Looking ahead to 2016

[bravesfanforlife88]

I know there were threads for the bullpen and for the rotation, so I will leave those positions out of this post.

Expected Locks to Return:

1B Freeman
SS Simmons
3B Olivera
RF Markakis


Likely to be back

CF Maybin
C Bethancourt
2B Peterson
LF Swisher
CF Bourn
3B Garcia

Possible to be back

Daniel Castro
A.J.
Todd Cunningham
P. Ciriaco


Just because a player is not listed in the expected lock list, does not mean I am bashing them or that the team hates them. I think they are more likely to make a change at that position than they are with the expected locks. I still expect Peterson and Maybin back.

With that being the case, next year you are looking at essentially the same line up as you were in 2015, which I think everyone can agree needs to be addressed. Pitching was our #1 downfall for a majority of the season, but a lot of times the offense didn't even put up a fight.

Here are offensive free agents:

Catcher:
Alex Avila (29)
Chris Iannetta (33)
Dioner Navarro (32)
Brayan Pena (34)
A.J. Pierzynski (39)
Matt Wieters (30)

Second base:
Mike Aviles (35)
Emilio Bonifacio (31)
Asdrubal Cabrera (30)
Stephen Drew (33)
Jonathan Herrera (31)
Maicer Izturis (35) – $3MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Kelly Johnson (34)
Howie Kendrick (32)
Daniel Murphy (31)
Steve Pearce (33)
Cliff Pennington (32)
Sean Rodriguez (31)
Skip Schumaker (36) – $2.5MM club option with a $250K buyout
Chase Utley (37) – $15MM vesting option with a $2MM buyout
Ben Zobrist (35

Left Field:
Yoenis Cespedes (30)
Rajai Davis (35)
Alejandro De Aza (32)
David DeJesus (36) – $5MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Chris Denorfia (35)
Jonny Gomes (35) – $3MM vesting/club option
Alex Gordon (32) – $12.5MM player option
Kelly Johnson (34)
Matt Joyce (31)
David Murphy (34) – $7MM club option with a $500K buyout
Gerardo Parra (29)
Steve Pearce (33)
Colby Rasmus (29)
Sean Rodriguez (31)
Skip Schumaker (36) – $2.5MM club option with a $500K buyout
Justin Upton (28)
Chris B. Young (32)
Delmon Young (30)

Center Field:
Rajai Davis (35)
Dexter Fowler (30)
Austin Jackson (29)
Colby Rasmus (29)
Denard Span (32)
Drew Stubbs (31)

Right Fielders

Nori Aoki (34) – $5.5MM club option with a $700K buyout
Marlon Byrd (38) – $8MM vesting option
Alejandro De Aza (32)
David DeJesus (36) – $5MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Chris Denorfia (35)
Jason Heyward (26)
Matt Joyce (31)
David Murphy (34) – $7MM club option with a $500K buyout
Gerardo Parra (29)
Ryan Raburn (35) – $3MM club option with a $100K buyout
Colby Rasmus (29)
Alex Rios (35)
Grady Sizemore (33)
Ichiro Suzuki (42)
Justin Upton (28)
Will Venable (33)
Shane Victorino (35)
Chris B. Young (32)

The highlighted players are the ones I would not mind going after. Wieters for obvious reasons. But Bonafacio and Suzuki would be good additions in the offseason for our bench. Also, give fans a small reason to come down to the Ted with Suzuki going for hit number 3000. Bonafacio and Ichiro should come pretty cheap and go the route of added veteran presence in the clubhouse.(Maybe not so much on Bonafacio.)

RF Markakis
3B Olivera
1B Freeman
C Wieters
CF Maybin
LF Swisher
2B Peterson
SS Simmons
P

Bench
Bonafacio
Ichiro
Bourn
Bethancourt

[nsacpi]

Bench
Bonafacio
Ichiro
Bourn
Bethancourt

It is a relatively small matter given the team's other shortcomings, but it would be nice to have someone on the bench with a little bit of extra base power. I'd love to see KJ be brought back. To me he would be vastly preferable over Bonifacio.

Eury Perez should be on your possible brought back list. He and Cunningham will both be out of options. I think one of them makes the team rather than someone like Ichiro.

[bravesfanforlife88]

Forgot to put Garcia on the bench. Think he could provide some pop

[50PoundHead]

It is a relatively small matter given the team's other shortcomings, but it would be nice to have someone on the bench with a little bit of extra base power. I'd love to see KJ be brought back. To me he would be vastly preferable over Bonifacio.

Eury Perez should be on your possible brought back list. He and Cunningham will both be out of options. I think one of them makes the team rather than someone like Ichiro.

I think a Kelly Johnson/Adonis Garcia tandem would provide a nice LH/RH set on the bench with a fair amount of defensive flexibility.

I'll be curious to see what happens with Maybin and Bourn during the off-season. I can't see both of them on the team.

[zitothebrave]

Maybin will be traded almost certainly. Bourn and Swisher are almost impossible to move. But if anyone wants them and we can save a 3rd or so of their salary we better jump on it immediately.

I really don't know what will happen. But I hope again that we would sign a bat. There's really slim pickings in FA the next 2 years.

If we look at guys over the last 3 years in the top 30in fWAR who will be free agents in the next 2 years, eliminating 1B as well. You have 4. Jason, Cespedes, Beltre, and Zobrist. Zobrist is old, Beltre is super old, Cespedes isn't super young, but has been improving each of the last 3 seasons. Heyward is the youngest of the group.

Seriously we need to have to get someone with a bat. Looking at our depth on the team, we have tons of pitchign depth.

Young guys in the majors we already have Miller, Julio, Perez, Folty, Wisler, ManBan, and prospects like Sims, Jenkins, Hursh, Fried, Sanchez, Touki, and I know I'm forgetting a fewpeople.

[Russ2dollas]

Nothing exciting as everyone says we will not approach Cespedes, Heyward, JUp. Maybe that is good.

Weiters I don't think is very good. So I'm not sure why he keeps coming up.

I think we'll move Tehran for Lucroy. I don't think I like that deal. But I think we'll look to make a major deal. And lately that is for a 30 plus guy.

New gm for the Brewers is young. I expect he'll tear down as he has time on his side. Lucroy and Braun to clear salary? Wish we still had Peraza to put in that deal.

Maybin I don't think we get enough to move him. Unless we stay creative and pay his whole salary to make him an attractive piece for a competitive team w/o a lot of cash.

I know they are coming off of injury but I think we should have good pen with Winkler, Wisler, Simmmons. Viz can handle the back end. We have guys in the minors who could do it. Drafted a ton of college RP prospects. I hope we don't spend money on BP.

I'd honestly look to get Uribe back. Overpay him for one year. Move Olivera to 2b.

Swisher should be a PH option. Try to dump him for a C prospect late if he's a hot PH. Try and dump Bourn as a vet and pinch runner to playoff team for a C prospect. Have to pay both of the 100% and can't let them sniff the vesting options.

[nsacpi]

After the kind of season we've had, I don't think the FO will be able to afford to move major league players just to get assets for the future. If they move someone like Maybin this off-season the return will be someone who can help us in 2016. Of course, at the trade deadline that could change if we are out of it. But for this off-season I think any trades are going to have to bring back major league ready components. It won't be like the Upton or Gattis trades, which basically brought back pieces with projected future value.

[Horsehide Harry]

After the kind of season we've had, I don't think the FO will be able to afford to move major league players just to get assets for the future. If they move someone like Maybin this off-season the return will be someone who can help us in 2016. Of course, at the trade deadline that could change if we are out of it. But for this off-season I think any trades are going to have to bring back major league ready components. It won't be like the Upton or Gattis trades, which basically brought back pieces with projected future value.

What you say is certainly true IF you believe that there is any real intention of competing in 2016. The FO MIGHT be concerned with losing the fan base if another 100 game losing season is in the offing. But, I doubt it.

I think the Braves FO knows that its real core fan base is located in and around the area where they are moving and that they WILL be supported there especially if they have what appears to be a young, exciting and potentially competitive team in 2017 and beyond.

I think the knee jerk fan reaction is to project onto the FO our feelings of abhorrence for the type of baseball that we have been seeing for much of 2015 and that's a natural reaction.

However, the FO has stated and continues to state that 2017, when they open the new park, is the target.

Of course they have said, and will continue to say, that they are committed to 2015 & 2016, blah, blah and to the Ted and those who buy the tickets and spend the bucks in and around the political entity that controls the Ted. What else are they supposed to say?

IF the FO makes moves this offseason that are not first and foremost building blocks of the plan for 2017 as stated then they have blinked and will fail in any orderly rebuild. Wavering from the plan is extremely dangerous once committed to and can lead to years in the wilderness a la Pittsburgh, Cincy, Baltimore, KC, etc. etc.

You may be right and the FO will cave to the pressure of improving 2016 from a 100 loss team to an 80 loss team but if they do then they are likely positioning the team for a period of mediocrity instead of establishing a new foundation for sustained competitiveness.

[dak]

One area or poor performance I'd like to see addressed this offseason is OF defense. We are currently 26th in UZR / 150 in the OF and 29th in DRS in the OF. So, it's not exactly gonna be difficult to improve on that if the FO can recognize and acknowledge that there is an issue here.

Here's a quick blue print on how to get to something approaching average OF defense w/o taking a step back on offense or breaking the bank:

- Trade Maybin. I'm begging you. Even if you have to send some $ or take back a "meh" rental. The idea I've thrown out previously would be to trade him for a LH reliever.
- Use Swisher almost exclusively as a PH. This role keeps his glove on moth balls and will also be much easier on his knees. As a switch-hitter with power, he actually might be good at this.
- Add a solid veteran for LF that can play average defense: Pearce, Venable, and De Aza are a few options that can likely be had for lower AAV than Maybin.
- CF defense would be better than Maybin if we just split time between in house options: Bourn (a lit better than Maybin), Cunningham (noticeably better than Maybin), Perez (okay, he's not much better than Maybin). Ideally, we'd be on the prowl for a better version of Eury to platoon with Bourn (and eventually Mallex). Acquisition cost on a RHH 5th outfielder type like that should be very low.

[50PoundHead]

Maybin will be traded almost certainly. Bourn and Swisher are almost impossible to move. But if anyone wants them and we can save a 3rd or so of their salary we better jump on it immediately.

I really don't know what will happen. But I hope again that we would sign a bat. There's really slim pickings in FA the next 2 years.

If we look at guys over the last 3 years in the top 30in fWAR who will be free agents in the next 2 years, eliminating 1B as well. You have 4. Jason, Cespedes, Beltre, and Zobrist. Zobrist is old, Beltre is super old, Cespedes isn't super young, but has been improving each of the last 3 seasons. Heyward is the youngest of the group.

Seriously we need to have to get someone with a bat. Looking at our depth on the team, we have tons of pitchign depth.

Young guys in the majors we already have Miller, Julio, Perez, Folty, Wisler, ManBan, and prospects like Sims, Jenkins, Hursh, Fried, Sanchez, Touki, and I know I'm forgetting a fewpeople.

Whether one liked or disliked the Olivera trade, there was some level of logic to it. I am still having trouble with the Swisher/Bourn acquisitions because they don't add much and cost more than Chris Johnson. Because of their salaries, they are basically unmovable. I would have just as soon they released Chris Johnson as opposed to acquiring anything in return. Granted, they are off the payroll after 2016 and maybe Swisher can be moved if he shows he's healthy (but most likely only for roster-filler).

I'm curious to see what Zobrist will sign for. If he would sign for a Jed Lowrie-level deal, he'd be a nice addition. In the absence of that, I'm hoping they bring back Kelly Johnson and team him with Adonis Garcia (as I stated above). Have Castro as the back-up middle IF. Sign a back-up catcher and a decent back-up in CF (unless they keep both Bourn and Maybin, then that's solved. Solved at a high price, but solved.).

If the trade Maybin, I'm guessing Mallex Smith gets first shot at CF.

[dak]

After the kind of season we've had, I don't think the FO will be able to afford to move major league players just to get assets for the future. If they move someone like Maybin this off-season the return will be someone who can help us in 2016. Of course, at the trade deadline that could change if we are out of it. But for this off-season I think any trades are going to have to bring back major league ready components. It won't be like the Upton or Gattis trades, which basically brought back pieces with projected future value.

I have a slightly different view on this. I'm aligned that the bloodletting aspect of this process is complete, but the actions taken by the FO suggest to me that the goal was always to get the dirty work done in the first year. I can definitely see the increased pressure from the fan base affecting the rhetoric we see from the FO this Fall. And I also think it puts Gonzalez immediately on the hot seat. But as far as roster construction goes, it will be the same offseason strategy we would have had if we had won 75 games: making careful additions to the MLB roster that are focused on value and low risk.

[zitothebrave]

Whether one liked or disliked the Olivera trade, there was some level of logic to it. I am still having trouble with the Swisher/Bourn acquisitions because they don't add much and cost more than Chris Johnson. Because of their salaries, they are basically unmovable. I would have just as soon they released Chris Johnson as opposed to acquiring anything in return. Granted, they are off the payroll after 2016 and maybe Swisher can be moved if he shows he's healthy (but most likely only for roster-filler).

I'm curious to see what Zobrist will sign for. If he would sign for a Jed Lowrie-level deal, he'd be a nice addition. In the absence of that, I'm hoping they bring back Kelly Johnson and team him with Adonis Garcia (as I stated above). Have Castro as the back-up middle IF. Sign a back-up catcher and a decent back-up in CF (unless they keep both Bourn and Maybin, then that's solved. Solved at a high price, but solved.).

If the trade Maybin, I'm guessing Mallex Smith gets first shot at CF.

I think the logic to the Swisher/Bourn trade is there, but it's not one we like. Liberty has to keep the Braves at a certain minimum salary, I think it's like 88M. Swisher and Bourn put is really close to that number. We can trade Maybin, make a few small signings and be around 90M because of their salaries, or keep maybin and we're aornd 90M because of their salaries. THen they leave the following year, we have some heavy cash to play with. because all their money is gone as is Johnson's money (though in reality that just basically moved over to Olivera) it fits well into the start trying in 2017 model.

Zobrist doesn't make sense for us. We're not a good team. He should be starting or on the bench for a team with a playoff chance.

FWIW this is what I'd do if I was in charge of the Braves and say had 100M to play with for next year

1. Trade Maybin. Should have traded him earlier this year, I'm sure someone would have given up something for him. Now his value is down, but he's proven he can be pretty healthy, and that alone is easily worth his salary. Hopefully we can get rid of him without giving up any cash.

2. Sign Heyward. Should be had for about 25M per year, maybe the market will be less bearish on him and we get him a little cheaper. He's the one I want. I'm glad Cespedes is rocking it so hard for the Mets because he could let Jason fall to us.

3. Trade Miller. Not a traditionally smart move. Getting rid of pretty much the only good player on the team. My reason for getting rid of Miller has to do with my estimated time table of turnign around and assuming Liberty will continue to be relatively stingy with their purse strings. Miller is a FA after 2018. 2017 is the first year I figure we have a shot of doing anything. 2018 would be the first year I'd expect us to be back to similar levels we were before this year. I wouldn't lock up Miller long term. Nothing against him personally. I'm just not prolong term extending pitchers. Now I'm not advocating trading Miller for a bucket of balls. What I'm looking at is trading Miller for an impact player. One name immediately comes to mind, Todd Frazier. Would Cincy bite on it? Hard to say. I would hope they would, but they may avoid it. If we can pull that off I'd be very happy.

4. Shop Olivera and Markakis - Ok this is after I bring in Frazier, let me start with that. When I say shop mind you, I mean see what we can get back. If it's not worthwhile ignore it. I think it won't be worthwhile myself and both will be on the team

5. Sign a project arm or 2. A guy you hope will bounce back a little and you can dump at the deadline for a fringe prospect. There's bound to be a few on the market.

6. See if we can get any takers on Bourn or Swisher. I'd be on the phone every day to any team to see if they'll take them and save any salary. I consider them a net loss at this point. Even though I think Bourn could have value and if healthy Swisher has value, they're a handful of wins that may take us over .500. That doesn't do anything to me in the final stage of rebuild.

So my rebuilt braves would look like

CF - Smith
2B - Olivera
RF - Jason
1B - Freddie
3B - Frazier (may consider moving him to 2)
LF - Markakis
SS - Simmons
C - Bethancourt

Were I see the positives of this team. First off, defensively it will be night and day. Heyward moving Markakis to LF would likely bring massive improvements to both of those spots. I don't know about Mallex defensively but I know he has wheels .If worst case is he's like Kenny Lofton, a guy who can outrun his bad jumps, I'll take it. If we don't move Bourn in the offseason I'd start him there the first 2 weeks and hope he shows anything, if he doesn't Smith comes up and we gain a service year, I'll take it. Second is defense on the left side. Since brinign over Johnson 3B defense hasn't been good. Despite having tron at SS to turn some minus plays into outs. Imagine what happens when you add one of the better defensive 3B.

Where the concerns lie

Bethancourt - I mean I hope he has it. We've been waiting forever for him to show that he has it. I really do. If he doesn't. We're in trouble at C for a bit.

Smith - He's young, who knows how he'll play. I think if we have Bourn we can ease him into play with some spot starts to try to build confidence.

Olivera - Health. I think he'll hit fine. I'm concerned with how he'll age, but I think he'll hit fine. He'll be an albatross before the deal is over though.

Bench
Peterson
Vet catcher (We need Lairdership)
Swisher
Bourn
Garcia

SS is a concern, Castro was the one to spell Simmons. But I think in a pinch Peterson could handle SS sort of well enough. ANd if it's serious we can go to the minors. Once we hopefully get rid of Swisher, we'll be able to bring up a SS. Though I guess we still could in theory if we got rid of Bourn, as Heyward oculd play CF in a pinch, but whatever.

Rotation
Julio
Minor
Wisler
ManBan
Folty
Perez
Sims
Whatever

WE have such a stable of young arms that even iwth injuries (really who knows what will happen with Folty) we'll have a group of exciting pitchers.

Pen is a bunch of meh. I don't expect to be good so I'm in favor of giving younger guys and riskier guys a chance. We can see what we have and take it easy on Viz and Simmons. Iwould try to keep both around 50 games. Their arms are ticking timebombs.

[Russ2dollas]

Everyone who has any access to the Braves has said Heyward and JUp are not options. Why bring them up?

I think we'll extend Miller. I think we'll sign 1 mid tier FA pitcher to 2-3 year deal. I think we'll trade for Lucroy with Tehran. I think Olivera is a terrible mistake. I think we'll suck.

[GovClintonTyree]

Zito, are you sure that the minimum salary imposed on Liberty all those years ago is still a restriction? My recollection was that it was for a specific period of time. I'm not even sure if it was a written condition of the sale, since it was imposed by MLB, not AOL/Time Warner. At any rate, they're surely out of the woods on that requirement by now.

[GovClintonTyree]

Everyone who has any access to the Braves has said Heyward and JUp are not options. Why bring them up?

I think we'll extend Miller. I think we'll sign 1 mid tier FA pitcher to 2-3 year deal. I think we'll trade for Lucroy with Tehran. I think Olivera is a terrible mistake. I think we'll suck.

Russ, it looks bleak. As I read the opinions of our board, I tend to disagree with most of them because they represent incremental improvement at best. Really, more like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. We are kind of in the trough of the wave where we're just going to need a giant swell before we see improvement.

Put differently, we've bet on development and drafting. It will probably work, but not quickly. And acquisitions should be of the impact variety. It does us no good to parse Venable or DeAza for LF. That doesn't mean a thing.

If we extent Miller, sign a mid-rotation starter, and trade for Lucroy, that would be an exceptional winter. Really.

[50PoundHead]

Everyone who has any access to the Braves has said Heyward and JUp are not options. Why bring them up?

I think we'll extend Miller. I think we'll sign 1 mid tier FA pitcher to 2-3 year deal. I think we'll trade for Lucroy with Tehran. I think Olivera is a terrible mistake. I think we'll suck.

For the Yankees, batting 3rd and playing RF Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaason Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyward!

[zitothebrave]

Everyone who has any access to the Braves has said Heyward and JUp are not options. Why bring them up?

I think we'll extend Miller. I think we'll sign 1 mid tier FA pitcher to 2-3 year deal. I think we'll trade for Lucroy with Tehran. I think Olivera is a terrible mistake. I think we'll suck.

THey're brought up because we need to get a position player, an OF, and they're the only ones of any worth aside from Cespedes. So if we're smart, we pursue one of those 3. It's pretty simple.

I hope none of that second paragraph comes true. Don't need a middling pitcher, don't extend Shelby, don't trade Julio for Lucroy. Lucroy is not a centerpiece to build your team around. Very good player at a position of weakness for us, but I think going after Derek Norris is the smarter move as he will cost a lot less and is younger. ANd with SD having Hedges, a top prospect, waiting in the wings they'll probably be willing to part with him for a pitcher or 2.

I do agree that Olivera was a terrible mistake and we'll suck, I just hope it doesn't happen.

[zitothebrave]

For the Yankees, batting 3rd and playing RF Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaason Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyward!

It really makes me die a little inside thinking about that.

[Julio3000]

For the Yankees, batting 3rd and playing RF Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaason Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyward!

Nah, it's the Yankees, so it's:

"Batting third, Number 22, Jason Heyward. Heyward."

[GovClintonTyree]

1. Trade Maybin. Should have traded him earlier this year, I'm sure someone would have given up something for him. Now his value is down, but he's proven he can be pretty healthy, and that alone is easily worth his salary. Hopefully we can get rid of him without giving up any cash.
Sure.

2. Sign Heyward. Should be had for about 25M per year, maybe the market will be less bearish on him and we get him a little cheaper. He's the one I want. I'm glad Cespedes is rocking it so hard for the Mets because he could let Jason fall to us.
Nah, we need hitting. He doesn't hit enough. We can't burn that kind of cash on a Judy hitter.

3. Trade Miller. Not a traditionally smart move. Getting rid of pretty much the only good player on the team. My reason for getting rid of Miller has to do with my estimated time table of turning around and assuming Liberty will continue to be relatively stingy with their purse strings. Miller is a FA after 2018. 2017 is the first year I figure we have a shot of doing anything. 2018 would be the first year I'd expect us to be back to similar levels we were before this year. I wouldn't lock up Miller long term. Nothing against him personally. I'm just not prolong term extending pitchers. Now I'm not advocating trading Miller for a bucket of balls. What I'm looking at is trading Miller for an impact player. One name immediately comes to mind, Todd Frazier. Would Cincy bite on it? Hard to say. I would hope they would, but they may avoid it. If we can pull that off I'd be very happy.
I like the idea of trading Miller. I like Frazier. He doesn't fit for us, as he'll be deep in his 30s by the time we are .500. Not sure this specific deal makes sense, but Miller will hit(or is hitting) his peak value before we are competitive. No reason to keep him.

4. Shop Olivera and Markakis - Ok this is after I bring in Frazier, let me start with that. That doesn't really matter. Trade them. They're way too old for a rebuild.When I say shop mind you, I mean see what we can get back. If it's not worthwhile ignore it. I think it won't be worthwhile myself and both will be on the team I'd just dump them.

5. Sign a project arm or 2. A guy you hope will bounce back a little and you can dump at the deadline for a fringe prospect. There's bound to be a few on the market. Yeah, we have to have a few guys who stand in the middle of the diamond every few days. Just so long as they stay at or below $1m.

6. See if we can get any takers on Bourn or Swisher. I'd be on the phone every day to any team to see if they'll take them and save any salary. I consider them a net loss at this point. Even though I think Bourn could have value and if healthy Swisher has value, they're a handful of wins that may take us over .500. That doesn't do anything to me in the final stage of rebuild. They mean nothing to us. If they mean something to someone else, deal them.

Lineup
I would trade Freddie and Simmons right now. Always easy to find a 1B. We've got guys who can play SS until Ozzie develops. They could actually bring some big young value back. Trade them immediately.

Rotation
Julio I don't see why we hang on to Julio, either. Trade him.
Minor Minor had labrum surgery. There is no reason to pay him to rehab. Nontender him. If he gets better, he'll cost too much for us. If he doesn't, let somebody else pay him.

Wisler
ManBan
Folty
Perez
Sims
Whatever

Right. Whatever. Maybe one or two of the five are keepers. They're only one year in on their clocks, so if any of them turn out, we would still have a year or two of control when we become a .500 team again, say 2020 or so. So it might make sense to see if one of them makes it to 2020 while becoming a back-of-the-rotation guy and not suffering a career ending injury.


WE have such a stable of young arms that even with injuries (really who knows what will happen with Folty) we'll have a group of exciting pitchers. Lots of neck injuries from twisting around watching balls fly out of the park.

Pen is a bunch of meh. I don't expect to be good so I'm in favor of giving younger guys and riskier guys a chance. We can see what we have and take it easy on Viz and Simmons. I would try to keep both around 50 games. Their arms are ticking timebombs. This will likely be a whole new group by 2019-2020, so I'd just deal whomever is perceived as having value by another club.

I'm kind of hoping some of the guys in the mid-lower minors and from this draft turn out. And we should just keep flipping until we can say we've got enough guys on the cusp, like Billy Beane. There's absolutely no reason for us to hang on to Miller, Teheran, Simmons and Freeman. Nor any of the other guys we currently have, since they'll be through arbitration by 2020. So I'd be in favor of moving them all, and maybe their replacements, until we have a group ready to moult together.