Official 2024 Off-Season Thread!

[bravesfanMatt]

Two things can be true. It was a colossally moronic decision by Snit to leave Elder in. But if you can't navigate a lineup twice without getting shelled, you have no business starting a playoff game.

Horrible take. The rangers won the WS with the starters in only their wins go 4.2, 3, 1.1, and 6 innings. None of that screams ace level and surely not multiple ace level. Bullpens rule the playoffs and a manager who isn’t stupid.

 

[bravesnumberone]

Horrible take. The rangers won the WS with the starters in only their wins go 4.2, 3, 1.1, and 6 innings. None of that screams ace level and surely not multiple ace level. Bullpens rule the playoffs and a manager who isn’t stupid.

The Braves did not have a bullpen to "rule the playoffs." At least on paper, they have something more closely resembling it going into this season. Either way, AA should be focused on acquiring another starter.

The Rangers also scored 5 or more runs in nine of their 13 postseason wins. That helped a lot. If they had to win every game 2-1 or 3-2, probably wouldn't have turned out as well.

 

[50PoundHead]

Braves released matt carpenter

So basically we purchased Kerr for $4 MM.

PS--I have to laugh. MLBTR states that the Braves were hopeful of finding a trade partner to take Carpenter. The front office is pretty talented, but who the f*ck did they think wanted to trade for Matt Carpenter?

 

[bravesnumberone]

So basically we purchased Kerr for $4 MM.

PS--I have to laugh. MLBTR states that the Braves were hopeful of finding a trade partner to take Carpenter. The front office is pretty talented, but who the f*ck did they think wanted to trade for Matt Carpenter?

I'm sure the Nats would have offered Corbin...

 

[Super]

The offense and strider not showing up are much bigger reasons. In fact those are the biggest reasons.

Surrendering game 3 because Bryce Elder is your starter is a massive reason. Pretend it isn’t I guess but that’s pure delusion.

 

[WaitingFor2017]

https://x.com/DOBrienATL/status/1736866515696132244?s=20

This is DOB trying to rationalize if AA doesn't sign another SP this offseason.

This is one of the two main guys writing for the team. Oof.

 

[CyYoung31]

Strider was very lucky to only give up 5 runs over his 2 starts. Dude allowed 4 HR in 12 innings. He certainly didn't pitch like most expected him to.

Yeah, I disagree with that. Maybe in his 2nd start, but in his 1st he was lights out.

 

[Super]

Unless the playoff structure has changed, I would much rather have a strong deep pen and a competent manager over another starter that is slightly better than elder. Game 3 should have been a bullpen game with high leverage lefties ready every time the top of the order came around. The Faillies didn’t even adjust the lineup because they knew twit wouldnt deploy his lefties correctly. I think AA is building the bullpen back to twit proof it. That is more important than some middling starter that may or may not get through 4 innings of a game 3.

People pointing to elder starting game 3 as a reason to get more starting pitching is foolish. Elder pitching game 3 and facing the top of the order twice is a reason to get a new manager. Not more pitching. That team, even with elder, was good enough to crush the faillies. They didn’t. The offense was sleep walking with no approach and the manager was just sleeping.

Again. We would all love to get Yamo or another ace but there is a very good chance we won’t and the Braves will still be better than every other team when healthy.

“Slightly better than Elder.” My brother in christ the starters being talked about are a lot better.

 

[CyYoung31]

I've never been sure of anything more in my life than I am that Matt Carpenter will get a big hit against us in an important game this coming season.

He won’t be on a team.

 

[striker42]

He won’t be on a team.

That will make it even more surprising when it happens.

 

[Super]

Just because the 2021 Braves and 2023 Rangers won without the level of starters being discussed here doesn’t mean it’s not important to try and sure up a glaring weak spot on a great roster. It is a need.

 

[Enscheff]

Everyone is talking about those 4 games in October as if they are proof of anything. As with everything we talk about in baseball, these discussions need to happen through the lens of probabilities.

It is extremely unlikely the best offense in the history of the sport (a legit sentence) will have 3 of it's worst 10 performances over 166 games during a particular 4 game stretch. While extremely unlikely, that's exactly what happened, and that's the main reason the Braves lost. However, the probability of that happening again is so remote it makes little sense to make changes to the offense. We all understand small sample size enough to comprehend all of this.

It was much more likely that a 39 year old Morton squarely in his decline phase would not be available or effective in October. It was much more likely a pitcher with a history of blisters and other minor injuries would not be at 100% in October. It was extremely likely a pitcher coming off shoulder surgery would not be available in October. It was obvious a guy with #5 stuff wouldn't be effective in October. All of these things were predicted by several people in the deadline thread, and all were (and still are) very real possibilities.

Given all those things that were much more likely than the offense taking a dump then, and are equally as likely this October, it makes sense to plan around those exact same likely events. Perhaps that plan is to set the roster up better to handle BP games, and the plan is to use all those 7th inning BP arms to make that happen. Does anyone here want Snit in control of that? I sure don't.

 

[50PoundHead]

I'm sure the Nats would have offered Corbin...

Corbin would be just about the only guy more worthless in terms of $/Production.

 

[Deester11]

Yes. If our 2 aces don't pitch to their ability and our offense ****s the bed. Then at that point not having a stud as our #3 might become an issue.

You seem to be hung up on the "IF" factor. But again..just so you can stop needling me with the "it's fine" spill., If AA is done..nothing I can do but ride it out and enjoy the regular season. If by chance an Elder-esque pitcher is trying to save the Braves from elimination, it's a fail. My opinion.

 

[Carp]

Could we have not stashed Carpenter in AAA? Not that I expected anything from him, but we're still 5 bodies short on the 40. I think I would rather have Carpenter taking up a 40 man spot than bringing in some other AAAA trash. I get that it's a trivial concern to argue over Carpenter and a AAAA player, but there is nothing else to talk about right now.

 

[Southcack77]

So basically we purchased Kerr for $4 MM.

PS--I have to laugh. MLBTR states that the Braves were hopeful of finding a trade partner to take Carpenter. The front office is pretty talented, but who the f*ck did they think wanted to trade for Matt Carpenter?

I think maybe they hoped someone might eat a million or two if it.

Didn't spend much time worrying about it though, did they?

 

[GovClintonTyree]

I think maybe they hoped someone might eat a million or two if it.

Didn't spend much time worrying about it though, did they?

Nope. Made 28 dials, got 28 hangups, cut bait.

 

[50PoundHead]

Could we have not stashed Carpenter in AAA? Not that I expected anything from him, but we're still 5 bodies short on the 40. I think I would rather have Carpenter taking up a 40 man spot than bringing in some other AAAA trash. I get that it's a trivial concern to argue over Carpenter and a AAAA player, but there is nothing else to talk about right now.

I honestly don't know what the Padres were thinking when they gave Carpenter the deal they did after he had a glorious half-season with the Yankees in 2022. He was in pretty steady decline prior to that unexpected uptick so it only makes sense (or nonsense) that someone like Preller would open up the wallet and sign him to a two-year/$12 million deal.

Given Carpenter is as old as Methuselah in baseball terms, I imagine he could have declared himself a free agent if the Braves outrighted him to Gwinnett. I'll admit it might have been nice to have an experienced back-up somewhere in the system in the event Olson would suffer a significant injury and maybe Carpenter could surprise again even though it would be completely unexpected. I'm guessing that Anthopoulos will be looking for Swiss Army knife guys for AAA (he already has for 2024 with Leury Garcia and he did in 2023 with Wall).

I hope no one takes these comments as derogatory against Carpenter. He was a very good baseball player on some very good Cardinal teams, but age caught up with him like it does with most everyone else.

 

[Heyward]

So basically we purchased Kerr for $4 MM.

PS--I have to laugh. MLBTR states that the Braves were hopeful of finding a trade partner to take Carpenter. The front office is pretty talented, but who the f*ck did they think wanted to trade for Matt Carpenter?

We purchased potentially 6 years of Kerr for a 1 year hit of 4M (he's pre-arb until 26, not arb eligible until 27). Our lux tax payroll right now for next year is 171. And that's with options for 5.5M on Matzek, 8M for TDA, 7.5 for Bummer, and 16M for Ozuna (could decline all of them). The luxury tax threshold next year is 241. And we're well well under it next year with only a few needs, so AA could make a few big splashes if he needs while staying under the tax. The only arb players we have next year are Kelenic, Ian Anderson, Ynoa and Dylan Lee.

 

[Carp]

I honestly don't know what the Padres were thinking when they gave Carpenter the deal they did after he had a glorious half-season with the Yankees in 2022. He was in pretty steady decline prior to that unexpected uptick so it only makes sense (or nonsense) that someone like Preller would open up the wallet and sign him to a two-year/$12 million deal.

Given Carpenter is as old as Methuselah in baseball terms, I imagine he could have declared himself a free agent if the Braves outrighted him to Gwinnett. I'll admit it might have been nice to have an experienced back-up somewhere in the system in the event Olson would suffer a significant injury and maybe Carpenter could surprise again even though it would be completely unexpected. I'm guessing that Anthopoulos will be looking for Swiss Army knife guys for AAA (he already has for 2024 with Leury Garcia and he did in 2023 with Wall).

I hope no one takes these comments as derogatory against Carpenter. He was a very good baseball player on some very good Cardinal teams, but age caught up with him like it does with most everyone else.

At least Carpenter can still get on base, even if the bat speed is gone. I would rather have a guy like that taking MLB at bats for a short time in an emergency, instead of some career minor leaguer like Drew Lugbauer.

Of course, it's possible Carpenter asked for his release and we granted it.