What's AA gonna do?

[Enscheff]

Wentz plus filler isn’t getting Ozuna.

[NinersSBChamps]

ArchAngel?

[DontStopTheChop]

Wonder what it would take to get Carson Kelly from the Cards? If 2018 is truly a lost year and AA decides to not try and piece together a WC team, Inciarte should probably be traded. Don’t know that his value will ever be higher.

Not to mention, Inciarte, Teheran and Vizcaino could really bring in some good talent to also supplement the players we’re about to lose.

[Super]

If we can trade Kemp I could see a move for Avisal Garcia with a planned extension. He's still only 26. His BABIP is crazy, but he's always had a high one, so even with the regression he'll be solid offensively and probably better defensively in LF.

Trading for a LF isn't usually a good idea, but if the price is right it could make sense.

No thanks on Avisail. Anyone who gets him will be overpaying big time IMO.

[Super]

Wonder what it would take to get Carson Kelly from the Cards? If 2018 is truly a lost year and AA decides to not try and piece together a WC team, Inciarte should probably be traded. Don’t know that his value will ever be higher.

Not to mention, Inciarte, Teheran and Vizcaino could really bring in some good talent to also supplement the players we’re about to lose.

Kelly has been a target of mine for about 2 years now. Even more so when the Cards gave Yadi an extension.

[Carp]

First step will probably be admitting he has a problem on his hands.

It'll definitely be a 12 step solution for AA, at the very least.

[Horsehide Harry]

Wentz plus filler isn’t getting Ozuna.

While I agree in general, it depends on what the rest of the deal looks like.

For instance, if it is Ozuna for X, then X is definitely going to have to be better than Wentz plus filler. If it Ozuna plus other salary such as Ozuna plus Tazawa then you diminish the return cost.

And, while it appears the Braves won't have money to do things like that, there are still pathways to get there.

To me, the future strategy and actions depend largely on two things: 1. What kind of payroll the Braves will have in 2018 and 2019. 2. What the punishment from MLB looks like.

Depending on those two things, the approach needs to change.

[Hudson2]

The first course of action has to be getting rid of Kemp and Markakis and how much salary we have to eat to do it. That will tell us how much money we have to spend. Getting Ozuna would be huge for us.

[Horsehide Harry]

The first course of action has to be getting rid of Kemp and Markakis and how much salary we have to eat to do it. That will tell us how much money we have to spend. Getting Ozuna would be huge for us.

I disagree with that since shedding either will likely include sending money. Getting rid of them but still being incapable of significant improvement doesn't do much long term. In the short term you may marginally improve the team but in the longer term you may hurt the team.

[Hudson2]

I disagree with that since shedding either will likely include sending money. Getting rid of them but still being incapable of significant improvement doesn't do much long term. In the short term you may marginally improve the team but in the longer term you may hurt the team.

How would shedding even 75% of their contracts be anything but good? Makes 0 sense

[ramadon101]

The reason I think the Braves keep Markakis is because he's not terrible and the Braves have **** for OFers. With no money to spend, they will be hard pressed to find a 1 win OF for less than $11M (including prospect costs). Plus, the Braves love Markakis.

I thought it was solely the fact that Markakis is a fellow Greek like AA?

I kid.

I think AA will focus on getting up to speed this offseason without making a huge splash unless something falls into his lap. I do think he'll focus on organizational systems like improving player nutrition system wide (like he did with Toronto), build out (or completely replace) the Tomahawk database (and likely hire a database architect to manage same like they did in Toronto) and try and identify a few potential upside players that he can possibly buy low (Ensheff has identified a few in recent posts... for some reason I also think they will check in on Piscotty if they somehow are able to dump both Kemp and Markakis).

[Enscheff]

How would shedding even 75% of their contracts be anything but good? Makes 0 sense

I think he means if shedding them requires sending talent with them, or taking back a contract with longer length. I don’t think the Braves are in a position where freeing up money in that way will help the team overall.

[50PoundHead]

I hope Anthopoulos does very little for 2018. It would be nice to shed Kemp, but other than that, I hope he looks to the long view and doesn't mess things up with some unwise short-term improvements.

[JohnAdcox]

- Markakis is in LF/RF opening day.

You really think he can cover that much ground at his age? And what if Ender gets in his way as he runs back and forth?

[Southcack77]

How would shedding even 75% of their contracts be anything but good? Makes 0 sense

I don’t understand how getting rid of Kemp or Markakis’s would be bad for the long term.

Markakis doesn’t need to be moved but it certainly shouldn’t require any commitment beyond 2018 to do so.

Maybe you could move Kemp by eating his contract, but that’s again a sunk cost that is gone after 2019. I don’t consider that to be long term.

[Enscheff]

No thanks on Avisail. Anyone who gets him will be overpaying big time IMO.

He only makes sense if the new team has a plan to add loft to his swing and he is amenable to the suggestion.

[Enscheff]

I thought it was solely the fact that Markakis is a fellow Greek like AA?

I kid.

I think AA will focus on getting up to speed this offseason without making a huge splash unless something falls into his lap. I do think he'll focus on organizational systems like improving player nutrition system wide (like he did with Toronto), build out (or completely replace) the Tomahawk database (and likely hire a database architect to manage same like they did in Toronto) and try and identify a few potential upside players that he can possibly buy low (Ensheff has identified a few in recent posts... for some reason I also think they will check in on Piscotty if they somehow are able to dump both Kemp and Markakis).

Building an entirely new database system would take months for a team of 3-4. I don’t think the Braves even have that. There’s no way a new system could be developed in time to help with this offseason, so AA will be limited to what is already in place.

A new system for in-season decisions like defensive positioning, pitching staff usage, and pitch sequencing could be completed in time though. If they are going to rewrite anything, I would suggest starting there and then expanding on it to be ready for next offseason.

[Horsehide Harry]

I don’t understand how getting rid of Kemp or Markakis’s would be bad for the long term.

Markakis doesn’t need to be moved but it certainly shouldn’t require any commitment beyond 2018 to do so.

Maybe you could move Kemp by eating his contract, but that’s again a sunk cost that is gone after 2019. I don’t consider that to be long term.

Let's say they move Kemp and 75% of his salary but have to send a player along to get it done like a low level pitcher (say Wentz) then they use that money saved to sign a FA (like Moustakas) who will be an improvement for 3B today, but won't be good enough to make a difference in getting them competitive short term and is probably a bad contract 3-4 years from now when the Braves theoretically are in their competitive window. So, what they did is trade a bad contract today when they aren't really competitive for a likely bad contract for when they should be competitive. Making that move only makes sense if they have enough money to strongly address the other holes on the team to make them a real short term competitor (which they don't have). And even then, you give up an arm that could be part of that future competitive window either directly or indirectly through trade.

[Horsehide Harry]

I hope Anthopoulos does very little for 2018. It would be nice to shed Kemp, but other than that, I hope he looks to the long view and doesn't mess things up with some unwise short-term improvements.

I think AA would miss a fantastic opportunity to correct some of the mistakes of the past by doing nothing. By that, I likely don't mean what you think.

I think AA should use this offseason (new as GM/President, sanctions and fines from MLB, diminished or at least stagnant payroll, questionable personnel moves made by previous administration) to re-set the rebuild. Think about it: 1. The hope to shorten the rebuild time hasn't worked out. It looks like 2019/2020 will be the likely target date for a mixture of seasoned young players (Albies, Swanson, Acuna) to make a large enough impact to be really useful and for the young pitching to make a big impact (Wright, Soroka, Allard, etc.).

2. Keeping Inciarte, Freeman and especially Teheran really only made sense in the terms of the rebuild IF you could legitimately compete by 2017/18. Since that isn't going to happen, then keeping them through their contracts (Teheran) or until they are past their prime (Inciarte and Freeman) as holding spots on the way through to the expected competitive date, is a waste of resources.

3. MLB is going to levy some form of punishment. In almost all cases, that punishment will set back the talent level and potentially shorten the competition window. One way to avoid the punishment (assuming that MLB doesn't interfere with future draft picks or position) is to tank. Let's say MLB takes a couple of guys (Bae, Maitan), fines the Braves $5M and excludes them from the International market for 2 years. If the Braves tank, they trade Freeman, Inciarte, Teheran, Folty, etc. (essentially any player not very young and under control for 3 years AFTER 2020) then they will further stock the young minor league talent pool and will free money to participate in the loaded 2018/19 FA class and will secure early draft positions over the next two years. Plus, they could stockpile money in reserve for use on the International FA market during the first year that their record is good enough that their ML draft position is poor.

And they have the perfect excuse and opportunity to do it: blame everything on Coppy and the previous management and the resulting penalty from MLB. Say that the Braves will return to a strong team but current events have delayed that effort.

Then in ST 2018 you have Swanson and Albies face the best pitching possible early with the hope that you can justify sending them down a month or two (whatever is necessary) to regain control over their lost control year.

[50PoundHead]

I think AA would miss a fantastic opportunity to correct some of the mistakes of the past by doing nothing. By that, I likely don't mean what you think.

I think AA should use this offseason (new as GM/President, sanctions and fines from MLB, diminished or at least stagnant payroll, questionable personnel moves made by previous administration) to re-set the rebuild. Think about it: 1. The hope to shorten the rebuild time hasn't worked out. It looks like 2019/2020 will be the likely target date for a mixture of seasoned young players (Albies, Swanson, Acuna) to make a large enough impact to be really useful and for the young pitching to make a big impact (Wright, Soroka, Allard, etc.).

2. Keeping Inciarte, Freeman and especially Teheran really only made sense in the terms of the rebuild IF you could legitimately compete by 2017/18. Since that isn't going to happen, then keeping them through their contracts (Teheran) or until they are past their prime (Inciarte and Freeman) as holding spots on the way through to the expected competitive date, is a waste of resources.

3. MLB is going to levy some form of punishment. In almost all cases, that punishment will set back the talent level and potentially shorten the competition window. One way to avoid the punishment (assuming that MLB doesn't interfere with future draft picks or position) is to tank. Let's say MLB takes a couple of guys (Bae, Maitan), fines the Braves $5M and excludes them from the International market for 2 years. If the Braves tank, they trade Freeman, Inciarte, Teheran, Folty, etc. (essentially any player not very young and under control for 3 years AFTER 2020) then they will further stock the young minor league talent pool and will free money to participate in the loaded 2018/19 FA class and will secure early draft positions over the next two years. Plus, they could stockpile money in reserve for use on the International FA market during the first year that their record is good enough that their ML draft position is poor.

And they have the perfect excuse and opportunity to do it: blame everything on Coppy and the previous management and the resulting penalty from MLB. Say that the Braves will return to a strong team but current events have delayed that effort.

Then in ST 2018 you have Swanson and Albies face the best pitching possible early with the hope that you can justify sending them down a month or two (whatever is necessary) to regain control over their lost control year.

Do crickets pay admission?