Braves get Murphy 3 way deal

Yea these Max Fried trade rumors make zero sense. I probably wouldn’t get too worked up about the conjecture from the prospect guy.
 
I'm not saying you're not right but it's absolutely stupid to think he can't /won't be serviceable. I don't agree with you but it happens.

guess the braves FO is stupid then, because if they felt he could be, this trade doesn’t happen.
 
I just saw this on BravesJournal:

Jim Callis on MLB Network: “A rumor I’m hearing, and I don’t know if this is imminent, but with the Braves’ payroll climbing, who knows if they’ll sign Sean Murphy to an extension… I’m hearing some Max Fried rumors on the block, that they may not be able to sign him long-term. Don’t be shocked if we see a Max Fried trade this offseason.”

I'll preface all of this by saying: MLB Network is a useless source of any information other than the final score of games and draft pick projections. It is almost as useless overall as ESPN.

Trading a guy like Fried with 2 years of control is a valid strategy, but only for teams that satisfy a couple conditions:

1. Not planning to compete for the upcoming season. In that case it is foolish to waste 50% of the value of a SP in a noncontending year. We have seen the Tigers make this mistake with pitchers like Boyd and Fulmer when they say stupid things like "we don't have to trade them NOW, so we will wait for a killer offer". As was completely foreseeable, their value tanked and the Tigers got almost nothing. The Braves certainly do NOT satisfy this condition as a legit WS contender.

2. Low payroll team that must continually churn MLB players for prospects. We see teams like the As and Rays do this masterfully for upwards of 2 decades now, turning 1-2 years of an MLB player into several cheap MLB contributors. The Braves don't seem to fall into this category either, but if they have cap constraints they fall into it by spending too much.

I have a hard time believing "the plan" was to extend a bunch of young players, get close to the cap, and trade away 2 years of an affordable TOR SP to clear payroll space to afford a SS.
 
FWIW, FGDC and steamer project him at .770
Ops and 115 wrc+. That's really good for a catcher, but he was at .860 ops and 138 wrc+ last year. I'm guessing AA thought the models are right

FGDC and Steamer are pretty crappy projection models. I'd wait for Szymborski to refresh ZiPs.

As for Willy, the only red flag with his bat is the 28% k rate, which is an area that's easiest to improve upon. His batted ball data is across the board is excellent (91st percentile barrel rate, 77nd perc. BB rate, 80th percentile EV, etc..).
 
Is anyone else thinking this trade was at least partially driven by the rule changes? Bigger bases, fewer pick offs, pitch clock, etc.? Even eliminating the shift could mean more base runners, and therefore more steal attempts.
 
The BABIP and HR/FB ratio numbers are not close to being sustainable. So I’m not sure that’s accurate

I am not saying his numbers from this year would improve. More his base expected number. As state pointed out he is projected at about 116wrc. I am willing to bet anyone he tops that
 
Talking about trading Fried, a bonafide top-of-the-rotation starter, right in the middle of a multiple-championship contention window. Jesus Christ, I've really seen it all now.
 
guess the braves FO is stupid then, because if they felt he could be, this trade doesn’t happen.
I don't really care what you insinuate, just like the FO could care less how I feel. Just because they view Murphy as a better catcher doesn't infer that they don't think enough of WC. The right now is right. Murphy is a better catcher. But WC can/will improve.
 
I'll preface all of this by saying: MLB Network is a useless source of any information other than the final score of games and draft pick projections. It is almost as useless overall as ESPN.

Trading a guy like Fried with 2 years of control is a valid strategy, but only for teams that satisfy a couple conditions:

1. Not planning to compete for the upcoming season. In that case it is foolish to waste 50% of the value of a SP in a noncontending year. We have seen the Tigers make this mistake with pitchers like Boyd and Fulmer when they say stupid things like "we don't have to trade them NOW, so we will wait for a killer offer". As was completely foreseeable, their value tanked and the Tigers got almost nothing. The Braves certainly do NOT satisfy this condition as a legit WS contender.

2. Low payroll team that must continually churn MLB players for prospects. We see teams like the As and Rays do this masterfully for upwards of 2 decades now, turning 1-2 years of an MLB player into several cheap MLB contributors. The Braves don't seem to fall into this category either, but if they have cap constraints they fall into it by spending too much.

I have a hard time believing "the plan" was to extend a bunch of young players, get close to the cap, and trade away 2 years of an affordable TOR SP to clear payroll space to afford a SS.

agree.

With Fried being traded you have to find a partner that makes sense, and I don't think one exists.

The Braves would have to get back impact guy(s) at SS, LF or DH that can play in the playoffs today. Is there a team that is desperate for a stud starter but can fill our other holes? I do not think so.

AA has tried to load up on pitchers a couple of years in a row. Then the last two years we've been scrambling for starters in the playoffs. AA isn't going to trade away our TOR SP unless this mythical team with surplus stud bats is around.
 
Interesting article from Rosenthal about the As requiring 2 of your best in a trade for murphy.

It made me think about a potential advantage of having a **** farm system.

When the Braves had a stud system, we heard some reports that we missed out on guys like Yelich and Realmuto b/c the ask was your top guy. Well our top guy was Acuna and you can't have him. We offered lower prospects, Austin Riley, but it didn't look as good.

Here we have Muller who can be sold as our number 1 guy, when he'd be our 22nd guy in the Acuna farm system.
 
You have $1000. Your tires are quality Goodyears. You have dents and rust all over the car. Where would you spend the $1000 to make your ride look better? Upgrading your pretty good wheels/tires, or getting the horrid bodywork fixed?

I don’t think anyone is suggesting the upgraded wheels/tires don’t look good. Most are just saying there were bigger problems to address.
 
AA may have messed up, but I'm willing to watch at least 3 games before I declare this a mistake... maybe only 2 games haha

For real though, I give AA the benefit of the doubt. I did watch some A's games last year, and Murphy popped, so I'm excited about him
 
You have $1000. Your tires are quality Goodyears. You have dents and rust all over the car. Where would you spend the $1000 to make your ride look better? Upgrading your pretty good wheels/tires, or getting the horrid bodywork fixed?

I don’t think anyone is suggesting the upgraded wheels/tires don’t look good. Most are just saying there were bigger problems to address.

Pretty bold move saying I only have $1000 without any access to my bank account, eh?
 
AA may have messed up, but I'm willing to watch at least 3 games before I declare this a mistake... maybe only 2 games haha

For real though, I give AA the benefit of the doubt. I did watch some A's games last year, and Murphy popped, so I'm excited about him

I like the thought of him too.. however, I am not 100% sold on his offensive performance being comparable to WC.. He doesn't need to regress much to be a very average bat.. and he is did get to feast on the AL west's pitching for the most part.

I will continue to say I don't like this trade and I don't think you guys will either midway through the season. I really hope I am wrong..
 
Back
Top