nsacpi
03-09-2014, 09:57 AM
High roster turnover has been the rule with the Braves over the years. The 2013 opening day roster had 15 players who weren't there on the 2012 opening day roster. The 2012 opening day roster had 10 players who weren't there in 2011. Going back further, the data shows about half of the roster turning over each year.
But 2014 will be different. As of now it looks like we will have 4 to 6 players who weren't there on the 2013 opening day roster: Wood, Doumit, Carpenter, Garcia and maybe 1 or 2 others.
What accounts for this change? The main reason is the big influx of young players who have come through the farm system in recent years. As that group got larger, there was less need to bring in older guys on one or two year contracts. We still have a few like Laird, Doumit and Garcia. But that's fewer than in years past. We would often have a couple older guys like that in the pen (Durbin, Livan, Linebrink, Sherrill, Saito, Wagner are names that come to mind). Some of them were very good players, but they were there for only a year or two, which accelerated turnover.
The influx of young talent has pretty much eliminated our tendency to bring in washed up vets like Glaus and Garret Anderson to fill out our starting lineup. We still have some older bench players (Doumit and Laird). They continue in the tradition of Hinske, Ross, Diaz, Reed Johnson and others. Given how young this team is, I think it isn't a bad idea to stash a couple vets on the bench and in the pen who can provide some guidance to the young uns.
Doumit, Laird and Garcia look like they will be our designated greybeards. That's a much smaller group of older players than in the past. The increased roster stability reflects the younger roster, with fewer older players like those on one or two year contracts. I think it is a good thing because of how talented the young group is. I suspect 2014 will not be a fluke and we will continue to see greater roster stability going forward. Eventually some of the influx of young players will hit free agency and some of them will leave. This will probably start with Medlen and one of Justin Upton/Heyward leaving after 2015. But with the extensions giving to Freeman, Kimbrel, Simmons and Teheran, the number of young players leaving via free agency will be held down for a while.
One downside to reduced turnover is the more boring off-season. Some Braves fans have had a hard time adjusting to the reduced activity this past off-season. Given that this trend might continue over the next couple off-seasons, our fearless leader has stepped up and arranged free group counseling sessions for those who feel they need help.
But 2014 will be different. As of now it looks like we will have 4 to 6 players who weren't there on the 2013 opening day roster: Wood, Doumit, Carpenter, Garcia and maybe 1 or 2 others.
What accounts for this change? The main reason is the big influx of young players who have come through the farm system in recent years. As that group got larger, there was less need to bring in older guys on one or two year contracts. We still have a few like Laird, Doumit and Garcia. But that's fewer than in years past. We would often have a couple older guys like that in the pen (Durbin, Livan, Linebrink, Sherrill, Saito, Wagner are names that come to mind). Some of them were very good players, but they were there for only a year or two, which accelerated turnover.
The influx of young talent has pretty much eliminated our tendency to bring in washed up vets like Glaus and Garret Anderson to fill out our starting lineup. We still have some older bench players (Doumit and Laird). They continue in the tradition of Hinske, Ross, Diaz, Reed Johnson and others. Given how young this team is, I think it isn't a bad idea to stash a couple vets on the bench and in the pen who can provide some guidance to the young uns.
Doumit, Laird and Garcia look like they will be our designated greybeards. That's a much smaller group of older players than in the past. The increased roster stability reflects the younger roster, with fewer older players like those on one or two year contracts. I think it is a good thing because of how talented the young group is. I suspect 2014 will not be a fluke and we will continue to see greater roster stability going forward. Eventually some of the influx of young players will hit free agency and some of them will leave. This will probably start with Medlen and one of Justin Upton/Heyward leaving after 2015. But with the extensions giving to Freeman, Kimbrel, Simmons and Teheran, the number of young players leaving via free agency will be held down for a while.
One downside to reduced turnover is the more boring off-season. Some Braves fans have had a hard time adjusting to the reduced activity this past off-season. Given that this trend might continue over the next couple off-seasons, our fearless leader has stepped up and arranged free group counseling sessions for those who feel they need help.