Bravos!