2019 BA Top 100

[Deester11]

There are plenty of posters who've had doubts about whether his defense has improved as much as the reports say. I don't recall singling anyone out.

BA has him as a 60 defender. Pipeline has him as a 50 defender. There doesn't seem to be a consensus about any of Riley's tools other than his arm and his power. Pretty typical of most prospects - some scouts/reports see them one way, some see them differently. I completely buy those that have mentioned the improvement, but since I don't see him regularly I'm also not short-sighted enough to believe he's a slam-dunk to stay over there. If he was, I don't think AA would've spent $23 million on Donaldson rather than spending that money elsewhere to improve multiple areas when he could've bought a month at 3B with Camargo and Culberson to game Riley's clock.

Based on the limited number of times I've seen him, I think he'll be just fine over there - that said, if the organization felt there was no doubt he will, it wouldn't likely consider moving him to LF would it?

Ok. I feel there is a lot wrong here but I’ll give you my take. The Braves spent money on Donaldson to get a proven bat. It wasn’t an indictment on Riley’s ability to stay at 3B. That’s absurd. Putting him in LF or trying him there doesn’t mean the Braves don’t think he will be there long term. If the Braves think that Donaldson has made Riley’s future as a 3B bleak I’d think they are dumber than this off-season thus far.

[dak]

Regarding Riley's defense, I still have concerns based on the available info. As recently as 12-18 months ago, there were reports from multiple evaluators that questioned whether he could stick at 3B and adjusted their valuation on him accordingly as a possible corner outfielder. The publicly available takes on his defense from the 2018 season seem noticeably better, which is awesome news for him and the Braves. While I'm cautiously optimistic and happy to see the trend line pointing up, his ability to play 3b at an average MLB level (a high bar) is still a concern for me personally. That coupled with the strikeouts has led me to be at least a little surprised at how well he's showing on the top 100 lists.

[clvclv]

Ok. I feel there is a lot wrong here but I’ll give you my take. The Braves spent money on Donaldson to get a proven bat. It wasn’t an indictment on Riley’s ability to stay at 3B. That’s absurd. Putting him in LF or trying him there doesn’t mean the Braves don’t think he will be there long term. If the Braves think that Donaldson has made Riley’s future as a 3B bleak I’d think they are dumber than this off-season thus far.

The Braves could have spent significantly less to "get a proven bat" than the $23 million they spent on Donaldson and his injury concerns - they didn't have to spend it putting someone in Riley's way for the enitrety of 2019. No, that doesn't mean they plan on moving Riley, but they chose to make a "win now" move like bringing Josh in and have followed it up with absolutely nothing other than a downgrade behind the plate and re-signing Markakis - and both of those moves seem more than curious after a go for it signing of a guy like Donaldson.

None of us - myself at the top of that list - has any idea what the plan is, but blocking Riley at 3B for at least another year has to give one slight pause since they've had absolutely no problem with moving Acuna and Albies so fast. As a big Riley believer, I hope the Donaldson/Markakis moves signal nothing other than an opportunity to give Riley another full season to hone his defense and that he'll be the Opening Day 3B in 2020. Camargo and Duvall should get plenty of ABs spelling the two of them, so there should be no need to push Austin to the OF unless they're strictly trying to enhance his versatility OR they feel he may have to move off the position - not leaving the possibility that they're going to move him is just not being realistic about the situation.

Not questioning what you've seen - but I saw a lot of Albies before he was moved off of SS too, and saw little reason to move him until they brought in a better option.

[Super]

The Braves could have spent significantly less to "get a proven bat" than the $23 million they spent on Donaldson and his injury concerns - they didn't have to spend it putting someone in Riley's way for the enitrety of 2019. No, that doesn't mean they plan on moving Riley, but they chose to make a "win now" move like bringing Josh in and have followed it up with absolutely nothing other than a downgrade behind the plate and re-signing Markakis - and both of those moves seem more than curious after a go for it signing of a guy like Donaldson.

None of us - myself at the top of that list - has any idea what the plan is, but blocking Riley at 3B for at least another year has to give one slight pause since they've had absolutely no problem with moving Acuna and Albies so fast. As a big Riley believer, I hope the Donaldson/Markakis moves signal nothing other than an opportunity to give Riley another full season to hone his defense and that he'll be the Opening Day 3B in 2020. Camargo and Duvall should get plenty of ABs spelling the two of them, so there should be no need to push Austin to the OF unless they're strictly trying to enhance his versatility OR they feel he may have to move off the position - not leaving the possibility that they're going to move him is just not being realistic about the situation.

Not questioning what you've seen - but I saw a lot of Albies before he was moved off of SS too, and saw little reason to move him until they brought in a better option.

donaldson may be the best bat on the market. no one as proven was coming for much cheaper.

[clvclv]

donaldson may be the best bat on the market. no one as proven was coming for much cheaper.

Brantley, McCutchen, Grandal, and Pollock all came much cheaper - albeit with longer commitments (other than Grandal).

Again, I'm in the believer group - and am just fine with not blocking Riley with a long-term deal (at either position) - I'm just incredibly frustrated with the Donaldson deal if AA is indeed done with significant adds this winter. Leaving Camargo at 3B until Riley is ready (or for good) would've given you the flexibility to sign BOTH Pollock and Marwin with the same $$$ you spent on Donaldson - a huge upgrade over Markakis, injury insurance for Pollock, and massive bench upgrades once Riley comes up.

The Donaldson signing simply doesn't make sense by itself - even if he gives you 130 healthy games, he's not good enough on his own to make this team a legitimate contender. Is that group "as proven" as Josh? Probably a tough question considering the health risks attached to him, but I just don't understand jumping out there and going after one of the best players on the market - health concerns and all - if you're not going to do ANYTHING else to improve the team.

[Southcack77]

Brantley, McCutchen, Grandal, and Pollock all came much cheaper - albeit with longer commitments (other than Grandal).

Again, I'm in the believer group - and am just fine with not blocking Riley with a long-term deal (at either position) - I'm just incredibly frustrated with the Donaldson deal if AA is indeed done with significant adds this winter. Leaving Camargo at 3B until Riley is ready (or for good) would've given you the flexibility to sign BOTH Pollock and Marwin with the same $$$ you spent on Donaldson - a huge upgrade over Markakis, injury insurance for Pollock, and massive bench upgrades once Riley comes up.

The Donaldson signing simply doesn't make sense by itself - even if he gives you 130 healthy games, he's not good enough on his own to make this team a legitimate contender. Is that group "as proven" as Josh? Probably a tough question considering the health risks attached to him, but I just don't understand jumping out there and going after one of the best players on the market - health concerns and all - if you're not going to do ANYTHING else to improve the team.

I'd much rather have Donaldson than Marwin and Pollock.

I don't even really understand the opposite argument.

[nsacpi]

I know its tedious to repeat, but AA has added 6 wins at the cost of $30M.

Anyone else like to spin a scenario where we add wins at a more efficient rate?

[clvclv]

I know its tedious to repeat, but AA has added 6 wins at the cost of $30M.

Anyone else like to spin a scenario where we add wins at a more efficient rate?

Let's see Donaldson play more than 20 games before making that statement.

How about "we HOPE AA has added 6 wins at the cost of $30 million".