Freeman Trade Speculation

[emk418]

Newcomb, Olivera and Albies are likely to be top 50 guys when BA releases its list next spring. Not many teams will have 3 guys in the Top 50.

I don't count Olivera as a prospect. He's a 30 year old huge unknown. I love Albies but he's not a Lindor/Correa/Russell type impact bat. His upside is limited because of his nonexistent power.

I'm not one of the huge pessimists on this board. I'm just trying to be realistic with our farm system. We have a crazy deep system....but lack true impact players across the board outside of Newcomb. Yes, there's the potential for some of our recent international signings to develop or Austin Riley, but we don't know what we have yet. We're weak at pretty much every position outside of pitching and SS until some of the young guys develop.

 

[Hudson2]

Riley and Allard will shoot up the rankings.

 

[Deester11]

I don't count Olivera as a prospect. He's a 30 year old huge unknown. I love Albies but he's not a Lindor/Correa/Russell type impact bat. His upside is limited because of his nonexistent power.

I'm not one of the huge pessimists on this board. I'm just trying to be realistic with our farm system. We have a crazy deep system....but lack true impact players across the board outside of Newcomb. Yes, there's the potential for some of our recent international signings to develop or Austin Riley, but we don't know what we have yet. We're weak at pretty much every position outside of pitching and SS until some of the young guys develop.

Its a mistake to dismiss Albies potential. I'm telling you he is a cross between Lindor and Altuve. I'll take that all day. Power not withstanding he barrels balls with uncanny ability. I've watched Albies and Davidson all year in Rome. Albies was must watch all the time.

 

[emk418]

Its a mistake to dismiss Albies potential. I'm telling you he is a cross between Lindor and Altuve. I'll take that all day. Power not withstanding he barrels balls with uncanny ability. I've watched Albies and Davidson all year in Rome. Albies was must watch all the time.

I'm not arguing that. I'm a huge Albies fan. Mostly pointing to the rest of the system outside of Newcomb, Albies, and hopefully Fried if healthy. Riley is one of the most intriguing prospects but I never get too high or low of short season debuts.

 

[Heyward]

I agree with emk, the system is deep but not much top-end talent like a Bryant, Correa, Russell, etc type.

Albies may be good but he doesnt have alot of pop in his bat.

 

[Deester11]

I'm not arguing that. I'm a huge Albies fan. Mostly pointing to the rest of the system outside of Newcomb, Albies, and hopefully Fried if healthy. Riley is one of the most intriguing prospects but I never get too high or low of short season debuts.

I totally agree.

 

[rico43]

I've been on board with the majority of everything, but I can't endorse a Freddie trade unless we are getting A LOT back that will completely feel several holes.

+1 on this. Freeman is where I draw the line

 

[rico43]

Rico, he's been the de facto GM since he extracted the knife from Frank Wren's back. He's destroyed this franchise, and it will be 8-10 years and another regime change before they are relevant again. Mark me.

Reading Bradley this afternoon told me everything I needed to know. He got his boss fired. I have no tolerance for that.

Wren is Dombrowski's number two with the Red Sox now. They made some missteps the last few years under Cherington. Wanna bet they can rebuild their "decimated farm" and get rid of their bad contracts and become relevant five years faster than the Braves? They will. Because they have professional baseball men at the helm.

It's a damn shame.

Red Sox also have about $100 M more at their disposal. A game-changer, to use a favorite cliche. Wren is best served as a No. 2 man, don't doubt he will hellp Red Sox. As far as decimating this franchise, the dreary 2014 season drove me to getting a job with our local minor league franchise so I didn't have to watch as many Braves games. Last year was a lot more entertaining, maybe in a twisted sort of way, but many people on this board shared the same sentiment.

 

[clvclv]

Nothing to get. They gave a green young mathematician the keys to the car and he's hell-bent on making a name for himself by being "bold." Actually, I think the right descriptor is "stupid."

I've not been around much, this after being a fairly ardent Braves fan over the last forty years. My mom showed me a picture of me swinging a bat as about a 10-year old wearing a script "A" Atlanta hat. Never have I seen a team so stupidly dismantled.

And I don't care. I realized it more with each passing trade.

The game is in my blood, but maybe this team isn't. For the first time in my life I don't live in the south and I have options. By the time they contend again Coppy will be fired, Hart retired, Schuerholz in the ground and I'll be a full-on Mariners fan.

They sure played fast and loose with people's allegiances. They can spin it any way they want, but I don't believe a word they say at this point. Rosenthal says they're dealing Freeman and their stooge says his sources say they're not. I believe Rosenthal, 100%.

How can one believe otherwise? Rosenthal has three separate organizations saying the Braves are now pimping Freeman. After they've so stupidly husbanded resources for the last year, how can they even try to lie with a straight face?

Frank Wren might have been an asshole, but he knew how to build a team and how to win. The elderly Johns ought to be fired for gross negligence and reckless behavior and for ceding control to a snot-nosed punk who doesn't know how to wipe his ass right.

Do it, Coppy. Bring in four more pitching prospects for Freeman and Teheran and a couple "D" relievers for Markakis and Maybin. Tear the whole thing down, you ****ing moron.

It's a professional sports franchise - anyone getting their panties in a bunch when things like this happen after watching the game for 40 years is comical.

The Red Sox sold Babe Ruth and traded Nomar Garciaparra. The Yankees let Reggie Jackson walk. The Mariners traded Junior, A-Rod, Randy Johnson, Jason Varitek, and will ultimately likely trade King Felix. The Rockies traded Tulo. The Reds traded Christy Mathewson and Frank Robinson. The Mutts traded Nolan Ryan. The Phillies traded Ryne Sandberg. The Cubs traded Fergie Jenkins. The White Sox traded Sammy Sosa. Shoeless Joe was traded twice. The Braves traded Phil Niekro and Dale Murphy. The list is endless.

You don't really think the fans of those teams felt any differently at those times, do you??? You ought to know how it felt when Niekro and Murphy were dealt.

 

[clvclv]

He has been GM all of two months. Lighten up, and cool it with the name calling. If you can't make your point without stooping that low, then you need to head back to Scout.

How about if he just goes and pulls for another team instead?

Can't be any of those in the post above though - they traded big-time players as well. Afraid that list to pick from will be pretty short.

 

[clvclv]

I've been on board with the majority of everything, but I can't endorse a Freddie trade unless we are getting A LOT back that will completely feel several holes.

Personally hope "The Johns" aren't "feeling" any holes, but maybe that's just me.

 

[Chico]

+1 on this. Freeman is where I draw the line

I've yet to question any move, deciding to look at the bigger picture, but I'm going to be a little upset if we trade Freeman for anything less than a major haul. You can't find young possible MVP caliber players on the trade market or free agency. You hold on to Freeman and build around him.

 

[Horsehide Harry]

I've yet to question any move, deciding to look at the bigger picture, but I'm going to be a little upset if we trade Freeman for anything less than a major haul. You can't find young possible MVP caliber players on the trade market or free agency. You hold on to Freeman and build around him.

The thing is, with his history of wrist problems, Freeman is much more likely to devolve into Casey Kotchman than he is to blossom into Albert Pujols in his prime. I'm not saying he will do either. I think it most likely we see more of what we have seen: a very good baseball player who falls just short of true greatness. And that's ok, especially given his relatively fair contract.

BUT, I think those that are acting as if the Braves were contemplating trading Chipper Jones or Albert Pujols or Mike Trout at the point where they were most productive in their primes are just over reacting due to the rose color of their fan glasses.

Freeman is currently the "franchise guy" but only because somebody has to be. From the Steamer projections someone else posted earlier he is expected to be 6th at his position. I would argue that 6th is probably a good spot for him but that you might could fit him in as high as 5th or as low as 10th.

Could he be traded and go on to win MVP elsewhere? Of course anything could happen. But it works both ways. In the late 1980's the Braves signed one of the best 1B in baseball, Nick Esasky, who immediately developed a mystery illness, after much testing and time determined to be Lyme Disease, and never really played for any meaningful time again.

 

[Chico]

The thing is, with his history of wrist problems, Freeman is much more likely to devolve into Casey Kotchman than he is to blossom into Albert Pujols in his prime. I'm not saying he will do either. I think it most likely we see more of what we have seen: a very good baseball player who falls just short of true greatness. And that's ok, especially given his relatively fair contract.

BUT, I think those that are acting as if the Braves were contemplating trading Chipper Jones or Albert Pujols or Mike Trout at the point where they were most productive in their primes are just over reacting due to the rose color of their fan glasses.

Freeman is currently the "franchise guy" but only because somebody has to be. From the Steamer projections someone else posted earlier he is expected to be 6th at his position. I would argue that 6th is probably a good spot for him but that you might could fit him in as high as 5th or as low as 10th.

Could he be traded and go on to win MVP elsewhere? Of course anything could happen. But it works both ways. In the late 1980's the Braves signed one of the best 1B in baseball, Nick Esasky, who immediately developed a mystery illness, after much testing and time determined to be Lyme Disease, and never really played for any meaningful time again.

Yeah I remember the Esasky signing. I think it was the same offseason as Ernie Whitt and Odibe Mcdowell. I don't see the correlation though. That was a weird situation. Things happen, but you don't base decisions around anomalies.

 

[Millwood1Hitter]

First, Freeman is not Chipper. That being said, I agree, that Freeman is a guy that we build around as I believe he fills a major need going forward. Probably the best analogy I can make is that it's similiar to what we did to find complementary pieces around David Justice during the beginning of the run, a good player but not a great player that one can build around.

 

[Horsehide Harry]

First, Freeman is not Chipper. That being said, I agree, that Freeman is a guy that we build around as I believe he fills a major need going forward. Probably the best analogy I can make is that it's similiar to what we did to find complementary pieces around David Justice during the beginning of the run, a good player but not a great player that one can build around.

Without doubt. But is he more valuable as a trade piece.

A once in a generation guy like CJ or Trout or Pujols, you simply cannot trade. But Freeman isn't that guy. Would he be useful as a core piece moving forward, especially if the Braves could add real face of the franchise type bat? Absolutely. But, would he be more valuable, and the payroll committed to him more valuable, being used to bring back multiple pieces in the rebuild?

 

[Horsehide Harry]

Yeah I remember the Esasky signing. I think it was the same offseason as Ernie Whitt and Odibe Mcdowell. I don't see the correlation though. That was a weird situation. Things happen, but you don't base decisions around anomalies.

The fact that it was something weird was the point. Those viewing Freeman from the perspective of 5-6 more years of current success or better might be right (I would say the odds are good). But, there are no guarantees. I think the odds that Freeman develops into an MVP type player are probably 5%. The odds that something happens (injury, illness, etc.) and he is OUT of baseball are probably 15%. The odds that he essentially remains the same player is probably 30%. The odds that he sees marginal improvement is probably 25%. The odds that he sees marginal decline is probably 25%.

In other words, I think it a 30% chance that we will get a better Freeman moving forward than what we already have with only a 5% chance that he becomes so valuable that you don't trade him under any circumstances. However, I see a 40% chance that we see a diminished Freeman and only a 30% chance we get the same.

So, looking at it from my point of view, if you can get the right return, you move him.

 

[Oklahomabrave]

Jonah Keri says we aren't even listening on Freeman. Which of course could mean nothing. Maybe they were deciding between trading Simmons and Freeman and guaged Simmons trade market was better? I hope we keep Freeman. I think his best is yet to come and we have NOTHING to replace him. Trading Julio and Shelby makes sense because of all of our pitching. Trade Markakis, Maybin, Olivera. Leave us Freddie.

 

[NinersSBChamps]

I think Freddie's contract is too much for the organization to handle. I am guessing he's traded before the calendar year ends.

 

[Chico]

I think Freddie's contract is too much for the organization to handle. I am guessing he's traded before the calendar year ends.

He doesn't see an increased bump until 2017. I don't see any reason to think the finances are an issue