Braves sign Charlie Morton

[CJ9]

If the money is still there for Ozuna and the NL keeps the DH, we can fill every need with an impact guy without having to give up any draft picks. Would be pretty impressive.

And It looks like we will still have a ton of flexibility next offseason, too.

[50PoundHead]

Not out of the blue, but still a little surprising to me given the Smyly deal. As thethe conjectured above, I wonder what this means for Wright, Wilson, Touki and the other candidates for the back of the rotation. They may end up trading for a bat as opposed to signing one. Nice to see Morton come full circle. I followed him closely on his way up the Braves' minor league chain in the early aughts and was a little disappointed they moved him in the McLouth deal. He's another example of how it can take some time for some pitchers to put it all together. Morton has always had great stuff and once he got it harnessed (and stayed healthy), he's been a very good pitcher.

[Russ2dollas]

We don't know exactly how Liberty is running the Braves. Remember last year when they moved half of Flowers' and Neck's money to the previous year because of some accounting plan? They may have some sort of plan that is several years out.

As I recall the Battery is not the big issue I see here on the board. I may be wrong. I'm not going to go searching, but I thought I remembered when Liberty last had an earning's report the Battery was only about a million down in revenue from last year. It was 7 million vs 8 million, or something similar. Down but not crazy. I know the other issue is the debt. But they have done work to restructure and they have banked money from previous years.

The Braves having hype around them and winning on the field is required to maximize the Battery investment.

My problem is that you still probably need to spend 30-40 million to be a top team. DH, LF, Bench, Pen. They need another 20+ million dollar bat. To be a WS team they need a fourth and a fifth hitter in my opinion.

Because we are likely looking at a 7-8-9 of Swanson, Riley and Pache. I don't expect Riley or Pache to have a 100 wrc+.

[bravesfanforlife88]

I'm wondering if AA goes cheap on the pen. We already have some good pieces down there with Smith, Minter, Matzek, Martin, Tomlin, Webb, Ynoa

We could fill the remaining spots with Newk, Sobotka, Touki, etc....I'd imagine that Wright/Wilson will be starters at AAA for emergency use. Newk and Touki have had success in the pen and maybe that becomes their nitch.

Then use Contreras as the second catcher and Jackson as possibly the third catcher.

Take then rest of the money to go after a bat and bench pieces...Would love to go after Cesar Hernandez

[clvclv]

I really like it.

I have to HOPE that are actually going to have a payroll similar to last year. IMO we still need two bats to be a legit WS team.

WE know know the Mets are going to be much better next year when they spend. They may regret it in 2025 plus, but they'll be better next year.

Fried
Morton
Smyly
Anderson
Soroka

Do Wilson and Wright have options still?

Do we know if we have expanded rosters next year? They won't do a real 6 man rotation, but maybe they plan to spot start Wright a lot since we have Soroka coming back from an injury, Anderson in his first full year, Fried who seems to need some breaks and two older vets.

Still wondering if AA can turn Touki, Wilson, and/or Davidson into anything. I know some will say they don't have value. But if we do have teams that are desperate to cut money and starting pitching is this expensive, cheap starters with some pedigree (Touki and Wilson) might be valuable. Stealth tank.

Now that a huge draw-down of payroll doesn't appear to be an issue, I'd REALLY like to see AA make a play for Rosario rather than waiting to see if the Twins actually do non-tender him. If they do, there's still a chance it winds up costing more than what he's projected to make in arbitration if he makes it to the open market - unlike Pederson he doesn't need a platoon partner, and he's a perfect bridge to Waters on a one year deal.

Payroll now sits at just shy of $123 million following the Morton signing. Trading one of the surplus arms (not named Wright, Wilson, or Muller) for Rosario and non-tendering Duvall would bump that number to ~ $128 million. $12 million left doesn't get you Ozuna, but it might very well get you Carlos Santana if there's a DH while leaving enough room to bring one of Melancon or Greene back.

[Super]

I'm wondering if AA goes cheap on the pen. We already have some good pieces down there with Smith, Minter, Matzek, Martin, Tomlin, Webb, Ynoa

We could fill the remaining spots with Newk, Sobotka, Touki, etc....I'd imagine that Wright/Wilson will be starters at AAA for emergency use. Newk and Touki have had success in the pen and maybe that becomes their nitch.

Then use Contreras as the second catcher and Jackson as possibly the third catcher.

Take then rest of the money to go after a bat and bench pieces...Would love to go after Cesar Hernandez

yup. the pen doesn't need that much work. sign some cheap guys like Melancon.
this is wild. can't believe they signed Morton as well.

always need a ton of starters tho, so i'm not sure this means a ton for someone like Wright. what're the chances Smyly AND Morton pitch a whole season?

[50PoundHead]

Rotation is looking good.

Halladay Lite
Kershaw Lite
Maddux Lite
Wilson
Cal

No Miller Lite?

[clvclv]

No Miller Lite?

I drink those - have to know there aren't enough of them left to go around.

[CrazyTrain]

This feels just like last offseason, but the rotation instead of the pen. Love the Morton signing... still not sure why we picked up Smyly, but whatever.

Now we need a freaking LF or 3B.

[CrimsonCowboy]

I like it. Welcome back Charlie!

[Super]

Now we need a freaking LF or 3B.

well it's beginning to feel like the money is definitely there for it.
or a trade/
either way, no way AA signed Smyly and Morton without having a plan for one of those positions. i 100% believe that now.

[CrazyTrain]

well it's beginning to feel like the money is definitely there for it.
or a trade/
either way, no way AA signed Smyly and Morton without having a plan for one of those positions. i 100% believe that now.

I guess we'll see.

Who do they go for? Maybe Joc? Would Justin Turner sign a one year deal?

[bravesfanforlife88]

I wonder if the next move is to sign Freeman longterm....make a little less this season for extra room and pay him on the back end.

[Five]

Yes sir!

[Skeeter31]

Ugh. Yeah let’s tie up huge sums of money on his declining years to help this season. I’d rather front load a Freddie extension, if we have to resign him at all.

[Super]

I guess we'll see.

Who do they go for? Maybe Joc? Would Justin Turner sign a one year deal?

it's possible Turner would i think. but that would probably be later in the offseason if he does.
Pederson fits quite nicely and wouldn't cost much at all (relatively speaking).

[nsacpi]

No Miller Lite?

you can find that in the pen: Matzek is Miller (Andrew) Lite

[bravesfanMatt]

Well this was a surprise to me.

Signing Ozzie and Acuna to those deals has set this all up. I hope we lock up soroka and Dansby next just to know you have good player locked up on reasonable contracts allowing you to keep rolling the one year deals for vets. The new money ball is being developed.

[Hudson2]

well it's beginning to feel like the money is definitely there for it.
or a trade/
either way, no way AA signed Smyly and Morton without having a plan for one of those positions. i 100% believe that now.

This all day. He wouldn’t spend that much on pitching if he didn’t have enough for a bat. The DH is why’s holding up signing Ozuna I think. We’ll see

[bravesfanMatt]

I think AA never wants to see the likes of Erlin and Milone types have to pitch for his club again. We will keep most of our pitching depth as insurance and development. Love this signing. Hopefully this doesn’t mean we trade Wright. I still feel like he has stuff to be good.