I'm going to pose kind of an informal poll here. So far in one way or another, the Braves have been connected to Madison Bumgarner, Marcus Stroman, Zach Wheeler, and Matthew Boyd. Of those four starters, which do you prefer th Braves to trade for?
I'm going to pose kind of an informal poll here. So far in one way or another, the Braves have been connected to Madison Bumgarner, Marcus Stroman, Zach Wheeler, and Matthew Boyd. Of those four starters, which do you prefer th Braves to trade for?
Chopping With The Braves And Rolling With The Tide
That's the question - are people honestly comfortable enough with the bullpen as it's currently constructed to go after Stroman (or another SP) rather than improving a pen that has been making snooze fests so interesting? They did their *amndest to blow solid to very good starts from Keuchel and Julio the last two nights, and Jackson would've completely imploded last night if the Padres would have had ANYONE left on their bench.
While it would be nice to upgrade the rotation, it simply isn't the biggest problem - and there are plenty of capable arms to mix and match with from within. Leave this pen alone, and this team doesn't win in the first round of the playoffs.
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?
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?
As I've said before, I'd prefer MadBum or Boyd or Minor (if Tex decides to sell). The reason is that I'd prefer another lefty against the Dodgers. According to Fangraphs they have an .823 OPS as a team and a 115 wRC+ against righties, and a more mortal .783 OPS and 106 wRC+ against lefties. I'm not 100% sure, but seems like that gap was wider earlier in the season, so if that trend continues it might end up not being as big of a deal. As currently constituted we can get by the Cubs or Brewers IMO, but we need some more horses against the Dodgers. I'm pretty ambivalent between Stroman and Wheeler, but I'll go with Wheeler for resignability purposes
Wheeler and Bumgarner are FA's at end of the year.
Stroman has 1 extra year.
Boyd has 3.
Question on Boyd is, is this a fluke or did he make changes to become this pitcher. Certainly depends on the cost to get them, but cant go wrong with any of them, pending the cost obviously.
All make sense for the right value, as do several BP arms. I want impact players as cheaply as possible because the Braves have plenty of "good not great" players.
Wheeler will probably be the cheapest guy capable of making a real impact on the 2019 season, and I'm not sure I want to see the Braves tie up even more resources into controlling a pitcher like Boyd or Stroman for more than the rest of this season.
Wheeler and Smith for good value would be a pretty good deadline.
Folty turning back into a #2/3 and Gaus turning back into a #3/4 while getting Smith for 3 FV 40s would be the ideal, imo.
Last edited by Enscheff; 07-14-2019 at 03:38 PM.
Blue Jays writer- Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees had people watching RHP Marcus Stoman (6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 7 Ks) at the Stadium in the Bronx this afternoon.
jpx7 (07-15-2019)
Jaw (07-14-2019)
Ivan, the only writer at TC worth the cost of electricity powering his PC, did a great write up about Bumgarner as a trade target:
https://www.talkingchop.com/2019/7/1...ison-bumgarner
Like we already saw in this thread, he listed out the returns for similar rentals.
Another hack at TC sat on the toilet with his phone for 5 minutes and banged out the equivalent "article" for Wheeler:
https://www.talkingchop.com/2019/7/1...k-wheeler-mets
He ultimately settled on "Wentz or Allard" (FV 45+ and 45), both of whom would be an acceptable price for an arm with true impact potential if Folty and/or Gaus don't round back into form in the next 2 weeks. I've been the low man around here on Allard for a long time, so if AA can get Wheeler for Allard I would be pretty happy with that value play.
Damn.
Passan: Zack Wheeler is headed to the injured list with shoulder fatigue, which more or less destroys his trade value.
He had interest far and wide across the league. Perhaps a team still takes a crack in hopes he returns, but the Mets' desire to cash in at the deadline has evaporated.
jpx7 (07-15-2019)