Official 2024 Off-Season Thread!

50PoundHead said:
Little-known perspective, but a lot of teams saw Simmons as a relief pitcher when he played JC ball.

He was a big shortstop (6-2) who had the quickness of a small shortstop and could maintain his footwork at that size. He remarkable player. I thought he had taken a big step forward with his bat with the Angels, but he hit a wall. Over 2/3 of his bWAR was credited to his defense, but he was no slouch with the bat.

He was the converse to Gary Sheffield, who is facing his last year on the writers' HoF ballot. 60.5 bWAR overall, with 80.7 attributed to his offense and -27.7 to his defense. At least Simmons was positive with both the bat and the glove.
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Man, at least during his tenure with the Braves I don't remember Gary Sheffield being that bad on defense. Was he to your eyes 50?
 
ramadon101 said:
Our most important move hasn’t been made yet- and no, I’m not talking about another quality SP although I agree that’s necessary (whether it’s done this winter or during the season before the playoffs).

AA is entering the last year of his 3 year contract. We need to lock him up for a long time because he will undoubtedly receive a great deal of interest from other organizations if he tests the market.
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A team like the Red Sox should be offering him $75M. He’s clearly the best GM in baseball, and perhaps all professional sports.
 
Mrs. Meta said:
Man, at least during his tenure with the Braves I don't remember Gary Sheffield being that bad on defense. Was he to your eyes 50?
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Not 50, but yes it was. But he was older as a Brave. He too came up as a SS and was decent to me. Strong arm, but grew too big. His range was severely lacking. But the draw of Sheff will always be that bat. To me, the most electric wrists this side of Henry Aaron.
 
Mrs. Meta said:
Man, at least during his tenure with the Braves I don't remember Gary Sheffield being that bad on defense. Was he to your eyes 50?
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Interestingly, the advanced stats mostly show him battling right field to a draw during his time in Atlanta. They have him -1 run defensively in 2002 and -2 runs in 2003, after being -15 in 2001 and -10 in 2004. I don't know how much of that is statistical flukiness, how much of that is Sheffield treating his two years in Atlanta as contract years where he tried to re-build his reputation and how much is Sheffield actually playing hard for a manager he liked and respected.
 
MadduxFanII said:
Interestingly, the advanced stats mostly show him battling right field to a draw during his time in Atlanta. They have him -1 run defensively in 2002 and -2 runs in 2003, after being -15 in 2001 and -10 in 2004. I don't know how much of that is statistical flukiness, how much of that is Sheffield treating his two years in Atlanta as contract years where he tried to re-build his reputation and how much is Sheffield actually playing hard for a manager he liked and respected.
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Or how much of it was due to him having Andruw to his right.
 
Enscheff said:
A team like the Red Sox should be offering him $75M. He’s clearly the best GM in baseball, and perhaps all professional sports.
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They just hired a new GM. But theres no question we need to do whatever it takes to sign AA to an extension for however much it costs. He's incredible to put it lightly.
 
zbhargrove said:
AA is not trading for someone with shoulder and elbow problems. Your takes man…
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A few weeks ago I talk about trading for Shane Bieber. 🤣😂🤣

Chris Sale
Sale was acquired by Boston from the Chicago White Sox in December 2016 and has made nine trips to the disabled and injured lists with the Red Sox, mostly due to shoulder and elbow ailments. He had Tommy John surgery on March 30, 2020, and returned to a big league mound on Aug. 14, 2021.
 
ixiXSolidXixi said:
A few weeks ago I talk about trading for Shane Bieber. ������

Chris Sale
Sale was acquired by Boston from the Chicago White Sox in December 2016 and has made nine trips to the disabled and injured lists with the Red Sox, mostly due to shoulder and elbow ailments. He had Tommy John surgery on March 30, 2020, and returned to a big league mound on Aug. 14, 2021.
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Not that you are wrong about sale being oft injured. But it is very common for guys to pitch feel discomfort go on DL. Pitch again. Feel different discomfort. Go on DL. Rinse repeat. Before finally getting surgery.
 
bravesfanMatt said:
Not that you are wrong about sale being oft injured. But it is very common for guys to pitch feel discomfort go on DL. Pitch again. Feel different discomfort. Go on DL. Rinse repeat. Before finally getting surgery.
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What i am talking is I say a few weeks ago to trade for Bieber and zbhargrove say that AA is not going to trade for a guy with shoulder and elbow problem. Then AA trade for a guy with exactly the same problems.
 
ixiXSolidXixi said:
What i am talking is I say a few weeks ago to trade for Bieber and zbhargrove say that AA is not going to trade for a guy with shoulder and elbow problem. Then AA trade for a guy with exactly the same problems.
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Well, he kept Waldrep and AJS. And if Sale is cooked, he can get someone at the deadline. But Sale had decent numbers in September, we only really need him to be a #3 in October and pitch once a series. Not asking him to be prime Sale.
 
ixiXSolidXixi said:
What i am talking is I say a few weeks ago to trade for Bieber and zbhargrove say that AA is not going to trade for a guy with shoulder and elbow problem. Then AA trade for a guy with exactly the same problems.
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Yeah but did Sale really have shoulder issues. Last year he went down with a shoulder problem but it was bone not tendon which is way worse. Sale has had elbow arm issues for the most part. I don’t think comparing Sale with Shane or guys like wright is similar.
 
Heyward said:
They just hired a new GM. But theres no question we need to do whatever it takes to sign AA to an extension for however much it costs. He's incredible to put it lightly.
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I don't see us letting him get close to being contractually able to talk to another team. Both sides are very happy by all reports and it's super rare to see a happy GM change teams.
 
bravesfanMatt said:
Yeah but did Sale really have shoulder issues. Last year he went down with a shoulder problem but it was bone not tendon which is way worse. Sale has had elbow arm issues for the most part. I don’t think comparing Sale with Shane or guys like wright is similar.
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Right… Biebers shoulder issues are the scary ones. Sale came back from his shoulder discomfort stronger and I believe had higher velocity. His past elbow problems don’t concern me because he’s well recovered from TJS at this point.

Also I was talking about price. Bieber would have required actual high ceiling assets. We basically got Sale for a utility guy who can’t field and aren’t even having to pay him much. Low risk, high reward. It’s quite simple.
 
Yeah, the fact Sale is pitching for free in 2024 can’t be glossed over. Either AA didn’t have any more money to spend in 2024 (which would be his own fault), or he can now use that money for another addition (Hader??), the fact Grissom turned into a free season of Sale is pretty valuable.

Now the exercise becomes doing whatever it takes to nurse him through the regular season so he can be unleashed in October.
 
I would love to add Hader to this team. It would be horribly inefficient payroll wise but having that dominate closer pays off in October when they can pitch every game.
 
Southcack77 said:
This is an unrealistic expectation out of any sports franchise, let alone one owned by a publicly traded corporation with responsibilities to shareholders.

Sports franchises are profitable businesses not charities run for the benefit of the public. People/companies don't buy them to lose money.
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How does operating at a loss in the short-term = being a charity..? Owners field ****ty teams and fans don’t show up so they use that to justify not spending on the team. It’s a cycle. They’re making plenty of money and are reluctant to really re-invest. They’d rather pocket it and bitch that it’s not fair.
 
Super said:
How does operating at a loss in the short-term = being a charity..? Owners field ****ty teams and fans don’t show up so they use that to justify not spending on the team. It’s a cycle. They’re making plenty of money and are reluctant to really re-invest. They’d rather pocket it and bitch that it’s not fair.
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It's completely fair. The purpose of the business is to make money.
 
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