Agree it makes zero sense to say Heyward had to be traded, but then turn around and say Kimbrel is safe. You could get some good young offense back for him.
Agree it makes zero sense to say Heyward had to be traded, but then turn around and say Kimbrel is safe. You could get some good young offense back for him.
Braves1976 (11-17-2014), jpx7 (11-17-2014), TXBravesFan (11-17-2014)
Sometimes teams say a guy is unavailable as a negotiating tactic. I think.
If we're going to do this re-building thing, don't half-ass it. Go ahead and deal Justin, Gattis and Kimbrel. Cut BJ. The dumbest thing we could do would be to end it here and win 75 games next year while Upton and Gattis hit 45 meaningless home runs between them and Kimbrel accumulates another 35 meaningless saves while we die a little inside watching BJ Upton for another 140 games.
BoneThrower (11-17-2014), Braves1976 (11-17-2014), CK86 (11-17-2014), jpx7 (11-17-2014), Metaphysicist (11-18-2014), TXBravesFan (11-17-2014)
While I don't love the trade I'm not as up-in-arms about it as most seem to be. Jason Heyward is basically a great defensive outfielder until he shows something else at the plate.
Kimbrel will be in Atlanta through 2018, so keeping him makes sense if the goal is to purge the roster of anyone that isn't projected to be a main contributor in 2017. That's probably why TLS was moved...he wasn't going to be a contributor in 2017 with Peraza at 2B.
Either JUp extends, or I imagine he's traded soon too.
Well, I know I wasn't thinking about you when I posted my snark.
It's tough times for the squad right now. I've watched a ton of baseball over the years and I think the entire Wren era was leading up to this point. He limped it from year-to-year without a blueprint and when he finally had money, he wasted it on the likes of M. Upton and C. Johnson. It's the same thing that happened in Baltimore, but somehow Wren gets off the hook for that debacle and it falls at the feet of Peter Angelos (who is an extremely intrusive owner). If you are a mid-market team in the current economic structure of baseball, you have to have a plan and stick to it. Wren simply kept rolling the dice.
The farm system is in a shambles and I won't call out the earlier poster who somehow think that the Braves just head out to the woodshed and pick up a #3 starter. We have nothing of the sort in the system right now above A ball. Sims will be in AA next year (as will likely be Jenkins). We lost 400+ innings of quality starting pitching and we just got back 200 at a reasonable price in terms of dollars, but probably not in terms of the talent exchanged.
In fairness to Wren, the last few years of Schuerholz' term as GM saw similar missteps.
I'm torn on Heyward. People can blame hitting coaches and the like, but the coach isn't the guy standing in the batters' box. Heyward is a superb athlete; probably one of the five to ten best in the entire game in terms of raw all-around tools. But--and I'm sure people will torture the stats enough to prove me wrong--his offensive production hasn't matched his tools over the past couple of years. Getting hit in the head has likely contributed to that. I think he's too jumpy in the batters' box and he lunges a bit, which negates his significant power potential. Curious to see if a change of scenery helps him. I wish him the best.
As for me, I've lived through so many bad Braves' teams from the 1970s and 1980s that if there is a downturn, it won't be anything new.
PS--We do save money here, but given the direction of baseball salaries, I don't know what we can get for $11 million. I'm thinking we are going to see some DFA-diving for a couple of OFs and hopefully a LHH guy who can play some 3B.
Last edited by 50PoundHead; 11-17-2014 at 02:09 PM.
BedellBrave (11-17-2014), Diesel (11-17-2014), NYCBrave (11-17-2014), Tapate50 (11-17-2014)
I believe I said if the Braves traded for Walker as well, it would be the best And yes, with that acquisition, I do. Currently, every single pitcher in the rotation has at least one season with an ERA close to 3.00 in over 150 innings pitched. Even your hate of Miller, he still had a 3.7 ERA this yr (and a great second half).
Heyward didn't HAVE to be traded. If he had signed or negotiated with ATL on an extension then he would still be here.
I don't disagree on Kimbrel though. I would think Detroit would tolerate BJ if they had Kimbrel in the playoffs or in September. There is your money for Lester\Hamels and Moncada.
Ivermectin Man
I don't agree with the Kimbrell part. I honestly just don't see a team willing to give us a decent value for him. Relievers (even the best ones) don't typically bring back all that great returns. So trading Kimbrell would essentially be a salary dump and nothing more.
Welp.
Obviously the Braves didn't feel like Heyward was going to re-sign. Mainly because the Braves were not willing to pay him for what he thought he was worth.
So we got Shelby Miller. Erratic, and unreliable and just a complete unknown at this point.
We just became worse as a team. It looks like the next few years could be bleak, but the winter is young. I'm sure we can get fleeced in a Justin Upton deal.
Braves1976 (11-17-2014), bravesnumberone (11-17-2014), jpx7 (11-17-2014), Prikichi (11-17-2014)
You have to believe that Atlanta was 100% sure Heyward was not going to sign at a reasonable rate with us, and we didn't have a shot to keep him.
BedellBrave (11-17-2014)
My fear is that Hart is too pitching hungry. I think we have a chance to have an excellent rotation long term with Teheran, Miller, Wood, Minor and Sims/Jenkins eventually. IF (i'm not saying I want to) but if we trade Justin we HAVE to get back position players.
BedellBrave (11-17-2014), Braves1976 (11-17-2014), bravesnumberone (11-17-2014), jpx7 (11-17-2014)
I just turned on the net and WHAT DA FUUUUUUCKKK!!!
It has to be a bad dream, it has to be. Game over man, game over.
Braves1976 (11-17-2014), BremanFan88 (11-17-2014), jpx7 (11-17-2014), Prikichi (11-17-2014)