Official official offseason thread

[bravesfanMatt]

I think if we just go with what we have, we're in the 90-92 range. Need to make at least one big time move this winter even if it isnt one of the top end shortstops. I refuse to believe AA spent all our remaining funds on Morton. A full year of Harris and Strider will be huge, as well as a healthy year from Acuna.

this..
the addition of Acuna resurgance and Ozzie being healthy will be like adding two huge FA..
Harris continuing to grow and be around for a full year and Strider hopefully doing the same (with more freaking rest Twitner)
possible of a Olson power surge and a better year from Mort..

we have the pieces.. we just have nothing if someone goes down or doesn't produce. Would have to pray Ozuna or Sorryio can resurge maybe.

[Heyward]

we are a 90 win team healthy. Only problem is we don't have a very deep reserve.. or a reserve at all really. I want desperately to get rid of Ozuna and Rosuckio and be able to add good players for that money.. but we might be stuck with what we have and roll with it this next year and make move with money coming off books next.

We're in a realllly tough spot if we cant move Ozuna or Rosario though. Position players wise, we're already looking at:

Bill/TDA
Olson
Albies
Grissom
Riley
Acuna
Harris
Rosario
Ozuna/Bill DH

Bench: Bill, Ozuna, Arcia, Pina. Need one more outfielder if we cant move Rosario or Ozuna. Or move Pina for the roster spot, catcher is a dead end around baseball.

[Heyward]

this..
the addition of Acuna resurgance and Ozzie being healthy will be like adding two huge FA..
Harris continuing to grow and be around for a full year and Strider hopefully doing the same (with more freaking rest Twitner)
possible of a Olson power surge and a better year from Mort..

we have the pieces.. we just have nothing if someone goes down or doesn't produce. Would have to pray Ozuna or Sorryio can resurge maybe.

How many teams have great options if someone goes down? Even the great Dodgers dont have the depth they used to have. Bill, TDA, Albies, Riley, Olson, Harris, Acuna is good for 7 spots. SS and the last outfield spot is a question. Do the Braves love Grissom or is that all talk? Guess we'll find out.

[msstate7]

Not too concerned about it... braves will have 2 big time prospects emerge this season. They always do

[Hudson2]

It’s not that we don’t have the money for Swanson it just all comes down to value. I think AA sees what Swanson was before this year and most people will too. He won’t be worth what he’s wanting going forward and I think he’ll have to come down some on his asking price. The team is not broke and can probably get whatever player they want if they think the value will be there.

[50PoundHead]

Well that also depends on if AA thinks Swanson is worth that per year and however long Swanson feels he should be signed for. The length of deal may be the issue.

Could be Freeman redux due to how long Anthopoulos is willing to go.

[Heyward]

Could be Freeman redux due to how long Anthopoulos is willing to go.

Supposedly hes already offered 6 years to Swanson.

[bravesfanforlife88]

Supposedly hes already offered 6 years to Swanson.

Starting to get PTSD with Swanson/Freemans agent...

[jpx7]

The idea is that they had ~20 million to spend on a player and felt Morton was the best choice if Swanson wasn't accepting it. None of the other big SS are going to sign for that low and I'm not sure any other SS would be worth going that high on in free agency.

I just don’t find that to be the likeliest scenario.

[mfree80]

It’s not that we don’t have the money for Swanson it just all comes down to value. I think AA sees what Swanson was before this year and most people will too. He won’t be worth what he’s wanting going forward and I think he’ll have to come down some on his asking price. The team is not broke and can probably get whatever player they want if they think the value will be there.

Every year we go through this discussion. It is rarely said out loud, but the inference is that if we are serious about winning we need to be in on the big name free agents. AA has built what we are by (mostly) staying away from the big time FA's. Not that they are not great players who would help a bunch... but rather they are not always the "best value" and usually require years beyond their obvious window of playability. That is what it takes to get them.

My guess is that AA will come up with a SS that we are not expecting. I suspect he is working hard to get rid of Ozuna. Rosario is less of an problem because a healthy year as a platoon player probably makes him a reasonable choice, but getting rid of him would be good as well.

That is probably the shoe that needs to fall before addressing SS/LF.

[50PoundHead]

Supposedly hes already offered 6 years to Swanson.

It's odd to me that he would go six on Swanson and not on Freeman. If it is the case that he's willing to go six on Swanson, he must be lowballing him on the AAV or throwing in an extra team-option year (or something to that effect).

[PawPawMaxwell]

Supposedly hes already offered 6 years to Swanson.

Where did the "supposedly" come from???????????

[jpx7]

It's odd to me that he would go six on Swanson and not on Freeman. If it is the case that he's willing to go six on Swanson, he must be lowballing him on the AAV or throwing in an extra team-option year (or something to that effect).

I don't necessarily disagree with you; however, the counterpoint is that Swanson is hitting FA three years younger, and (to a lesser extent, since his bat would play less) has room to slide down the defensive spectrum (unlike Freeman, who'd have nowhere to go but DH). It's also a different year, and Anthopoulos may simply feel differently going into 2023 than he did going into 2022.

I still think there's a non-trivial chance they sign Correa. I'm less interested in Bogaerts (due to likely defensive decline necessitating a shift to 3b) and Turner (given how much of his game is speed-premised). To be honest—as much as I loved his contributions, and had been an advocate for him during his early down years—I'm also wary of signing Swanson to six years, given his profile. The problem this year is there isn't a ready-made alternative on the trade-market, à la Olson.

So the options appear to be FA, internal gamble, or stop-gap. If the Braves' internal evaluations are anywhere near as rosy on Grissom as Zips, I'm betting they gamble internally, especially with Arcía as a viable fallback. But if that's the case, I don't think they hold off upgrading other areas of the roster—instead, I think we'll see somebody like Haniger brought in to join the OF mix, and some additional cash allocated either to a serious SP upgrade, or spread around to back-end SP and bullpen depth.

[Heyward]

Where did the "supposedly" come from???????????

Believe Heyman said we offered 6/120.

[Heyward]

It's odd to me that he would go six on Swanson and not on Freeman. If it is the case that he's willing to go six on Swanson, he must be lowballing him on the AAV or throwing in an extra team-option year (or something to that effect).

6 to Swanson for a shortstop at his age 29 season starting takes him to age 34, not terrible. 6 to Freeman at his age 32-33 season takes him to 37-38 for a 1B who generally tend to age quite terribly. Quite frankly, 5 years to Freeman scared me. Still firmly believe AA made the right move on Freeman.

[PawPawMaxwell]

Believe Heyman said we offered 6/120.

Thanks. I hadn't heard that one. Just for consideration. Wasnt there some hard feelings reported re: AA and Casey Close, owner of Swansons agency. Imo Heyman doesnt spend much time on Braves issues. Could it be a leak from the agents side? Just doesnt fit the operating standard of AA to back up.

[jpx7]

I don't necessarily disagree with you; however, the counterpoint is that Swanson is hitting FA three years younger, and (to a lesser extent, since his bat would play less) has room to slide down the defensive spectrum (unlike Freeman, who'd have nowhere to go but DH). It's also a different year, and Anthopoulos may simply feel differently going into 2023 than he did going into 2022.

I still think there's a non-trivial chance they sign Correa. I'm less interested in Bogaerts (due to likely defensive decline necessitating a shift to 3b) and Turner (given how much of his game is speed-premised). To be honest—as much as I loved his contributions, and had been an advocate for him during his early down years—I'm also wary of signing Swanson to six years, given his profile. The problem this year is there isn't a ready-made alternative on the trade-market, à la Olson.

So the options appear to be FA, internal gamble, or stop-gap. If the Braves' internal evaluations are anywhere near as rosy on Grissom as Zips, I'm betting they gamble internally, especially with Arcía as a viable fallback. But if that's the case, I don't think they hold off upgrading other areas of the roster—instead, I think we'll see somebody like Haniger brought in to join the OF mix, and some additional cash allocated either to a serious SP upgrade, or spread around to back-end SP and bullpen depth.

Sort of forgot about Brandon Nimmo, but he'd also be a really intriguing option if he comes in around the 5/$100m projection that's been thrown around FG and elsewhere. Just turned 29; capable of playing a decent CF, but has been better in the corners (especially LF, where his marginal throwing arm is less of an issue); fringy power, but successfully traded some BB% in 2022 for better AVG (without abnormal babip luck, at .317); still posted a good walk-rate/OBP (10.5%/.367); cut strikeouts (17.2%); and ultimately totaled .353 woba / 134 wrc+ / 5.4 fwar. Steamer projects .353 woba / 131 wrc+ / 4.7 fwar in 2023.

Given that the projected 5/$100 would slot him right under that ~$22m AAV mark that seems like the sweet-spot for Anthopoulos, he might represent the best option if the Braves gamble on Grisson/Arcía at SS. He'd add a contact-oriented, high-OBP element to the Braves' lineup; he'd provide some CF insurance in the event Harris spends anytime on the IL (and removes the temptation to ever slow Acuña there); he'd improve the LF defense substantially; and that Brett Gardner-profile seems like it would age well into his early-30s.

[The Chosen One]

Sort of forgot about Brandon Nimmo, but he'd also be a really intriguing option if he comes in around the 5/$100m projection that's been thrown around FG and elsewhere. Just turned 29; capable of playing a decent CF, but has been better in the corners (especially LF, where his marginal throwing arm is less of an issue); fringy power, but successfully traded some BB% in 2022 for better AVG (without abnormal babip luck, at .317); still posted a good walk-rate/OBP (10.5%/.367); cut strikeouts (17.2%); and ultimately totaled .353 woba / 134 wrc+ / 5.4 fwar. Steamer projects .353 woba / 131 wrc+ / 4.7 fwar in 2023.

Given that the projected 5/$100 would slot him right under that ~$22m AAV mark that seems like the sweet-spot for Anthopoulos, he might represent the best option if the Braves gamble on Grisson/Arcía at SS. He'd add a contact-oriented, high-OBP element to the Braves' lineup; he'd provide some CF insurance in the event Harris spends anytime on the IL (and removes the temptation to ever slow Acuña there); he'd improve the LF defense substantially; and that Brett Gardner-profile seems like it would age well into his early-30s.

Which means Snit will use him in the 8 hole.

Snit is going to die on the Acuna or Harris hitting leadoff hill.

[Heyward]

Sort of forgot about Brandon Nimmo, but he'd also be a really intriguing option if he comes in around the 5/$100m projection that's been thrown around FG and elsewhere. Just turned 29; capable of playing a decent CF, but has been better in the corners (especially LF, where his marginal throwing arm is less of an issue); fringy power, but successfully traded some BB% in 2022 for better AVG (without abnormal babip luck, at .317); still posted a good walk-rate/OBP (10.5%/.367); cut strikeouts (17.2%); and ultimately totaled .353 woba / 134 wrc+ / 5.4 fwar. Steamer projects .353 woba / 131 wrc+ / 4.7 fwar in 2023.

Given that the projected 5/$100 would slot him right under that ~$22m AAV mark that seems like the sweet-spot for Anthopoulos, he might represent the best option if the Braves gamble on Grisson/Arcía at SS. He'd add a contact-oriented, high-OBP element to the Braves' lineup; he'd provide some CF insurance in the event Harris spends anytime on the IL (and removes the temptation to ever slow Acuña there); he'd improve the LF defense substantially; and that Brett Gardner-profile seems like it would age well into his early-30s.

Nimmo is the best OF'er on the market, after Judge signs. Think he'll have a much larger market than some think. Wouldnt mind him at all though, could really use a contact bat/high OBP in the outfield.

[Hudson2]

Nimmo is the best OF'er on the market, after Judge signs. Think he'll have a much larger market than some think. Wouldnt mind him at all though, could really use a contact bat/high OBP in the outfield.

We seem to live or die by the long ball so it’d be nice to have a high OBP guy.