Around the League: 2017 offseason edition / 2018 Season

Greg Holland officially released. I’d like to see the Braves sign him to a minor-league deal, send him to Gwinnett, and tell them they’ll add him to the roster 31 August if he can show them something in AAA over the next month.

There is really nothing to lose, we really would just need him to be eligible for the playoff roster and be a big boost then.
 
I made fun of him calling for a pitching change without having anyone warmed up in the pen.

And over-managing his bullpen to such a great extent that he put a position player on the mound in the first series of the season.

I suggested that might not be sustainable and to his credit he stopped doing it.

I don't recall anyone saying much about him since he did those things.

I think its nice that he is interested in stats and tries to implement them though. I wouldn't mind more of that in Atlanta.

I think he was a little naive at the start of the year. Stat's are incredibly useful tools and given enough of a sample can show some great things. However, he also has to understand that in an individual game, you can't always rely solely on the numbers. A single game can be an outlier and not follow a trend.

One of the things he got crucified for was taking out Aaron Nola in that first series in the 6th with a low pitch count because the stats had shown Nola didn't do as well a third time through the order. The problem was that Nola had been cruising all game. He takes Nola out and Freeman immediately jacks a two run homer, IIRC.

In that scenario, you might want to have guys start stretching in the bullpen when Nola starts his third time through. You might even have a shorter leash. But you also have to sit back and see if your pitcher has what it takes that day to go through the order a third time on that day.

I think Kapler has learned that lesson. I've not heard nearly as much about him making crazy moves based purely on stats (though I'll admit I don't follow the Phils that closely).
 
I'd like to see AA sign Drew Hutchison to add to our pen. "Right-hander Drew Hutchison has opted out of his minor league contract with the Dodgers, tweets Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. The veteran right-hander, then, is a free agent and is now eligible to sign with any team.

Hutchison, 27, began the season with the Phillies and pitched to a 4.64 ERA with a 19-to-13 K/BB in 21 1/3 innings of work before being designated for assignment and ultimately landing with the Dodgers. While he never made it to the big leagues in L.A., he pitched brilliantly with Triple-A Oklahoma City, logging a 2.14 ERA with 8.6 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 in 42 innings at that level. More impressively, Shaikin notes that Hutchison snapped off a 23-inning scoreless streak to end his tenure with the organization."
 
According to MLB pipeline the Braves have the second best farm system behind the Padres...crazy to think with all the international prospects they lost and Acuna no longer being a prospect.
 
According to MLB pipeline the Braves have the second best farm system behind the Padres...crazy to think with all the international prospects they lost and Acuna no longer being a prospect.

Its pretty great that we still have a consensus top 3 farm given that we've had so many top shelf graduations like Albies, Acuna, Fried, Dansby... We definitely don't have the top end talent like we did last year, but its still an incredibly deep farm with a lot of top 50ish guys. I think Pache is probably our best chance at getting a top 10 guy any time soon, though.
 
According to MLB pipeline the Braves have the second best farm system behind the Padres...crazy to think with all the international prospects they lost and Acuna no longer being a prospect.

May have remained on top if Stewart had been signed ...
 
Two words for who we need to go get in the draft: Matt Wallner. I've watched every home college game he has had and he is an incredible hitting prospect. He and Swaggerty have played several games against each other and I've always thought that Wallner was the better looking hitter
 
Two words for who we need to go get in the draft: Matt Wallner. I've watched every home college game he has had and he is an incredible hitting prospect. He and Swaggerty have played several games against each other and I've always thought that Wallner was the better looking hitter

Oh and the way too early mock from mlb.com had Wallner slotted in as the #9 pick next year to the Mets. But guess who is gonna have that position instead? https://www.mlb.com/news/early-2019-mock-mlb-draft/c-280269044
 
Dylan Cease was a top-1oo ranked minor leaguer when he was traded as part of the four-prospect package sent by the Cubs to the White Sox for Jose Quintana in July 17. As The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney writes in a subscription-only piece, however, the Cubs were ultimately willing to deal Cease due to a significant injury history (Tommy John surgery in 2014) and because he was still pitching in A-ball. Cease has since made his Double-A debut in the White Sox system and looked outstanding, with a 1.99 ERA, 12.8 K/9, and 4.48 K/BB rate over 40 2/3 IP that has only elevated his status as a future building block for the Sox. Mooney tracks the Cubs’ initial pursuit of Cease through an interview with scout Keith Lockhart, who originally signed the young righty, and is well aware of the risk involved in moving such blue chip prospects. “When it first came down, it was easy to say, ’Listen, we got an established big-league starter for some guys that were in A-ball,’ ” Lockhart said. “As the years go on, if Dylan turns out to be a No. 1 starter for the White Sox and leading a rotation, then the story just stays alive.”
 
Nick Madrigal finally struck out after 72 PA in the minors...so far in three minor league levels he has 1 K, but only 3 walks in 80PA.
 
Nick Madrigal finally struck out after 72 PA in the minors...so far in three minor league levels he has 1 K, but only 3 walks in 80PA.

Madrigal is a Black Swan type player. People don't know what to do when one crosses their path. The White Sox were smart.
 
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