AA's Failure

Is there any possibility that Heyward is who we were in talks to acquire? With the cubs kicking in significant salary?

There were multiple reports they were trying to figure a way to get Harper in the fold this offseason. Epstein told them a few times don't make a call without them being in the mix.

What is Heyward worth right now as he is... He a 2 war guy pretty reliably for the next 4 seasons?
 
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Tapate50 said:
Is there any possibility that Heyward is who we were in talks to acquire? With the cubs kicking in significant salary?

There were multiple reports they were trying to figure a way to get Harper in the fold this offseason. Epstein told them a few times don't make a call without them being in the mix.

What is Heyward worth right now as he is... He a 2 war guy?
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Premier defensive player who seems to have turned into the world's biggest singles hitter. I don't know what that is worth, but the Cubs obviously still believe in him to some extent.
 
Tapate50 said:
Is there any possibility that Heyward is who we were in talks to acquire? With the cubs kicking in significant salary?

There were multiple reports they were trying to figure a way to get Harper in the fold this offseason. Epstein told them a few times don't make a call without them being in the mix.

What is Heyward worth right now as he is... He a 2 war guy pretty reliably for the next 4 seasons?
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I wouldn't even call him that. He was finally a league average hitter last year after two Swanson type seasons offensively. Besides that his defense slipped last year and he's at an age where that probably isn't a fluke and the days of him being a premier defender are likely over. He's worth about what Neck got paid this year.
 
striker42 said:
For me, the results of the early season aren't really a factor. The season could not have started yet and this thread would still work. The issue is the roster, not the record. Shane Carle and Luke Jackson taking up legitimate pen spots, rookies starting our second and third games of the season, failure to upgrade the OF, etc.

The team could end up winning the division and it wouldn't make the offseason good. This roster could have been much better.
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Doubtful it could have been much better. All the issues you cited are due to several injuries all at once on the pitching front.

The only legit criticism for the Braves off season is coming into the year with Neck as our starting RF. And even with that the Braves are going to be a good hitting team imo.

It's time for the Braves massive stockpile of pitching prospects to pay dividends by producing in Atlanta.
 
I wish someone would make Heyward take a step toward the plate. Just to see what happens. He gets farther and farther away every year, it seems (since getting hit in the face).
 
thewupk said:
It's time for the Braves massive stockpile of pitching prospects to pay dividends by producing in Atlanta.
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It is worth keeping in mind that some of these kids have fairly limited experience at the upper levels:

Wilson 3 AAA starts
Wright 4 AAA starts
Touki 8 AAA starts
Soroka 5 AAA starts

It won't hurt to let them marinate a little in AAA. Say 10-15 more starts.

Fried has a bit more--13 AAA starts. I'm more comfortable with him holding down the fifth spot in the rotation. Experience isn't everything but Fried looks more ready to me.
 
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nsacpi said:
It is worth keeping in mind that some of these kids have fairly limited experience at the upper levels:

Wilson 3 AAA starts
Wright 4 AAA starts
Touki 8 AAA starts
Soroka 5 AAA starts

It won't hurt to let them marinate a little in AAA. Say 10-15 more starts.

Fried has a bit more--13 AAA starts. I'm more comfortable with him holding down the fifth spot in the rotation. Experience isn't everything but Fried looks more ready to me.
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I would have Fried in over Wilson but I can understand the logic of 3 righties against Phillies. Wilson was here because of absolute necessity.

Things will look better once Folty and Gausman come back. I'm not sure on Soroka's timeline for return but I'd expect him to get some games in AAA anyways before he comes back up.

If everyone is healthy (big assumption) I would expect to see a rotation of Folty/Gausman/Soroka/Julio/Newk with the possibilities of Wright and Fried replacing Julio and Newk due to performance. Also could see an addition at the deadline for a front end starter if that opportunity presents itself.

Either way I think we will be fine in the rotation once we get some people back.
 
thewupk said:
I would have Fried in over Wilson but I can understand the logic of 3 righties against Phillies. Wilson was here because of absolute necessity.

Things will look better once Folty and Gausman come back. I'm not sure on Soroka's timeline for return but I'd expect him to get some games in AAA anyways before he comes back up.

If everyone is healthy (big assumption) I would expect to see a rotation of Folty/Gausman/Soroka/Julio/Newk with the possibilities of Wright and Fried replacing Julio and Newk due to performance. Also could see an addition at the deadline for a front end starter if that opportunity presents itself.

Either way I think we will be fine in the rotation once we get some people back.
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The starting pitching should be ok. I'm bullish on Folty, Gausman, Julion and Fried. Newk is a concern, but I think he will be given at least 5 more starts.

The pen is more problematic at this point. I thought we would be ok going into spring training. But there have been some surprising developments. Sam Freeman released, Winkler optioned to AAA, and O'Day out for what looks like an extended period. Parsons and Sobotka are worth a look. I expected we would make some mid-season pen acquisitions and that seems even more likely now.
 
thewupk said:
Doubtful it could have been much better. All the issues you cited are due to several injuries all at once on the pitching front.

The only legit criticism for the Braves off season is coming into the year with Neck as our starting RF. And even with that the Braves are going to be a good hitting team imo.

It's time for the Braves massive stockpile of pitching prospects to pay dividends by producing in Atlanta.
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The issues I cited are due to having insufficient pitching depth. Injuries to the pitching staff are a given. One decent starter and two decent relievers in the offseason and the injuries still hurt, but the depth absorbs the majority of the blow.
 
striker42 said:
The issues I cited are due to having insufficient pitching depth. Injuries to the pitching staff are a given. One decent starter and two decent relievers in the offseason and the injuries still hurt, but the depth absorbs the majority of the blow.
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The Braves have incredible starting pitching depth.
 
striker42 said:
The issues I cited are due to having insufficient pitching depth. Injuries to the pitching staff are a given. One decent starter and two decent relievers in the offseason and the injuries still hurt, but the depth absorbs the majority of the blow.
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Let’s revisit this in 5 weeks
 
thewupk said:
The Braves have incredible starting pitching depth.
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The Braves have lots of young starters that are close to being major league ready. That doesn't mean they have incredible starting pitching depth. You don't want to fill your rotation with rookies. You want to ease the kids into it as they adjust to the majors. Let them be broken in as number 5 starters.

One more experienced starter would have given them good starting pitching depth. It would have made absorbing one injury much easier and absorbing two possible.
 
striker42 said:
The Braves have lots of young starters that are close to being major league ready. That doesn't mean they have incredible starting pitching depth. You don't want to fill your rotation with rookies. You want to ease the kids into it as they adjust to the majors. Let them be broken in as number 5 starters.

One more experienced starter would have given them good starting pitching depth. It would have made absorbing one injury much easier and absorbing two possible.
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But we are not filling our rotation with rookies. Our rotation is Gausman, Folty, Teheran, Newk, 1 rookie.

How can you have incredible starting pitching depth without that depth being in AAA. Are you gonna stash 2-3 established starters in your pen? That doesn't happen. No one who is an established major league starter agrees to a situation where they are sent to the pen until someone gets hurt.
 
Tapate50 said:
Bumpy bump
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Again, the day to day record of the team isn't the issue here. The issue is that the roster has holes that could have been fixed. We needed a couple arms for the pen and preferably one decent starter. The weaknesses in the pitching staff will cause issues this year.

I expect people to think our pitching staff is fine once Gausman and Folty join Minter in returning. However, injuries WILL strike again. One thing you can depend on is you will have pitchers go down with injuries. Having more veteran depth would put us in such a better position when they strike.

As for the OF, I'm thrilled Markakis has started off the year hot. How well he'll maintain it is another question. If we had someone to platoon with him out there, I'd feel better but AA's unflinching confidence in Duv-awful has robbed us of that opportunity.
 
striker42 said:
Again, the day to day record of the team isn't the issue here. The issue is that the roster has holes that could have been fixed. We needed a couple arms for the pen and preferably one decent starter. The weaknesses in the pitching staff will cause issues this year.

I expect people to think our pitching staff is fine once Gausman and Folty join Minter in returning. However, injuries WILL strike again. One thing you can depend on is you will have pitchers go down with injuries. Having more veteran depth would put us in such a better position when they strike.

As for the OF, I'm thrilled Markakis has started off the year hot. How well he'll maintain it is another question. If we had someone to platoon with him out there, I'd feel better but AA's unflinching confidence in Duv-awful has robbed us of that opportunity.
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The Braves have a ton of arms when everyones healthy.

Folty, Newk, Julio, Soroka, Wright, Fried, Touki, Wilson, Gohara, there's 9 right there.

I agree the bullpen needs to be addressed, it's a mess. And a platoon outfielder is a big need so the starters dont have to play so much this year.
 
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