Official Offseason Thread

clvclv said:
Not exactly sure why this comes as any kind of surprise to anyone - if you had doubts about that, it's only because you were kidding yourself.

There's always "the other side", and the other side of this issue is part of what makes the players like Snitker (and previously Bobby) so much - he's going to go to any length to make his players feel as comfortable as humanly possible, and he doesn't give a *amn what the numbers (or people outside the clubhouse) say.

We can disagree with that rationale all we'd like - that's often the difference in having a great clubhouse and a meh clubhouse. It's not going to have a direct bearing on the numbers, but it's tough to argue that it's probably easier to get better performance from a roster full of happy players than a group of guys who aren't necessarily looking forward to getting to the park every day.

Can you measure that? Of course not, but players constantly tell us that that kind of thing both exists and affects their performance - so tell them they're full of *hit, not posters on a message board.
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Yeah players tend to like managers that are quick to bow to player pressure. Doesn’t make them good managers.
 
Couple things from AA today, probably already posted.

On Third Base:

“We wanted Donaldson back, but we love Riley and Camargo.”

On #FinancialFlexibility:

“I’ve got the full support of Terry McGuirk. He told me last week if there’s something we can add to make this team better, go get it.”

Referring to free agency:

“We moved fast. We didn’t want to be sitting here right now having to settle.”

On Josh Donaldson:

“He was sincere in wanting to be here. We wanted him. When the Nationals were interested, no lie we weren’t looking forward to that”

Also said the team discussed signing Ozuna and JD for about an hour, oh man...
 
Heyward said:
Couple things from AA today, probably already posted.

On Third Base:

“We wanted Donaldson back, but we love Riley and Camargo.”

On #FinancialFlexibility:

“I’ve got the full support of Terry McGuirk. He told me last week if there’s something we can add to make this team better, go get it.”

Referring to free agency:

“We moved fast. We didn’t want to be sitting here right now having to settle.”

On Josh Donaldson:

“He was sincere in wanting to be here. We wanted him. When the Nationals were interested, no lie we weren’t looking forward to that”

Also said the team discussed signing Ozuna and JD for about an hour, oh man...
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“There was a time, right when Donaldson was about to come off the board and sign, that we for about an hour or so talked about what if we got both,” Anthopoulos said in a Q&A with fans. “And I’m not trying to do a tease. But we wanted to be creative and said that four and five (spots) would be really nuts. So, we are always open-minded to doing things. And we are always going to try and be creative and always going to continue to add.”
 
AA's full press conference is one the Braves twitter now, can always listen to AA talk baseball.
 
UNCBlue012 said:
“There was a time, right when Donaldson was about to come off the board and sign, that we for about an hour or so talked about what if we got both,” Anthopoulos said in a Q&A with fans. “And I’m not trying to do a tease. But we wanted to be creative and said that four and five (spots) would be really nuts. So, we are always open-minded to doing things. And we are always going to try and be creative and always going to continue to add.”
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Kris Bryant comin.
 
Someone asked about Camargo and AA mentioned him possibly being a 3.0 WAR player again.

I don't think anyone in the audience knew what 3 WAR meant. Poor AA having to dumb down his answers to fans.
 
I hope they do it. I really do. Cost would be high- probably Riley +Ender+Waters//Pache Kyle/Anderson+ Wilson/Mule
I’d go for it.
 
Hulavol said:
I hope they do it. I really do. Cost would be high- probably Riley +Ender+Waters//Pache Kyle/Anderson+ Wilson/Mule
I’d go for it.
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Who is that kinda package for?

Bryant is MAYBE worth Ender plus one of Waters/Anderson MAXIMUM. Arenado isnt worth close to that given his contract.
 
We are going to play comargo. It’s not a crazy idea. He was good as a starter. He struggled in a bench role. Riley has a history of sucking at level changes and then adjusting.

I think aa will look for a stud ss, 3b or starter if one pops up. But he’s not going to overpay. He will wait for someone who will take 5 quarters for a dollar vs trading two 50 cent pieces.

I really like neck in the Joyce role.
 
1. Raised our payroll with very little long term commitment.

2. Filled holes without giving up any prospects. (Lost two picks by signings and gained one...that’s it.

3. Could still add a big piece and have a good farm.


AA is a smart dude.
 
The thing that makes the most sense now is Camargo at third (unless or until he flops) and having Riley playing third every day at Gwinnett. No more screwing around in the outfield.

As for bringing in a big contract, the X factor is the growing amount of revenue The Battery is bringing in. I'm guessing that there are still things in development that will make it even more of an attraction even without baseball. How much of that money Liberty wants to put back into the team is not an insignificant matter.
 
I still think the best idea right now is to explore a deal for a cheap left handed 3rd baseman to platoon with Camargo or Riley. I get the idea of waiting until midseason and making a judgement about going out and getting more of an impact player, but I don't like the idea of giving away half a season of potential production in that spot. I also think that an effective 3rd base platoon could give us over 3 wins in a full season at a much lower cost than a midseason trade option that might improve that production by a win or two (over 162 games).

Brock Holt still seems like the most logical target for us to wrap up the offseason. I'd even be willing to give him a multi-year deal of some sort if the AAV was right. I wouldn't worry about him over the next couple of years. He's an effective hitter against right handed pitching and is versatile enough to serve as the strong side of a platoon or a super utility bench option that could maximize platoon benefits once Riley/Pache/Waters are ready. Meaning we wouldn't run the risk of "blocking" anyone like some people get concerned over.
 
I think Holt is less of a solution than he's been made out to be, but he's a better utility option than Culberson or Solarte, probably.

I wouldn't give him more than a year. Probably a club option would be as far as I'd go.
 
I’m not sure comargo needs a platoon. I know he hits better from the right side.

But last year was more of the outlier.

I think he’s pretty good defensively. I think he can be a 750-800 ops hitter. If they keep the super ball I’m more likely to think he can get closer to 800.

As a starter 2-3 war isn’t crazy. That’s a solid starter.

All offseason I said I wanted two more bats to really compete in the postseason . I still believe that. But we should be good enough to get to the deadline and know more about how our current guys, including pache and waters are doing.
 
The Chosen One said:
At some point, a player just needs to suck it up and do his job. And at some point, its the manager's job to not bow to player pressure and instead do what is right.
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I think you'll have an awfully tough time finding anyone that disagrees with you - or that feels sorry for a spoiled millionaire whining about where he's hitting.

The thing about this situation is that Snitker is in a position to appease the player/make for a happier clubhouse while not hurting things much at all.

Would Acuna drive in a few more runs hitting lower in the order? Sure - but just how far are you willing to go to turn a handful of those solo shots into a few more RBIs? If you move him behind Freddie, he likely goes from a 40+ SB threat to a < 20 SB threat - how many runs does that cost you?

Ideal? Of course not. With someone else perfectly capable of hitting behind Freeman, it probably doesn't make enough of a difference to make Snitker have that discussion with him.

What I feel like that information signals more than other things is that AA likely told him early on that he wasn't going to be put in that situation - that if Donaldson didn't re-sign they would move on to Ozuna or Castellanos, one of the 3B trades, or some other trade to land that guy to hit behind Freddie (even something that hasn't been discussed around here).
 
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