Megathread: Braves lose Maitan, Bae and 10+ plus International Sanctions.

[Enscheff]

With one or two exceptions they went for the guys who were physically advanced for their ages. Contrast that with Albies and Acuna, who while very good athletes and highly skilled, are not the biggest and strongest out there.

I think when it comes to exceptional talent it is time to recognize that it comes in all shapes and size. Look at Altuve and Judge. Look at recently HoF inductees like Maddux, Martinez and Randy Johnson.

I know I don't have the insights and knowledge of professional scouts, but it seems to me that when you need to throw out the book in terms of what to look for when it comes to exceptional talent. I'm talking creme de la creme. Otherwise, the "recipe" for what to look for physically seems to hold better.

When a 14 year old has a goat-tee and is hitting HRs it's not as impressive as the baby faced 14 year old doing the same.

Somehow the Braves missed that note in the scouting handbook.

[Horsehide Harry]

It's sort of unbelievable how quickly that huge J2 class went to spoil. Almost as if the Braves were determined to spend $20m and just picked the first ten teenagers that spoke Spanish and gave it to them.

I think there is still a lot of wait and see. BUT, if someone like the gNats, Yanks, RSox or Dodgers don't throw out several million on Maitan or a mil or 2 on Gutierrez, then I think we'll know something.

[striker42]

I think it's more likely than not that the Braves would have gotten off lighter had they not cooperated.

[chop2chip]

I think it's more likely than not that the Braves would have gotten off lighter had they not cooperated.

Banning this team for life seems like pretty solid alternative tbh

[Enscheff]

I think it's more likely than not that the Braves would have gotten off lighter had they not cooperated.

Like if they rallied around their FO members and stuck together rather than throwing a couple guys under the bus causing them to get so pissed off they decided to offer up info to make sure the Braves burned?

[chop2chip]

Like if they rallied around their FO members and stuck together rather than throwing a couple guys under the bus causing them to get so pissed off they decided to offer up info to make sure the Braves burned?

Didn’t the Braves give MLB everything, but Coppy didn’t cooperate?

[rico43]

Had the Braves not cooperated, feel certain they would have lost their first-round pick this summer.

[chipchildress]

Albies, Acuna and Pache all did quite a bit better in Danville at the same age.

I pointed this out months ago and added that maitan being fat as hell should raise some alarms. Guess now it's ok to admit it now he gone? I recall being told I'm a moron and such. Sigh.

[Super]

Didn’t the Braves give MLB everything, but Coppy didn’t cooperate?

yes but you see, this doesn't fit the narrative very well.

[Super]

I think there is still a lot of wait and see. BUT, if someone like the gNats, Yanks, RSox or Dodgers don't throw out several million on Maitan or a mil or 2 on Gutierrez, then I think we'll know something.

I think someone will throw that money out regardless.

[striker42]

Had the Braves not cooperated, feel certain they would have lost their first-round pick this summer.

Possibly, though in that situation, MLB would be shining a giant spotlight on their lack of control. Not only are they struggling to get a handle on rampant rule breaking, they can't even get teams to cooperate. I think a lot would depend on how much solid evidence they had independent of the Braves.

[biggentleben]

I pointed this out months ago and added that maitan being fat as hell should raise some alarms. Guess now it's ok to admit it now he gone? I recall being told I'm a moron and such. Sigh.

He also had a hamstring tear throughout the majority of the season that he played through. He's looked incredible at offseason workouts, in shape as good or better than he's been since signing. Maitan's swings before they went indoors were putting notable impressions on the walls 350-400' away from home plate, as they were last offseason when the hype train really hit hard as Longenhagens had some big time reports on him from fall instructs. Working indoors, he's working to stay in on the baseball and use his incredibly quick wrists to put barrel consistent throughout the strike zone.

Gutierrez is the one to worry about right now as far as filling out based on how he looks at offseason workouts.

[50PoundHead]

He also had a hamstring tear throughout the majority of the season that he played through. He's looked incredible at offseason workouts, in shape as good or better than he's been since signing. Maitan's swings before they went indoors were putting notable impressions on the walls 350-400' away from home plate, as they were last offseason when the hype train really hit hard as Longenhagens had some big time reports on him from fall instructs. Working indoors, he's working to stay in on the baseball and use his incredibly quick wrists to put barrel consistent throughout the strike zone.

Gutierrez is the one to worry about right now as far as filling out based on how he looks at offseason workouts.

Meaning he was overrated or is a beast?

[biggentleben]

Meaning he was overrated or is a beast?

Overrated and filling out in a hurry. I like the bat, but it's more of a .280/20 homer top end bat than a big power, big average bat, and his best quality behind the plate is his positioning and framing, as his run game work and lateral movement is needing some big work, something that adding size low in his frame certainly won't help.

[Deester11]

I hated losing Del Resario and Maitan but I am more excited that we kept Pache and W.Contreras. He was exciting at the plate and behind it.

[Southcack77]

Had the Braves not cooperated, feel certain they would have lost their first-round pick this summer.

I'm sure Coppy is sitting home stunned and amazed that his cheating and attempts to deny it left him banned from the sport permanently.

People that laugh at the idea of doing the correct thing and embracing consequences are often shocked when it catches up with them. Generally it does catch up to them in some way.

[50PoundHead]

I'm sure Coppy is sitting home stunned and amazed that his cheating and attempts to deny it left with banned from the sport permanently.

People that laugh at the idea of doing the correct thing and embracing consequences are often shocked when it catches up with them. Generally it does catch up to them in some way.

I wonder if Coppolella's plea to the Commissioner was "everyone is doing what we did, so there really is no law here."

[CrimsonCowboy]

[Bluedevilruss]

What ramifications would that meeting have? McGuirk?

[50PoundHead]

What ramifications would that meeting have? McGuirk?

I've been surprised that Roy Clark or Brian Bridges haven't been mentioned in this. They don't have direct contact with Latin America the way that Blakeley did, but they are involved in amateur scouting so unless Blakeley went around them totally and directly to Coppolella I would guess they would have at least had some knowledge of what was transpiring. Of course, I've never worked in a major league front office, so I have no clear idea of the chain-of-command. The other angle is this could spell problems for our Latin American area scouts because those guys had to know something was up seeing they were involved in the negotiations.