Matt Olson to Braves!

Wish I watched the A's more. No idea if his success off lefties last year and cutting his strikeout rate in half has to do with a change in approach, change in mechanics, or just a really fortunate season. Regardless he's probably bound for regression in both departments, but knowing more about any adjustments that he made would tell us how much regression to expect.
 
McCann'sCans said:
Wish I watched the A's more. No idea if his success off lefties last year and cutting his strikeout rate in half has to do with a change in approach, change in mechanics, or just a really fortunate season. Regardless he's probably bound for regression in both departments, but knowing more about any adjustments that he made would tell us how much regression to expect.
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Look at his spray chart as well. Made a conscious effort to go oppo. Was that to counteract the shift? Will that change when the shift isn't allowed?
 
jpx7 said:
It really does almost seems like, right after acquiring Olson, Anthopoulos just reallocated the Freeman funds—but arranged in more desirable terms—and Olson took a look at his new situation and accepted.

Maybe Anthopoulos was really crying because he knew what a coup he'd maneuvered.
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I have a sneaking suspicion this extension was already in place before the trade went down.

The whole "negotiating window" that I always say doesn't happen probably happened in this case.
 
Enscheff said:
I have a sneaking suspicion this extension was already in place before the trade went down.

The whole "negotiating window" that I always say doesn't happen probably happened in this case.
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Seems likely. Probably why they didn't bother contacting Freeman's camp about the deal beforehand.
 
McCann'sCans said:
Wish I watched the A's more. No idea if his success off lefties last year and cutting his strikeout rate in half has to do with a change in approach, change in mechanics, or just a really fortunate season. Regardless he's probably bound for regression in both departments, but knowing more about any adjustments that he made would tell us how much regression to expect.
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He's a Top 5 1B in MLB. I think being in Oakland has a lot to do with any question(s).
 
Tapate50 said:
Riley isn't in the top 10 in his position?
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MLB hasn't come out with its list yet.

He might be. Some might want to see him do it again to believe.

Deep position
1. Ramirez
2. Arenado
3. Devers
4. Machado
5. Moncada
6. Chapman
7. Rendon
8. Bryant?-is he 3B or OF
9. Bregman?
10. Mondesi-is he 3B?
11. Hayes?
12. Turner

Bohm......ha ha

I think Riley is after writing them out. Even if he regresses. No doubt if you include contract into the evaluation.
 
Enscheff said:
I have a sneaking suspicion this extension was already in place before the trade went down.

The whole "negotiating window" that I always say doesn't happen probably happened in this case.
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thewupk said:
Seems likely. Probably why they didn't bother contacting Freeman's camp about the deal beforehand.
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It's also not a bad way for the A's to maximize their leverage, and the value of their return, in a situation where it's otherwise exceedingly apparent they're pretty desperate to move a player.
 
thethe said:
Look at his spray chart as well. Made a conscious effort to go oppo. Was that to counteract the shift? Will that change when the shift isn't allowed?
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Looking at his BaseballSavant profile. Looks like he ultimately was being more defensive- exchanged strikeouts and line drives for an increase in ground balls while his fly ball rate stayed the same. To me, that suggests a slightly more defensive hitter. But you're also right about his willingness to go opposite field. In 2019-2020, he went opposite field 18-19.5% of the time. In 2021, he went opposite field 27% of the time.

I actually thought he would wind up hitting more homers at Truist than in Oakland, but they project that his 39 homers last year would've been 34 in Atlanta. That said, I don't get a sense of if some of his doubles in Oakland would've been homers in Atlanta.
 
Tapate50 said:
Riley isn't in the top 10 in his position?
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The bigger question with Riley—if the team is serious about keeping a killer infield around for the next 7+ years—is what is reasonable to offer as an extension to him right now. I'd be hesitant, given his previous struggles, and the fact he's coming off a banner year; but, if you think even 80% of that performance is sustainable, now is the time to extent to maximize value.
 
McCann'sCans said:
Looking at his BaseballSavant profile. Looks like he ultimately was being more defensive- exchanged strikeouts and line drives for an increase in ground balls while his fly ball rate stayed the same. To me, that suggests a slightly more defensive hitter. But you're also right about his willingness to go opposite field. In 2019-2020, he went opposite field 18-19.5% of the time. In 2021, he went opposite field 27% of the time.

I actually thought he would wind up hitting more homers at Truist than in Oakland, but they project that his 39 homers last year would've been 34 in Atlanta. That said, I don't get a sense of if some of his doubles in Oakland would've been homers in Atlanta.
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I think he'll adjust to Truist and Citizens Bank just fine.
 
McCann'sCans said:
Wish I watched the A's more. No idea if his success off lefties last year and cutting his strikeout rate in half has to do with a change in approach, change in mechanics, or just a really fortunate season. Regardless he's probably bound for regression in both departments, but knowing more about any adjustments that he made would tell us how much regression to expect.
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It sounds like he overhauled his swing mechanics and made a ton of adjustments before last season. If you have the Athletic there's another great article about his change in approach linked in this Fangraphs article:

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/matt-olson-is-powering-the-as-offense/
 
jpx7 said:
The bigger question with Riley—if the team is serious about keeping a killer infield around for the next 7+ years—is what is reasonable to offer as an extension to him right now. I'd be hesitant, given his previous struggles, and the fact he's coming off a banner year; but, if you think even 80% of that performance is sustainable, now is the time to extent to maximize value.
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I have been one of Riley's strongest defenders since the beginning but even I would make sure last year was not a fluke before jumping out with a high dollar extension. No telling how much more filling out he will have and Im not entirely convinced he can spot a big slider yet.
 
Enscheff said:
Every time someone says "this trade only makes sense if we can extend him", I say it rarely happens and even if it does it doesn't make the trade any better.

This time might be the exception. If the trade was made with the understanding Olson would give a discount on an extension, then the extension DID make the trade target more valuable.
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Either they had an understanding before the deal, or that was the fastest eight year deal ever negotiated in the history of sport.
 
Russ2dollas said:
Guy does not seemed scared about replacing FF. Just signed up for the rest of his career.

ESPN has an article that says he bought a house in ATL and is about to get married. Looks like he is invested. I hope fans give him a chance, he didn't do anything to FF. Also hope he comes out red hot.
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He married an Atlanta girl in Atlanta on 11/20/21 and they live in Atlanta in the offseason.
 
GovClintonTyree said:
Either they had an understanding before the deal, or that was the fastest eight year deal ever negotiated in the history of sport.
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I mentioned earlier, that the lockout forbids teams to negotiate with players.

But does it forbid Anthopolous to negotiate with his Oakland counterpart to discuss a trade?

Maybe they discussed the trade during the lockout, had it set in motion if Freeman turned down the Braves final offer once spring training resumed. And then from there once the rules were clear, AA probably contacted Olson's agent (who I'm told was Chipper's agent), and said look here's the money we were gonna offer Freddie, would you rather have it?
 
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