Official 2017 Trade Deadilne Thread

[smootness]

Again, it depends on what is offered for Phillips. You can't say that the best move is to trade him now without knowing what offers are on the table for him.

IF the front office can get fair value for him, and IF they will replace him with someone other than Albies for the remainder of the year, trading Phillips is the right move.

Assuming you can get more than nothing, then the right move is to trade him. He's gone after this year either way, and we have not yet started our window. Yes, we are .500, but it's still not likely we are going to make the playoffs. Get what you can now, especially since his value is peaking.

Again, Albies is going to come up when they decide they want him up. If that is now, they will trade BP just to make room. If that is not now, they won't bring him up even with BP gone.

[nsacpi]

Jaime Garcia does not have Brandon Phillips' yuge smile and winning personality. But a case can be made that he would be more difficult/costly to replace. I think there is more demand for his services. So I would vote him most likely to be traded at the deadline. I do think, however, that the Braves would not trade him without an accompanying trade for a starting pitcher. They wouldn't trade Garcia and plug in Medlen/Sims/Wisler into his spot in rotation, unless it was a short-term thing until they get another starter. There will be a kind of do-si-do allemande left with Garcia going this way and a pitcher from another team coming that way.

On a tangentially related matter, if Newcomb continues to struggle I could see one of Medlen/Sims/Wisler taking HIS spot in the rotation. But it won't be Medlen/Sims/Wisler in Jaime Garcia's spot. These kinds of optics psy ops kind of considerations matter when a team is in semi-contention. Don't want to mess with team chemistry!

[Carp]

The only way it makes sense to me is if they're looking to plug other holes with "almost ready" guys.

I don't think Houston's moving Tucker, but if you could get Fisher (who's ready to step in for Kemp or Markakis at any point), Garrett Stubbs (who would be ready to step in for Suzuki in 2018), J.D. Davis (who would be ready to step in at 3B if Adams is dealt), and a wildcard like a Jason Martin (to take Pache's place if he's dealt) for Teheran and Vizcaino, and then use Anderson, Pache, and another arm or two to get Gray, wouldn't we be ahead of the game - particularly if Coppy can add Profar for Garcia plus?

No I don't think we really come out ahead in that scenario.

[Southcack77]

I understand why it has to happen, but I would be mad if the front office made moves or didn't make moves because of the casual fan. Phillips does bring leadership, but this is not a WS team and is an impending free agent. Trade him in the next two weeks and at least get a lottery ticket out of him. In the meanwhile, you can keep Albies down until September or 2018 and play Camargo/SRod there in the meanwhile.

Selling tickets is ultimately the purpose of the organization as the Mets have show with their Tebow antics. Balancing that with the complementary goal of winning championships is what it is all about.

There is no way in hell Albies will or should be kept down until September 2018 unless there is another injury. He's either going to be up or traded by May.

[Preacher]

This ignores the aspect of fan interest. The financial benefit of keeping Phillips may exceed a prospect that has a 5% chance of making the majors.

Who is going to or not going to a Braves game based on Brandon Phillips?

If you don't trade a guy like him because you are worried some random joe-blow fan isn't going to show up....?? Good grief that would be silly.

[Southcack77]

Who is going to or not going to a Braves game based on Brandon Phillips?

If you don't trade a guy like him because you are worried some random joe-blow fan isn't going to show up....?? Good grief that would be silly.

There is this too. I'm not sure anyone is really making decisions on Phillips. But if you trade away a lot of pieces that people can identify without putting something shiny back in front of them, they may well get the idea that you've raised a white flag. I suppose the team might as well, since they are all playing together and would have a lot of respect for veterans.

[Chico]

I agree that it makes complete sense to trade BP, but I also won't be shocked if he is not traded. It's not hard to fill 2B internally for any team. Combine that with the fact he has a limited no trade and we're only looking at playoff bound teams and that demand keeps going down. I guess we can use another high risk high reward minor league reliever, but that shouldn't be the focus right now.

I know you should not build a team for the casual fan, but the casual fans are the ones who go to the games and pre-game at the Yard House before the game. The die hard fan watches from his house or streams it on-line.

[nsacpi]

Who is going to or not going to a Braves game based on Brandon Phillips?

If you don't trade a guy like him because you are worried some random joe-blow fan isn't going to show up....?? Good grief that would be silly.

I don't think it is the random fan that matters here. It is the message being sent to the rest of the team. It is mostly a psychological matter.

[thethe]

Who is going to or not going to a Braves game based on Brandon Phillips?

If you don't trade a guy like him because you are worried some random joe-blow fan isn't going to show up....?? Good grief that would be silly.

It's not phillips on his own but the perception resulting from the moves. What are you telling the fans if you trade a key component to the team being 500? Will the same amount show up to future games?

[Preacher]

It's not phillips on his own but the perception resulting from the moves. What are you telling the fans if you trade a key component to the team being 500? Will the same amount show up to future games?

You are telling fans you care about winning long-term.

Phillips can be resolved internally, he's gone next year, and we aren't winning anything this season.

It's beyond logical to trade him.

[nsacpi]

You are telling fans you care about winning long-term.

Phillips can be resolved internally, he's gone next year, and we aren't winning anything this season.

It's beyond logical to trade him.

i don't think Phillips will be traded because of his importance to team chemistry...it isn't about the fans...it is about the other 24 players

[Russ2dollas]

The team thinks they are in it. Phillips is playing well and cheap.

IMO you can't dump him. U deal him if u get something useful

[clvclv]

Given the sudden improvements with the additions of Santana and Rodriguez not only help offensively and defensively, I really wouldn't be surprised to see Coppy pull the trigger on a deal for Gray AND hold onto Julio. I'm just not convinced that the shopping Teheran talk isn't a bit of a smokescreen anyway. I can't help but think he's going to get things ironed out at home, and a Gray, Folty, Julio front three is pretty tough if he does.

In the end, I think we may well hold onto everybody other than Garcia - and I'm not sure trading him is a given at this point.

As has been pointed out several times, this team just has that immeasurable "feel" and chemistry - they're having fun, they really seem to enjoy playing together, they play hard for Snit regardless of the situation, and they've just been a little better than anyone expected all year...even with Freddie's absence and a down year from Julio. Does that mean they can make a run or are the 1991 Braves all over again? Of course not. It's just more fun when you're able to say "well, if we could beat so-and-so a couple of times and so-and-so got hurt..." - I kept reminding myself that "this team's just not that good" every night of the entire second half of the 1991 season right up until they made the playoffs.

They're not going to get any notable return for anyone they'd be "smart" to sell off - Garcia, Dat Dude, Dickey, Kemp, or Markakis - so why raise the white flag? Keep hanging around and see if any of the wildcard contenders have a notable injury or hit cold streaks and somehow allow you to back in.

[Preacher]

i don't think Phillips will be traded because of his importance to team chemistry...it isn't about the fans...it is about the other 24 players

That would also be a mistake IMO, but does make more sense than worrying about fans reactions.

Two points on that, players do understand this is a business, team chemistry shouldn't come before whats best for the organization. I'll also add that with Freeman, Kakis, Flowers, Inciarte, Dickey, JT, SRod...... we should have plenty of good clubhouse/character/chemistry guys.

[Preacher]

I mean this is a .500 team with a run differential of -30ish, pythag has us at 42-48 and that's after playing a really easy schedule.

Yes we are playing better right now, but I hope the FO doesn't lose sight of the bigger picture here. This is still a pretty flawed team that has a couple valuable pieces that will be gone next year. Trade them for something that can help the team when we might actually be winning something meaningful.

[smootness]

I mean this is a .500 team with a run differential of -30ish, pythag has us at 42-48 and that's after playing a really easy schedule.

Yes we are playing better right now, but I hope the FO doesn't lose sight of the bigger picture here. This is still a pretty flawed team that has a couple valuable pieces that will be gone next year. Trade them for something that can help the team when we might actually be winning something meaningful.

Totally agree.

[bravesfanMatt]

I mean this is a .500 team with a run differential of -30ish, pythag has us at 42-48 and that's after playing a really easy schedule.

Yes we are playing better right now, but I hope the FO doesn't lose sight of the bigger picture here. This is still a pretty flawed team that has a couple valuable pieces that will be gone next year. Trade them for something that can help the team when we might actually be winning something meaningful.

doesn't matter. We are within striking distance of a playoff spot. Playoffs = more revenue.

We are not going to sell off pieces that have been vital in getting us this far. If we collapse, then yes, he will be gone.

[Horsehide Harry]

We all want to see good exciting baseball. But, most of all we want to see our team winning pennants and championships.

The good run of baseball the Braves have recently had, including the run through the horrid schedule of June, is really just what the Braves didn't need.

A sense of good feeling has built around the team even though they won't be a playoff team with both the members of the team and fans which will make it difficult if not impossible for the FO to trade pieces that should be traded, given a reasonable return - guys like: Teheran, Garcia, Dickey, Johnson, most of the pen arms, Phillips, Adams, Suzuki, Flowers (got to be a big return because the young staff needs him), Kemp, Markakis. Few, if any of those guys can justifiably be marked as contributors long term to the Braves. Keeping them throughout the year to "build momentum" to 2018 is just dumb since most won't see 2018 with the Braves. I would have thought that idea of momentum built from one year carrying to the next would have been dispelled given the horrid start to 2017 coming off the Snitker job drive of 2016.

A sense of good feeling is not really what the franchise needs. It needs to maximize its young talent options and manage payroll in such a way that expenditures either further the on field performance of the team in the next few years OR is spent in acquiring even more young talent.

Everyone wants to say the Braves have the best prospects in baseball, so mission accomplished. But acquiring young talent is never ending for good franchises and when you have assets that don't fit long term and a. the ML team isn't really competing and b. you can get value in return for the non core players then good teams make those moves regardless of feelings.

[thethe]

What are you guys actually expecting for a return. The chance of getting a useful piece is extremely limited.

[Southcack77]

Whether everyone agrees with it or not, the Braves are probably no longer in the place where they are going to be able to trade away performing assets and shrug their shoulders and say: "The Rebuild".

They are now, due to the way they've approached things, in the place where trading off performing assets in the middle of the season needs to have a pretty good explanation.

That is perhaps a flaw in their plan. They certainly probably should be moving their expiring contracts and Matt Adams and Jim Johnson.