2017 Winter Meetings Predictions, Rumors, And Actual Happenings

Phillies are looking into Yelich also. Nats are talking to the Rays about Archer. That rotation would be nasty if that went down.
 
Just reading a bit about the Piscotty trade. He is a Bay Area native and his mother was recently diagnosed with ALS. Appears to be a move by the Cardinals to help him out. Kudos to them.
 
Hawk said:
DOB: #Braves GM Anthopoulos said not much activity today, no advancement on potential trade or signing, but did learn a player in whom they're interested is available via trade, which they weren't sure would be case (not Yelich; not a player who's been mentioned publicly, AA said)

Intriguing.
Click to expand...

I’m calling BS on this one too. Everything AA has said to the media has been coy. It’s all about how he has options and doesn’t have to do anything. Offering up something like this that would tip his hand on how much they want this mystery player and is out of character from what we’ve heard so far.
 
I get the feeling that because of the investigation and the long wait for a new GM, the Braves are so far behind everyone else this offseason. Other teams have long since had their internal discussions about the players they want to acquire, the players they're willing to give up, they've had chances to lay ground work, have other teams review their scouting information on players being discussed, etc.

Any offseason prep the Braves did before AA got here is now fairly useless. AA is going to have completely different ideas of the kinds of players to target and different ideas of the kinds of players to keep.

Add this to AA having to act cautiously because he doesn't know enough about our prospects to know who to trade, and we have a recipe for an uneventful Winter Meeting for the Braves and probably an offseason where very little gets done.
 
striker42 said:
I get the feeling that because of the investigation and the long wait for a new GM, the Braves are so far behind everyone else this offseason. Other teams have long since had their internal discussions about the players they want to acquire, the players they're willing to give up, they've had chances to lay ground work, have other teams review their scouting information on players being discussed, etc.

Any offseason prep the Braves did before AA got here is now fairly useless. AA is going to have completely different ideas of the kinds of players to target and different ideas of the kinds of players to keep.

Add this to AA having to act cautiously because he doesn't know enough about our prospects to know who to trade, and we have a recipe for an uneventful Winter Meeting for the Braves and probably an offseason where very little gets done.
Click to expand...

Great angle. Anthropoulos probably doesn't have a total grasp of what he has at the minor league level and my guess is the scouting/player development folks are making a strong case to keep as many prospects in place as possible. The other part of this that is beyond Anthropoulos is that given the penalties levied by the Commissioner against the Braves, long-term minor league depth is clearly going to take a hit, which adds to the cautious approach.
 
The Pads must be done rebuilding. They trade for Headley, they are calling the Marlins about Yelich, and now they’re the favorites to land Hosmer
 
Couple of things in the media:

1. AA says that the Braves may used young pitching prospects in the pen rather than pay a premium on relievers. Honestly, I did not really see the rationale for spending money on relievers this offseason given the options on hand. It makes sense to me that you would also use prospect depth to shore up the pen. I don't see this as an important season, so what is there to lose. The Cards pretty regularly try out their arms in the pen as well.

2. Shocked we didn't get a lot of commentary on Snitker's interview on analytics. It was sort of funny. Also even the Snit wasn't too sure about Coppy.
 
striker42 said:
I get the feeling that because of the investigation and the long wait for a new GM, the Braves are so far behind everyone else this offseason. Other teams have long since had their internal discussions about the players they want to acquire, the players they're willing to give up, they've had chances to lay ground work, have other teams review their scouting information on players being discussed, etc.

Any offseason prep the Braves did before AA got here is now fairly useless. AA is going to have completely different ideas of the kinds of players to target and different ideas of the kinds of players to keep.

Add this to AA having to act cautiously because he doesn't know enough about our prospects to know who to trade, and we have a recipe for an uneventful Winter Meeting for the Braves and probably an offseason where very little gets done.
Click to expand...

It's a fair point, but I disagree - at least partially.

I definitely agree he's being cautious, but I'm not so sure it's because he doesn't know enough about who to trade. I'm of the belief that he's simply developed a small "all-but-untouchable list", and those are the only players anyone has tried to deal for just yet. I'm also willing to bet that Freddie and Acuna are on a list by themselves and actually ARE untouchable at this point following Coppygate, they likely can't be moved if you expect to keep the fanbase (such that it is). That all-but-untouchable list probably includes Ender, Gohara, Albies, Wright, Soroka, and possibly Riley - those guys are probably ONLY available in franchise-altering deals (for an established, inexpensive "Ace" like Archer or Fulmer or another face-of-the-franchise player like Machado or Donaldson). I could see Ender being moved if it were a slam-dunk "win" involving multiple pieces (say Happ and Almora or Fisher or Tucker and Moran or Davis), but I don't think any of the other guys are available otherwise.

Given the fact that I think they're sold on Riley, I still scratch my head over missing out on the chance to get Headley, but I think they plan to turn some of these young arms into RPs (maybe Newcomb, Fried, and Touki - possibly even all 3) and build a dominant pen on the cheap rather than use them in trades or pay market value for the pen help that's out there.

Check the chat that J. J. Cooper had with Fox Sports South yesterday on Twitter - it's well worth 9 minutes out of your day.
 
Cishek to Cubs - could they really be out on Davis? They've now got Morrow, Strop, Cishek, and Carl Edwards for the back-end.
 
DMGM's busy scooping kids up now that it looks like Hosmer's gone for sure.

Wonder what the chances are that AA might make a play for Duffy? The Orioles are after him, but we could trade some of our mid-tier guys and beat anything they have to offer.
 
UNCBlue012 said:
Dumb as hell franchise. They'll do exactly what they did two years ago.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines. Theo Epstein said something after his tenure in Boston about a lesson learned--not to fall victim to the temptation to assemble a superteam in one offseason, even if you have the resources to do it.
 
Julio3000 said:
Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines. Theo Epstein said something after his tenure in Boston about a lesson learned--not to fall victim to the temptation to assemble a superteam in one offseason, even if you have the resources to do it.
Click to expand...

They are just looking to get a little veteran leadership and some names for the fans to watch to keep them interested during their rebuild. Don't want to stay at rock bottom too long. Give the folks a little hope.
 
AA mentioned having eyes on several RPs in trades as well - if the Angels haven't locked up a deal for Headley, trying to work out something to get him and Brad Hand would make all the sense in the world as well.
 
Southcack77 said:
Couple of things in the media:

1. AA says that the Braves may used young pitching prospects in the pen rather than pay a premium on relievers. Honestly, I did not really see the rationale for spending money on relievers this offseason given the options on hand. It makes sense to me that you would also use prospect depth to shore up the pen. I don't see this as an important season, so what is there to lose. The Cards pretty regularly try out their arms in the pen as well.

2. Shocked we didn't get a lot of commentary on Snitker's interview on analytics. It was sort of funny. Also even the Snit wasn't too sure about Coppy.
Click to expand...

Yeah, and the same article also mentioned Wade Miley as a potential addition to the rotation. Very encouraging.

The groundwork is already being laid for Excuse-fest 2018...

“AA didn’t have time to properly prepare for this offseason, so that’s why payroll is so much lower this year. NEXT year the Braves will make a HUGE jump in payroll. Top 10 payroll. Trust me, again”.
 
Maybe I'm too skeptical of people's true intentions, but I feel like AA is playing "country dumb" here. He's got access to some premium data we'll never see for the majors and minor leagues. He just drafted 2 players in the minor leage Rule 5 draft none of us have ever heard about.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top