It's official: Aaron Blair being recalled to make his first MLB start

[Braves1976]

Marksberry goes down to make room for Blair.

Fredi broke the news in his press conference, not that it wasn't obvious to most by now.

@Braves 12m12 minutes ago
RHP Aaron Blair (@A_Blair19) will make his Major League debut for the Braves on Sunday vs. Mets. LHP Matt Marksberry optioned to Gwinnett.

[skillet]

Poor, short sighted move to bring him up now and allow him to gain super 2 status. All we would have to do is wait roughly 2 more weeks, 3 tops, to keep that from happening. So in essence, should Blair stay up the rest of the year, we will end up paying him several more million the last 4 years of team control than had we just waited a few more days. Two more weeks of Blair in a lost year is most definitely not worth millions of dollars down the road.

[Braves1976]

Poor, short sighted move to bring him up now and allow him to gain super 2 status. All we would have to do is wait roughly 2 more weeks, 3 tops, to keep that from happening. So in essence, should Blair stay up the rest of the year, we will end up paying him several more million the last 4 years of team control than had we just waited a few more days. Two more weeks of Blair in a lost year is most definitely not worth millions of dollars down the road.

Heavy steps man or smart ass DOB will have a talk with ya:

@DOBrienAJC
Those complaining about possibility of #Braves calling up Blair cuz of Super2, please don't ever complain about ATL losing again in '16, OK?
--

That said, DOB response means nothing to me because not losing 100 games means nothing to me. If you're going to rebuild and lose, I want the best pick in the draft for losing or at least close to it. I don't support the half-way rebuild mindset, either rebuild or try to make the playoffs. That way you get better draft picks and have a shot to be good again faster.

[bravesfanforlife88]

I'm all for having guys like Blair and mallex up. Let them play and learn at the major league level that way our relevant games will get here sooner rather than later

[Braves1976]

As MLBTR notes: "Should Blair remain on Atlanta’s roster for the rest of the season, he’ll gain 159 days of service time and be well on pace to earn an extra year of arbitration eligibility as a Super Two player. Over the last seven seasons, the Super Two cutoff point hasn’t been any higher than two years and 146 days. It isn’t yet clear if Blair will just be up for a spot start and then ahead back to Triple-A (a la Blake Snell’s start for the Rays today), or if the Braves want to take a longer look at their prized young arm."

I am fine with giving Blair a spot start a la Blake Snell, but I'd send him back for a few more weeks because if he just spends a few more weeks in the minors it will save us millions and he's so good I'd have to consider that.

[chop2chip]

Heavy steps man or smart ass DOB will have a talk with ya:

@DOBrienAJC
Those complaining about possibility of #Braves calling up Blair cuz of Super2, please don't ever complain about ATL losing again in '16, OK?
--

That said, DOB response means nothing to me because not losing 100 games means nothing to me. If you're going to rebuild and lose, I want the best pick in the draft for losing or at least close to it. I don't support the half-way rebuild mindset, either rebuild or try to make the playoffs. That way you get better draft picks and have a shot to be good again faster.

I 100% agree with DOB, especially consider his point of view. He has to cover the team every single day and he's inundated with tweets, emails, comments, etc. and I'm sure it's frustrating for him to listen to people complain about how bad the team is, then complain when the team makes an obvious move to improve itself.

[chop2chip]

Poor, short sighted move to bring him up now and allow him to gain super 2 status. All we would have to do is wait roughly 2 more weeks, 3 tops, to keep that from happening. So in essence, should Blair stay up the rest of the year, we will end up paying him several more million the last 4 years of team control than had we just waited a few more days. Two more weeks of Blair in a lost year is most definitely not worth millions of dollars down the road.

I don't think every decision in baseball should be about maximizing payroll efficiency. Sometimes I think a team should create a system for young players where they are rewarded for good performance.

[thewupk]

I don't think every decision in baseball should be about maximizing payroll efficiency. Sometimes I think a team should create a system for young players where they are rewarded for good performance.

The Braves have created a system where you are rewarded by being traded to another team.

[thewupk]

I 100% agree with DOB, especially consider his point of view. He has to cover the team every single day and he's inundated with tweets, emails, comments, etc. and I'm sure it's frustrating for him to listen to people complain about how bad the team is, then complain when the team makes an obvious move to improve itself.

The public as a whole is stupid. So yeah they are going to complain about how bad the team sucks and also how it's not a smart baseball move to keep him him all year. I would think DOB understands this. Given the the past and the likely future, the Braves are a mid payroll team. They have to operate like one and if Blair is thought to be a future piece then he should not gain super 2 status this year. It's not the same as when Heyward was brought in right out of the gate and they didn't even gain an extra year out of him. While that proved to be a bad move (imo) you can at least defend it that the Braves were good and needed Heyward all year to make the playoffs. The Braves don't need Blair up all year and the more losses this team has is actually better for the organization.

[Horsehide Harry]

I don't think every decision in baseball should be about maximizing payroll efficiency. Sometimes I think a team should create a system for young players where they are rewarded for good performance.

When you are winning or close to winning, then payroll considerations should be minimized. But, this team isn't going anywhere, with or without Blair, not this year and likely not next year. If he ends up a super two it could cost the Braves several million dollars more AND put Blair in a position where he could be traded because of cost. Not to mention that if he comes up and stays up he'll be managed by the Cuban jockey for the rest of the year.

[GovClintonTyree]

The public as a whole is stupid.

Except for us.

[nsacpi]

The public as a whole is stupid. So yeah they are going to complain about how bad the team sucks and also how it's not a smart baseball move to keep him him all year. I would think DOB understands this. Given the the past and the likely future, the Braves are a mid payroll team. They have to operate like one and if Blair is thought to be a future piece then he should not gain super 2 status this year. It's not the same as when Heyward was brought in right out of the gate and they didn't even gain an extra year out of him. While that proved to be a bad move (imo) you can at least defend it that the Braves were good and needed Heyward all year to make the playoffs. The Braves don't need Blair up all year and the more losses this team has is actually better for the organization.

The FO expects to have a competitive team this year. They have said this many times.

[skillet]

The FO expects to have a competitive team this year. They have said this many times.

Hahhahahhahahahahaaha

[nsacpi]

Hahhahahhahahahahaaha

Not that any of it has a shred of credibility. But that HAS been the spin fed to the fans.

[msstate7]

Not that any of it has a shred of credibility. But that HAS been the spin fed to the fans.

Hopefully they said that to justify firing Fredi after this season

[WaitingFor2017]

Fredi gives Blair no help in having AJP catch him in his debut.

[chop2chip]

The public as a whole is stupid. So yeah they are going to complain about how bad the team sucks and also how it's not a smart baseball move to keep him him all year. I would think DOB understands this. Given the the past and the likely future, the Braves are a mid payroll team. They have to operate like one and if Blair is thought to be a future piece then he should not gain super 2 status this year. It's not the same as when Heyward was brought in right out of the gate and they didn't even gain an extra year out of him. While that proved to be a bad move (imo) you can at least defend it that the Braves were good and needed Heyward all year to make the playoffs. The Braves don't need Blair up all year and the more losses this team has is actually better for the organization.

Sure that makes sense, but doesn't that seem a little like putting the cart in front of the horse? A lot has to go right for him to gain super 2 status this year.

Everything you said makes logical sense. I simply just disagree. Maybe in 2018 I'll be mad mad that they made this move when it costs us a couple of million and maybe next June when we have the 2nd pick instead of the 1st. I guess I just don't watch sports the same way as others on this board.

[chop2chip]

When you are winning or close to winning, then payroll considerations should be minimized. But, this team isn't going anywhere, with or without Blair, not this year and likely not next year. If he ends up a super two it could cost the Braves several million dollars more AND put Blair in a position where he could be traded because of cost. Not to mention that if he comes up and stays up he'll be managed by the Cuban jockey for the rest of the year.

If we are worried about Blair being traded in 5 years because his arbitration number is too high then we have much bigger problems than his call up date being a couple weeks early.

[Julio3000]

I'm with clv on this one. It just reads undisciplined, and that's not really something we can afford. Unlike the last time we built a contender from scratch, we have significant payroll constraints.

[thewupk]

The FO expects to have a competitive team this year. They have said this many times.

Yeah......lol