I really hadn't thought much about another bat unless it came via trade until bravesfanforlife88 mentioned this last night...
http://www.myajc.com/news/sports/bas...014_braves_sfp
I know it was mentioned yesterday how we got the prospects and saved a little cash. We ended up saving about $4mil in cash on this deal which leaves us ~$18mil....according to this article we are trying to decide if we want to go after signing a veteran SP, flexible infielder, corner outfielder and move Olivera back to third, lefty reliever.....sounds like there are a lot of options they are at least considering....
but it also mentions that if they don't spend the full $18mil some could be applied to the IFA this season....
The OF market has shaken out quite a bit differently than I (or most people for that matter) expected. Heyward's going to get his money, and Gordon's going to get paid, but that next tier seems to be less in demand than first thought. If you look at things as they stand today, best guess is...
1.) Heyward to the Cubs
2.) Gordon to the Giants
3.) J-Up to the Angels
The rest of the big-markets appear to be out of play unless the Orioles don't get Chris Davis back, and whether he likes it or not there really doesn't appear to be ANYONE else willing to go further than Borass has gotten Baltimore to go since their increased offer already has them bidding against themselves. Somewhat surprisingly, Cespedes' market has crumbled - the Mutts, Texas, Dodgers, White Sox, Yankees, Padres, Mariners, Blue Jays, A's, Marlins, Rays, Orioles, Reds, Royals, Cardinals, Astros are all likely out on him as things stand.
While I do see it as highly unlikely, they've shown in the past that they will stretch the budget under the right circumstances (Ervin Santana). With Bourn and Swisher coming off the books following this year, I wonder if one of the options they might be considering could be stepping up and offering Cespedes something like 4/$72-$80 million while no one's paying attention.
While it wouldn't be ideal defensively since it would involve moving Olivera back to 3B, it would make a profound impact on the offense. Hart has said several times that they're not moving him to LF out of necessity, but because it currently makes the lineup better.
CF- Inciarte, 3B- Olivera, 1B- Freeman, LF- Cespedes, C- A.J./Flowers, RF- Markakis, SS- Aybar, 2B- Peterson
Would actually suddenly become a pretty potent offense. Trading Shelby proves that they're more or less comfortable committing to the young guns at this point, and with the ability to score runs (unlike last year) most of them wouldn't get killed consistently unless they threw up complete clunkers. If they started to do that, you shuttle Blair/Folty/Banuelos/Jenkins/Newcomb/Sims/Perez/Weber back-and-forth between Atlanta and Gwinnett in the #4 and #5 slots until someone steps up. The first three slots are covered with Julio, Norris, and Wisler - barring another veteran rotation signing that appears to be the plan anyway. DOB mentioned on MLB Network this morning is that he expects Jenkins to be called up as the first injury replacement anyway.
If they did that, they'd still be in a position to shop Markakis and slide Inciarte to RF - playing Bourn or platooning Bourn and Bonifacio in CF until Mallex is ready.
Again, I do think it's a long shot, but if they'd go to $20 million per on Cespedes I'd be willing to bet they'd get him.
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