2025-2026 offseason thread

While it would be dumb to give up the extra pick on a questionable signing, you guys really seem to give way too much of a shit about the #26 pick. I, a man who has spent many hours of my life staring at the Braves draft history on bb-ref, am much more jaded. Braves have spent my whole adult life picking in the 20s, and here's this millennium's results:

2001: #24, Macay McBride (-0.2 career WAR)
2001: #29, Josh Burrus (never made MLB)
2002: #23, Jeff Francoeur (lol, averaged less than 1 WAR a year over his storied Braves career)
2005: #27, Joey Devine (2 career WAR, killed by Chris Burke)
2006: #26, Cody Johnson (never made MLB, worst swing hitch in history)
2011: #28, Sean Gilmartin (1.1 WAR, none with us, dumped for corpse of Ryan Doumit)
2012: #21, Lucas Sims (2.4 career WAR, -0.2 with us)
2015: #28, Michael Soroka (5.7 WAR with us, RIP to my Canadian King)
2019: #21, Braden Shewmake (-0.7 career WAR, currently starring off-broadway in the Slenderman Musical)
2020: #25, Jared Shuster (0.6 career WAR, when combined with Soroka and Shewmake, collectively worth 3/5 of Aaron Bummer).
2021: #24, Ryan Cusick (zero MLB IP, on his fifth organization).

Across 20 years, that's one good season of Mike Soroka, give or take your tolerance for whatever Francouer was doing. 2022 and 2023 got us Murphy and Waldrep, so maybe they break the spell, but I'm not gonna count those chickens.

Even ignoring the Braves' particularly bad track record, general MLB expected surplus value of a #26 pick, is probably like 1-2 WAR. It's not worth crying over that to get someone we actually need.
Pool money pool money pool money. That’s way more important than the pick. If it were just the pick I’d tend to agree with you, but it’s not just a pick
 
Pool money pool money pool money. That’s way more important than the pick. If it were just the pick I’d tend to agree with you, but it’s not just a pick

That's still not something that should stop a team trying to win the WS from making a signifigant addition to the team. But Ranger Suarez aint it considering the other options out there. IMO the only two guys worth losing this pick and pool money is Bichete and Tucker but both of those seem very unlikely.
 
That's still not something that should stop a team trying to win the WS from making a signifigant addition to the team. But Ranger Suarez aint it considering the other options out there. IMO the only two guys worth losing this pick and pool money is Bichete and Tucker but both of those seem very unlikely.
Correct. But the trades being mentioned here do not meet the threshold to give up the pick and pool money. So that’s where the pushback is coming from. Start discussing VIABLE trades for players that are worth losing these assets, then no one here will be pushing back on giving up picks and pool money. And since no trades likely exists, you’ll be hard pressed to find it
 
With all the extensions AA has given out it's handcuffed us some so he has to be smart. You can't give up assets and money. Buxton and Ryan would require a huge part of the farm and those picks and bonus money would be even more valuable to us then bc losing Cam, Ritchie and whoever else would kill any quality depth coming. Bassitt only requires money so that is the super obvious target and neither does Kim. Those are 2 upgrades to the team where we need them bad and they only cost us money on short term deals. Another good bat to sub through DH could be Buxton but that extra pick would be even more valuable at that point to replenish what we spent.
 
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While it would be dumb to give up the extra pick on a questionable signing, you guys really seem to give way too much of a shit about the #26 pick. I, a man who has spent many hours of my life staring at the Braves draft history on bb-ref, am much more jaded. Braves have spent my whole adult life picking in the 20s, and here's this millennium's results:

2001: #24, Macay McBride (-0.2 career WAR)
2001: #29, Josh Burrus (never made MLB)
2002: #23, Jeff Francoeur (lol, averaged less than 1 WAR a year over his storied Braves career)
2005: #27, Joey Devine (2 career WAR, killed by Chris Burke)
2006: #26, Cody Johnson (never made MLB, worst swing hitch in history)
2011: #28, Sean Gilmartin (1.1 WAR, none with us, dumped for corpse of Ryan Doumit)
2012: #21, Lucas Sims (2.4 career WAR, -0.2 with us)
2015: #28, Michael Soroka (5.7 WAR with us, RIP to my Canadian King)
2019: #21, Braden Shewmake (-0.7 career WAR, currently starring off-broadway in the Slenderman Musical)
2020: #25, Jared Shuster (0.6 career WAR, when combined with Soroka and Shewmake, collectively worth 3/5 of Aaron Bummer).
2021: #24, Ryan Cusick (zero MLB IP, on his fifth organization).

Across 20 years, that's one good season of Mike Soroka, give or take your tolerance for whatever Francouer was doing. 2022 and 2023 got us Murphy and Waldrep, so maybe they break the spell, but I'm not gonna count those chickens.

Even ignoring the Braves' particularly bad track record, general MLB expected surplus value of a #26 pick, is probably like 1-2 WAR. It's not worth crying over that to get someone we actually need.

The extra pool money can be spread over several players. This isnt a draft where teams take BPA. Braves could walk out of the draft with 6 of the top 55 prospects in the draft class. Winning is fueled by cheap players and we have to keep the pipeline flowing. Its not that i wouldnt give up the pick for Ranger its that I wouldnt give up the pick and pay him market value long term.
 
For those interested, Hammer Territory had Robert Murray on the show yesterday and he had a lot to say about the team.

Essentially:
  1. AA is going to be very aggressive on the free-agent and trade markets for starting pitching, likely above anything else. He also said AA is known for being relentless — among the top guys in terms of calling other teams.
  2. He thinks the Braves have the money to legitimately be in the mix for every available pitcher; he just isn’t sure AA will give up the draft-pick compensation for some of them.
  3. If anyone is going to land Buxton, he thinks the Braves make the most sense of any team. He said Buxton is very open to waiving his NTC for Atlanta, but the Twins’ direction is still unclear. The industry is skeptical Buxton gets moved until the Twins trade Ryan or López, who he thinks come first.
  4. For trades, the Braves may actually be in a good spot for once because so many teams need pitching and our farm is loaded with pitching talent.
  5. There truly is radio silence around AA’s work — no one knows what he’s going to do.
  6. The Braves and Kim like each other a lot. But in his opinion, Kim isn’t very likely because he thinks Kim’s camp will wait out a deal and AA will move on to other options beforehand. Still, he thinks there’s a chance because both sides speak very highly of each other.
  7. The league expects Spencer Strider to be back to form in 2026, or at least back to an All-Star level.
  8. He doesn’t expect the Braves to trade anyone from their current roster. If anyone were to be moved, it would be Sean Murphy, but he specifically asked AA about it, and AA said he much prefers having two good catchers, so it’s not likely right now.
LINK
 
He actually said, "should out to Chop Country, those fuckers are insane."
Also said “the guy there, Super? Should call him ‘Super Smart.’ Also the industry says it is believed his penis is MASSIVE. ‘More massive than Stroman’ is a phrase I heard more than once. Something to keep an eye on.”
 
per Ken Rosenthal, the Twins are expected to not trade Lopez, Ryan, or Buxton. They plan to try and compete in 2026.

Not surprising. Their division is relatively weak so they don't have to be that good to make the playoffs.
 
per Ken Rosenthal, the Twins are expected to not trade Lopez, Ryan, or Buxton. They plan to try and compete in 2026.

Not surprising. Their division is relatively weak so they don't have to be that good to make the playoffs.
Expect to compete, yet traded off several of their best players at the deadline, fired their manager who was widely considered a good manager, and they have no money to spend.

LMAO.

Maybe this is a negotiating ploy, but if not, the Twins are joke right now.
 
Expect to compete, yet traded off several of their best players at the deadline, fired their manager who was widely considered a good manager, and they have no money to spend.

LMAO.

Maybe this is a negotiating ploy, but if not, the Twins are joke right now.
Yeah, if there's any truth to this, I feel so bad for their fans. Just a total failure by ownership, whether the Braves are involved in a single deal with them or not lol
 
The difference between Ranger Suarez and someone like Bassitt is not great enough to warrant giving up the 26th pick in the draft.

Hopefully AA is still smart enough to realize that.
Maybe I agree with that but it depends on the contracts perhaps.

Or what if Bassitt signs elsewhere and it's the difference between Suarez and a 5th starter type?

Probably worth spending the pick then.

I get that money lets you take more shots, but I'm unaware of any franchise dramatically changing its talent base in one draft because of one extra comp pick.

Just feels like over value of the pick unless it's an exceptional draft.
 
Maybe I agree with that but it depends on the contracts perhaps.

Or what if Bassitt signs elsewhere and it's the difference between Suarez and a 5th starter type?

Probably worth spending the pick then.

I get that money lets you take more shots, but I'm unaware of any franchise dramatically changing its talent base in one draft because of one extra comp pick.

Just feels like over value of the pick unless it's an exceptional draft.

Yeah there are degrees to this. If the choice ends up being Ranger for 3/60 vs giving Elder a 30 starts, it’s worth giving up the pick. If the choice is Ranger for 5/120 vs Bassitt on a 3 year deal, it’s not worth giving up the pick.

Then there’s the whole range of possibilities in between. Based on what SPs are projected to get, I’m in favor of keeping the pick and getting a lesser SP.
 
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