Let's dream on the Braves 2020

[SJ24]

C- Alex Jackson/William Contreras/Drew Lugbauer/Brett Cumberland

1B- Freddie Freeman- one of the best 1B in the world

2B- Ozzie Albies- great young 2B, 4ish WAR, All-Star candidate

SS- Dansby Swanson- steady presence at SS; 2ish WAR?

3B- Austin Riley- Troy Glaus type 3B. 4 WAR

LF- Ender Inciarte- one of the best defensive outfielders in the world, Gold Glove candidate

CF- Cristian Pache- young superstar with 8 WAR potential, Gold Glove candidate

RF- Ronald Acuna- young superstar with 8-10 WAR potential, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, and MVP candidate


SP- Kyle Wright

SP- Mike Soroka- have seen Derek Lowe comps

SP- Mike Foltynewicz

SP- Luiz Gohara- C.C. Sabathia

SP- Touki Toussaint- Chris Archer




We could be staring at a 100+-win World Series champion.

Weakness is catcher BUT one of those guys could EMERGE.

[Heyward]

Braves wont be all prospect oriented.

They'll trade and/or sign for a SP and position player or two. Not exactly sure for who.

[GeorgiaGirl]

Hmm, assuming things mostly go well prospect wise:

Starting order:

Ozzie Albies - 2B
Cristian Pache - CF
Ronald Acuna - LF
Freddie Freeman - 1B
Austin Riley - 3B
Dansby Swanson - SS
Ender Inciarte - RF
Someone outside of the organization at C since things usually don't go PERFECT prospect wise. Not sure who though. Let's say we see one of the older starters traded for someone here in the offseason (I'll say Julio).

Rotation:

Kyle Wright
Luiz Gohara
Mike Soroka
Mike Foltynewicz
Vet acquired from outside the organization

That's a very interesting team that has a mixture of power and speed from 1-5 in the order. Albies is still not a perfect leadoff, but he's a better choice than Inciarte (Betts lite is really a good comparison for him, both seem to have the mentality that they can hit anything, which helps and hurts).

[salmagundy]

IMO Folty will not be in rotation if still on team by 2020. He is still a thrower and always will be IMO.

[bravesfanMatt]

IMO Folty will not be in rotation if still on team by 2020. He is still a thrower and always will be IMO.

You can teach a thrower to pitch a lot easier than teaching a pitcher to throw 98. I will stay on the folty hype train until they kick me off

[GeorgiaGirl]

Folty's problem isn't "not pitching", it's been what it always has been, and it's not what the local media and Braves announcers drill it as. Despite having high heat, his fastball isn't what its cracked up to be because it's kind of flat, and we've found he can't get left handed bats out. It's too easy to foul him off, so the pitches pile up for him.

The Braves thought they had a possible Max Scherzer with him, instead they have Nathan Eovaldi, a forever stuff #4 that will tease you forever but never take that "next step".

[50PoundHead]

Folty's problem isn't "not pitching", it's been what it always has been, and it's not what the local media and Braves announcers drill it as. Despite having high heat, his fastball isn't what its cracked up to be because it's kind of flat, and we've found he can't get left handed bats out. It's too easy to foul him off, so the pitches pile up for him.

The Braves thought they had a possible Max Scherzer with him, instead they have Nathan Eovaldi, a forever stuff #4 that will tease you forever but never take that "next step".

That's about it in a nutshell. Eovaldi wouldn't be a horrible result. There are times I see Tyler Yates; another strapping youth with a plus fastball who had nothing else to keep hitters off balance. The biggest change I've seen in baseball over my many years of watching is the increased ability of most good (and even some average) hitters to catch up with plus fastballs. That ability may not lead to direct positive results in every instance, but it helps pile up pitch counts.

[Knucksie]

Yes, the old project the lineup 2 years out with only promoting prospects and no trades/injuries/free agent signings game.

To be fair, your idea of Pache and Inciarte in the same OF is against the groupthink of this forum (making it even better!) Inciarte has never been appreciated here for how great he is, his presence will be felt even more when this team eventually gets competitive AND that contract is so affordable.

People need to be patient before writing off Allard too. No Anderson?
Agreed that Teheran will be gone by then. Not going to the mat with Folty predictions, as he might well emerge this season and assert himself.

[BlackwaterPark]

I think the Braves should go all in this offseason if our young pitchers and Dansby/Acuna progress well, and sign Machado or go after Arrenado.

[Enscheff]

If there’s one thing I know, it’s that entire starting lineups and rotations are typically comprised of homegrown players.

I’ve already shown projections for this team to realistically win 120+ games.

[BeanieAntics]

Well I'll be... Last year there was only one player in the entire league to surpass 8 WAR. And in 2020 we are going to have 3 of those guys!

[bravesfanMatt]

Folty's problem isn't "not pitching", it's been what it always has been, and it's not what the local media and Braves announcers drill it as. Despite having high heat, his fastball isn't what its cracked up to be because it's kind of flat, and we've found he can't get left handed bats out. It's too easy to foul him off, so the pitches pile up for him.

The Braves thought they had a possible Max Scherzer with him, instead they have Nathan Eovaldi, a forever stuff #4 that will tease you forever but never take that "next step".

I can agree with this. I wonder how much of this is coaching. Not just chuckie. But I would think you could tweak a pitch enough to change plan. It is painfully obvious that most Braves pitchers struggle putting guys away with 2 strikes.

[bravesfanforlife88]

Off the rocker idea, but if the Blue Jays are out of it by middle of summer and we are on the fringes of being competitive for the 2nd WC spot, would you put a trade together for Donaldson knowing that he is a FA at the end of the season, what it would probably take to re-sign him, and there is a good chance you lose him.....

[Super]

Off the rocker idea, but if the Blue Jays are out of it by middle of summer and we are on the fringes of being competitive for the 2nd WC spot, would you put a trade together for Donaldson knowing that he is a FA at the end of the season, what it would probably take to re-sign him, and there is a good chance you lose him.....

probably only if given a negotiating window, which don't seem to be all too common. would also be tough to do because this past off-season was so bizarre, so who knows what kind of money he'll get this year.

[SJ24]

Well I'll be... Last year there was only one player in the entire league to surpass 8 WAR. And in 2020 we are going to have 3 of those guys!

Pache and Acuna are THAT good.

We are about to enter The Golden Era.

[SJ24]

We also have the number 8 pick in the upcoming draft.

And losing Maitan wasn't a big deal. The Baseball America guys actually laughed at how bad of a prospect he is now.

[GeorgiaGirl]

Yes, the old project the lineup 2 years out with only promoting prospects and no trades/injuries/free agent signings game.

Yep, even if you consider an optimist outlook, you're never going to have a fully prospect loaded team. Just doesn't happen, hasn't even with teams that were absolutely loaded with positional prospects (Cubs/Astros). :)

I had a WAG at what I think might be possible but I think predictions (bold/positive) are a better idea. I kind of already did that in my first post. Here's some here:

Kyle Wright and Mike Soroka end up working out as top of the rotation caliber. Not true ace caliber, but the kind of pitchers that can pitch a lot of innings with a low 3 to 3.5ish ERA.
Luiz Gohara has ace caliber stuff but struggles to pitch full seasons because of his red flags.
Ronald Acuna puts up a .900-.950 OPS, finishes top 3 in the MVP race.
Cristian Pache has an overall good rookie year, is just above average with the bat but shows real signs of a potential breakout into an all around star for the years to come after 2020.

It's not all sunshine-y and roses though. In actual reality, pitching is a bigger worry than hitting. We really need for the next wave of pitching to actually work out much better than the first one (and Gohara starts this wave) and they have the ability to but pitching has bigger attrition than hitting and it's just about guessing who doesn't work out. I'm guessing that Ian Anderson and Kolby Allard probably don't (I've never been a big fan of Anderson however, hated the pick from the start).

If so we're probably good here.

[Knucksie]

Yep, even if you consider an optimist outlook, you're never going to have a fully prospect loaded team. Just doesn't happen, hasn't even with teams that were absolutely loaded with positional prospects (Cubs/Astros). :)

I had a WAG at what I think might be possible but I think predictions (bold/positive) are a better idea. I kind of already did that in my first post. Here's some here:

Kyle Wright and Mike Soroka end up working out as top of the rotation caliber. Not true ace caliber, but the kind of pitchers that can pitch a lot of innings with a low 3 to 3.5ish ERA.
Luiz Gohara has ace caliber stuff but struggles to pitch full seasons because of his red flags.
Ronald Acuna puts up a .900-.950 OPS, finishes top 3 in the MVP race.
Cristian Pache has an overall good rookie year, is just above average with the bat but shows real signs of a potential breakout into an all around star for the years to come after 2020.

It's not all sunshine-y and roses though. In actual reality, pitching is a bigger worry than hitting. We really need for the next wave of pitching to actually work out much better than the first one (and Gohara starts this wave) and they have the ability to but pitching has bigger attrition than hitting and it's just about guessing who doesn't work out. I'm guessing that Ian Anderson and Kolby Allard probably don't (I've never been a big fan of Anderson however, hated the pick from the start).

If so we're probably good here.

Yeah, I've been telling these guys for years how much roster turnover there is just during the season. Also told them at the start of the rebuild that they were following the same template as the last one by stockpiling young pitching. Quantity as well as quality would be the approach. Some will bust, some will get hurt, some will get traded and some will remain, even make an impact.

Still for crystal ball purposes, 3B, C and one veteran SP will be areas addressed from external options. AA will have money to spend, so the 2019 Opening Day roster should be very interesting

[Tapate50]

By 2020 Travis Demeritte will be well on his way to getting ROY votes in Cobb County son.

[jpx7]

I'm really interested in this idea, the use of which Enscheff has repeatedly pilloried, of the rhetorical fallacy of listing-as-argument—sort of reductio ad catalogous argumentation. We all know—thanks to William Carlos Williams—that a list is a poem; but is it an argument? And if it is indeed fallacious argumentation, has something specific about the internet encouraged its proliferation?

I think we can all say more concrete things about this topic than we can about the 2020 Braves roster.