AAs Performance So Far

AA has had 2 full offseasons now to get settled in, evaluate the organizations talent, and improve the team. In 2018, his first season, the team surprised everyone and win the division.

Transactions since he took over:

Purchased Josh Ravin from LAD
Traded Jim Johnson and international bonus money to LAA for Justin Kelly
Selected Chase Whitley off waivers from Tampa Bay Rays
Traded Matt Kemp to LAD for Charlie Culberson, Adrian Gonzalez, Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy, and cash
Released Adrian Gonzalez
Traded player to be named later to Houston for Preston Tucker
Traded player to be named later to Pirates for Shane Carle
Signed Peter Moylan and Chris Stewart
Traded player to be named later or cash to Tampa Bay Rays for Ryan Schimpf
Signed Anibal Sanchez
Released Scott Kazmir
Signed Peter Bourjos
Signed Ryan Flaherty
Signed Miguel Socolovich
Traded Ryan Schimpf to LAA for Carlos Perez
Signed Jose Bautista to play 3b (later released)
Released Aaron Blair
Traded international bonus money to the Rays for Jonny Venters
Traded international bonus money to Baltimore for Brad Brach
Traded Lucas Sims, Preston Tucket, and Matt Wisler to Reds for Adam Duvall
Traded Brett Cumberland, Jean Carlos Encarnacion, Bruce Zimmerman, Evan Phillips, and international bonus money to Baltimore for Kevin Gausman and Darren O'Day
Purchased Lucas Duda from Royals
Signed Josh Donaldson
Signed Brian McCann
Re-signed Nick Markakis

Can’t forget the botched draft. Drafted Carter Stewart who subsequently failed his physical and was not able to sign him. From there, he fired several of his top scouts


The moves highlighted in bold are moves I felt were impact moves for the 2018 season or 2019 in the case of Donaldson/Gausman

I voted mediocre.

I think he's done very well overall. I don't think I would say 'great' because there is a lot we still don't know. But I'm pleased with what he's done.

There certainly is a big gap between Great and Mediocre. I rounded up.

This should be a letter grade. He's been better than mediocre, but not quite great. He's gotten great value on almost every deal he has made, but he has perhaps been a little too conservative in his approach this offseason. But that conservatism got us Gausman at a great price instead of making a terrible deal for Archer.

The only major criticism I have of AA is that he maybe jumped the gun on committing money early in the offseason. I'd give him a B- to a solid B.

I would grade him a strong C to low B as of today.

D...

Blew smoke up our a$$ about offseason money and just gave it to his homie on a one year deal...Of course it is possible that ownership blew smoke up his @$$...I’m not liking this dude one fckn bit but I also think because ownership is to partially blame for that...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thewupk

There certainly is a big gap between Great and Mediocre. I rounded up.

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Ditto. I would have voted "acceptable".

On the safe side but solid B+.

Look...he could have just as easily gotten JT had the Phils not ponied up, and everyone would be saying what a smart guy he was. He might seem a little on the boring side, but we will never see a HO trade under his reign.

Give him time. I think he is saving assets and money for the deadline. He wants to see how our proespects are doing this year.

The better question is grading ownership. They should be given the negative feedback I think.

I think he has done great. I think he navigated the 2018 season very well. He got a useful player for Kemp in Culberson who was a key role player. Anibal Sanchez payed off huge. Venters, Brach, and Gausman were other key additions we got virtually for free. Duvall hasnt worked out but the logic in the deal was solid and I still hold out hope for him to be a productive platoon player for us.



I am also very happy with the 2019 offseason. I really dont want to trade our prospects for a win now move. I like the Donaldson signing because he is a potentially elite player with no long term risk from a long term deal. Fans might not like the lack of big moves but we are set up very well for the next 7 years, no reason to gamble that away for 2019.

I’d say A-. Maybe he could have been more aggressive this offseason but I don’t see one bad move on the list. We can always see what’s out there at the deadline too when we’ve seen more from our young pitchers.

A big fat F.

A

I can't complain. He's followed the path I favor. Focus relentlessly on value, without worrying about the intertemporal implications of any particular move.
Hoard prospects.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Slippyjms

I’d say A-. Maybe he could have been more aggressive this offseason but I don’t see one bad move on the list. We can always see what’s out there at the deadline too when we’ve seen more from our young pitchers.

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Yeah he hasn't flat out made a huge mistake. He's just been a tad too conservative and maybe missed out on some value in a few places.

Still, I do appreciate the fact that we have a GM that is willing to play the long game.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nsacpi

A

I can't complain. He's followed the path I favor. Focus relentlessly on value, without worrying about the intertemporal implications of any particular move.
Hoard prospects.

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Yeah if it were a binary choice between selling out in win now moves or staying put and trusting our development, I certainly favor the latter. The only reason I grade him in the B range is that I do think he has missed out on some low risk value occasionally.

B - B+

Everyone is getting caught up in the moves of other teams and losing focus on the young talent thats already in place. We still need more time to determone which of these pitchers aee for real. I expect a big move come july and because AA kept his ammo we will be in prime position to get the perfect piece to put us over the top.

I also factor in late scouting director firing and not signing his 1 round pick leading to a grievance. Things start to add up and point to a deeper picture.

On a 1-10/A-F, a 7/B-.

Kept all our top prospects, hasnt yet traded anyone big name. Hasnt given a huge bad contract out. We have all our trade chips if we wanna go all in at the deadline if the team proves to be good again. Or could sell parts at the deadline if they underperform.

I do wish he made some other moves but old saying goes, sometimes the best moves are the ones you dont make.

A lot to be desired.

Not because he didn't make the Realmuto trade. Not because he didn't sign Grandal, Brantley, or McCutchen. Not because he didn't pull the trigger on a Paxton or Haniger deal. Not because he signed Mac or brought back Markakis. Not even because he blew his entire budget on Donaldson. All those "failings" can be reasonably explained, and those explanations will all hold water with different portions of the fanbase - prospect hoarders will be happy, value hawks will be happy, IF Donaldson somehow unexpectedly puts up a 5 or 6 win season even the win-now crowd will be happy to some level.

The disappointment in his performance comes strictly from the lack of transparency with the fans, and the accompanying unrealistic expectations he's allowed to come with so much secrecy.

True fans are going to be fans no matter what - everyone eventually bought in when they understood how desperately the franchise needed to go through this rebuild. Some did so kicking and screaming for a while, but they eventually came around. Like it or not, you owe those fans something from a management standpoint for their loyalty and patience. The ones you owe the most to are the ones who spend their time being parts of communities like this - fans who have a deeper understanding of the business (if not also the game) who are a huge part of helping you retain those fans who think every team in baseball has an unlimited budget since they're part of a $10 billion industry and they see other teams spending at will a lot of the time.

Being a mid-market team with a middle of the pack payroll is nothing to be ashamed of, and certainly not a death sentence when it comes to being competitive (although it's becoming harder and harder these days now that EVERYONE realizes how important it is not only not to overpay, but just how important that is to teams in smaller markets). Building from within, drafting and development, and depth are all more important today than they've ever been.

You can (and should) keep things close to the vest and not broadcast your planned moves because that will ALWAYS make executing your plan easier - I'm not talking about leaking things about potential trades or signings to Rosenthal, Heyman, Morosi, DOB, or Bowman. That always helps generate fan interest, but it also makes it tougher to accomplish your goals since other teams will get involved and overpay if they really want the same guys.

What you can't do is continue to be disingenuous with those fans. Continually shouting "we have plenty of money to spend" and "plenty of prospects to trade" is obviously lying to those fans. The folks here all get it (despite some people acting like they don't) - there's only so much you can do with the budget handed to you. Just don't lie to them. If you truly want to have a chance to win it all on a limited budget, it's going to be painful at times - you're going to have to give up certain prospects you don't want to, and even overpay in terms of those prospects once in a while to get the pieces you can afford to supplement the pieces you have. Nobody WANTS to give up the type of package it took to get Realmuto, and that's completely defensible. Just don't complain when Flowers hits 10 HRs and Mac hits .216 because of the shift. You could have fixed that.

While the Donaldson gamble isn't a "bad" gamble because 1 year deals expose you to so much less risk - nobody has ever argued that he's not an absolute monster and MVP candidate when healthy - putting all your eggs in that basket just isn't a good idea if you want to win in 2019 because it completely destroyed any chance to upgrade other areas without having to overpay in prospects for inexpensive pieces to go with him. Even healthy, he doesn't fix the problems that existed last October by himself, and you've apparently been lying to the fans all winter because you obviously don't have the money to address the other areas that needed upgrades.

It's not about publishing "the plan" in the paper for everyone to read. If you CAN'T upgrade those other areas because you've got a SP in the rotation making $11 million that you're dying to replace with any one of 6-8 kids that cost you nothing and a 7th inning RP making $8 million that could also be replaced inexpensively, everyone understands - Liberty only gave you so much money to work with.

Just stop lying about it to the fans - if you're not in a position to win it all yet just be up front with them. Continuing to create unrealistic expectations for them will eventually make them go away.

I'm a bit disappointed so far, but I don't know the the whole story. He had a mess to clean up, and the season hasn't started yet. Lots of room to grow and improve. I love the Donaldson move, though. Always has been one of my favorite players, and I look forward to watching him play for the Braves.

I wish there was an Incomplete option.