Originally Posted by
Southcack77
I'm a little skeptical that he was forced into all of those moves, though perhaps it was strongly recommended. I'll buy that it prevented them from realistically moving Freeman and Teheran.
I don't think Markakis has really affected much of anything. He's fairly paid and he isn't blocking anyone and he's probably someone that could be moved if they wanted, possibly for a decent prospect, possibly not. I doubt Aybar affected the prospect haul, the Angels were probably glad to be rid of his salary having no other use for him. In a less sad world the Braves would have gotten a more substantial piece for him at the deadline, but he was unpredictably awful.
I tend to agree with you on Kemp, but that does seems like a move that was made by a front office feeling pressure to do something in the short term. Still, assuming that extra salary does seem to be bad money after good, but there remains the possibility that he plays well enough to be flipped -- course the last two teams have paid to get him away, so not real likely.
I'd have left Swanson down and I would have tanked the end of both of the last seasons. I think the silly good finishes did impact the Braves draft significantly.
I'm ambivalent about the Kimbrell/Upton trade. It's very difficult to assess the financial imperatives and what being freed from the remainder of his contract actually allowed them to do. They essentially traded Kimbrell for a top 50 prospect, an upgrade in the OF, the #41 pick, and the front office would like for you accept Touki, and a fair amount of long term salary relief (though not really salary relief in the realistic contention window (unless they actually believed in 2017)).
But all things considered, it is very possible that the Braves have already conducted a successful rebuild. Not in the sense that they will contend in 2017, but it quite possible they will be respectable enough this season and every season going forward until the system bears its fruit. I think the hitting is harder to see at the moment, but its very possible that it will come along just fine. Time will tell.
At the moment, I would just say that they have a good start on building a contending club. They should have enough young assets to hit that they should be able to complement them with free agency and trades to put them into the playoffs. Or it could all flame out, but that seems unlikely given the volume of prospects.