Braves offseason outlook from MLBTR

E

Enscheff

Well-known member
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/10/offseason-outlook-atlanta-braves.html

These guys are pretty spot on, and I agree with almost everything they wrote. I would expect to see Wren sign a few guys to extensions that buy out 1-2 FA years, and hopefully Simmons and Freeman head that list. They also echo my thoughts on 2B exactly after stating that all other spots on the field are pretty much set in stone. It seems fixing 2B is obvious to everyone who isn't licking La Stella's sweaty jockstrap:

"That leaves second base, which is the most glaring weakness on the Atlanta roster and perhaps the single position most likely to be acted upon aggressively. Uggla was expected to to hold things down well enough on the back end of his large contract, but he declined precipitously last year, especially after undergoing Lasik surgery mid-season. If any other team is willing to eat a substantial portion of the $26MM still owed to Uggla, Wren would have to consider pulling the trigger.

But it isn't as if the organization has an obvious replacement on hand. It would be tough for a contender to hand the full-time job to Tyler Pastornicky, Johnson, or Pena, though they might combine in a platoon. Increasingly, it seems, 24-year-old Tommy La Stella could have a legitimate shot at taking the reigns after a strong showing in Double-A and big start to his AFL campaign. But MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo lists him just 14th among Braves prospects, calling him a "grinder" rather than a budding star. Likewise, in a recent evaluation, ESPN's Keith Law said (paywall) that La Stella flashed only one plus tool (hit) that left him with a relatively low ceiling."

The only option they didn't mention is Kinsler who might be the best option available if not considering monetary commitments. Options like KJ and Ellis are pointless since there is no need to bring in another terrible option to go along with the current bad options at 2B.

The Angels are looking to move Kendrick for young pitching. As long as the pitching going to LA isn't named Teheran, Minor, or Sims, it seems like an ideal match.
 
:roll:

While it apparently gets old to you those that support La Stella, it is also quite tiring to hear those that don't. All I can say is I really hope he is given a legitimate chance to win the job in spring training.
 
Why do we need a star at second base? We just don't need a black whole like Uggla.

Also, in what way would Kindled be a good move? He has horrid splits.
 
Given their ages and contracts, I don't think Phillips and Kinsler are good options.

Kendrick, however, is a good option. Younger. Cheaper. Shorter contract.

I would consider a trade for Kendrick. I'd offer La Stella plus a second-tier pitching prospect such as Northcraft or Schlosser.
 
nsacpi said:
Given their ages and contracts, I don't think Phillips and Kinsler are good options.

Kendrick, however, is a good option. Younger. Cheaper. Shorter contract.

I would consider a trade for Kendrick. I'd offer La Stella plus a second-tier pitching prospect such as Northcraft or Schlosser.
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I don't think they would have much interest TLS. They are trading Kendrick for young arms, and would likely slot Grant Green in at 2B. Green is a former top 100 prospect who has put up good OBPs everywhere he's played in the minors. He was drafted as a SS and has played all over the diamond, so unlike TLS he is probably above average defensively at 2B. He is probably equal to TLS with the bat, and almost certainly far superior with the glove.

The Angels are going to want the best pitching they can get, so Wren is going to have to pony up. No idea how young the pitching must be, but Medlen might be an attractive piece. Medlen for Kendrick might be a decent trade straight up if Medlen is young enough to interest the Halos. The Braves could then go out and sign another starter, maybe Ubaldo? Josh Johnson?
 
Enscheff said:
I don't think they would have much interest TLS. They are trading Kendrick for young arms, and would likely slot Grant Green in at 2B. Green is a former top 100 prospect who has put up good OBPs everywhere he's played in the minors. He was drafted as a SS and has played all over the diamond, so unlike TLS he is probably above average defensively at 2B. He is probably equal to TLS with the bat, and almost certainly far superior with the glove.

The Angels are going to want the best pitching they can get, so Wren is going to have to pony up. No idea how young the pitching must be, but Medlen might be an attractive piece. Medlen for Kendrick might be a decent trade straight up if Medlen is young enough to interest the Halos. The Braves could then go out and sign another starter, maybe Ubaldo? Josh Johnson?
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I thought they needed a third baseman and were putting Green there.

The past two years Medlen and Kendrick have been approximately 3 WAR/year players. But Medlen is cheaper. Kendrick will make 9.35M in 2014, Medlen 4-5M in arbirtration. They would have to send something extra to make up for the salary difference.
 
nsacpi said:
I thought they needed a third baseman and were putting Green there.

The past two years Medlen and Kendrick have been approximately 2 WAR/year players. But Medlen is cheaper. Kendrick will make 9.35M in 2014, Medlen 4-5M in arbirtration. They would have to send something extra to make up for the salary difference.
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Perhaps. If that's the case then they aren't going to open up another hole at 2B to trade for a middling pitching prospect like Northcraft, even if they can fill that hole with TLS. It would suck to lose Wood or Cabrera. Maybe Scholsser or Martin if they aren't interested in Medlen?

Who knows, but I think Kendrick is the play that needs to be made here.
 
Enscheff said:
Perhaps. If that's the case then they aren't going to open up another hole at 2B to trade for a middling pitching prospect like Northcraft, even if they can fill that hole with TLS. It would suck to lose Wood or Cabrera. Maybe Scholsser or Martin if they aren't interested in Medlen?

Who knows, but I think Kendrick is the play that needs to be made here.
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Schlosser? Martin? Yeah, I'd be fine with shipping those guys. I don't view them as much different than Northcraft.
 
I really don't understand why people keep putting Howie Kendrick's name out there. He's not very good and to be getting paid like he is I'd much rather have Phillips if the Braves feel the need to go after a 2B which I doubt happens anyway.
 
My preference for getting someone like Kendrick, Kinsler or Philips is that 2B needs to be fixed. By fixed I do not mean throwing half a dozen questionmark players at it (Uggla, Pena, TLS, Pastor, EJ, Janish) and see who sticks. I think 2B needs to be fixed by acquiring a legitimate MLB player at 2B that can be (reasonably) counted on to produce 2-4 WAR next year, and play good defense at the keystone. CF is already going to be a huge question in 2014, and a championship contending team can't afford to have too many potentially glaring holes that everyone can see coming in the offseason.

The 3 players I listed above would certainly do that, but Kinsler and Philips come with contract issues, mainly paying them in their late 30s when they will suck.

IMO, the best option is Kendrick (who has been EXTREMELY consistent offensively for 8 years and over 3700 PAs). I also think Kinsler and Philips are far better options than anything currently in the system, even when considering their contracts.
 
Phillips is in major decline and Kinsler can't hit away from Texas.

I think Kendrick is going to cost a lot more than most of us realize.
 
Enscheff said:
My preference for getting someone like Kendrick, Kinsler or Philips is that 2B needs to be fixed. By fixed I do not mean throwing half a dozen questionmark players at it (Uggla, Pena, TLS, Pastor, EJ, Janish) and see who sticks. I think 2B needs to be fixed by acquiring a legitimate MLB player at 2B that can be (reasonably) counted on to produce 2-4 WAR next year, and play good defense at the keystone. CF is already going to be a huge question in 2014, and a championship contending team can't afford to have too many potentially glaring holes that everyone can see coming in the offseason.

The 3 players I listed above would certainly do that, but Kinsler and Philips come with contract issues, mainly paying them in their late 30s when they will suck.

IMO, the best option is Kendrick (who has been EXTREMELY consistent offensively for 8 years and over 3700 PAs). I also think Kinsler and Philips are far better options than anything currently in the system, even when considering their contracts.
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I understand the wanting of a player who has done it on the ML level and I think we all know Janish and Johnson are trash and should never get any significant playing time ever. I also am not counting on anything from Pena and Pastor is coming off an injury and to me he's a bench player at best any way. The offense is right handed heavy at the moment with Heyward and Freeman being the only guys in the line-up as we all have realized Mac coming back is slim and best for both parties if he leaves. I feel La Stella is being seriously under valued and I think he would hit as much as Kendrick with less K's and more BB while adding another left handed bat.

People said last year how Gattis was a butcher at catcher and he wasn't such a great prospect because of his age and this and that. Now B-Mac is getting pushed out the door by even Braves fans as we saw that Gattis isn't so bad behind the plate. Is he Yadier Molina? No but defensively I thought he was as good as B-mac and his offensive output was pretty much the same with a lower OBP and more power. I think La Stella will have a pretty good season if you give him 400 AB's.
 
I think its going to be a very quiet offseason this year. I think they unload Uggla to someone who eats 1-3 million a year of his contract. They re-sign Hudson and re-sign O'flaherty on an incentive laden deal. Tender Venters a contract. They pretend to be in the running for McCann but never really offer him a competitive offer. Add a bench bat and bring in some pitchers off the scrap heap that we think we can turn around ala Carpenter/O'Flaherty. Then we go into spring training with La Stella/Pastornicky/Pena competing for the 2B job. Hopefully we get a some long term extensions for our young players done too. Probably flirt with trading for Price but dont offer anything crazy.
 
skillet said:
:roll:

While it apparently it gets old to you those that support La Stella, it is also quite tiring to hear those that don't. All I can say is I really hope he is given a legitimate chance to win the job in spring training.
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Not an accurate assessment at all. A lot of this dates back to Scout. Bill instigated a lot of this, in that all Braves prospects were considered destined for greatness (especially if they came from Georgia, like Brandon Jones). Mike Adams had his acolytes, thinking that they were on the cutting edge of talent evalutation through sabermetics. So, if a certain prospect caught their eye, that made him special to them (think Kelly Johnson).

In the meantime, there's ALWAYS been a lightning rod (Mondesi, Jordan ver. 2.0, Lowe). Most of it was deserved, but there comes a point when there's overkill. We're supposed to be a cut above the comments section of Daily DOB, right? Nevermind, because probably more than a few of year use that as a rant-fest, too.

Nothing new has surfaced on the 2B situation. Some of us can be patient for the Hot Stove League to heat up. Hey, the WS isn't even finished yet! So, Wren will hopefully make the wise decision when presented with different alternatives.

La Strella might turn out to be an everyday 2B, but a decent year at AA and a hot AFL isn't much to go by. Nobody here is not supporting him. A couple are weary of the excessive fanboy-ism/man-love. It's an overreaction to Uggla's plight, by placing all hope in La Strella. Despite claims that he can have such and such an OBP, he hasn't even had the opportunity to face major league pitching yet. That is where we stand.
 
What cajun said.

We won 96 games despite having a truckload of injuries.

I hope we sign our core to extensions, dump Uggla, and maybe a few minor signings.

Dont need to do much more.

Bring back EOF/Venters and see when they are ready.
 
Too much roster turnover occurs, naturally, every year for there to be a mostly stand-pat winter. The bullpen and bench should be 100% familiar. Just my hunch, but my thinking is that they're going to try and fortify the rotation and not just by getting Beachy healthy.
 
Bullpen and bench will change. Second base will be LaStella. Rotation will be the same.
 
Too much is being made about needing an ace. Assuming Hudson re-signs I think we have 6 starters capable of putting up a 3.50 era or better with decent depth in the high minors as well. If I could add one thing to this team it would be a high OBP hitter to hit leadoff.
 
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