My goodness, this team could be really, really good if people stay. I don't expect a healthy Soroka to throw more than 150 innings, but a rotation of Fried, Strider, Wright, Charlie, and Soroka would easily be best in the majors if everyone stayed healthy and pitched up to their talent. Offensively, 5 of our 8 everyday players are capable of putting up a 4+ WAR season.
50PoundHead (03-22-2023), buck75 (03-22-2023)
It's a really good team if everyone stays healthy. For some reason, the starting pitching worries me the most, but when you think that there's Soroka, Anderson, Dodd, Elder, and Shuster hanging around at the back end of the rotation and in Gwinnett, we should be able to squeeze enough performance out of that group to serve as a safety net.
jpx7 (03-23-2023)
jpx7 (03-23-2023), UNCBlue012 (03-22-2023)
I mean yes he will. I just like the younger potential versus the veteran replacement player.
And I am way more optimistic about our rotation than years prior. That is even with old man Mort being a part of it.. Shuster and Dodd are legit back up starters like we haven't had in years. Of course it really is Dodd and Soroka as back up starters since Shuster is probably on the roster come opening day.
Coppy
jpx7 (03-23-2023)
Not being mentioned is if this whole Bally Network drama is causing a tighter payroll than originally thought. It sems like the Braves may not be getting the money they were expecting from their contract....I could be wrong, but when they said they were willing to go above the luxury tax, and they are pretty much right at that mark, with wholes at LF and SS....
Hoping i'm wrong and AA left himself plenty of money for the trade deadline to improve the team. But the down side of that, we already have a pretty barren farm system.
Get off my lawn!
zbhargrove (03-22-2023)
I don't think any roster decisions are about Bally. That happened after they had made these decisions.
if anything they are probably going to pay more money because they are going to put Adrianza and Chavez on the roster and guarantee their salaries.
If the Bally thing changed money we'll find out at the trade deadline if we can't add any salary.
No one seems to be happy with any of the contracts given to any of the free agents this winter. I don’t recall any short stops traded this winter that moved the needle. What move would you prefer the Braves made than giving Arcia/Grissom the job? Btw… Grissom could easily be up in mid April and get 550 at bats. Arcia is a perfectly fine stop gap until Grissom is ready.
jpx7 (03-23-2023)
Not sure where to put this, but are we actually using it or is it a collectible?
https://www.mlbshop.com/atlanta-braves/atlanta-braves-fanatics-authentic-rawlings-alternative-chrome-mini-batting-helmet-fanatics-exclusive/t-58559638+p-931368922600+z-8-761454630?_ref=p-DLP:m-GRID:i-r0c1:po-1"]https://www.mlbshop.com/atlanta-braves/atlanta-braves-fanatics-authentic-rawlings-alternative-chrome-mini-batting-helmet-fanatics-exclusive/t-58559638+p-931368922600+z-8-761454630?_ref=p-DLP:m-GRID:i-r0c1:po-1https://www.mlbshop.com/atlanta-brav...ID:i-r0c1:po-1[/URL]
jpx7 (03-23-2023), The Chosen One (03-22-2023)
I didn't follow his rehab, but with a bum Achilles I was assuming he'd be long tossing with a boot to keep arm strength. I'd have thought he'd have been soft tossing just to maintain feel for his grip. The reason I feel confident in his return is there is nothing structurally wrong from the waist up. In addition, I think he's a good enough athlete to reinvent himself the way Smoltz used to (to work around elbow issues) if his drive in the lower half results in pitches staying up.
jpx7 (03-23-2023)
Solidly average? I keep posting this stat. Over his last 4 years, that's over 1,000 PAs, Arcia has a combined WAR of 0.1. He's almost exactly replacement level. Replacement level is not solidly average, it's a AAAA player that should be on the fringes of your roster and making the minimum.
It’s pretty simple really… I don’t put much credence behind what he did before coming to Atlanta since I don’t think the Brewers develop position players very well. Last year he produced 0.7 fWAR as a part time player with a 104 wRC+… I think that’s more of what to expect from him. That’s pretty much the definition of average man