Kimbrel signs 4 year extension with a club option for fifth year

Kimbrel is a 2.5-3 win player without taking into consideration that not all relievers can close. Even with his two free agency years he's being paid below current market value. It's a huge win

Yes. Most closers are overpaid. But Kimbrel isn't most closers. And he signed 2 free agent years away at below market value prices.
 
NYCBrave said:
I mean, weren't we surprised that this extension even happened in the first place? Most people had him off the team after this season. There's no way unless the payroll goes up to 130 million that we're affording both Hewyard and Justin on extensions
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Uggla's deal will eventually be off the books.

Medlen will be gone in 2 years.

It may not be 130 million but we dont know how high it may jump.

And what are they gonna trade him for, 2 prospects?

We can just trade some pitching for an Upton-like deal by then.

Heyward will probably cost around what Freddie got, and JUp around 5/80 or so.
 
I am very happy and quite frankly impressed with the front office this off season.

1.The announcement of an entire new location for a new stadium. This puts the Braves into a more fan friendly location. Wow, I can't wait.
2. The extension of Jason Heyward. This gives Heyward a 2nd chance if you will to show that he can be the big time player we all need and want.
3. The huge contract to Freeman. This guy has earned this huge contract. He is replacing Chipper as the face of the Braves IMO.
4. Julio Teheran signing a 6 year contract.
5. Signing Kimbrel to a contract to insure he stays a Brave for at least 5 years. The closer role is huge these days because you don't have very many complete games by your starters anymore.

Now we wait on Simmons to get a deal done. In all you have a very young and very good group of players that is the core of this baseball team. Think about the 90's for instance. We had a very good core and we would always add the veteran guys to fill the much needed holes. That worked out pretty good.
 
PawPawMaxwell said:
It is/would be a VERY good deal for a big payroll team but if it keeps us from making other improvements in extensions or areas of need, this IMO it is not a good deal. My thoughts are based soley on the premise that Kimbrel could possibly have won his arbitration this year, thereby making him virtually untradeable and unaffordable for us.

FWIW, back in December all the baseball insiders on Hot Stove and MLB Tonite (like em or not) repeatedly stated that GMs of other than high payroll were discounting value of closers.
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This is a fundamental (and common) misunderstanding about our payroll. The Braves might not be in Philadelphia territory in terms of dollar flexibility, but it is pretty clear they are no longer a $100MM team. No payroll has been set for this season, much less next. It isn't outside of the realm of possibility that Atlanta be closer to $150MM+ when the team transitions to the new stadium in Cobb.

This contract is a steal for Atlanta, there's really little argument against it. The base AAV ($10.6MM) puts things in perspective -- it's only $600K more than Jim Johnson is being paid this season, at age 31, by the Oakland A's (a solidly small payroll team).
 
weso1 said:
I don't know how I feel about this. Obviously a huge fan of Kimbrel and he's the best in the game so you'd rather have the guy in his prime than not have him. But at the same time is it smart for a mid market team to ever give that much money to a closer?
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I think you have to view his contract in context with the pen as a whole. As long as we can continue to develop/trade for cheap, quality BP options, then we can afford to have an expensive closer.
 
Craig Kimbrel ‏@kimbrel46 5m
Awesome day. So happy to be apart of #BravesCountry for the next 4 years. Thank you for all the support braves fans!
 
Hawk said:
This is a fundamental (and common) misunderstanding about our payroll. The Braves might not be in Philadelphia territory in terms of dollar flexibility, but it is pretty clear they are no longer a $100MM team. No payroll has been set for this season, much less next. It isn't outside of the realm of possibility that Atlanta be closer to $150MM+ when the team transitions to the new stadium in Cobb.
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Exactly.

It wont be in LA/NYY/Phi territory.

But it is going up, Wren has stated as such.

How high is up for debate.

I would guess in the 115-120 million range but could be more for all we know.

I would figure we can only keep one of Jason or Justin but that depends on what payroll will be.
 
#Braves Wren: ‘We’re thrilled that Craig’s going to be here for at least the next 4 years, and we’re pretty confident it’s going to be 5.”
 
weso1 said:
I don't know how I feel about this. Obviously a huge fan of Kimbrel and he's the best in the game so you'd rather have the guy in his prime than not have him. But at the same time is it smart for a mid market team to ever give that much money to a closer?
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I rather give this contract to Kimbrel than the one Teheran got.
 
KeithLockhart said:
I rather give this contract to Kimbrel than the one Teheran got.
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Heyward said:
How high is up for debate.

I would guess in the 115-120 million range but could be more for all we know.

I would figure we can only keep one of Jason or Justin but that depends on what payroll will be.
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I think we can keep both. Provided they want to play here.

Take a look at the three most recent MLB parks to open, and the way those teams' payrolls trended upward in the two years prior.

[Miami Marlins]
2012: $101,628,000
2011: $ 57,695,000
2010: $ 47,429,719
Increase: ~$54MM

[Minnesota Twins]
2010: $ 97,659,167
2009: $ 65,299,266
2008: $ 56,932,766
Increase: ~$41MM

[New York Mets]
2009: $149,373,987
2008: $137,793,376
2007: $115,231,663
Increase: ~$34MM
 
Hawk said:
I think we can keep both. Provided they want to play here.

Take a look at the three most recent MLB parks to open, and the way those teams' payrolls trended upward in the two years prior.

[Miami Marlins]
2012: $101,628,000
2011: $ 57,695,000
2010: $ 47,429,719
Increase: ~$54MM

[St. Louis Cardinals]
2010: $ 97,659,167
2009: $ 65,299,266
2008: $ 56,932,766
Increase: ~$41MM

[New York Mets]
2009: $149,373,987
2008: $137,793,376
2007: $115,231,663
Increase: ~$34MM
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We're at 100 mil or so now.

So how much of an increase?

Say 5/80 for Justin, and Freeman's deal or more for Heyward.

Uggla's deal will be off the books soon, and Meds will to.

I guess they could keep them both but i'd be surprised.

Might need to extend Minor too but we have him for 4 more years i think.
 
Risky? I suppose. And I get the argument that closers can be over-valued. Kimbrel is so dominant right now and it's hard to put a value on that.

I have been a fairly consistent critic of Wren, but it's difficult to criticize him here. He has doled up some big dough in the past few weeks to guys who are "nucleus" guys and I didn't know if he would do that. We'll just have to wait and see how it works out. The Teheran contract is probably the riskiest, but he could also be the most valuable guy of the three when all is said and done.
 
Heyward said:
So how much of an increase?
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There's no way of knowing, exactly. Several of us speculated that the payroll would go up prior to the opening of the new stadium, but I didn't expect to see that spending begin this offseason.

Given the amount of team funds that are going into the new facility (ballpark and 'village'), it's imperative that the Braves be competitive come 2017 -- and we're seeing Wren laying that foundation now. It still wouldn't surprise me to see the FO push for Price (either via trade or waiting until FA) and some other premium talent over the next few years.
 
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