Waiver deals....

[Carp]

Putting a ton of resources into a 4ish WAR catcher that plays 140 games is a terrible, terrible idea.

[zbhargrove]

Good hitting catchers are a luxury, and Lucroy should be Example A as to why you shouldn't put much resources into catchers, even athletic ones.

Our prospect capital would be better spent to fix other areas.

Lucroy was never anywhere close to the quality of player Realmuto is

Edit: Okay that was a bit of a strong statement, but Lucroy had a problem staying healthy and playing more than 450 at-bats or so in a season... Realmuto has been a rock and is putting up MVP caliber numbers this year at his position.

[Carp]

The Yankees won't because any major acquisition won't allow them to reset their salary tax.

I mean i guess it's a risk, but all they have to do is claim him, they don't habe to work out a trade.

[clvclv]

The most interesting waiver deal to me goes the other way - if somebody claims Julio, does AA simply let him go to get rid of the money?

[Southcack77]

A 27 year old catcher who's really athletic and under control until 2021 is pretty rare, and yes... would be expensive... and would very much improve our MLB club.

I'd assume Grandall will get a qualifying offer, so you are talking about giving up a draft pick and signing him to four or five guaranteed years at 15-17 million per.

You could bring back Flowers but you are likely going to have to give him 2-3 years at a substantial raise this time.

Beyond that, not much attractive to me on the FA catching market as a primary. You can piece together a platoon situation and hope for some defense mindedness there, but its an aging undistinguished lot in free agency.

I suppose there is Ramos. I wouldn't suggest bad defense catcher with the Braves situation, but its an option.

Would be hard for the Braves to deal with four guys in the lineup with offensive questions -- currently having Swanson, Inciarte, and Camargo all having limitations. So maybe Ramos would be an option, but he's certainly not going cheap this time.

[GeorgiaGirl]

Man I'd be willing to give up a lot for JT, but it'd be hard and heartbreaking. Probably end up at least being:

Pache or Waters
Pick 1 of Soroka/Wright/Touki/Wilson
A lower level guy with tools, like JDLC.

That's my best offer, and it'd probably be Pache that I'd go as the position player going. I'm bigger on Waters than Pache (starting slow in A+ but still). I'm not even sure that's enough, I'd probably say doubtful because Jeter could be dumb here.

I see William Contreras as mid 2020-2021. I was going flat 2021 but less sure now.

[Carp]

For me the free agent catcher list is essentially Grandal and Flowers. I guess Ramos is an option if you don't care about defense.

I think Contreras is a long way away.

I'd probably give up a lot for Realmuto. Perfect fit with bat and good defense for the Braves, who can't really afford another below average offensive position player.

Mac is available and he could prove to be a valuable platoon partner with one of Flowers/Suzuki.

[Southcack77]

The most interesting waiver deal to me goes the other way - if somebody claims Julio, does AA simply let him go to get rid of the money?

If someone claimed Teheran they should definitely let him go.

[zbhargrove]

Putting a ton of resources into a 4ish WAR catcher that plays 140 games is a terrible, terrible idea.

Sure, its expensive, but its not like we'd be giving up resources that are imperative to the team. We don't have many holes to fill and we should put the most elite player we can get in the holes we do have, IMO. And we can afford it without killing the farm. Will it hurt? A bit, because we love our prospects, but it won't really hurt the system that much.

[zbhargrove]

Man I'd be willing to give up a lot for JT, but it'd be hard and heartbreaking. Probably end up at least being:

Pache or Waters
Pick 1 of Soroka/Wright/Touki/Wilson
A lower level guy with tools, like JDLC.

That's my best offer, and it'd probably be Pache that I'd go as the position player going. I'm bigger on Waters than Pache (starting slow in A+ but still). I'm not even sure that's enough, I'd probably say doubtful because Jeter could be dumb here.

I see William Contreras as mid 2020-2021. I was going flat 2021 but less sure now.

I would include Pache before Waters as well.

[Southcack77]

Mac is available and he could prove to be a valuable platoon partner with one of Flowers/Suzuki.

I'm not sure McCann is better than Suzuki at this point, but I guess that works. Flowers might be more expensive and more of a commitment than would be ideal.

We are assuming Astros don't pick up McCann's option, I guess.

Braves could elect to kick the catcher decision down the road, but at some point they need to do something to make a major improvement somewhere. I don't think Flowers/McCann moves the needle much and in fact might be a little worse than what they had this year.

[Southcack77]

Waters or Pache comes down to whether you value offensive or defense more highly.

Pache's defense is more certain and probably plays at a higher MLB level than Waters offense.

But maybe Waters hits better while still being above average in center?

Pache being closer and more certain in his tools seems like the one to keep.

[Heyward]

Good hitting catchers are a luxury, and Lucroy should be Example A as to why you shouldn't put much resources into catchers, even athletic ones.

Our prospect capital would be better spent to fix other areas.

Like where, we're set just about everywhere but C, and the other OF spot.

And we have an abundance of SP options next year.

[Heyward]

I'd assume Grandall will get a qualifying offer, so you are talking about giving up a draft pick and singing him to four or five guaranteed years at 15-17 million per.

You could bring back Flowers but you are likely going to have to give him 2-3 years at a substantial raise this time.

Beyond that, not much attractive to me on the FA catching market as a primary. You can piece together a playoff situation and hope for some defense mindedness there, but its an aging undistinguished lot in free agency.

I suppose there is Ramos. I wouldn't suggest bad defense catcher with the Braves situation, but its an option.

Would be hard for the Braves to deal with four guys in the lineup with offensive questions -- currently having Swanson, Inciarte, and Camargo all having limitations. So maybe Ramos would be an option, but he's certainly not going cheap this time.

And Markakis is a FA, and who knows if the Braves keep him or not.

The cost for Realmuto would be big, but if the Braves could extend him, he'd round out an excellent top 4 in the lineup with Albies, Acuna, and Freeman, that's legit.

[Southcack77]

Good hitting catchers are a luxury, and Lucroy should be Example A as to why you shouldn't put much resources into catchers, even athletic ones.

Our prospect capital would be better spent to fix other areas.

Realmuto has great value as a defensive catcher. He's still young. his hitting is a plus, but I know no one is really about giving up anything to upgrade Camargo or Swanson or Inciarte either, so might as well get your offense here.

Flowers is a diminishing proposition. The catching market is weak beyond Grandal and the all offense Ramos.

[Hudson2]

If Pache, Anderson, and a low level guy got us Realmuto i'd do that. There's your RH cleanup hitter behind Freeman. If we could get another good outfielder then we would be pretty set.

[zbhargrove]

Waters or Pache comes down to whether you value offensive or defense more highly.

Pache's defense is more certain and probably plays at a higher MLB level than Waters offense.

But maybe Waters hits better while still being above average in center?

Pache being closer and more certain in his tools seems like the one to keep.

I'm still not certain on Pache's offensive tools. But I've always been lower on Pache than most. I think Waters has quite a bit higher offensive ceiling and is still potentially an above average to excellent defender.

[buck75]

I just don’t think the Braves will trade Wright. We shall see.

[Heyward]

I think the Braves only keep one of Pache/Waters, so that would be an interesting decision to make.

I'd probably do like Anderson, Pache, Wilson, and a low end guy not in the top 30 if we could extend him.

[Southcack77]

Marlins have let Realmuto get pretty close to seeing the end of the tunnel. Would he even be open to extension?