Official Offseason Thread

[thethe]

To me, the only bad news about the Madison Bumgarner signing is that it almost certainly takes Escobar off our radar. I really thought he was a prime target given his inexpensiveness and versatility. Now its looking like its JD, KB, Ozuna (which I'm not a fan of), or bust.

At this point, my idea of going after 2 or 3 older, versatile players who would come cheaper in order to deepen the lineup may be looking like a fairly solid plan D. If we could somehow scrap together a mixture of guys like Travis Shaw, Eric Sogard, Jonathan Schoop, Ben Zobrist, Kevin Pillar, Yasiel Puig, or Domingo Santana, it may give us enough overall depth to cover up most of what we lost from the 2019 lineup, if deployed properly (massive if).

I'd only go this route if we miss out on Donaldson, Ozuna, and Bryant. It wouldn't be the sexiest lineup in the world, but I could see this being a viable option given our apparently improved pitching.

At some point you have to imagine that AA will put his foot down and force Freddi, I mean Snit, to employ a full platoon lineup.

[Enscheff]

Dont think Rendon chooses ATL if the offers were the same, but i'm in on Arenado depending what the package is and if he waives his opt out clause.

Hmm interesting. Has a player ever done that? Is it even possible?

[Enscheff]

Why would we want Arenado to waive his opt out? I'm not a huge fan of paying him 35 million dollars per year through his age 35 season. If we got him for fair value (not much) and he ended up opting out of his deal, I think that'd be a great circumstance for us.

Because the opt out is pure downside for the club. They are taking on the risk of a 7 year albatross, and the upside is only a 2 year value.

Waiving the opt out increases his value by roughly $20M because there is a chance the Braves get good Arenado for 7 years...which isn't a possibility with the current contract. If he's good, he's gone in 2 years. All contracts are about weighing the upside vs the downside, and opt outs eliminate nearly all of the potential upside.

[Hudson2]

If we go with Camargo/Riley at 3b and strike out on offensive upgrades then AA gets an F from me on the offseason. After Freeman our lineup gets pretty bad. I don’t know why AA is so gun shy to make a trade to upgrade the team.

[clvclv]

Is he going to provide any updates or just rewrite the same damn tweet every day?

He's certainly not "connected" - the fact that he broke the Cole, Strasburg, and Rendon signings proves that he knows nothing.

[Heyward]

He's certainly not "connected" - the fact that he broke the Cole, Strasburg, and Rendon signings proves that he knows nothing.

Most likely proves hes close with Boras. JD isnt a Boras guy. Hes pretty much been saying the same with on JD/Nats the last 4 days or so.

[Hudson2]

JD i’m sure has an offer in hand from the Nats and he’s waiting on the Braves or someone to match it.

[Jaw]

Heyman has been a Boras mouthpiece for years. This is The Way. It is known.

[TheBravos]

The reality is we were sniffing around Rendon. He was too expensive so we passed.

Now we're somehow linked to Arenado. Likely bc we inquired about him. Knowing that his yearly $ cost is pretty much the same as Rendon, and would cost us a considerable amount of prospects, greatly reduces the likelihood that we'll trade for him. It's just not going to happen. Colorado will want a haul and we're not willing to do it.

That leaves Donaldson via free agency or KB via a trade. AA has likely prioritized which way he'd like go (JD or KB) and he and JD are playing a game of chicken to see who will blink first.

At the end of the day we likely end up with one of JD or KB.

Also, if it were up to me I would have signed Rendon, filled in the rest of the roster with supplemental parts, and then offered Freeman what I felt was a fair market contract in a few years and if he didn't take it, I'd let him walk. Rendon > Freeman and I would have essentially made that decision this off-season by signing Rendon.

AA will try to get Donaldson on his terms, but that likely won’t happen unless Donaldson just wants to be with the Braves more.

Bryant is still an option depending on that all important second year of control, but the Cubs have to take a reasonable package which isn’t a given.

I would go all in with Chapman (would give us a ton of flexibility or the Haniger/Seager trade idea would be nice.

BTW: Between Camargo and Riley, would probably have a 2.5-3 WAR platoon anyway, so I don’t exactly feel it’s a black hole, but would need more production from the outfield if that’s the case.

[Enscheff]

Riley was worth 0.2 WAR in 300 PAs.

Camargo was worth -0.5 WAR in 250 PAs.

I think I’d pump the brakes a bit on that platoon.

[Snowman]

Riley was worth 0.2 WAR in 300 PAs.

Camargo was worth -0.5 WAR in 250 PAs.

I think I’d pump the brakes a bit on that platoon.

But together, they'd be better than the sum of their parts. They might even clear one win!

[msstate7]

Riley was worth 0.2 WAR in 300 PAs.

Camargo was worth -0.5 WAR in 250 PAs.

I think I’d pump the brakes a bit on that platoon.

Probably worth mentioning that camargo was...

1.1 fWAR in 256 PAs in 2016
3.3 fWAR in 524 PAs in 2017

[TheBravos]

Probably worth mentioning that camargo was...

1.1 fWAR in 256 PAs in 2016
3.3 fWAR in 524 PAs in 2017

This. Camargo was pretty decent at third. He couldn’t find his place as a bench player. Not that I think we could win a WS with him, but he would not be a negative player at the position.

[JxnMissFan]

Matt Adams is still available. AA could sign him to play first and then slide Freddie over to 3rd.

[Southcack77]

Why would we want Arenado to waive his opt out? I'm not a huge fan of paying him 35 million dollars per year through his age 35 season. If we got him for fair value (not much) and he ended up opting out of his deal, I think that'd be a great circumstance for us.

I agree. The ideal scenario would be that he did opt out. It would suggest the Braves got two years of very good value and weren't on the hook for five years of expected decline.

[Enscheff]

Probably worth mentioning that camargo was...

1.1 fWAR in 256 PAs in 2016
3.3 fWAR in 524 PAs in 2017

Now tell us what his splits as a LHH were, and whether those results are sustainable based on predictive metrics.

Pretty sure we’ve already determined what Camargo is.

This idea that he is somehow better everyday than a bench player based on unsustainable results is flat out wrong, and is why JD was brought in last year.

[Enscheff]

I agree. The ideal scenario would be that he did opt out. It would suggest the Braves got two years of very good value and weren't on the hook for five years of expected decline.

Yes, but that’s not how contracts with opt outs are valued. The absolute best upside scenario is not the total value.

I’m unsure why this is still unclear.

[tululush]

You cant go into the year without at least one major big bat, you just cant. Ozuna, Castellanos, JD, Bryant, whoever, someone must be added.

Correct. Assuming JD signs elsewhere, if one of the reasons you're not trading for KB, or to a lesser extent Arenado, is bc you're worried about having to give up talent for said player, I can't even imagine how much more of a premium a big bat would cost near the trade deadline. Not to mention that ore than half of your season is gone and I don't even want to think about the hole we're in. Just sign JD now and if you cannot reach a deal then trade for KB. Let's stop messing around and put a bow on this offseason.

[tululush]

He's certainly not "connected" - the fact that he broke the Cole, Strasburg, and Rendon signings proves that he knows nothing.

If I weren't so lazy I'd compile the last week's worth of tweets regarding JD from Heyman. It's the same garbage just re-worded. He's literally talking in circles.

[tululush]

But together, they'd be better than the sum of their parts. They might even clear one win!

Lol this is assuming Snit knows what he's doing. You know Snit will screw up the platoon by the second series of the season. For our sanity and the team's success we just need to give him someone he can start every day.