Braves Sign Will Smith

[Enscheff]

Imagine being dumb enough to make this douchebag a mod so no one can just ignore his retarded **** posts.

Remember this pearl?

Cole will be looking at $25M a year and the Braves need to do it.

Run along dum dum.

[Eyeman]

AA seems to think out of the box and I think that's how he wrapped his mind around this move. "I'm worried about our relievers after 2020, we really need a lefty reliever, with our new draft philosophy losing a pick is no biggie".

Does seem goofy when you think of all these pitchers we are piling up. One or two are likely to turn into late inning relievers, if they get a chance (Wilson, Weigel and Mueller are the best candidates IMO).

I don't really care if we pick up a starter unless we can somehow get an Ace and I don't care that much about the draft pick. We just better find a solid cleanup hitter and a couple of minor upgrades in the other two positions we need to fill.

[Heyward]

Funny, I don't remember Cole signing anywhere.

Run along now ***got.

He hasnt but he's getting well north of 25 mil a year.

[Enscheff]

This guy is the new poster child for the aggressively ignorant.

Dumb? Check.

Argumentative? Check.

Always wrong? Check.

Bigot? Check.

He marks all the boxes.

[Snowman]

...jumpin Jaysus on a pogo stick, what the hell happened in here?

[cajunrevenge]

I am mixed about this signing. Happy to have an established closer. Contract isn't that bad. I dont have any confidence in how we will spend money so I am not concerned too much with taking away available payroll. I wouldn't mind going with what we have now. Free agency is a mine field I dont want the Braves paying Yankee level prices for mediocre or worse players.

[Freshmaker]

Hopefully this means our payroll will go up a bit, as LM has been saying/promising. It seems like an odd first move, but AA has done really well IMO with the resources he’s been given, so he’s got the benefit of the doubt from me

[nsacpi]

AA seems to think out of the box and I think that's how he wrapped his mind around this move. "I'm worried about our relievers after 2020, we really need a lefty reliever, with our new draft philosophy losing a pick is no biggie".

Does seem goofy when you think of all these pitchers we are piling up. One or two are likely to turn into late inning relievers, if they get a chance (Wilson, Weigel and Mueller are the best candidates IMO).

I don't really care if we pick up a starter unless we can somehow get an Ace and I don't care that much about the draft pick. We just better find a solid cleanup hitter and a couple of minor upgrades in the other two positions we need to fill.

"new draft philosphy"...interesting...I liked what they did on day 3 of this years draft...sounds like the are committed to sticking to th as t strategy...it requires going under slot on at least one early pick...so losing an early pick does make it more difficult to execute the strategy

[clvclv]

That philosophy is short sighted. One you should always care about draft picks and who they turn out to be. Two. No one cares about losing the pick per se. it is about choosing to lose the pick on a reliever that was going to accept the QO. If AA signs another QO bat then this signing is a good deal imo.

While still unlikely - this idea combined with an assumed bump in payroll does at least raise the Ozuna question. Payroll sits at roughly $100 million today. Ozuna (projected 4/$64 million) would push it to ~ $116 million. An Ender/??? package for Kluber pushes it to ~ $130 million. Buys Pache the full year in Gwinnett, and Acuna slides over to replace Markakis/Duvall in RF next year, making Waters somewhat expendable in trade. Doesn't Waters get you Contreras in a heartbeat? That puts you at ~ $134 million. If Carp's pretend bump to $150 million were in play, you could still add Moose.

[Enscheff]

Based on his comments today, Will Smith seems to understand modern BP tactics.

[The Chosen One]

Based on his comments today, Will Smith seems to understand modern BP tactics.

What he say?

[Southcack77]

It does appear that Smith seems to wear down in August each season so managing his workload might be important if they can manage it.

I just noticed that his final xwoba finished above what it was when he was a trade target. Still very good numbers for the season despite that drop off.

But rolling xwOBA suggests late season struggles are common for him.

[nsacpi]

Based on his comments today, Will Smith seems to understand modern BP tactics.

Bochy was a master at managing a pen.

[Tapate50]

“Smith’s agent -- Jeff Berry of CAA -- effectively used the qualifying offer as leverage, telling interested teams he wanted a deal by today’s deadline or Smith would accept the one-year, $17.8M offer from the Giants. In the end, the Braves bit.”

[Enscheff]

Why the hyperbole?

Maffei told Faber before referencing Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies as some of the club’s key young players. “But in addition, we just signed Will Smith–probably the best reliever in baseball.”

Surely this isn’t what AA had to tell his bosses in order to sign Smith. Or is this guy just so clueless he misunderstood that Smith was the best BP arm available?

[Hudson2]

Why the hyperbole?

Maffei told Faber before referencing Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies as some of the club’s key young players. “But in addition, we just signed Will Smith–probably the best reliever in baseball.”

Surely this isn’t what AA had to tell his bosses in order to sign Smith. Or is this guy just so clueless he misunderstood that Smith was the best BP arm available?

I read that interview and it sounds like Maffei is ready to throw some money at the team.

[CyYoung31]

Why the hyperbole?

Maffei told Faber before referencing Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies as some of the club’s key young players. “But in addition, we just signed Will Smith–probably the best reliever in baseball.”

Surely this isn’t what AA had to tell his bosses in order to sign Smith. Or is this guy just so clueless he misunderstood that Smith was the best BP arm available?

He’s the CEO of a corporation, dude. He doesn’t know ****. Plus, it’s his job to hyperbole.

[Enscheff]

Looks like pure PR spin to me full of hyperbole and vague comments that likely mean opening day payroll is going to be right in line with what we assume it is going to be.

He tried to claim Smith is the best BP arm in baseball...come on now.

Claiming they have more cash to spend than the Mets is pretty pointless considering the Mets are likely already maxed in payroll before making any additions.

[Hudson2]

Looks like pure PR spin to me full of hyperbole and vague comments that likely mean opening day payroll is going to be right in line with what we assume it is going to be.

He tried to claim Smith is the best BP arm in baseball...come on now.

Claiming they have more cash to spend than the Mets is pretty pointless considering the Mets are likely already maxed in payroll before making any additions.

They said the guy doing the interview was a Mets fan so they were having some fun with it. But yeah the Smith comment was probably meant to be more like we got the best FA reliever.

[Snowman]

Remember when a reporter tried to ask the AOL/TW CEO a question about Maddux and he was confused as to why he was getting asked about the Steelers' QB?

My assumption would be Maffei knows almost nothing, and misunderstood half of what he thinks he knows.