2018 Offseason And Targets

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Horsehide Harry said:
So far at least, none of the international guys the Braves lost as punishment appear to be anything.

I feel two ways about that: relief from a what might have been POV and alarm that the scouts could whiff that badly on that many and had to cheat (getting caught) to do it.
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Don't think I'd declare them all "misses" just yet. DMGM and the Royals think they have something in Del Rosario, Soto will pass Maitan on the Angels' list this summer, and Gutierrez raked for the Phillies' GCL club when he finally got started there last summer and was 2 years younger than the typical GCL player.
 
It makes sense to carry a third catcher for that first week or so to allow more freedom to use McCann and Flowers as pinch hitters. I'm not so sure that third catcher will be AJax.
 
mfree80 said:
"IF" AJax has improved to the point where he would be considered for that role, would that not be a good thing?
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Can't see the tiniest downside in it - the more time he can spend hanging around Flowers and Mac, the better. He'll learn a whole lot more in two weeks of sitting on the bench and watching those guys than he will in two weeks in Gwinnett. If he can continue to improve, there's not much of a reason he couldn't share time with Flowers in 2020 and with Contreras in 2021.
 
Super said:
this probably isn't the case offensively
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Plenty of time to work on his offense - two extra weeks with Flow and Mac will make him a much better defender and game-caller.

I can't imagine the organization is terribly worried about having a backup Catcher with a big-time bat.
 
clvclv said:
Don't think I'd declare them all "misses" just yet. DMGM and the Royals think they have something in Del Rosario, Soto will pass Maitan on the Angels' list this summer, and Gutierrez raked for the Phillies' GCL club when he finally got started there last summer and was 2 years younger than the typical GCL player.
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While it's still too early to completely write off anyone that young they would all slot in the back end of the Braves top 20 or worse.
 
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I'm guessing this will be our OD lineup... ugh. PUT ACUNA AT LEADOFF.

Ender, Donaldson, Freeman, Acuna, Markakis, Abies, Flowers, Swanson.
 
UNCBlue012 said:
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I'm guessing this will be our OD lineup... ugh. PUT ACUNA AT LEADOFF.

Ender, Donaldson, Freeman, Acuna, Markakis, Abies, Flowers, Swanson.
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agree that 1-8 this is the OD batting order...maybe McCann instead of Late Bloomer...Acuna can run aggressively with the bottom half of the order up after him
 
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thewupk said:
While it's still too early to completely write off anyone that young they would all slot in the back end of the Braves top 20 or worse.
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That can be said for tons of prospects when trying to slot them in any of the Top 3-4 systems.

Those guys (and I didn't even mention Severino - the Twins are pretty high on him) still are considered to have ceilings as regulars as is, and plenty of time to improve and make adjustments.

The point is, it's still awfully early to hear the usual "those guys aren't Braves' prospects anymore, so they're likely a bunch of duds" narrative just yet.
 
clvclv said:
The point is, it's still awfully early to hear the usual "those guys aren't Braves' prospects anymore, so they're likely a bunch of duds" narrative just yet.
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that's..not what's happening.
very few of them have performed well. most of them have taken a hit, some a big hit, in prospect status by everyone, not just people here. it was supposed to be a great class and it's been incredibly underwhelming. this is more fact than opinion.
 
CJ9 said:
Any time you can give the most plate appearances on your team to a veteran player with one 100+ wRC season in his career, you've got to do it.
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Leadoff should be a platoon. Inciarte against righties and Albies against lefties.
 
UNCBlue012 said:
[TW]1104083778836877312[/TW]

I'm guessing this will be our OD lineup... ugh. PUT ACUNA AT LEADOFF.

Ender, Donaldson, Freeman, Acuna, Markakis, Abies, Flowers, Swanson.
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This isn’t too bad vs RHP.

Simply swap Albies and Ender in the lead off spot vs LHP for the first month or so and see how things shake out.
 
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Super said:
that's..not what's happening.
very few of them have performed well. most of them have taken a hit, some a big hit, in prospect status by everyone, not just people here. it was supposed to be a great class and it's been incredibly underwhelming. this is more fact than opinion.
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True.
 
UNCBlue012 said:
[TW]1104083778836877312[/TW]

I'm guessing this will be our OD lineup... ugh. PUT ACUNA AT LEADOFF.

Ender, Donaldson, Freeman, Acuna, Markakis, Abies, Flowers, Swanson.
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I just don't understand why we'd want to put a guy capable of 35+ homers at leadoff. Not unless you actually believe that him hitting leadoff helped his production significantly.

We need to have him in a spot where he'll come up with runners on more often.
 
Acuna at lead off works better if the pitcher isn’t hitting directly in front of him.

Having said that, the Braves currently have 3 hitters worthy of being in the top half of a contending lineup, so some lesser hitter is going in the top half no matter what.

In this scenario, I think a platoon with an expected .350 obp is preferable to a low ISO hitter in the 4 hole with a lot of solo HRs coming from Acuna
 
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