In this case yes. But in almost all others no.
It isn't normally a big deal but a rebuilding team needs to be able to protect all it can, build as many options as it can, take chances on players with upside, have flexibility. The Braves are trying to rush the rebuild and in doing so are limiting themselves. It's always possible that even if they didn't limit themselves nothing would change, no revelations would be found in the fringe or discard bin. But, if you never give yourself a chance to find out then the possibilities tend to 0.
jpx7 (09-05-2017)
Gohara has to go on the 40-man this off-season, so that's not really big in the calculus here. It's not like we don't have a few guys we just put on waivers who aren't going to be in our 2018 plans anyway.
I'm more worried about how much weight he'll gain now that he's getting big league meal money.
Last edited by 50PoundHead; 09-05-2017 at 12:04 PM.
jpx7 (09-05-2017)
Has there EVER been a statement and question a certain someone should absolutely never have made and asked publicly more than...
Kinda pathetic to see yourself as a message board knight in shining armor. How impotent does someone have to be in real life to resort to playing hero on a message board?
Horsehide Harry (09-05-2017)
That is a possibility. We'll have 5 guys in Allard, Wright, Soroka, Gohara, and Fried who will all be major league ready at some point next season. You could easily trade 2 of them, combined with what we have already in Julio/Folty/Newcomb and another wave still to come in Touki/Wentz/Anderson/Wilson/Muller.
What I don't know in reference to Gohara is how we're looking at his lack of innings. Does it mean we'll have to baby him next year or do we think he can actually log some innings? The way we view that might be what we do with Gohara.
Gohara pitched 70 innings in 2016, and 123 innings this year. That is already a big leap in innings pitched, and would put him on pace to jump to 170-180 next year.
These promotions have been accelerated to justify the rebuild and save jobs.
Or do the Braves really need 7 SPs on the roster in a losing season?
I could try to throw a few justifications for calling him up out there, but I'm sure you already know them. Truth is I am not sure what the upside is, if any. I am simply arguing the downside is relatively mitigated, so I don't see the point of getting too worked up about it.
The type of hurt your implying is Tommy John I take it. Well if he breaks his elbow tonight, then it was going to happen either way. Edit: I see your point about service time in this instance and it's extremely valid. Definitely a point in favor of avoiding this entirely.
Good, the end of the season should be about seeing the young kids, given that Gohara is already in AAA and needs to be added to the 40-man roster anyway; I really don't see the big problem with this.
Its not a bad thing to get his feet wet in the majors and its certainly something that can be used as a learning experience to grow from in the off-season.
What I'd like to see happen is for the Braves to shut-down Dickey the rest of the way and really devote all the innings to finding what we have with Fried, Gohara, Sims, Newk, Folty ..... maybe even skip a couple JT starts - although I doubt that will happen.
It's not that I think Gohara blowing his elbow out during 90 MLB pitches is very likely at all.
The point is there's no upside. The Braves have 6 SPs on the roster. This is a lost season, so who cares if Sims sucks. Who cares if Newk walks 6 guys every game, or Fried gets pounded by RHed hitters? Those guys are old enough that they need to be given time at the MLB level to "show what they have".
There is only downside, even if the chance is small. This is another sub-optimal move in a long list of sub-optimal moves. They just keep coming...endlessly...with no sign of stopping.
Compared to the Swanson and Albies promotions, this move isn't that bad. But it's not good, and just because a move isn't Swanson/Albies level stupid doesn't mean it's ok.
Or have we set the bar that low already for this FO? If the move isn't guaranteed to cost the Braves $10M in surplus value, it's ok?
Last edited by Enscheff; 09-05-2017 at 12:43 PM.
Horsehide Harry (09-05-2017)
Your definition of optimality is based on expected values, right? Well previous to your excellent point of burning service time on the DL I didn't really see how this move moved the needle one way or the other, so as a fan I was just excited to see a player in very optimistic for (and I will always favor major league call ups because I principally hate the current service time system that incentivizes teams from playing their best, most exciting players).
But even with a very small possibility of injury, the potential downside is so enormous such that it outweighs any superfluous upside possibility. So thanks ensheff, now I have to watch tonight's game with a small bit of contempt.