7/24 GDT: Atlanta Braves (47-50) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (56-42)

[Southcack77]

I feel confident that Markakis will be more or less the player he is now next year. As I understood things, the objection to the fourth year was the decline and I don't think he's going to be unplayable. I'm a little ambivalent about it, because he's earned his contract and it really hasn't mattered/

I do not sweat him so much, but it would be nice if they utilized his OBP better nearer the top of the order.

I still don't see a very smart alternative to his being the starter internally. Acuna coming up at the start of the season would just be beyond silly. There is no reason to do that.

[thewupk]

Uhhhh.... am I missing something?

EVERYONE said the 4th year was likely going to hurt. But he wasn't going to sign for 3, soo....

its like you haven't seen how FA contracts play out that often? or either you want to toot toot your horn or Ensheffs.

Then you don't make the deal if he doesn't sign for 3 years. Yet there were many people that said it didn't matter because he is only making 11 million. It's a problem and will continue to be a problem next season.

[thewupk]

I feel confident that Markakis will be more or less the player he is now next year. As I understood things, the objection to the fourth year was the decline and I don't think he's going to be unplayable. I'm a little ambivalent about it, because he's earned his contract and it really hasn't mattered/

I do not sweat him so much, but it would be nice if they utilized his OBP better nearer the top of the order.

I still don't see a very smart alternative to his being the starter internally. Acuna coming up at the start of the season would just be beyond silly. There is no reason to do that.

He earned his contract for one season (fWAR).

In the end it doesn't matter because the Braves aren't going to contend next year and it hopefully it means Acuna won't be starting the season in Atlanta which would be dumb.

[50PoundHead]

Looks like those saying the 4th year for Nick was a mistake are proving to be right....again

The fourth year was always my gripe with the Markakis contract. Can't figure out why they offered it except I think it was the difference between him signing with us and signing with the Giants. His contract isn't a backbreaker, but it's a pain in the @$$.

[nsacpi]

Markakis has gone south this year. Defense has declined and the strikeout rate is at a career high. He's a replacement level player at this point. He was worth his contract in the first two years. Now clearly we are overpaying. Aging curves are smooth in aggregate but noisy at the individual level. So it is possible Markakis rebounds or holds steady next year (just as there is a risk of a complete collapse). The most likely outcome, however, is for some slight additional decline. I think Acuna will get promoted at some point next year.

[Tapate50]

Then you don't make the deal if he doesn't sign for 3 years. Yet there were many people that said it didn't matter because he is only making 11 million. It's a problem and will continue to be a problem next season.

"You"

We as message board posters don't make the deals. That wasn't the consensus at all either at 11 million as it wasn't that much. 11 million at the time was pretty stout. $\war has skyrocketed since. NOW its not that much, but then it was a decent chunk.

Toot tooting that horn in this case is dumb. 99% of the board knew exactly what that deal would look like.

[Southcack77]

Markakis has gone south this year. Defense has declined and the strikeout rate is at a career high. He's a replacement level player at this point. He was worth his contract in the first two years. Now clearly we are overpaying. Aging curves are smooth in aggregate but noisy at the individual level. So it is possible Markakis rebounds or holds steady next year (just as there is a risk of a complete collapse). The most likely outcome, however, is for some slight additional decline. I think Acuna will get promoted at some point next year.

I am going to do another rare thing and change my mind a little bit. I had not looked at his stats recently and it is true there is a steady decline in his numbers over the last three years. I think some of it on the wRC+ side may be improved offense overall in the league. But Ks up, hos down.

I don't predict complete collapse for him, though it could happen.

I agree with various folks that they should be giving Kemp and Markakis regular days off and defensive replacement for Kemp on a regular basis seems like a decent idea.

What I will hold to is that Markakis has been no particular drag on the team. I think his deal has largely been irrelevant as he's been a mostly ok player on a team that had bigger problems elsewhere. For a team that essentially only had BJ Upton in the OF with no prospects to promote except maybe Peraza? he served a necessary purpose.

I don't think anything has really been hurt by his being a Brave.

[thewupk]

"You"

We as message board posters don't make the deals. That wasn't the consensus at all either at 11 million as it wasn't that much. 11 million at the time was pretty stout. $\war has skyrocketed since. NOW its not that much, but then it was a decent chunk.

Toot tooting that horn in this case is dumb. 99% of the board knew exactly what that deal would look like.

So what are you arguing? That you don't want to be included in the collective that liked this move?

There were several people that got blasted for suggesting Nick would drop to that of a replacement level player by the time he was done here. Looks like it happened in year 3 and I have no doubt he will be the same in 2018 as well. It was a poor deal made by a team that had no idea what it really wanted to do at the time.