State of the Braves Part I

[bravesfanMatt]

http://www.myajc.com/news/sports/bas...es-pt-1/nrxFx/



My favorite quote: "Our commitment is resolute because what would have been worse is a decade of irrelevance"

and Coppi did come out and say.. 'We are not trading JT'.. salt grain...

[CJ9]

I know it probably doesn't mean much, but I really wish Coppy would stop with the absolutes on not trading players. There is nothing to gain by them. Now you look bad if Teheran does get traded, but what's gained by saying it if he does end up staying? It's the same thing with him saying it about Freeman. What if someone comes in with a huge offer you can't turn down? There's just no upside of him continuing to talk like this, whether it's true or not.

[mfree80]

I know it probably doesn't mean much, but I really wish Coppy would stop with the absolutes on not trading players. There is nothing to gain by them. Now you look bad if Teheran does get traded, but what's gained by saying it if he does end up staying? It's the same thing with him saying it about Freeman. What if someone comes in with a huge offer you can't turn down? There's just no upside of him continuing to talk like this, whether it's true or not.

There is not really a downside either. If he trades them for an absolute haul, almost no one will not be able to see the wisdom in that. It will be easy to explain. The only way this creates a problem for him is if he trades them for less than a haul.

He did however. just tell all of the suitors that the price for those guys remains high.

[bravesfanMatt]

There is not really a downside either. If he trades them for an absolute haul, almost no one will not be able to see the wisdom in that. It will be easy to explain. The only way this creates a problem for him is if he trades them for less than a haul.

He did however. just tell all of the suitors that the price for those guys remains high.

me personally, I never believe what a sports owner/GM says.. they are always posturing for better position. So I can see both sides of the argument. but for me personally, I agree with you..

[Horsehide Harry]

I know it probably doesn't mean much, but I really wish Coppy would stop with the absolutes on not trading players. There is nothing to gain by them. Now you look bad if Teheran does get traded, but what's gained by saying it if he does end up staying? It's the same thing with him saying it about Freeman. What if someone comes in with a huge offer you can't turn down? There's just no upside of him continuing to talk like this, whether it's true or not.

It creates bad will with the player. As long as you never say, "we're not trading X" then X knows there is always a chance. If you say "we're not trading X" then you run the risk of X taking that for the gospel and being hugely disappointed, even angry if it happens.

A GM can easily set the market through private conversation. In public, it looks like political grandstanding, unless what he says is literally true.

[jpx7]

Georgia?

Edit: On second thought, yea: I'm going with Georgia.

[smootness]

Obviously both Teheran and Freeman are technically available, as everyone is. But I think Coppy has made a decision, based on the needs of the team and what he's hearing from other teams, that it is incredibly unlikely anyone will give us what it would take. So I think he's basically being honest here in saying we're not going to trade them.

It could create bad will with a player, but I'm pretty sure anyone would understand it from a business POV if the return was incredible. The players are in the business, too, they know how it works.

And let's say Teheran and Freeman really aren't traded and stick around for the long haul. Could it not create good will that the GM publicly backed them, said they wouldn't be traded, and then followed through on it?

Bottom line, I don't really know why people get worked up about it. It doesn't really mean much, except that it means we're almost certainly not going to trade Teheran.

[bravesfanMatt]

It creates bad will with the player. As long as you never say, "we're not trading X" then X knows there is always a chance. If you say "we're not trading X" then you run the risk of X taking that for the gospel and being hugely disappointed, even angry if it happens.

A GM can easily set the market through private conversation. In public, it looks like political grandstanding, unless what he says is literally true.

I think it is literally true at this point. The upper level pitching hasn't come along fast enough for Coppi to trust trading JT. Newcomb/Sims/ and Jenkins are not ready for the rotation. Gant and Perez are ?... and Wisler and Folty have been inconsistent. If he trades JT, he is kicking next season to the curb and he doesn't want to do that with the new park opening.

I could see an off season deal being worked if some of the above show him something... but I would think there is a good chance JT is our opening day starter next year.

[mqt]

Q: Arodys Vizcaino had one blown save and no losses through June 6. He has had two blown saves and four losses since. Are you confident he can be your closer of the future?

A: Arodys is extremely talented, but he needs to be more consistent. We hope he’s our closer of the future, but it’s short-sighted to make definitive proclamations on any players.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but will you trade Julio Teheran?

A: No. We aren’t trading Julio.

Well, okay.

[thewupk]

Well, okay.

gottem

[Carp]

Georgia?

Edit: On second thought, yea: I'm going with Georgia.

[Carp]

It creates bad will with the player. As long as you never say, "we're not trading X" then X knows there is always a chance. If you say "we're not trading X" then you run the risk of X taking that for the gospel and being hugely disappointed, even angry if it happens.

A GM can easily set the market through private conversation. In public, it looks like political grandstanding, unless what he says is literally true.

That's stretching.

It's GM speak, and that's all. You don't want to make him publicly available because it weakens your stace in a trade. And you certainly don't want to create anxiety for the player, wondering if he's going to get traded oe not. That can affect his performance. You also have to worry about potential ticket sales you may lose when fans learn you are trying to trade your teams only all-star.

[sturg33]

Coppy is far too open with the media, IMO.

It's fun for us fans... but I think he's too open about our current players as well as his strategy

[cajunrevenge]

I know it probably doesn't mean much, but I really wish Coppy would stop with the absolutes on not trading players. There is nothing to gain by them. Now you look bad if Teheran does get traded, but what's gained by saying it if he does end up staying? It's the same thing with him saying it about Freeman. What if someone comes in with a huge offer you can't turn down? There's just no upside of him continuing to talk like this, whether it's true or not.

I don't have a problem wit a GM using misinformation to gain leverage in trade talks. You have to read between the lines. What Coppy is really saying is "it would take such a big haul that we doubt anyone would offer it". He can say this because Teheran is locked up long term. If a team thinks we will trade to the highest bidder they won't bid againstt themselves. We got the D backs to bid against themselves last year for Miller because holding on to him was a legitimate option for us.

[smootness]

Coppy is far too open with the media, IMO.

It's fun for us fans... but I think he's too open about our current players as well as his strategy

Based on the way he played Stewart (yes, I realize it's Dave Stewart, but still), I trust him to know how to put himself in the best possible position in negotiations.

And he hasn't really been that open. The Braves' FO was pretty adamant they weren't looking to trade Kimbrel right before they did. They've never said they were looking to deal anyone. I'm fine with what he says in that regard. I think he's been a little dumb in regard to stating how competitive this team would be, but I don't think he's being open there.

[Julio3000]

Despite having given Coppy a hard time for stuff that he has said, I have no problem with him saying that he doesn't plan to trade Julio, even if he turns around and trades him...provided the return is what we'd expect in such a situation.

[dak]

Part 2 is up, and a little more newsy I think. A couple snippets below . . .

Q: Do you regret the Hector Olivera trade? Do you see him having a role with the Braves when his suspension is lifted Aug. 1? Will you actively move to trade him? Will you cut him?
A: The Olivera trade has not worked out as we hoped, both on and off the field. The struggles at the major league level are frustrating, but the domestic violence incident is appalling. We will evaluate his future once the suspension is lifted, but we have tried to trade him and have considered cutting him. Even if he were the best player in baseball, what he did is totally unacceptable.

Q: You said on Jonah Keri’s podcast you’d probably need to find a catcher from outside the organization. Is that something that might be accomplished at the trade deadline, or is more likely a matter for the offseason?
A: We are searching for catching everyday so the answer to that question is predicated more on other teams’ willingness or lack thereof to move catching. It’s more likely during the offseason, but we will definitely try at the trade deadline.

Q: There have been three snafus – the procedural error over Emilio Bonifacio’s recall to the majors; Fredi Gonzalez learning he was about to be fired via an emailed alert from Delta, and the revoked offer to draftee Josh Anthony because the Braves didn’t have as much allotted money as had been offered – that became public knowledge. Do you worry that such missteps erode confidence in a rebuilding project that was always going to be a tough sell?
A: Those errors all happened, we accept responsibility for them, and ultimately, as the GM, all of it lies with me. That being said, insensitive or not, I’d much rather make those errors than take the wrong player with a high pick, choose the wrong guy in a trade or sign the wrong free agent. The aforementioned administrative errors have nothing to do with the players we have acquired and nothing to do with a rebuild.

http://www.myajc.com/news/sports/bas...emium-referral

[Southcack77]

Despite having given Coppy a hard time for stuff that he has said, I have no problem with him saying that he doesn't plan to trade Julio, even if he turns around and trades him...provided the return is what we'd expect in such a situation.

Right, I would only care about the return.

I expect that a GM would say he did not intend to trade an All Star under a long term contract whether he intended to or not.