2021 Free-Agent Class

Given the money coming off the books, is there a better target than Bauer? Assuming he adjusts and shows that his short time in Cincy - and that he's still interested in going year to year - he seems to make some sense, particularly if AA wants to keep his precious "financial flexibility". I get that his asking price will be steep if he has a strong half season, but you've got $32 million coming off the books in Hamels and Melancon, and if Pache and/or Waters take over at least one of the OF spots you can use all of Ozuna and Greene's money to pay for arb raises and the salary increases for Acuna and Albies.

The hope is (of course) that Soroka and Fried continue to develop and Wright and Anderson take their next steps, but AA (and Liberty) have shown that they're not afraid to pay for big deals as long as they come with no long-term commitments.

there's a solid set of shortstops that will be FAs. this will be a big year for Dansby.

We haven’t even played a single game in 2020 and we’re already looking at next year’s FA class? I know we’re all hurting for some sports news and talk, but this is pushing it a little bit.

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Originally Posted by Super

there's a solid set of shortstops that will be FAs. this will be a big year for Dansby.

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I feel like Dansby is a pretty adequate solution through the end of his control.

I suppose if the Braves hit on internal options at cOF and 3B internally, splurging at SS begins to make more sense.

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Originally Posted by Southcack77

I feel like Dansby is a pretty adequate solution through the end of his control.

I suppose if the Braves hit on internal options at cOF and 3B internally, splurging at SS begins to make more sense.

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With plenty of choices available - Bogaerts, Tim Anderson, and Trea Turner are all scheduled to be free-agents then as well (albeit a year older than Dansby).

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Originally Posted by clvclv

With plenty of choices available - Bogaerts, Tim Anderson, and Trea Turner are all scheduled to be free-agents then as well (albeit a year older than Dansby).

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Xander signed an extension, but i suppose we could call and see what it would take via trade to land him. Tim Anderson got a new deal as well. I'd pass on Turner. Trea Turner isnt a FA until the 2022/2023 offseason, not sure what site you used, but none of these players are FA's then.

The 21-22 FA SS now, that has the potential to be epic. Trevor Story, Lindor, Corey Seager, Correa, and Javier Baez all project to be FA's then, some will sign new deals, some wont.

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Originally Posted by Skeeter31

We haven’t even played a single game in 2020 and we’re already looking at next year’s FA class? I know we’re all hurting for some sports news and talk, but this is pushing it a little bit.

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i think the sooner we realize it's a good chance we don't have baseball this year

the better off we will be when that news breaks

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Originally Posted by goldfly

i think the sooner we realize it's a good chance we don't have baseball this year

the better off we will be when that news breaks

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I think if there isn't an agreement and plan in place by mid June it won't happen. Even when they start up it will take a couple of weeks to get ready.

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Originally Posted by Coredor

I think if there isn't an agreement and plan in place by mid June it won't happen. Even when they start up it will take a couple of weeks to get ready.

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It will take at least a month to get ready, especially for pitchers.

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Originally Posted by Heyward

It will take at least a month to get ready, especially for pitchers.

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There's little reason to expect that - with expanded rosters (particularly on the pitching side) there's no reason to get guys stretched out far enough to go 90-100 pitches early on. Given the hurry to get back on the field, once they get those guys ready to throw 60 pitches, they can start playing games. If they've been throwing regular bullpens (and rosters expand to carry the additional arms the reports sound like they will to protect Pitchers), there's no reason it should take more than a couple weeks.

The MLBTR blurb earlier today mentioned that Paxton has already thrown 12-14 bullpens and should be ready out of the gate after having his back surgery - it's not like these guys are coming off of 4 months of inactivity like during the winter.

Soroka, Folty, and Newk all faced live hitters last week for 45 pitch pen sessions. "Foltynewicz estimated he and the other pitchers in the group are 75-80 percent stretched out and would need about two weeks of a second training camp to be ready for the regular season, whenever it might begin."

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Originally Posted by clvclv

There's little reason to expect that - with expanded rosters (particularly on the pitching side) there's no reason to get guys stretched out far enough to go 90-100 pitches early on. Given the hurry to get back on the field, once they get those guys ready to throw 60 pitches, they can start playing games. If they've been throwing regular bullpens (and rosters expand to carry the additional arms the reports sound like they will to protect Pitchers), there's no reason it should take more than a couple weeks.

The MLBTR blurb earlier today mentioned that Paxton has already thrown 12-14 bullpens and should be ready out of the gate after having his back surgery - it's not like these guys are coming off of 4 months of inactivity like during the winter.

Soroka, Folty, and Newk all faced live hitters last week for 45 pitch pen sessions. "Foltynewicz estimated he and the other pitchers in the group are 75-80 percent stretched out and would need about two weeks of a second training camp to be ready for the regular season, whenever it might begin."

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The MLBPA will fight tooth and nail for a longer than necessary “spring” training. They’re not going to want to take any chances with the players health. That’s if a season actually happens, which I’m very highly doubting.

If there isn't a season in 2020, the Braves may be in a very bad position heading into the 2021 off-season.

C d'Arnaud
1B Freddie
2B Albies
SS Swanson
3B
RF Acuna
CF
LF

Staff
Soroka
Folty
Fried
Newcomb

Pen
Will Smith
Chris Martin
Luke Jackson

Bench
Inciarte
Duval
Camargo

That leaves 10 open spots.
1. The Braves practice has been to rent players as stop gaps until the kids are ready. The Braves banked on Riley as the 3B of the future heading into 2020. But without a 2020 season to prove himself can they continue to do so?
2. If they do bank on Riley, can they roll the dice on Pache in CF at the same time?
3. What about Waters in LF?
4. Anderson, Wright, Toussaint, Muller, Weigel and Wilson get a year older, but their futures aren't any more clear. Do the Braves depend upon them to fill rotation or pen spots?
5. What of Contreras and Langeliers? Do you depend upon one of them to be part of the backstop duo?

Of the Braves top 30 prospects, 14 were expected to arrive in Atlanta in 2020 and another 7 in 2021. 21 prospects needing a place to play. A team trying to compete for a championship. Those two things don't generally go together.

It also could drive the trade market into the tank. In theory no one knows more about their players than their team. Scouts won't have seen them play anytime recently. If player X is all the sudden available, "why" will probably be the first question asked and other teams won't have a scout to give assurances it isn't something that will affect on field performance.

Does anyone know what happens to service time if the season isn't played? For instance Dansby currently is listed with 3.047 years. Does he open next season with 4.047? 3.547? What? If they get service time, how does that affect arbitration? Lose some cheap years on Acuna and Albies...

Also, players under contract, I would guess, simply would lose compensation for 2020 but advance a year in the contract. For example, Freddie Freeman would not his $22M for 2020, but would start 2021 as the last year of his contract with a value of $22M before becoming a FA. Guys like Ozuna, Hamels, Melancon just go back into the FA pool? Do teams that lost draft compensation for signing FA, get those picks back or they just out of luck? My guess is the latter.

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Originally Posted by Horsehide Harry

Does anyone know what happens to service time if the season isn't played? For instance Dansby currently is listed with 3.047 years. Does he open next season with 4.047? 3.547? What? If they get service time, how does that affect arbitration? Lose some cheap years on Acuna and Albies...

Also, players under contract, I would guess, simply would lose compensation for 2020 but advance a year in the contract. For example, Freddie Freeman would not his $22M for 2020, but would start 2021 as the last year of his contract with a value of $22M before becoming a FA. Guys like Ozuna, Hamels, Melancon just go back into the FA pool? Do teams that lost draft compensation for signing FA, get those picks back or they just out of luck? My guess is the latter.

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No decision has yet been made - supposed to be part of the "proposals" the two sides have been exchanging. Quite sure it's in them, just doesn't get talked about since it's probably the least of the problems (as well as the one thing neither side will let get in the way if they could get remotely close to an agreement).

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Originally Posted by clvclv

No decision has yet been made - supposed to be part of the "proposals" the two sides have been exchanging. Quite sure it's in them, just doesn't get talked about since it's probably the least of the problems (as well as the one thing neither side will let get in the way if they could get remotely close to an agreement).

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I disagree that it isn't a major issue. It's potentially millions of dollars either way. If players get full service time, arbitration kicks in faster for players and they cost more. Argument could be made that age will take some off the field faster which will help even out the costs. But, with no minor league season, you will likely see an extension of minor league stays for some guys who would have been up earlier and the extension of the careers of some guys at the ML level who would have been pushed out.

If players don't get service time, then the owners gain another year and certain players likely lose a lot of money on the back side of their careers.

I guess you could look back at the strike years but even then it was just the playoffs and part of the next season, not an entire season.

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Originally Posted by Horsehide Harry

I disagree that it isn't a major issue. It's potentially millions of dollars either way. If players get full service time, arbitration kicks in faster for players and they cost more. Argument could be made that age will take some off the field faster which will help even out the costs. But, with no minor league season, you will likely see an extension of minor league stays for some guys who would have been up earlier and the extension of the careers of some guys at the ML level who would have been pushed out.

If players don't get service time, then the owners gain another year and certain players likely lose a lot of money on the back side of their careers.

I guess you could look back at the strike years but even then it was just the playoffs and part of the next season, not an entire season.

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If the players let service-time issues get in the way of an agreement for HALF of this season with everything that's going (has gone) on when everything is going to be renegotiated in a few months, there's absolutely no reason to have games this year - with that taste in the owners' mouth you can put the pending lockout on your calendar today.

The only thing with service time that has been determined is that if there is NO season at all, everyone accrues a full year of service time. What hasn’t been worked out is if there is some sort of a season, how does service time get calculated. But at the very beginning of this, they announced that no season will accrue the full seasons worth of service time.

The other issue will be how are contracts handled. If there’s no season, no one gets paid for this season, so do contracts carry over to next season?

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Originally Posted by Skeeter31

The only thing with service time that has been determined is that if there is NO season at all, everyone accrues a full year of service time. What hasn’t been worked out is if there is some sort of a season, how does service time get calculated. But at the very beginning of this, they announced that no season will accrue the full seasons worth of service time.

The other issue will be how are contracts handled. If there’s no season, no one gets paid for this season, so do contracts carry over to next season?

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I would think the full year of service time for NO season is a big incentive for the ML owners to have a season. Otherwise, all players on your team accrue time just as if they were on IL for the entire season, which I guess is one way of looking at it. But, the owners lose a tremendous amount of control time way above and beyond any typical one-off injury situation.

As for existing contracts, I think they will not carry over. That would be an overall big loss for the players IMO in most cases. Guys like Hamels and Ozuna miss on their big paydays and go back into the FA pool a year older, out of baseball for a year and lumped in with about 2X as many others than they would typically face. Now, they would gain certain freedom by not having to deal with potential draft pick loss associated with their signing. Yet that will likely be outweighed by age and loss of a year.

And teams like the Dodgers. Wow. they took on the bad end of Price's deal to get Betts AND gave up Verdugo, Downs and Wong and Betts may never play an inning for them. True, he could have been injured and missed the season anyway. But this has to sting.

And, how much money does Betts lose? Coming off a year out of baseball with ownership facing huge 2020 losses (supposedly). Even if it deflates his value by 10%, that could be $30M or more over the life of his deal