2018 Offseason And Targets

[bravesfanMatt]

I don't think that at all. I think AA is laser focused on value acquisitions and maintaining some level of flexibility long term. I think he may have been a little too reluctant to commit more than 1 year this offseason, but I trust that he has damn good reasons for keeping everything on a short term basis.

I am fine for lower risk moves. I am not talking about shelling out 30 mil for Harper. But he chose to take a low risk on a position of want versus need. Then low risked us into a weaker catcher and RF. Couple that with the strange scout firing and botching last years draft. I just can’t help to start seeing patterns that I saw but chose to ignore with coppy

[Enscheff]

Short term deals are fine. Gio?....Gio?? Nah...please tell me we aren’t gonna sing him for $15mil when we could have had Pollock for 12.

So...you may be right....hell....you’re usually right. I will be very disappointed if that’s the route we go.

Between prospect capitol and payroll flexibility...sure seems like a crap off season.

I know I’m being a bit of a homer, but there just has to be a master plan...right....?

Of course there's a master plan, but you can't compare giving Gio a 1 year deal to giving Pollock a 5 year deal without acknowledging how much additional risk the Pollock contract carries. That could be a bad contract for half a decade, the Gio contract could be bad for a maximum of 1 year.

I wanted Grandal, Brantley and a utility guy like Asdrubal from day 1. That was my Plan A. I wanted to give Grandal 4-5 years, Brantley 3 years, and someone like Asdrubal 1-2 years. My plan would have probably produced a team projected for 90 wins in 2019, but it would have also exposed the Braves to tremendous risk.

It's clear AA was unwilling to take that amount of risk, and it's silly to rate his actions with the benefit if hindsight now that Grandal signed for 1 year. As is, he constructed a playoff contender while assuming virtually zero long term risk, which isn't a trivial accomplishment by any means.

What is fair is to criticize AA for focusing on JD early when he should have known there were many 3B/Util options this off season. Some patience could have gotten Grandal for much cheaper than originally thought, a trade for Pederson now that LA has Pollock, and who knows what type of bargain would be available at 3B right now with JD still on the market.

Jumping early on JD was the mistake, not the idea of sticking to low risk 1 year deals for 2019. We have seen 2 years in a row now that the teams who jump into FA early tend to be the ones who overpaid, so why jump in early into the part of the market flush with options?

[Hudson2]

He has to take a risk at some point. I know he went nuts in Toronto trading for everybody but there has to be a happy medium there. If JTR gets dealt for a package we could have easily beat and not hurt us then color me concerned about AA. You can be over cautious also.

[clvclv]

Way out of the box, but somebody mentioned a three-way deal with the Marlins and Dodgers - if they're going to try to outbid AA for Realmuto and the Marlins appear to like our prospects more, why not? Since it looks like we're not landing a big add this winter unless it's J. T., call the Dodgers and offer to ship them Anderson and Riley for Keibert Ruiz and Verdugo and let them trade for Realmuto.

We bide our time with the veterans this year until another huge chunk of money comes off the books, keep all the arms except one, and suddenly have Freeman, Acuna, Albies, Ruiz, Verdugo, Camargo, Dansby - Pache, Waters, Contreras, Jenista, and two of the top 21 picks in June still in the pipeline - and plenty of money to bid on Rendon, Arenado, or Donaldson next winter.


Waaaaay out there, I know, but wouldn't that be preferable to getting in a bidding war with the Dodgers for two years of Realmuto?

[Hudson2]

I am fine for lower risk moves. I am not talking about shelling out 30 mil for Harper. But he chose to take a low risk on a position of want versus need. Then low risked us into a weaker catcher and RF. Couple that with the strange scout firing and botching last years draft. I just can’t help to start seeing patterns that I saw but chose to ignore with coppy

I agree with you. The way he’s handled things so far is throwing up some red flags to me. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt but our team hasn’t really upgraded from last year imo.

[TheBravos]

i don't think gio will get $15M. probably looking at closer to $10M. just IMO tho

So...We sign Gio.

Everyone says we can’t move Julio (which I kinda disagree but let’s say we can’t).

We have a rotation of Folty, Newk, Gausman, Gio and Julio.

JTR goes the Dodgers.

We have 10 rotation ready young guys and not even the 5th spot open.

JTR is gone. Who is left to trade for?

I just don’t buy it. It’s very disfunctional. We havn’t made one trade...not even a small one!!

[Super]

I agree with you. The way he’s handled things so far is throwing up some red flags to me. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt but our team hasn’t really upgraded from last year imo.

JD is likely a massive improvement.

[Super]

So...We sign Gio.

Everyone says we can’t move Julio (which I kinda disagree but let’s say we can’t).

We have a rotation of Folty, Newk, Gausman, Gio and Julio.

JTR goes the Dodgers.

We have 10 rotation ready young guys and not even the 5th spot open.

JTR is gone. Who is left to trade for?

I just don’t buy it. It’s very disfunctional. We havn’t made one trade...not even a small one!!

it's possible AA is holding on to the pitchers for another year to see what he's really got.

[clvclv]

O’day is a good reliever. And would easily go In the 8mil range. It’s a one year deal.

Julio is a one year deal with upside. Someone would take him on if we ate a little bit of the salary. You are under selling him a bit,

Brach signed for $3 million - what on earth makes you think O'Day would get more than twice as much if he were on the market???

[bravesfanMatt]

it's possible AA is holding on to the pitchers for another year to see what he's really got.

Why are we holding onto riskier assets like pitching?

[TheBravos]

Brach signed for $3 million - what on earth makes you think O'Day would get more than twice as much if he were on the market???

You are picking the lowest paid reliever. There have definitely been some higher deals. I personally think O’day is better if healthy.

[Acuña’s Bat Flip]

I think you're actually talking me in to a Gio signing.

Yep, I'm on board. Go Gio.

I love you, Beanie!

[tululush]

So...We sign Gio.

Everyone says we can’t move Julio (which I kinda disagree but let’s say we can’t).

We have a rotation of Folty, Newk, Gausman, Gio and Julio.

JTR goes the Dodgers.

We have 10 rotation ready young guys and not even the 5th spot open.

JTR is gone. Who is left to trade for?

I just don’t buy it. It’s very disfunctional. We havn’t made one trade...not even a small one!!

Absolutely 100% spot on. Signing Gio alone makes no sense bc we now have 5 big league starters and a handful of minor leaguers who could fill the 5th spot in our rotation. In that scenario they don't have any room for a minor leaguer and how can you possibly audition them for a potential trade? Secondly, if JTR does get traded to LA, or any other team, what are we saving our minor league capital for? Certainly nobody in the rotation bc we're flush there. Not 1b, not 2b, not 3b, not ss, not c and not of. And next year there isn't any reason to trade for a 3b when there are several options in the free agent pool.

None of this makes sense. Either we sign Gio and package some other pitchers for a trade to upgrade another position or we just have a completely incompetent GM who doesn't know what he's doing.

[Hudson2]

JD is likely a massive improvement.

Possibly. I hope he is but he’s a year older and has been injured a lot the past few years. If he goes down then we are sunk basically bc we will be out of money and lost our biggest offseason acquisition. Markakis is a year older and won’t have the same kind of season he had last year and Folty will possibly regress some. We are worse at C to imo then last year.

[clvclv]

You are picking the lowest paid reliever. There have definitely been some higher deals. I personally think O’day is better if healthy.

O'Day isn't a Closer, and certainly has never done anything to make one believe he's worth that kind of investment. Is he better than Brach? Arguably. Is he worth 2.67 times as much as Brach? *ell no. If the Orioles hadn't given him that contract, he wouldn't have gotten what he's getting this year.

Which RP that has signed for more this winter does O'Day look more like than Brach?

[nsacpi]

As I read it, Pollock is guaranteed 60M over 4 years. Not as much of a great deal as earlier reports. He's being paid approximately 8M per expected win.

In contrast Donaldson is being paid about 6M per expected win on a shorter and less risky deal. Plus a good chance of getting a draft pick.

[Acuña’s Bat Flip]

Of course there's a master plan, but you can't compare giving Gio a 1 year deal to giving Pollock a 5 year deal without acknowledging how much additional risk the Pollock contract carries. That could be a bad contract for half a decade, the Gio contract could be bad for a maximum of 1 year.

I wanted Grandal, Brantley and a utility guy like Asdrubal from day 1. That was my Plan A. I wanted to give Grandal 4-5 years, Brantley 3 years, and someone like Asdrubal 1-2 years. My plan would have probably produced a team projected for 90 wins in 2019, but it would have also exposed the Braves to tremendous risk.

It's clear AA was unwilling to take that amount of risk, and it's silly to rate his actions with the benefit if hindsight now that Grandal signed for 1 year. As is, he constructed a playoff contender while assuming virtually zero long term risk, which isn't a trivial accomplishment by any means.

What is fair is to criticize AA for focusing on JD early when he should have known there were many 3B/Util options this off season. Some patience could have gotten Grandal for much cheaper than originally thought, a trade for Pederson now that LA has Pollock, and who knows what type of bargain would be available at 3B right now with JD still on the market.

Jumping early on JD was the mistake, not the idea of sticking to low risk 1 year deals for 2019. We have seen 2 years in a row now that the teams who jump into FA early tend to be the ones who overpaid, so why jump in early into the part of the market flush with options?

Plus if AA and JD are so tight you'd think AA wouldn't have to be in a rush to sign JD.

[nsacpi]

Plus if AA and JD are so tight you'd think AA wouldn't have to be in a rush to sign JD.

AA got a tremendous deal.

[Acuña’s Bat Flip]

I know I'm past due for an eye exam but did I really just see someone arguing Brach is better than O'Day??

[Enscheff]

I know I'm past due for an eye exam but did I really just see someone arguing Brach is better than O'Day??

Consider the guy making the comments is the same guy who:

Wanted to trade Albies for Dee Gordon
Thought MAdams would get the Braves Odorizzi
Thought Jenkins would get the Braves Chris Sale
Thinks JTR didn't have to sign his contract with the Marlins

and generally makes dumb comment after dumb comment, and when called out just ignores it and proceeds to make his next dumb comment with the same proud ignorance he always displays.