This can work if Inciarte and Albies platoon in the leadoff spot depending on the opposing SP.Originally Posted by UNCBlue012
They still need to add a hitter capable of hitting in the top half of a contending lineup though. JTR or similar move must be close.
Last edited by Enscheff; 01-22-2019 at 05:32 PM.
I would also say the Nats (92 wins) are clearly better on paper, the Mets (85 wins, off season mostly complete) and Braves (83+ wins with Markakis, some ammo left) about equal, and the Phils (82 wins, lots of money left) a clear 4th...right now.
The Phils will almost certainly add Harper or Machado, and pull even with the Mets and Braves. The Braves must have 1 more move in the tank that puts them slightly ahead of the Mets. There is simply no other way to justify the Markakis signing.
Of course, the Nats were the on paper champs last year as well. The Braves and Mets may project for similar records, but the Braves are a young roster more likely to exceed expectations, and the Mets are an old roster more likely to have injuries to the pitching staff derail the season.
Regardless, the Braves are clear contenders, so at least there's that. The core is young, which means they are more likely to exceed projections than an older team, so there's room for even more optimism.
Man I hope our young pitchers can step up and bail AA out of this sub par offseason.
Coppy
A fitting end to this *hitty winter would have the Phillies landing Harper, Keuchel, and Kimbrel (two of them at the very least) and the Dodgers picking up Realmuto - both of which could happen.
Then go back and re-calculate those projections.
Has there EVER been a statement and question a certain someone should absolutely never have made and asked publicly more than...
Kinda pathetic to see yourself as a message board knight in shining armor. How impotent does someone have to be in real life to resort to playing hero on a message board?
The signing of Markakis pretty much guarantees the subject of this trade isn't a LHH cOF, so no Peralta/Pederson or similar. He probably isn't a cOF at all. Markakis being signed for so cheap also suggests the subject of this trade carries a non-trivial amount of money owed.
JTR isn't even going to make anywhere near $10M, so they didn't need to save payroll to acquire him, especially if they traded away Flowers.
A SP making roughly $15M in 2019? Could they possibly trade for JTR and carry 3 catchers?
Tapate50 (01-22-2019)
Some fairly sound deductions. AA has to still have his sights set on at least one more high dollar target. SP makes the most sense.
So far this off-season can be viewed as a vote of confidence in the young pitchers. There is uncertainty about which ones will break out, but there are so many that the odds are good we find a couple good starting pitchers this season from among Fried, Gohara, Soroka, Wright, Toussaint and Wilson.
"I am a victim, I will tell you. I am a victim."
"I am your retribution."
I don’t agree with spending resources on pitching, but it seems like the most logical next move.
No idea who it could be though.
I know this isn’t popular and everybody wants to win the World Series this year, but, I’m pretty happy we haven’t dealt any kids.
nsacpi (01-22-2019)
Yeah... I think a lot of people take the whole TINSTAAPP thing a little too far. When you have like 8 guys who have shown that they are MLB ready or close to it, there is a pretty great chance that a few of them end up being good enough to put together a really good rotation with Folty/Gausman/Newcomb. But for guys like Joey Wentz or someone who is still more than a year away... yeah TINSTAAPP.
I'm not a huge fan of this Markakis move if we don't do anything else to add to the team. Its a good value for him, but if we want to have a reasonable chance at competing we really need to make another addition in one form or another.
I feel like all my neighbors just got new Land Rovers and I’m trying to convince them my Equinox is just as cool because I got a good deal on it.
bravesfanMatt (01-22-2019), clvclv (01-23-2019), Freshmaker (01-22-2019), Super (01-22-2019)
Well Donaldson is a pretty good piece
people losing sight of that because it came so early in the off-season
also if Camargo and Riley had already showed they can be decent outfielders there would be less angst about the outfield...i think we'll find out in spring training they can play there
"I am a victim, I will tell you. I am a victim."
"I am your retribution."
This sucks. Our lineup is not good, our rotation still has plenty of questions, as does our bullpen. The only substantial upgrade we’ve made could be wiped away if an injury-prone player gets injured.
There has to be more. I’m going to do my best to avoid panic, but it’s not working very well right now.
clvclv (01-23-2019)
That's been the thing i've been worried about as well. If Donaldson doesn't return to form, or gets hurt, our biggest upgrade of the offseason is gone, and we are a worse team.
Get off my lawn!
The ONLY upgrade this off season.
If we were broke and had nothing to trade then you are right. But we have the funds and prospects to do better. No one is forgetting JD. But we needed to upgrade the team and still have resources to do. I am just not confident we have the leadership to.
Coppy
clvclv (01-23-2019)
We're obviously willing to sacrifice defense/framing for offense at catcher... could we perhaps see AA do this at ss with camargo over Swanson?
you need to post more often
"I am a victim, I will tell you. I am a victim."
"I am your retribution."
TheRunningAgent (01-22-2019)
Sure we could have dipped into our prospect pile. But I'd rather not unless the return is very good. Imagine if we had traded Albies last off-season.
"I am a victim, I will tell you. I am a victim."
"I am your retribution."
TheRunningAgent (01-22-2019)
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