It's not going to be a tough decision at all. The narrative will certainly be that it's the hardest decision any GM has ever had to make, but letting a 32 year old 1B-only hitter walk away for an AL team is about as easy a choice as there is for a GM.
If Freeman really wants to sign a series of 1-2 year extensions, great. If he doesn't, bye felicia.
If we plan to let Freeman walk in 2.5 years then we definitely need to be all in for those 2.5 years. I would sign him to a 4 year 90 million extension right now if he would take it. I am comfortable taking a risk on Freeman through age 36. Freeman is our Chipper. Dont force Chipper to leave based on worship of projection systems.
Last edited by cajunrevenge; 07-23-2019 at 01:22 AM.
"Donald Trump will serve a second term as president of the United States.
It’s over."
Little Thethe Nov 19, 2020.
Fair enough. My maths about as bad as Kyle Wrights pitching.
"Donald Trump will serve a second term as president of the United States.
It’s over."
Little Thethe Nov 19, 2020.
But you clearly dont little girl.
"Donald Trump will serve a second term as president of the United States.
It’s over."
Little Thethe Nov 19, 2020.
I love Freeman as much as anyone, but I completely agree with Enscheff. If he won’t take 1-2 year extensions it’s time for him to move on after his current deal expires.
Objective take when I’m not mad:
I think it’s fair to be very concerned about Wright, without being absurd or stupid. Granted it might not be good comparisons in this era of the new ball that has been screwing up both prospect (not just ours either if you care to look around for 15 minutes) and major league pitchers, but our college pitchers that have worked out in the last 10 years, you either saw it almost immediately (Alex Wood absolutely manhandling AA and skipping AAA about a year after the draft in 2012 as a reliever for a while, then starting and dominating for a stretch as a 22-year-old), or you at least saw flashes instead of being straight bad in their starts (Mike Minor coming up in August in 2010 and putting up a few solid starts in a row before imploding, probably mostly due to fatigue).
So, it’s fair to be concerned. Very concerned, in fact.
Something that I noticed when looking through brooksbaseball is something that Enscheff warned of last year, although it might not be to as bad of an extent as it could’ve been. Because his fastball didn’t move much, the Braves have tried to tinker with it, and in fact, at least by that source, his fastball moves just fine now. Well, it’s taking away from movement from his off speed. Basically, tin foil hat time, I think Wright is their Yankees Sonny Gray right now.
Aggression with prospects is fine, but being stupid is not. There should be a way to find a happy medium between a Pirates like idea of being overly cautious with prospects and going stupidly fast with prospects.
The call on Freeman is not that hard. We project what he is likely to produce during the years in question. And make him an offer equivalent to a 1 WAR discount. For example if he is projected to be a 3.5 WAR player during the period in question, we offer to pay him as if he would be a 2.5 WAR player. It's up to him whether those terms are acceptable.
That's the sort of approach a front office that focuses relentlessly on value would take.
Last edited by nsacpi; 07-23-2019 at 09:47 AM.
"I am a victim, I will tell you. I am a victim."
"I am your retribution."
I don't disagree. It's easy to make these decisions from a strictly baseball perspective. But as a GM you also have to factor in revenue. If we essentially tell Freeman to kick the curb during a time when he is the face of the franchise, that could cause fan backlash which effects the bottom line (ticket sales, merchandise, etc)
"I am a victim, I will tell you. I am a victim."
"I am your retribution."
You have to think one of the reasons for locking up Acuna and Albies this year was because they're looking down the road to a Freeman extension. Good or bad, you don't let Freeman go. It's very rare to have a continuous 'Face of a Franchise' who profile so very similarly as hitters = Freeman and Chipper. That could be 30+ continuous years.
Super (07-23-2019), UNCBlue012 (07-23-2019)