Braves sniffing around on Markakis; Official 4 years 44 million.

[jpx7]

Law, Neyers, Pos, Karabell, Bowden, etc, etc are all destroying the Braves for the signing.

Your avatar hurts me.

[jpx7]

The Orioles are now presented with the challenge of diving into a shrinking outfield free-agent market to replace both Markakis and Nelson Cruz.

(Bearing in mind I'd rather the Braves sign him long-term, now that they've traded Heyward:) What could they offer for Justin Upton?

[jpx7]

I guess Markakis smells like mothballs and jello pudding pops?

Actually: soured goat's-milk yoghurt, hulled sesame-seed paste, and wine-dark earth.

[Enscheff]

I think BP pretty much summed up the Markakis signing perfectly in their transaction analysis:

"But the Braves don’t have an outfielder among their top 10 prospects, unless you count Braxton Davidson, who is 18 years old and already described as “on the clumsy side” with “below-average speed.” Markakis provides certainty in a sense—he gives the Braves a corner outfielder for this year, freeing them to shop Upton or Gattis; he gives them a corner outfielder for the next four years, filling in where a top prospect won’t. He’s disaster insurance. It’s just that, as teams have been finding out with multi-year contracts forever, there’s no guarantee that the disaster isn’t the one you sign."

I'm sure this "disaster insurance" will be dead salary weight in the second half of the deal, but I think it was a solid move all around. I still would have preferred Aoki for 2-3 years at ~$8M-$9M per year though.

[Julio3000]

Actually: soured goat's-milk yoghurt, hulled sesame-seed paste, and wine-dark earth.

Dude needs a heroic epithet. I suspect he's gonna get one.

[Enscheff]

The only Aoki that the Braves should have pursued this offseason is Steve Aoki. He would be so much better than that goofy ass organist in the DJ booth -- and he's heir to Benihana, wouldn't that have looked great out in right field beside the Chick-Fil-A cow?

But seriously, Nori Aoki? A niece piece on a team with other legitimate talents (ie. not the Braves).

I think Aoki is going to produce identical numbers to Markakis over the next few years. Considering he will likely be signed for fewer years and fewer dollars per year, yes, he would have been preferable.

Someone has to play OF for the Braves, but that someone didn't have to be signed for 4 years during their decline.

[Julio3000]

Also: solidarity.

[BRule]

The only Aoki that the Braves should have pursued this offseason is Steve Aoki. He would be so much better than that goofy ass organist in the DJ booth -- and he's heir to Benihana, wouldn't that have looked great out in right field beside the Chick-Fil-A cow?

But seriously, Nori Aoki? A niece piece on a team with other legitimate talents (ie. not the Braves).

I don't think the point was to sign Aoki and rebuild, at least not mine....my reasoning for signing him was IF the Braves wanted a veteran for RF why give Markakis 45 mil when you could get Aoki, who is the same level player, for peanuts.

[jpx7]

Dude needs a heroic epithet. I suspect he's gonna get one.

Rosy-fingered Mukaki seems like a solid first-step.

[Julio3000]

Rosy-fingered Mukaki; glove-gilded, semi-swift.

[Heyward]

I don't think the point was to sign Aoki and rebuild, at least not mine....my reasoning for signing him was IF the Braves wanted a veteran for RF why give Markakis 45 mil when you could get Aoki, who is the same level player, for peanuts.

2-3 mil less=peanuts?

Why do you care though, you are a Cards fan now and everything.

[holden]

turn out the lights, boys. we're dunzo.

[skillet]

I'm not sure why so many are saying Markakis is regressing. He was a good bit better in 2014 than he was in 2013, in fact his 2014 WAR was the second best year he's had in the past 5.

And for those advocating Aoki, he is regressing. He has steadily gotten worse each of the past three years.

[keithlaw]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/on-ni...nsive-metrics/

"The Braves are essentially betting that UZR and DRS are so systematically wrong that they add no real information even after 12,000 innings of data collection"


I think that's a pretty fair assesement considering what they signed Markaksis to and that they didn't see Heyward as a true 5 WAR player.

lol dave cameron is so ****ing stupid.

if you take this thing seriously you're hopeless

[Metaphysicist]

Not for very long.

John Hart's last job was to say how much he like every single pick in the draft. I can't remember him ever having a negative opinion. He had that job for quite awhile and left of his own volition.

[yeezus]

I'm not sure why so many are saying Markakis is regressing. He was a good bit better in 2014 than he was in 2013, in fact his 2014 WAR was the second best year he's had in the past 5.

And for those advocating Aoki, he is regressing. He has steadily gotten worse each of the past three years.

That's part of the scary part. That's not saying much.

[rico43]

turn out the lights, boys. we're dunzo.

Then go away.

[Deester11]

Then go away.

The over-apocalyptic responses to the construction of this team is at a fever pitch. Today is a new day. I'm so ready for the Upton inevitable trade so that I can bear witness to the impending work stoppage throughout Braves country!

[yeezus]

The over-apocalyptic responses to the construction of this team is at a fever pitch. Today is a new day. I'm so ready for the Upton inevitable trade so that I can bear witness to the impending work stoppage throughout Braves country!

People feel that many bad decisions have been made. It's fair to question this organization's due diligence at this moment. These are moves that could potentially set us back years. So yes, as fans, that's our job: have an opinion on the team's direction.

[thethe]

People feel that many bad decisions have been made. It's fair to question this organization's due diligence at this moment. These are moves that could potentially set us back years. So yes, as fans, that's our job: have an opinion on the team's direction.

I think the point of the moves is so that we aren't set back years.