Official official offseason thread

[bravesfanforlife88]

As stated above, I don't see any way on God's green earth that AA would sign Morton to a $20m contract, coming off a down year, when our franchise SS is a free agent with no one ready to step into the every day role. Especially coming off a World Series victory 2 seasons ago and seeing the attendance increase significantly this season.

AA knows where ownership is going to allow him to go, and I suspect they will be a luxury tax team. Not saying we will be a $250M +team, but low $230M's is where I see us at

[50PoundHead]

Morton's deal makes a ton of sense if you are planning to deal someone near the top of the starting rotation. Two years of Arbitration remaining on Fried. That's generally when a young talented SP gets dealt for the big haul, right?

Strider, Wright and Morton as a big 3 with Anderson, Mueller, Soroka, Elder, Ynoa, Shuster and Tarnok battling for the 4/5 spots and the rotation spots in AAA.

What does Fried net you in a compensation package that includes a proven young SS or a top tier prospect?

That's indeed a possibility because Fried is going to get paid (probably big-time) but if he is traded, you certainly could replace him with someone (though not comparable) for less than what Morton is going to be paid. I don't have many problems with Anthopoulos, but he seems to have a penchant for "his" guys and Morton is clearly one of "his" guys.

[NYCBrave]

I can't see any way we trade Fried, unless the team totally bottoms out this year. He's our ace and we are world series contenders, it would make no sense to trade him now.

[UNCBlue012]

Yeah, there's a -100% chance the Braves trade Fried. y'all are some silly mother****ers.

[bravesfanforlife88]

Yeah, there's a -100% chance the Braves trade Fried. y'all are some silly mother****ers.

Well if the internet was true, the Braves would trade Fried and Acuna this offseason. Have to restock that farm system!

[bravesfanforlife88]

Wow coming off a World Series win, the Astros parted ways with their General Manager of the last 3 seasons. They offered him a 1 year deal which he declined.

[bravesfanforlife88]

I know i've shared what Heyman has said on Dansby a few times recently, but he seems to be the only one saying anything about him. He said today that the belief around the GM meetings right now is that the Braves would need to be around $140m to put a deal together for Dansby. It's believed they offered around $100m over 6 years.

So maybe 6 years / $132M with an option for a 7th year?

[bravesfanforlife88]

Fried
Strider
Wright
Morton
Anderson/Mueller/Soroka/Allard

Iglesias - Closer
Minter - Set up
Lee
McHugh
Stephens
Yates

Looking at the roster, it seems that we are going to need to be in the market for 1 or 2 pen arms, in addition to SS. Matzek had TJS and will miss 2023, and Jansen will be leaving via free agency.

I liked the idea that we had last season with multiple closer options. I'd look for AA to continue that plan and look at adding a Kimbrel or Chapman.

[ixiXSolidXixi]

Fried
Strider
Wright
Morton
Anderson/Mueller/Soroka/Allard

Iglesias - Closer
Minter - Set up
Lee
McHugh
Stephens
Yates

Looking at the roster, it seems that we are going to need to be in the market for 1 or 2 pen arms, in addition to SS. Matzek had TJS and will miss 2023, and Jansen will be leaving via free agency.

I liked the idea that we had last season with multiple closer options. I'd look for AA to continue that plan and look at adding a Kimbrel or Chapman.

Give me Nick Anderson.

[OcalaBrave]

I can't see any way we trade Fried, unless the team totally bottoms out this year. He's our ace and we are world series contenders, it would make no sense to trade him now.

I've got no insight into what the Braves are thinking, but Alex's track record says he is willing to invest in young promising arms (see the Strider deal) and to pay grizzled vet pitchers (see the Dickey deal in Toronto and the Morton deal here). I can't find an example of him paying top dollar for "in their prime" pitchers. The Braves have handed out a lot of extensions and Max hasn't gotten one.

The Braves have a pretty long window right now, but have a few holes that need filling. They appear to be bumping up against the luxury tax. The pitching depth is pretty deep, but the farm system isn't. If (and I know it is a big If) they are looking for a way to extend the window AND address the luxury tax AND make the farm deeper trading Fried makes sense.

For example, if Baltimore (who missed the playoffs by 3 games with bad starting pitching) figured Fried is a difference maker for them and was willing to put a package together that included both Jackson Holliday (SS) and Colton Cowser (OF), I'd think the Braves would have to look at it given the pitching depth in Atlanta, the needs that Holliday and Cowser would potentially fill in Atlanta and the lack of control the Braves have over Fried. I'd prefer Gunnar Henderson, but Baltimore isn't trading him.

[Carp]

MLB Trade Rumors’ predictions are out and they have the Braves signing essentially no one. This mess is weird

In their discussion they said they could see the Braves being interested in just about any free agent, but they had to pick 1 team for each player and that's just sort of the way it worked out. I think they had Phillies and Yankees signing like 5-10 different guys and you know that isn't gonna happen.

[striker42]

I don't expect the Braves to be super active this offseason. They don't have a lot of holes that need filled. There are somethings that could use upgrades but not a lot we have to do.

[Carp]

If our rotation was more reliable past Fried, I would be ok trading for a king's ransom. As it stands now:

Wright has had 1 good season and faded a little down the stretch (came up big when it mattered though).

Strider was a rookie, and while he seems like a future ace (if he isn't already) there's still a little concern about his workload, imo.

Charlie looks at best like a good 4th starter.

Rounding out the rotation is a mystery. Will Ian be able to bounce back? Will Soroka ever stay healthy and be able to regain some of his previous form? Can Muller or Elder take the next step?

I'm not really ok with Wright and Strider as my top 2. In fact, even with Fried, I'd still like to sign someone like Kluber or Clevinger to a cheap deal and see if we can catch lightning in a bottle.

[PawPawMaxwell]

The comments section of the MLBTraderumors discussion has some pretty good explanations about the Braves CBA problems and why the cant be overly active in the FA market. Im sure they will get around to the trade market at some time soon.

[50PoundHead]

Yeah, there's a -100% chance the Braves trade Fried. y'all are some silly mother****ers.

I didn't say he would, but I did say it's plausible. The main reason I don't think he'll get traded is that I see him as our best starter. We have to see if Wright can repeat his great step forward and I'm always going to wonder how Strider is going to hold up. I think the $20 MM extension for Morton wasn't a great idea, but I don't think Anthopoulos would have gone that direction if he was fully confident about Wright's performance going forward and Strider's durability.

And we don't have much behind those four and we don't need that much if all four of those guys perform to projection. It only becomes a problem if any of those four doesn't do that. Soroka hasn't really pitched in two years. Muller teases but it appears he has to sacrifice too much velocity to maintain command. Elder looked good, but it was September.

[Dunit24]

If our rotation was more reliable past Fried, I would be ok trading for a king's ransom. As it stands now:

Wright has had 1 good season and faded a little down the stretch (came up big when it mattered though).

Strider was a rookie, and while he seems like a future ace (if he isn't already) there's still a little concern about his workload, imo.

Charlie looks at best like a good 4th starter.

Rounding out the rotation is a mystery. Will Ian be able to bounce back? Will Soroka ever stay healthy and be able to regain some of his previous form? Can Muller or Elder take the next step?

I'm not really ok with Wright and Strider as my top 2. In fact, even with Fried, I'd still like to sign someone like Kluber or Clevinger to a cheap deal and see if we can catch lightning in a bottle.

I’m with you. You never can have too many arms. Sure, SS is a hole, but I’d take deGrom and a full off-season full of bullpen arms anyday

[DontStopTheChop]

Give me Nick Anderson.

Good call. The Braves just signed Nick Anderson

[Heyward]

Like the Nick Anderson signing, given it wont cost much. If we're not signing another starter, only real needs are LF (if we can find a taker for Ozuna/Rosario) and SS.

[steveAKAslick]

Give me Nick Anderson.

This man is a modern day Nostradamus

[Heyward]

Nick Anderson has two arb years left after this year, fwiw. If he's healthy, hell of a move by AA.