No, the object is to sustained trips to the playoffs. You don't do that by wasting service time of your future middle infielders during a season that is already a lost cause.
It would probably be wisest to leave both Albies and Swanson in the minors until a few weeks into 2017, but I have a feeling they will be handed the keys to SS and 2B from day 1 of next season to open up the new ballpark. If that's the case, then it doesn't matter if they come up for a couple months towards the end of this season. It would cost the Braves a year of control, but at least it would give us a reason to watch the team in September
50PoundHead (04-30-2016), Braves1976 (04-30-2016), jpx7 (04-30-2016)
"For all his tattooings he was on the whole a clean, comely looking cannibal."
Braves1976 (04-30-2016)
I don't like rushing them like this, I am afraid it will backfire one way or another.
The month of April hasn't even ended yet, Albies is just 19 and already skipped High A and now barely a month in AA and off to AAA? I am not as concerned about Swanson jumping to AA as he is 22 and most thought both could handle AA. Further, as dak said in the other thread it isn't so much these promotions I don't like. It's that it seems they're trying to rush them to the Majors this year and that concerns me.
jpx7 (05-01-2016)
That's your narrative. Andruw did it. Fur all did it but ended up being lower.
Albies metrics are in performance, not age. Sounds like he's not getting bigger. Everyone says he's mlb ready on d. So if he can handle elite stuff he should play.
I think their goal is for them to play NEXT yr. bring them up with roster expansion to get some firsts out of the way.
If they struggle they won't promote him
And for as awesome as Andruw was defensively, he never really hit his full potential offensively. Now whether having that extra time in the minors would have made him a better hitter is questionable, but leapfrogging through levels definitely didn't help him. You have to give the players a chance to struggle so they can learn to make adjustments. When you move them so fast they don't even see pitchers more than once then nobody makes adjustments to them, and in turn they don't get a chance to learn to adjust.
And clearly they are planning on starting them at the beginning of next year, but it's pretty dumb. And it's being done for financial reasons (to drum up interest in the club for the new park), not developmental reasons.
Braves1976 (04-30-2016), jpx7 (05-01-2016), VirginiaBrave (04-30-2016)
@mlbbowman
The Albies and Swanson promotions furthers the Braves' hope that both could be in Atlanta for this season's second half.
Both are probably prepared for a challenge at a higher level, so I love the promotions. However, the notion of them being called up for the second half is idiotic. That would be a financial decision to put butts in the seats in the new Cobb Co. Park. That would not be a sound baseball decision. Both players need to stay in the minors throughout this year, and a few weeks in to next season. Albies, Swanson, Ruiz and Newcomb can all come up late Mid to late April 2017, not before then.
I think a lot of this is about giving the fans reason to not simply leaving the team forever. It's been a couple of tough years and a lot of popular guys were dealt off in an attempt to start from scratch. The problem with that is that the casual fan goes away and the more serious fan becomes embittered. Atlanta isn't Boston or Chicago, where there's enough hard core fans to fill the stadium even if the product is sub-par. From my vantage point (and I think the Twin Cities up here is the same way) is that Atlanta is a town of upper middle class transients who aren't going to go to the ballpark if the team isn't good because they don't have a longstanding tie to the team.
I don't want to break the 1962 Mets' 40-120 futility mark (and I'm sure the front office doesn't either), but a bit of perspective is in order. If you've started down the road of the long view, you better stay on it, especially after the arguably negative impact of the deals that have been made.
jpx7 (05-01-2016)
There are no guarantee but chances are Albies age 26 season will be better than his age 20 season. So I would rather have him under contractual control from age 21 to 26 than age 20 to 25.
Braves1976 (04-30-2016), jpx7 (05-01-2016)
Remember, Albies played a good bit for the big club in ST and impressed. Yes he's young but they've gotten a really good look at him.
If they are up from day one they are controlled for 6 years. If they wait a couple weeks they get that year plus 6 more years of control. They will be a super 2 and will go through arbitration 4 times instead of the usual 3 times.
And as someone said earlier, Albies will probably a much better player at 26 then 20, so I would rather control his age 26 season than have him playing on a cheaply team from day 1 at the age of 20.
It's all about resource management.
Braves1976 (04-30-2016), jpx7 (05-01-2016)