Here is a list of guys I wanted the Braves to acquire instead of the steaming pile of garbage that ended up on the roster.
The Good:
Greg Holland: 5 IP, 0 R, 8K, 2 BB
Jason Castro: .353/.542/.588 (1.130 OPS)
The Meh:
Austin Jackson: .273/.273/.364 (.636 OPS)
Desmond Jennings: .222/.333/.333( .667 OPS) in AAA
The Bad:
Drew Smyly: 60-day DL
Luis Valbuena: DL for at least a few more weeks
Rajai Davis: .167/.212/.300 (.512 OPS)
Justin Ruggiano: .200/.273/.200 (.473 OPS) in AAA
The Interesting:
Manny Margot: .343/.395/.686 (1.080 OPS)
The only pitching acquisition I approved of was Colon, and he has paired a great start with a dumpster fire start.
Why did I include Margot? Because I routinely use him as the evidence the Braves blew the Kimbrel trade. Rather than using him to unload BJ's contract, they could have had a player of Margot's caliber, who is producing at the MLB level at age 22.
So it looks like I did a terrible job identifying a capable RHed 4th OFer for the Braves, and my preference for Smyly over Dickey and Garcia is not looking too great (though neither of those guys is looking like a great idea either). When Smyly is healthy we will see if 2 years of Smyly was better than whatever the Braves patched together in his place plus Gohara.
I still think the Braves made a huge blunder by not spending $25M to acquire Castro to pair with Flowers. Holland was a no-brainer chance to take on a huge arm, but The Genius thought the BP was fine as is. If we had Valbuena to look forward to at 3B at least the position wouldn't the completely hopeless mess it is now.
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