Keith Law Braves Views

[Russ2dollas]

I know a lot of people hate Klaw. Many think he's biased for this reason or that.

But it's the offseason and I find it interesting to see his writings on Braves topics. He's an outside opinion....kinda like Gilesfan...

LaStellla: Insider article but he's in his 10 most disappointing article. Basic opinion is great hand eye coordination and can hit, but fringe everything else (defense, power, speed, health).

Wren: Called Wren out in his Thursday chat. Top draft picks horrible and FA signings bad.

I've never seen Lastella. But I think fringy defense and speed is the same or better than Uggla or Elliot Johnson. I think a solid hit tool is a vast upgrade. And I think our offense needs a guy who can put it in play. I could see him being a Prado-type. Nowhere near as valuable as Prado b/c I don't think he can play multiple positions but valuable..........Again basing this of everything I've read, not from ever seeing him.

Wren. I think drafts have been better than Law thinks. I do think our 1st rounders have been non-ideal. I love what he's done late and off the scrap heap. However every time he's had to spend big money he's made a big mistake. I wish we would not go that route. He hasn't done well with FA and I don't think teams do well with FA in general. Stick to the trade and <5 million signing game where I think he's done very well.

I'm interested to see how creative Wren is. We're losing a lot w/ McCann. Uggla and BJ are huge issues of his making. BJ they will just hope to rebound, but I'm interested to see how creative he can be to work something that makes us better.

I'm ready for Hot Stove.

[Garmel]

What he said about La Stella can also be applied to Matt Carpenter or Chis Johnson. Last time I checked both were good players in my eyes.

[Knucksie]

Elliot Johnson was an act of desperation. He was never anything more than a warm body. As for La Strella, the guy needs more time for seasoning. It's nice that he's come along at AA and is raking in the AFL, and all, but some board members are getting totally carrried away. If his defense is substandard, a year at AAA would do wonder to make him a better fielder and improve his confidence at the plate even more.

[Enscheff]

La Stella is not a legitimate option to start at 2B for a team with $15M+ available and hopes of winning a WS title. Nobody currently in the organization is a legitimate option at 2B for the MLB club as it is currently positioned.

2B is the biggest hole on the club, and the resources are there to fix it. Wren needs to fix it this offseason. Period.

[cajunrevenge]

You cant be a prospector without drawing the ire of a few fanbases. Everyone has their own quirks about what they look for in prospects and it is not an exact science. Almost every fanbase hypes up their own prospects and think they should rank higher because they dont know enough about the other teams farm systems.


There is legitimate reasons to criticize Wren but he has done enough good to keep his job. Its hard to complain about the first round busts when they have done such a good job with later round picks. If only we could trade that first rounder for more lower round picks. He picked Gattis in the 1200th round or so and he might have a better career than Mike Zunnino picked top 5. One big thing that cant be overlooked is the success of the pen the last few years. Compare these years to the Klobster and Reitsma years. And he is doing it for pennies on the dollar. That said we are a lower big market team that is really a lower mid market team now because of the disaster that are the Uggla and BJ contracts. Nearly 30 million down the drain the next 2 years and still 2 more years of BJ. This is a team capable of winning a world series in my opinion, we just need a manager who doesnt herp derp in October.

[BRule]

KLaw said LaStella can be Prado, minus the multiple positions, on twitter a day or so ago.

Wren has been horrible in Free Agency + Uggla + Drafts, not sure how that can be argued.

[50PoundHead]

I've always been of the opinion that Wren gets off too easily when it comes to criticism only to be politely shouted down by a lot of folks on here who would rather lay the blame on Fredi. Wren has done well around the edges, but his primary free agent signings have been disastrous, especially in view of the claim that there is a tight budget.

Who knows on La Stella? I mean, who really knows? I doubt he's going to be Matt Carpenter, but it took Carpenter a bit to get it going so the comparison may be valid. I doubt La Stella is going to be a double-digit HR guy, but who knows.

And I really laugh at the Elliot Johnson critique. The guy is a fringe player and it says more about Uggla that he was even on the team than it does about Johnson. Don't get me wrong. If Pastornicky's healthy, he's the 2B. Johnson was a last-ditch effort and simply that. Would have been nice to have more minor league depth or another guy on the big league roster who could handle a bat, but the deadline came and went and for all the talk about obtaining a LHH 2B/3B guy, Wren didn't pull the trigger. My guess is the asking price for the guys he had targeted was too high.

[Tapate50]

It can't be overlooked how cheap we have chosen to spend our draft and Intl FA's lately either. That may be out of FW's control, but it would certainly count as a handcuff.

[Dalyn]

KLaw said LaStella can be Prado, minus the multiple positions, on twitter a day or so ago.

I'll take a .725 - .775 OPS hitter at second right about now.

[Russ2dollas]

Bowden had an article about trading bad contracts....Uggla and BJ in there.

I don't think BJ has any hope of moving. Esp with his brother someone we want to keep if price is ok.

Uggla is where I want to see Wren's creativity. I think he's gone. Not sure how. He'll have to eat money and maybe package him with some other things.

I just don't know what is out there to buy.

I think the team needs a long term answer at ACE, 3B, 2B, and C. I'd say outfield but I think we'll be Upton, Upton, Heyward. C could well be Gattis and C-B....better than half the league at least and cheap. If LaStella is a 1 WAR player he may be an upgrade, esp if he can even save us 5 million in Uggla money. Then you have 3B and ACE pitcher. Love CJ but he's a stop gap IMO.

Wrenn seems to do better when acting like a small market club. Maybe we should just do that and use our money to lock up internal players instead of FA.

[keithlaw]

I think you mean Correct Braves Views

[The Chosen One]

I'll take a .725 - .775 OPS hitter at second right about now.

So you would take Prado back eh?

[thethe]

I'm glad that Law doesn't think LaStealla is going to be anything more than an average regular. With his career average of projecting Braves we are looking at a future all star.

[Dalyn]

So you would take Prado back eh?

At least you picked up what I was putting down. If Arizona covered the end of his contract, it would be worth having him for the last 200 or so games of his career.

[Dalyn]

KLaw said LaStella can be Prado.

I'm glad that Law doesn't think LaStealla is going to be anything more than an average regular.

[zitothebrave]

I'm glad that Law doesn't think LaStealla is going to be anything more than an average regular. With his career average of projecting Braves we are looking at a future all star.

Well he can't be wrong all the time, it's pretty much impossible when your odds are close to 50/50

But considering his most high profile Braves criticisms recently have been Minor and Freddie who were our best pitcher and hitter respectively, kinda hard not to chuckle inside.

[thethe]

Well he can't be wrong all the time, it's pretty much impossible when your odds are close to 50/50

But considering his most high profile Braves criticisms recently have been Minor and Freddie who were our best pitcher and hitter respectively, kinda hard not to chuckle inside.

I really don't get what it is. The Braves prospects are being severely underrated at this time after about a decade of being vastly overrated. To me its even more comical when Wrens drafting record (post Clark) is criticized. Sure, there aren't any superstars (although I believe Simmons will be ridiculously valueable) but there have been a lot of major leaguers drafted and excellent prospects from 2010-2012.

[Gary82]

La Stella doesn't look like a starter for this team, especially for 2014. I guess Uggla being so bad makes practically anyone else look good.

[thethe]

La Stella doesn't look like a starter for this team, especially for 2014. I guess Uggla being so bad makes practically anyone else look good.

Please explain why you don't believe he is a starter for this team?

Not saying you are wrong because obviously there are many who feel the same way. More of just a curiosity.

[Gary82]

Please explain why you don't believe he is a starter for this team?

Not saying you are wrong because obviously there are many who feel the same way. More of just a curiosity.

Law saying he has fringe power, speed, and defense isn't a shock to me. I've read similar things along the way.

If his defense isn't up to snuff, then what is his value? I fricking love good defenders, so maybe I'm too biased. I don't think he has a skill or two that can compensate for his deficiencies. Not yet, anyway.

I also hope that Wren isn't comparing anyone to Uggla. Just because we have a player that can potentially create more value than him, it doesn't say too much.

We'll see. I'm no expert or evaluator of talent, just some guy.