Looking towards 2025

When we had an off day we could use that to skip the 5th starter move them back. We chose to give an extra days rest to the starters. I understand why they did it but they should have added another SP during the season if that was the case. Starting Vines/Winans/Kerr will literally be the difference that keeps us out of the playoffs.
 
There are literally a dozen reasons that cost the Braves 1-2 games this season, so claiming load management of the rotation is any worse than any other issue is a bit silly.

Snit's decisions cost the Braves a couple games. Poor 5th SPs cost the Braves a couple games. Every single all-star playing like a scrub for months cost the Braves several games. Giving PAs to terrible players due to having a terrible bench cost the Braves a a game or two.

AA can't possibly create a roster with enough depth to cover all the injuries and regression. However, he could have planned a little more depth into the roster than he did, especially when he was somehow caught off guard that Acuna's knee was a risk and the OF should have a decent bench option just in case. All the other moves were defensible...the only glaring issue was not understanding the bench needed depth when Grichuk signed for less than Duvall.

He made 3 moves that were huge gambles in Sale, Lopez and Kelenic, and the results were CYA SP, another TOR SP, and what's looking like a decent 4th OFer. It's hard to claim anything other than complete success with that set of acquisitions.
 
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cajunrevenge said:
When we had an off day we could use that to skip the 5th starter move them back. We chose to give an extra days rest to the starters. I understand why they did it but they should have added another SP during the season if that was the case. Starting Vines/Winans/Kerr will literally be the difference that keeps us out of the playoffs.
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He had a full rotation in the off-season. Sale, Fried, Strider, Lopez, and Charlie. Once we lost Strider, we had to get creative.

And that's the point. We can't go into next with the plan to get creative in the 5th spot, especially when we don't know how effective Strider will be coming off his surgery. And we'll need to plan for someone else getting injured as well.

Elder is not an acceptable 5th starter on an upper tier playoff team. Waldrep, AJSS, or even Hackenberg have the potential, but relying on them to step up is a sure way to be scrambling to find a starting pitcher come trade deadline.

We need a reliable SP to round out the rotation. Someone like Garrett Crochet would be great if we wanted to go big. But Charlie on a cheap deal would be absolutely acceptable.
 
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I will say that the barrel-scraping replacements have for the most part also been successes. Merrifield, Laureano, and Urshela have arguably out-performed in August and September the players they replaced performances in May and June.
 
Nerfherders said:
I will say that the barrel-scraping replacements have for the most part also been successes. Merrifield, Laureano, and Urshela have arguably out-performed in August and September the players they replaced performances in May and June.
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Perhaps that's the new bench building plan. invest in catcher and go cheap with the rest. Then sign quality players that have been released for league minimum midseason. Lots have been available with the new trade deadline rules.
 
We have Sale, Fried, Lopez, and SS so we have been spoiled this year with the high end SP we have. Next year Fried will be gone and Sale i doubt pitches like this and its his last year here. We do need another legit SP in the offseason and hopefully AA can go get Crochet maybe to help fill that spot.
 
Hudson2 said:
We have Sale, Fried, Lopez, and SS so we have been spoiled this year with the high end SP we have. Next year Fried will be gone and Sale i doubt pitches like this and its his last year here. We do need another legit SP in the offseason and hopefully AA can go get Crochet maybe to help fill that spot.
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We have a club option for Sale in 2026 for 18mil.
 
cajunrevenge said:
Sale is here as long as we want him to be.
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His biggest problem has always been health. Nobody would have seen this coming or Boston would have never traded him. Everybody wanted to baby him all year so he could make it to the playoffs to unleash him. I hope he’s healthy going forward but its a tall order. I dont think Strider will be the sane when he comes back either thats why i think another big option should be gotten.
 
Sale's injury history is overblown. He had several off the field injuries which, do worry me, but those should be far lower risk of recurring than if all his injuries were arm related. If anything it helped keep the wear and tear down on his arm. 2023 was his healthiest year in years. He pitched 100 innings and ended the season healthy. It shouldnt be a shocker that he had this season with us. You are right there is no telling how long it lasts but I think a lot of people saw positives signs for Sale going into this season. I think getting out of the pressure cooker that is the AL East helped some. Zack Wheeler missed a couple years too and came back stronger than ever. I think 2-3 years is a good bet for Sale to be healthy and productive. Beyond that is a guessing game.
 
Enscheff said:
There are literally a dozen reasons that cost the Braves 1-2 games this season, so claiming load management of the rotation is any worse than any other issue is a bit silly.

Snit's decisions cost the Braves a couple games. Poor 5th SPs cost the Braves a couple games. Every single all-star playing like a scrub for months cost the Braves several games. Giving PAs to terrible players due to having a terrible bench cost the Braves a a game or two.

AA can't possibly create a roster with enough depth to cover all the injuries and regression. However, he could have planned a little more depth into the roster than he did, especially when he was somehow caught off guard that Acuna's knee was a risk and the OF should have a decent bench option just in case. All the other moves were defensible...the only glaring issue was not understanding the bench needed depth when Grichuk signed for less than Duvall.

He made 3 moves that were huge gambles in Sale, Lopez and Kelenic, and the results were CYA SP, another TOR SP, and what's looking like a decent 4th OFer. It's hard to claim anything other than complete success with that set of acquisitions.
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You and I were on that one from the get-go. Grichuk has outperformed expectations, but he's a better player than Duvall and he did sign for less. I suppose one could argue that he was slated to get more PAs in Arizona than in Atlanta, and given the assumption that Acuna was going to be healthy all year maybe that figured into Grichuk's calculus. But Kelenic was always going to be a gamble at some level and one cannot assume that everyone is going to be healthy. Duvall has more PAs than Grichuk this year and that's with Duvall basically sitting since Laureano got hot.
 
It wasn’t just that they didn’t sign Grichuk. It was the faulty logical thought process behind the decision that was the problem.

They assumed Acuna and Kelenic would play everyday, so they didn’t need a player like Grichuk. Then when Acuna had the knee scare they suddenly realized there was risk in the OF, and scrambled to sign someone…anyone. The problem is Acuna’s knee was ALWAYS a risk, and Kelenic being unplayable was ALWAYS a risk, and someone like Grichuk is exactly the type of player needed to mitigate that risk. Unfortunately, AA didn’t understand that risk until it was too late to acquire a reasonable option, so all he could do was overpay for Duvall when he finally wised up.

Then there the whole narrative about not being able to sign quality bench options due to snit not knowing how to leverage a bench. AA can’t allow the incompetence of the manager affect his ability to construct a complete roster. Snit should have his decision making authority limited next season.
 
After the debacle with the rotation this year I would try something revolutionary in 2025. I would use Sale and Strider as openers for the first 2 months. I would start Sale and Strider as openers on 30-35 pitch counts. If thats one inning, two innings, or 3 innings they get 30-35 pitches. In June I would piggy back them with each going atleast 4 innings. Try to keep them on a 60 pitch count limit. I would keep slowly extending their pitch count limit until the ASB then coming out of that they are both full go the rest of the way. That way if we make the playoffs they arent worn out.

This would allow us to give AJSS/Waldrep/Anderson a real shot at the rotation to see if any can lock down a rotation spot. I would offer Morton 8 million for 2025 with 2 million in incentives and would use him in the rotation to start the year and transition to the pen for the second half if he wants to come back. I would try to bring in a SP like Giolito or Montgomery if we can get their team to eat enough salary to just get rid of him. Shane Bieber would be another good option. I would also try to bring in another high end reliever like Lefty closer Tanner Scott. If we want to win a lot of games it helps to have a second reliver who can close. We also need a third lefty in the pen. With Iglesias being in his last contract year it would be nice to have backup plan for 2026.

The rotation would look something like this to start the year if we dont add anyone.

Lopez
Schwellenbach
Morton - Strider used as opener for 1-3 innings
Holmes - Sale used as opener for 1-3 innings
AJSS/Anderson/Waldrep

Rotation in June assuming no injuries

Lopez
Schwellenbach
Sale/Strider - piggybacking on each other. Each goes atleast 4 IP.
Morton
AJSS/Anderson/Waldrep/Holmes - whoever is pitching the best
By the ASB assuming no injuries. If we have 6 SP at this point pitching well we can do a 6 man rotation for a bit.

Sale
Strider
Lopez
Schwellenbach
One of AJSS/Anderson/Wadrep/Holmes
 
I think you gotta add at least one veteran SP in free agency. We dont really have a whole lot of needs for next year minus some tweaks. Can you bring back some of Merrifield, Laureano, Urshela? They're good bench pieces when you have all your starters available. Will Minter be back? SS is the obvious place to spend big, Adames is the only real big name. But cant see AA being in the mix there.

And do agree with others, it's hard to see Sale repeat this kind of year, plus Strider's coming back from TJ. So another SP is needed. Maybe throw a big 1 year deal on Buehler and see if he bites but he'll probably want/get a multi year deal. Even if Fried is gone, you have Lopez/Sale/Strider/Schwelly as your big 4. If somehow by the grace of god, Fried came back, thats an absolute insane top 5. Morton most likely retires.
 
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