2025-2026 offseason thread

Hudson2 said:
That's pretty slick by AA. Win win for us
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I'm not sure signing a guy that wouldn't make the roster and that makes too much money for any other teams to claim off waivers has to be a win-win.

This is essentially a kind of player option right? Refuse the assignment if he can make money. Take the assignment if you're washed and get paid.
 
Yeah, this isn't a disaster signing.. but it is not one a contending team should be making with so many other holes that need to be addressed. If he returns to form, then you have a great option for not too much.. but if he doesn't then you still are paying the dude and have really only freed up a spot on the 40 man roster. The Braves need a few more REAL pitching options to add to the team.
 
He's a perfectly solid depth add for the back end of the bullpen and has had plenty of really good years. If Alex doesn’t sign anyone else, sure, that would be a failure. But there’s almost zero chance that happens. As it stands, this is a totally solid move.
 
Southcack77 said:
I'm not sure signing a guy that wouldn't make the roster and that makes too much money for any other teams to claim off waivers has to be a win-win.

This is essentially a kind of player option right? Refuse the assignment if he can make money. Take the assignment if you're washed and get paid.
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Agreed. I'm failing to see the genius here. If the guy is so fringe this type of strategy matters, why pay him at all?
 
bravesfanMatt said:
wonder if the package is going to piss some off here.. Gray was a talked about target and I have a feeling the package wasn't that big.
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The Cards got Clarke and Fitts, both FV 50 pitchers according to FG. In exchange the Sox got Gray for $21M (Cards sent $20M in cash). The Braves don't even have an equivalent package, since the only 50 they have is Fuentes (though one could argue Fuentes plus Cam is just as strong).

I think the Cards did pretty well here, and is exactly how rebuilding teams should use cash to extract better prospects from the other team.
 
Southcack77 said:
I'm not sure signing a guy that wouldn't make the roster and that makes too much money for any other teams to claim off waivers has to be a win-win.

This is essentially a kind of player option right? Refuse the assignment if he can make money. Take the assignment if you're washed and get paid.
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Bc if he's on the roster then that means he was good enough to be here and if not then he can either stay in the minors till there is an injury or opt for FA and the contract terminates.
 
Hudson2 said:
Bc if he's on the roster then that means he was good enough to be here and if not then he can either stay in the minors till there is an injury or opt for FA and the contract terminates.
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If you were so bad of a pitcher that you were rotting in AAA at that age, why in the world would you decide to give up your $2M salary? If you're that bad you aren't getting that kind of cash ever again, and you'd never give up that contract. You'd be lining up a strategy to live off that $2M in the likely event you're done as a pro athlete.

This is a silly idea that some pitcher who isn't good enough to warrant a MLB contract would ever give up his current MLB contract.
 
If he's not good enough to be here then why would you want to pay him?

if the Braves DFA and he opts out then I guess no harm, beyond what he's entitled to. But if he opts in then if it's a good deal according to market he'd get claimed, a bad deal he'll pass waivers.

Sort of seems like business as usual to me rather than anything especially smart.
 
Enscheff said:
The Cards got Clarke and Fitts, both FV 50 pitchers according to FG. In exchange the Sox got Gray for $21M (Cards sent $20M in cash). The Braves don't even have an equivalent package, since the only 50 they have is Fuentes (though one could argue Fuentes plus Cam is just as strong).

I think the Cards did pretty well here, and is exactly how rebuilding teams should use cash to extract better prospects from the other team.
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ok.. that seems pretty steep for Gray.. hard pass for me.. Maybe AA needs to target Boston some more..
 
I keep forgetting the Braves have three wild cards in López, Jiménez and Holmes.

I’m less worried about Jiménez long-term with the knee since the arm is fine. He just needs to get that taken care of. 2026 is definitely in question, though.

López is the big one for me. Every time he’s yo-yo’d between relief and starting, he gets hurt. I’d seriously consider just moving him to the bullpen and letting him cook in the seventh or eighth inning. He’s consistently been elite in that role and it saves the Braves money on another reliever.

Holmes is the biggest question mark for me. Plenty of players have been great after similar injuries without TJ (Nola is a good example), but plenty more end up damaging their arm or just prolonging the inevitable.

At this point, I wonder if it makes the most sense to put both López and Holmes in the bullpen to ensure proper high-end depth and just add a starter or two. Joe Jim isn’t someone I’d worry much about for a few months.

Bullpen with those two included:
Iggy
Lee
López
Holmes
Bummer
Dodd
Payamps
Suárez
Hernández/Lara

I could be simplifying it a bit too much, but that sure looks like a solid bullpen on paper.
 
bravesfanMatt said:
Yeah, this isn't a disaster signing.. but it is not one a contending team should be making with so many other holes that need to be addressed. If he returns to form, then you have a great option for not too much.. but if he doesn't then you still are paying the dude and have really only freed up a spot on the 40 man roster. The Braves need a few more REAL pitching options to add to the team.
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It depends on how bad he is in that scenario. We took a shot on quite a few guys last year that weren't exactly making league minimum. Guys like Blewitt, Montero, Fedde, etc.

I got a feeling he might elect FA rather than sit in AAA.
 
bravesfanMatt said:
wonder if the package is going to piss some off here.. Gray was a talked about target and I have a feeling the package wasn't that big.
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They got a top 100 prospect for him. And another semi-useful minor league pitcher that could be provide innings as a number 5 or a long reliever (basically Bryce Elder).

Seems like an equivalent package would have been Ritchie and Elder. I'm happy not making that trade.
 
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