Donaldson in 2019

[Russ2dollas]

I’d rather sign Frazier for a cheap price with option years and gamble money on extensions for dansby Albies and Acuna

I’d rather pay more per year and have flexibility.

We are seeing guys this year without homes. Teams might be wising up to these long term deals. Take advantage and do shorter deals with expensive team options

[thethe]

How many stars do you need on a team? Right now it looks like we have Freeman for sure, Ozzie with a good chance, and Acuna with a good chance. We also have Gohara and a few more pitching prospects that should provide high value off the mound. Do we need to fill the other positions with stars? I think the better route would be to surround those guys with guys who will provide solid value for low to mid range contracts. Guys like Ender are perfect. Say what you want about missed opportunities during the rebuild, but we are set up to have several very talented and very cheap pieces for a good while. Instead of squandering an insane portion of that flexibility on one player, I think the better route would be to look for the best value possible on the market and maintain as much financial flexibility as possible. Having almost half our payroll tied in to 2 players (Freeman and Harper) is just a bad idea.

To be fair, though, I don't think I like the idea of Donaldson either.

But the idea of Having Harper int he middle of the lineup for the next 5 years is enticing and could lead to some WS titles. It doesn't not impair the flexibility of the organization long term as long as you structure the deal so that Harper uses the option.

[nsacpi]

The identity of Harper's agent should be a cautionary sign to anyone thinking that a contract with him could be structured in any sort of way the Braves would want to contemplate.

[thethe]

The identity of Harper's agent should be a cautionary sign to anyone thinking that a contract with him could be structured in any sort of way the Braves would want to contemplate.

Of course its a pipedream. I'm just trying to discuss a scenario where it makes sense to have Harper even with his high price tag.

[Hudson2]

If we had an individual owner with a new tv deal I could see making a run at Harper but not how we currently stand. And hopefully Riley has a huge year and proves he is the 3b of the future so we can strike another position of need off the list. Donaldson is one of my favorite players so if Riley has a bad year then I’d definitely go after him hard in the offseason. We can’t grow an entire offense or pitching staff.

[Southcack77]

I think we will have some financial flexibility starting next off-season. But we have to be careful how we play it. I am interested in guys on 2-3 year deals rather than 5+. This would allow us to retain flexibility to hold on to as much of the homegrown core as possible as they get expensive. Obviously you are not going to sign top end free agents on 2-3 year deals. But we can trade for some pretty good players that have that much time left on their contracts. Some of them could be relatively inexpensive in terms of prospects if there is not much expected surplus value left in those contracts.

As an example, if we decide we need a third baseman next off-season, I'd rather trade for Eugenio Suarez (who will have two more years of contractual control left) than try to sign Donaldson or Machado. I'd offer the Reds a choice of Teheran/Folty/Newcomb. Presumably one or two of them will have done something in 2018 that will make them a good "trade high" candidate. Bring in one of Wright/Soroka/Allard to replace whoever we trade away in the rotation. Rinse and repeat when it comes to acquiring a left fielder.

I think the Braves need to assess their own prospects and young players this year to see how close they are and go from there.

I have nothing against them making a big signing if they like what they see there.

[nsacpi]

I think the Braves need to assess their own prospects and young players this year to see how close they are and go from there.

I have no against them making a big signing if they like what they see there.

Its a constant process of assessment. But I think we're about an 80 win team that at the end of 2018 when the contracts come off will be in a position to "buy" 6-7 more wins. So my current expectation for 2019 is an 85-90 win team. Things can obviously change between now and then.

[bravesfanMatt]

I would go out and find a diamond in the rough to be the future 3rd Baseman... betcha HO is available.

[clvclv]

Of course its a pipedream. I'm just trying to discuss a scenario where it makes sense to have Harper even with his high price tag.

I love pipe dreams as much as anyone else, but there just isn't one. For Machado either.

IF AA can somehow solve LF this year, I'm not completely opposed to taking a shot at Donaldson - but I'm not really a fan of that either.

Ideally, he could get Frazier on a 2 or 3 year deal at around $10 million per and maintain the flexibility of including Riley in a deal for Yelich or a TOR type of arm. Then you could sign a McCutchen/Adam Jones type to a similar "affordable deal" for 2 to 3 years next winter.

The company line continues to be that they only want a stopgap that won't get in Riley's way or in the way of a big free-agent signing, but I'd still love to see if the Astros view Moran as expendable enough to swap him for Vizcaino and save their bullets to trade for a controllable Closer at the deadline if they think they'll need one. Plug Moran in at 3B this year and see what he can do. If he's as good as hoped, move Riley to LF in Gwinnett this summer if you're not going to trade him.

[Tapate50]

Not high on Moran, and I doubt Cutch and Adam jones sign for 2-3 year deals

[nsacpi]

Not high on Moran, and I doubt Cutch and Adam jones sign for 2-3 year deals

agree...i think we will go out and trade for guys like Happ and Suarez rather than sign premium free agents

[Enscheff]

agree...i think we will go out and trade for guys like Happ and Suarez rather than sign premium free agents

Probably 1 or more impact FAs (I would like to see them make a play on Grandal) and 1 fairly significant trade.

[Super]

i feel like the slow FA market could benefit us this year. offer frazier 1-2 years at higher AAV than we would've otherwise in a longer deal. maybe due to his age he doesn't want such a short deal since it will be his last contract. so we'd have to make it worth while.

this assumes we have any payroll flexibility left for this season that isn't being saved for deadline possibilities.

[nsacpi]

Assuming they want to hold back about $5M for mid-season moves, I think there is room left to spend 5-10M before the start of the season. Don't think that will get us Todd Frazier. But Frazier might be someone we try to trade for next off-season. Ditto Moose. Given the financial constraints, we might as well make a virtue of necessity and use this season to evaluate Camargo and Riley as in-house options.

[BeanieAntics]

Assuming they want to hold back about $5M for mid-season moves, I think there is room left to spend 5-10M before the start of the season. Don't think that will get us Todd Frazier. But Frazier might be someone we try to trade for next off-season. Ditto Moose. Given the financial constraints, we might as well make a virtue of necessity and use this season to evaluate Camargo and Riley as in-house options.

That is about how much I expect us to spend as well, but I would prefer for us to go try to limit that money to 1 year deals or 1+1s. I want to have as much money off the books as possible next year. Honestly, I wouldn't have a problem with us not doing anything else and just rolling into the season with what we have

[Chico]

If we wanted to play this year I think we can. If Kazmir's deffered money stays deffered we're at about $108M. If we could flip Markakis and attach a reliever or eat $2-$3M we could get another 8-10M.

I'm not saying we will or even advocating spending without knowing what there is to spend on, but we definitely could if we chose to.

[clvclv]

Assuming they want to hold back about $5M for mid-season moves, I think there is room left to spend 5-10M before the start of the season. Don't think that will get us Todd Frazier. But Frazier might be someone we try to trade for next off-season. Ditto Moose. Given the financial constraints, we might as well make a virtue of necessity and use this season to evaluate Camargo and Riley as in-house options.

If that's the assumption, I'd backtrack to where I was a few weeks ago and climb all over Nunez and one of Maybin or Kendrick on 1 year/$5 million + a team option deals before the ice breaks on the rest of the market and someone that has those guys as their Plan B or Plan C circles back around to them. Adding Nunez and one of the other guys would also really help strengthen the bench when Acuna gets called up. A Markakis/Maybin or Kendrick platoon at that point would give you a bench of...

Suzuki/Flowers, Markakis/Maybin or Kendrick, Camargo, Culberson

grouping, and if you were able to get options for next season on Nunez and Maybin would give you the ability to tuck Adams away in Gwinnett. Then your 2019 bench (if Riley is what they seem to think he is) gives you the ability to play on Grandal and extend Flowers and you have a grouping of...

Flowers/Grandal, Nunez, Maybin, Camargo/Culberson

[Enscheff]

Not high on Moran, and I doubt Cutch and Adam jones sign for 2-3 year deals

They won't. Clv has no idea what he's talking about...ever.

[Enscheff]

If that's the assumption, I'd backtrack to where I was a few weeks ago and climb all over Nunez and one of Maybin or Kendrick on 1 year/$5 million + a team option deals before the ice breaks on the rest of the market and someone that has those guys as their Plan B or Plan C circles back around to them. Adding Nunez and one of the other guys would also really help strengthen the bench when Acuna gets called up. A Markakis/Maybin or Kendrick platoon at that point would give you a bench of...

Suzuki/Flowers, Markakis/Maybin or Kendrick, Camargo, Culberson

grouping, and if you were able to get options for next season on Nunez and Maybin would give you the ability to tuck Adams away in Gwinnett. Then your 2019 bench (if Riley is what they seem to think he is) gives you the ability to play on Grandal and extend Flowers and you have a grouping of...

Flowers/Grandal, Nunez, Maybin, Camargo/Culberson

Holy hell...

Do you think those guys are going to sign 1 year deals before they know whether or not other teams are going to circle back to them?

Do you really think their agents don't know they are other team's backup plans?

Do you ever know what you're talking about?

[clvclv]

It only makes sense in a cost-cutting/moving deck chairs deal like the Kemp trade, but I'd love to see if AA could work more magic with the Dodgers front office and find a way to swap Suzuki for Grandal. If they really are committing to Austin Barnes, swapping those two would save LA another $4.2-ish million that will help ensure that they stay under the $197 million ceiling in the event they need to add another pen piece (or give them wiggle room in other deals).