Official Offseason Thread

[ixiXSolidXixi]

If Contreras is available then he becomes my #1 target. He’s not a FA until 2023 and his brother could potentially back him up one day. He’d be around 2 million in salary so you could still sign JD and probably Hamels. If AA could pull that off then the offseason would be a huge success.

Yes but i doubt comes out cheap! I believe the Braves need to start moving some players that don’t belong to our future.

[Enscheff]

Contreras is an interesting target. I wonder if the Cubs have any love for Riley.

[salmagundy]

The Rox might make Jon Gray available according to MLBTR.

[bravesfanMatt]

So would we have to chip in a little more to get Tyler flowers balls back or just Contreras hold those personally and that would just come along with the package

[PawPawMaxwell]

Trade for Willson bring Williams up when ready. Brother tandem for years to come.

[Hudson2]

The Cubs would have interest in Riley I’d think. His power would play pretty good at Wrigley. I really hope AA is all over this bc it would solve a big hole for us while leaving us with a chunk of money left to fill 3b and SP with better options.

[Carp]

I'm trying to think of creative ways to deal with the Melancon situation. I think it would be ideal to pawn off his contract on someone else, but is there any way that we could do that while also adding a helpful offensive piece? Maybe attach a prospect or something to a team in need of bullpen help in order to get a right handed outfielder? I don't really think Melancon has much, if any, tangible value on his own. But if we could figure out a way to do a contract swap for a better player by attaching a prospect to him then I would be all for it.

Turner from LA (as part of a larger trade) or Seagar from Seattle are the only viable options I see. Ian Kennedy is another, but it's basically another Melancon situation even though he's better than Melancon.

[Oklahomabrave]

Turner from LA (as part of a larger trade) or Seagar from Seattle are the only viable options I see. Ian Kennedy is another, but it's basically another Melancon situation even though he's better than Melancon.

Plus he has a NTC and there is no way he agrees to go to the Mariners

[Heyward]

Still cant believe AA took on ALL of MM's salary, there has to be something more to that.

I'd love Contreras, big fan of his, top 5 catcher in the game, maybe higher. 3 years of control, but he'd fill a massive need for the next few years. Not really sure what a package would cost for him. Would probably cost some of our pitching depth.

[clvclv]

Mentioned a potential Contreras trade in post #743. As also mentioned, they might have some interest in Riley, but I still think they'd have more interest in an arm. Just not sure how Riley would fit - they're already weak defensively with Schwarber in LF, would they really move Bryant to RF and Heyward to CF when Bryant's a better defensive 3B than Riley?

If AA is interested in giving Donaldson the 3 years he's likely to be looking for, a Contreras/Riley trade would work out amazingly for us though. If he could close the 3B/C holes for $25 million, I'd love to see him add Pineda and Pomeranz and call it a winter. Then hope that one of Wright/Wilson/Anderson/Davidson wins the 5th SP job so Newk stays in the pen. A Melancon/Pomeranz/Greene/Newk/O'Day back-end would be awesome. Maybe look into bringing Tomlin back if they feel like they need a long man.

Even Snitker couldn't screw up an Acuna/Ozzie/Freddie/Donaldson/Contreras/Markakis/Dansby/Ender lineup. He'd try his best to flip-flop Contreras and Markakis to have the R/L/R/L deal, but would anybody really care that much as long as it was Contreras that was following him?

[BeanieAntics]

I just read an article by that Jake Macaroni guy at Tomahawk Take, and I've gotta say... dude has some of the most hilariously bad takes I've ever seen. Its actually really entertaining. He was talking about 5 prospects that he could see being traded and the last one he was talking about was Drew Waters when he said this:

"The switch-hitter has proven himself to be a very good hitter with speed.

But if I’m being honest, at best he becomes Ender Inciarte."

I defy you to come up with a worse player comp than Drew Waters' ceiling being Ender Inciarte. He wasn't even saying that he thinks Drew Waters is likely to turn into an Ender Inciarte player, which would be ridiculous in its own right. He's saying that the absolute best case scenario for Drew Waters is that he turns into Ender Inciarte. I hope that guy never quits. Its so fun to read his stuff.

[Enscheff]

I just read an article by that Jake Macaroni guy at Tomahawk Take, and I've gotta say... dude has some of the most hilariously bad takes I've ever seen. Its actually really entertaining. He was talking about 5 prospects that he could see being traded and the last one he was talking about was Drew Waters when he said this:

"The switch-hitter has proven himself to be a very good hitter with speed.

But if I’m being honest, at best he becomes Ender Inciarte."

I defy you to come up with a worse player comp than Drew Waters' ceiling being Ender Inciarte. He wasn't even saying that he thinks Drew Waters is likely to turn into an Ender Inciarte player, which would be ridiculous in its own right. He's saying that the absolute best case scenario for Drew Waters is that he turns into Ender Inciarte. I hope that guy never quits. Its so fun to read his stuff.

TC has some pretty bad writers. Mostly wannabes with no talent trying to get their careers started and are willing to contribute free content.

I always pegged Waters upside as something like Eaton.

[Oklahomabrave]

TC has some pretty bad writers. Mostly wannabes with no talent trying to get their careers started and are willing to contribute free content.

I always pegged Waters upside as something like Eaton.

That seems like a reasonable comp. Could see that with worse a little contact and a little more power.

[Hudson2]

Mentioned a potential Contreras trade in post #743. As also mentioned, they might have some interest in Riley, but I still think they'd have more interest in an arm. Just not sure how Riley would fit - they're already weak defensively with Schwarber in LF, would they really move Bryant to RF and Heyward to CF when Bryant's a better defensive 3B than Riley?

If AA is interested in giving Donaldson the 3 years he's likely to be looking for, a Contreras/Riley trade would work out amazingly for us though. If he could close the 3B/C holes for $25 million, I'd love to see him add Pineda and Pomeranz and call it a winter. Then hope that one of Wright/Wilson/Anderson/Davidson wins the 5th SP job so Newk stays in the pen. A Melancon/Pomeranz/Greene/Newk/O'Day back-end would be awesome. Maybe look into bringing Tomlin back if they feel like they need a long man.

Even Snitker couldn't screw up an Acuna/Ozzie/Freddie/Donaldson/Contreras/Markakis/Dansby/Ender lineup. He'd try his best to flip-flop Contreras and Markakis to have the R/L/R/L deal, but would anybody really care that much as long as it was Contreras that was following him?

That’s like I said earlier. Contreras is cheap as far as salary goes so you could splurge on Donaldson and still have enough for Hamels and Pomeranz. That’s crazy to me but it could all happen in our budget.

[bravesfanMatt]

The cubs make guys “available “ every year and then don’t trade them. I don’t see any reason they would trade him without a huge overpay. Which AA won’t do

[clvclv]

Interesting thought on a potential Contreras deal - wonder what it might take to expand it to include Happ coming back this way? Wouldn't something centered around Wright/Wilson/Anderson and Ender make worlds more sense for them? They're looking for inexpensive rotation help, and Ender would allow them to leave Heyward, Bryant, and Baez where they're better suited to play on defense. They could cut-bait on Russell (or trade him if they could find a taker) to cover most of Ender's salary and plug Hoerner in at 2B.

At that point signing Moose instead of Donaldson might make a lot of sense - you gain the draft pick, plus save enough money to add Garcia as well. Garcia takes over in RF (buying Pache and Waters all the time they could possibly need) plus you add another inexpensive super-utility guy that switch-hits to fill the 26th man spot. Let Culberson walk next winter when he becomes a little more expensive and replace him with Shewmake. Moose/Contreras/Garcia/Happ should only add around $25 million, leaving AA plenty of money to spend on whichever SP he chooses (you'd pick up another $5+ million replacing Ender with Happ) and possibly one more pen piece.

Not sure you could map out a better offseason than being able to clear Ender so Pache/Waters can take over as soon as they're ready PLUS Contreras (cleanup hitter), Moose (#5 hitter), Garcia (#6 hitter), Happ (26th man and backup CF until the kids are ready), Wheeler, Pomeranz, and O'Day. Sure you lose the Donaldson pick by signing Wheeler, but I think a lot of people could live with that.

[Enscheff]

Someone really likes to read their own writings lol.

[clvclv]

Someone really likes to read their own writings lol.

Seriously? You're criticizing ANYONE about their post count and amount of time they spend posting here???

WOW. Might be your most interesting post ever.

[bravesfanMatt]

Are the cubs rebuilding and I wasn’t informed.

[PawPawMaxwell]

Don't think the Cubs are rebuilding but Bryant may be declared a free agent sooner if collusion is proven/admitted. Pending CBA has lots to do with this IMO. Why Cubs seem anxious/willing to move Contreras is a mystery. They do need OF help. See MLB.com and Bruce Levine podcasts. We all know they need pitching so maybe some truth and maybe some fishing.