Seems at least one other non-homer is confused by the Braves recent moves that seem to be pushing towards contention that isn't realistic:
cj
12:32 I see myself as a reasonable braves fan, meaning I had no high hopes last years finish would translate like many other fans thought. My question is who do the braves trade at the deadline now? Freeman seems to be here to stay now with how he hits, but what about Teheran? or do they sell at all due to the new park? it just seems like a weird year with not many assets to trade of value
Dave Cameron
12:32 I saw Rosenthal note the other day that they expect to both buy and sell at the deadline, but given that they're trying to continue to sell this notion that they're close to winning, I have no idea what they can sell that anyone will want. Jim Johnson again? Okay.
Greg
12:37 Three 19-year-old Braves prospects are currently at Double A. They're all ranked in multiple top 100s. Why would a team so far from contention do this? What's the point in rushing prospects when you are bad, or have they figured something new out?
Dave Cameron
12:37 They don't think they are far from contention.
I don't think they're right, but it seems pretty clear there's an organizational push to win soon.
JohnAdcox (05-10-2017)
We'll just have to wait and see. I personally don't think they're pushing guys like Allard, Soroka, and Acuna because they're trying to get them to the majors as quickly as they possibly can. I think the FO believes in challenging their top prospects that they believe are ready for it, and they like the idea of having guys who are very young for their level. It's a little difficult to challenge that belief right now with Allard and Soroka at least holding their own in AA and Acuna starting off with a bang there.
If they were really just trying to get guys to the majors as fast as possible, why would Albies not be up right now, why is Gohara in A+, why is Fried in AA, etc?
But it is just an opinion, which is all anyone can offer right now, including Dave Cameron. You disagree, and that's fine.
JohnAdcox (05-10-2017)
The thing that will give away the answer is whether success in AAA is a pre-requisite to a call-up for the players in question. If you call up a player before they have succeeded in AAA you are asking them to do more learning at the major league level. For me this is an inefficient use of those six years of contractual control the team has.
JohnAdcox (05-10-2017)
Swanson's call up last year? That's never been discussed much here.
JohnAdcox (05-10-2017)
And they also acquired veteran assets in the first half of 2015, that they traded for prospects.
Not every organization is going to be content winning 50 games for three years. Not many organizations at all, really.
If they had done that, people would have found it appalling and good chance they never see the end of the rebuild.
IS this better? I don't know. I wish they'd lost a little bit more in 2015 and 2016.
That's where I am....being really bad or really, really bad doesn't matter to me. I just wish they tried to sign young gambles (maybe had a injury history), to gamble with instead of vets. To me watching old dudes loose is different than young guys learning (you feel like something is being built).
you know as everyone knows, these guys are NOT here to 'contend'... they are here to prevent guys from being called up too soon. I firmly believe Coppy feels he screwed up by putting Folty, Wisler, Blair, others in the fire way too soon. he doesn't want to call up guys before they are ready. I have a feeling the 'good ole' boys were directly involved with Swanson. Pitchers are a different animal vs hitters.. so hopefully that doesn't bite us like others.
JohnAdcox (05-10-2017)
I don't see how you can be the service time guy and also hate on those moves. They are basically all place holders to keep guys down. S rod isn't enough money to matter and he was a decent upside play if he was healthy.
Everyone has to have some vets. I prefer mine on 1-2 year deals.
I still think we have a shot at flipping Garcia for more than we paid
For the other guys...we traded aybar last yr so anything is possible
I think a legitimate point of criticism regarding the Colon/Dickey/Garcia trifecta of moves is that the Braves were well out in front of the market in virtually every instance and paid handsomely for production that ultimately could have been found at lesser cost elsewhere. There is absolutely logic behind using 'flippable filler' instead of rushing the talent, but it would appear the Braves went with highly palatable premium filler as opposed to a lesser variety.
That being said, I'm not done with Colon/Dickey yet. Veterans have a way of warming up as the season progresses, and we shouldn't discount the fact that the book is still out on Suntrust and how to pitch there.