Spring Training Thread

[CyYoung31]

What are they saying? Obviously, the Bravos aren't often in the exciting position they are now so I want to soak in all the praise lol

???

[Slippyjms]

It is funny. Some folks think the only reason Adrianza is on the roster is because of Snitker's preference for veteran Lairdership. I don't know if service time enters into it (perhaps to some degree), but I'm pretty sure the front office made the call on who's where come opening day.

Bullpen should be fine. Can't account for any possible injuries, but there's talent at the back end and some pretty good depth. Always nice to have a couple of guys who can go an additional inning if needed.

I think Adrianza is on the roster to bolster our IF depth. If he didn't make the opening day roster he probably goes elsewhere. It seems like our roster moves this spring are designed to keep as much depth as possible for as long as possible.

[Carp]

My goodness, this team could be really, really good if people stay. I don't expect a healthy Soroka to throw more than 150 innings, but a rotation of Fried, Strider, Wright, Charlie, and Soroka would easily be best in the majors if everyone stayed healthy and pitched up to their talent. Offensively, 5 of our 8 everyday players are capable of putting up a 4+ WAR season.

[50PoundHead]

My goodness, this team could be really, really good if people stay. I don't expect a healthy Soroka to throw more than 150 innings, but a rotation of Fried, Strider, Wright, Charlie, and Soroka would easily be best in the majors if everyone stayed healthy and pitched up to their talent. Offensively, 5 of our 8 everyday players are capable of putting up a 4+ WAR season.

It's a really good team if everyone stays healthy. For some reason, the starting pitching worries me the most, but when you think that there's Soroka, Anderson, Dodd, Elder, and Shuster hanging around at the back end of the rotation and in Gwinnett, we should be able to squeeze enough performance out of that group to serve as a safety net.

[UNCBlue012]

???

what is your question?

[zbhargrove]

He has a walk and rbi single to go with the HR. Robbed of another hit. The hate Arcia gets is weird. He's a decent player that's helped the braves while he's been here

Not sure I see Arcia getting much hate. He's a solidly average player. I think we all just hoped for solidly better than average for one of the main World Series contenders.

[Deester11]

Not sure I see Arcia getting much hate. He's a solidly average player. I think we all just hoped for solidly better than average for one of the main World Series contenders.

So much this...it's not like his track record screams superstar. Take what he gives you positively and say hooray...

[msstate7]

Not sure I see Arcia getting much hate. He's a solidly average player. I think we all just hoped for solidly better than average for one of the main World Series contenders.

The braves have won 4 straight division titles and a WS. This will probably be their best team during this run. I think they'll be fine. If SS is a problem, I'm sure AA will address it.

[bravesfanMatt]

The braves have won 4 straight division titles and a WS. This will probably be their best team during this run. I think they'll be fine. If SS is a problem, I'm sure AA will address it.

I mean yes he will. I just like the younger potential versus the veteran replacement player.

And I am way more optimistic about our rotation than years prior. That is even with old man Mort being a part of it.. Shuster and Dodd are legit back up starters like we haven't had in years. Of course it really is Dodd and Soroka as back up starters since Shuster is probably on the roster come opening day.

[zbhargrove]

The braves have won 4 straight division titles and a WS. This will probably be their best team during this run. I think they'll be fine. If SS is a problem, I'm sure AA will address it.

Cool... still don't think Arcia is getting the hate you are concocting in your head...

[bravesfanforlife88]

Not being mentioned is if this whole Bally Network drama is causing a tighter payroll than originally thought. It sems like the Braves may not be getting the money they were expecting from their contract....I could be wrong, but when they said they were willing to go above the luxury tax, and they are pretty much right at that mark, with wholes at LF and SS....

Hoping i'm wrong and AA left himself plenty of money for the trade deadline to improve the team. But the down side of that, we already have a pretty barren farm system.

[Russ2dollas]

Welp encouraging signs for Soroka... hopefully he cant continue to get stronger and get that confidence back.

A ways to go. We all want him to do well.

I am just hoping that after the all star break he is able to find a role. Maybe it's spot starter. Maybe he could be a stud pen guy in the playoffs. Pen option that goes through the lineup once.

[Russ2dollas]

Not being mentioned is if this whole Bally Network drama is causing a tighter payroll than originally thought. It sems like the Braves may not be getting the money they were expecting from their contract....I could be wrong, but when they said they were willing to go above the luxury tax, and they are pretty much right at that mark, with wholes at LF and SS....

Hoping i'm wrong and AA left himself plenty of money for the trade deadline to improve the team. But the down side of that, we already have a pretty barren farm system.

I don't think any roster decisions are about Bally. That happened after they had made these decisions.

if anything they are probably going to pay more money because they are going to put Adrianza and Chavez on the roster and guarantee their salaries.

If the Bally thing changed money we'll find out at the trade deadline if we can't add any salary.

[chop2chip]

No one seems to be happy with any of the contracts given to any of the free agents this winter. I don’t recall any short stops traded this winter that moved the needle. What move would you prefer the Braves made than giving Arcia/Grissom the job? Btw… Grissom could easily be up in mid April and get 550 at bats. Arcia is a perfectly fine stop gap until Grissom is ready.

[bravesfanforlife88]

I don't think any roster decisions are about Bally. That happened after they had made these decisions.

if anything they are probably going to pay more money because they are going to put Adrianza and Chavez on the roster and guarantee their salaries.

If the Bally thing changed money we'll find out at the trade deadline if we can't add any salary.

I know the public announcement came later in the offseason, but I have to believe that the MLB teams knew what was going down before the public did.

[VirginiaBrave]

Not sure where to put this, but are we actually using it or is it a collectible?

https://www.mlbshop.com/atlanta-braves/atlanta-braves-fanatics-authentic-rawlings-alternative-chrome-mini-batting-helmet-fanatics-exclusive/t-58559638+p-931368922600+z-8-761454630?_ref=p-DLP:m-GRID:i-r0c1:po-1"]https://www.mlbshop.com/atlanta-braves/atlanta-braves-fanatics-authentic-rawlings-alternative-chrome-mini-batting-helmet-fanatics-exclusive/t-58559638+p-931368922600+z-8-761454630?_ref=p-DLP:m-GRID:i-r0c1:po-1https://www.mlbshop.com/atlanta-brav...ID:i-r0c1:po-1[/URL]

[NYCBrave]

The braves have won 4 straight division titles and a WS. This will probably be their best team during this run. I think they'll be fine. If SS is a problem, I'm sure AA will address it.

For the record, it's 5 straight division titles. 2018-2022 so far.

[OcalaBrave]

I don't know.. The one year of control is an interesting angle.. but I just think he is going to look bad for a while and won't really looking like Mike until June. we are talking 2 years away from any sort of throwing. He had a full offspring to get his arm stretched out.. it is just going to take games to get him back to Maple Maddux.

I didn't follow his rehab, but with a bum Achilles I was assuming he'd be long tossing with a boot to keep arm strength. I'd have thought he'd have been soft tossing just to maintain feel for his grip. The reason I feel confident in his return is there is nothing structurally wrong from the waist up. In addition, I think he's a good enough athlete to reinvent himself the way Smoltz used to (to work around elbow issues) if his drive in the lower half results in pitches staying up.

[striker42]

Not sure I see Arcia getting much hate. He's a solidly average player. I think we all just hoped for solidly better than average for one of the main World Series contenders.

Solidly average? I keep posting this stat. Over his last 4 years, that's over 1,000 PAs, Arcia has a combined WAR of 0.1. He's almost exactly replacement level. Replacement level is not solidly average, it's a AAAA player that should be on the fringes of your roster and making the minimum.

[zbhargrove]

Solidly average? I keep posting this stat. Over his last 4 years, that's over 1,000 PAs, Arcia has a combined WAR of 0.1. He's almost exactly replacement level. Replacement level is not solidly average, it's a AAAA player that should be on the fringes of your roster and making the minimum.

It’s pretty simple really… I don’t put much credence behind what he did before coming to Atlanta since I don’t think the Brewers develop position players very well. Last year he produced 0.7 fWAR as a part time player with a 104 wRC+… I think that’s more of what to expect from him. That’s pretty much the definition of average man