AA's Failure

striker42

striker42

Well-known member
Let's look at the scope of AA's offseason failure. It's actually quite impressive.

The OF:
We had an open OF spot giving us a real chance to improve the lineup. What does AA do? He brings back Duvall trying to explain it was health problems that caused his struggles and then re-signs Markakis. Instead of upgrading he literally brought back the same guys who are good bets to decline. Duvall was so putrid in spring he didn't even make the roster.

The Rotation:
You can blame some of this on injuries to Folty and Gaus but injuries is a big reason why you need another proven starter. We're going to be starting Kyle Wright in our third game of the season. A guy with a bright future but still in need of polish.

The Pen:
The bullpen got zero attention this offseason and it shows. Carle, Jackson, and Tomlin made the opening day roster. Over a third of our pen spots were won by guys who shouldn't be pitching on a major league roster. How can all those guys make our roster while not signing a single legitimate reliever? This might be the biggest failure of any GM in baseball this offseason.

The Bench:
AA being convinced Duvall was going to bounce back had us scrambling at the end of ST. Camargo going to the bench helps but there's no real power threat off the bench (even with Joyce hitting the HR today).



AA's failure this offseason was enormous. Not every hole on a roster needs a $20 million fix. The lack of getting role players that cost $2 to $5 million a piece has left us with a roster full of holes. Holes that have been made worse with injuries.

Honestly, if AA was fired tomorrow I wouldn't be upset. I realize he hasn't been at the job long but whiffing so many times this offseason is just embarrassing.
 
AA took the sort of approach (emphasis on getting value) that I've been advocating, so I can't really complain. Sam Freeman over Luke Jackson is the one decision that doesn't make sense to me. Joyce could turn out to be a good bench bat. A lefty bat actually makes sense on the bench to go along with Camargo (switch who hits better righty) and Culberson (righty). I presume Camargo showed well enough in the outfield to convince management that he should be the one who spells Inciarte and Markakis against lefties.
 
Not getting 1 bullpen arm is inexcusable imo. We needed to get at least 1 reliable arm and he failed period. At the end of last season nobody in baseball or this board would have guessed we had Markakis and Duvall both coming back but that disaster happened also. Instead of value I would have rather overpaid and got a legit hitter than went the path he did. He had A pretty bad offseason imo and more depends on Donaldsons health.
 
nsacpi said:
AA took the sort of approach (emphasis on getting value) that I've been advocating, so I can't really complain. Sam Freeman over Luke Jackson is the one decision that doesn't make sense to me. Joyce could turn out to be a good bench bat. A lefty bat actually makes sense on the bench to go along with Camargo (switch who hits better righty) and Culberson (righty). I presume Camargo showed well enough in the outfield to convince management that he should be the one who spells Inciarte and Markakis against lefties.
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There is a huge difference between value and cheap. The Braves were super cheap and tried to make the excuse that they were looking for value.
 
This offseason was a complete failure! AA failed to address the teams biggest needs and he can give me all the excuses he wants but he completely whiffed!
 
The failure occurred at whatever point early in the off season when AA budgeted for replacements and severely miscalculated how much it would cost to upgrade cOF.

As soon as he splurged on JD and then couldn’t afford Brantley, the Braves went into scramble mode. That scramble resulted in them grabbing Markakis, and trying to add “a guy with a big salary” to make up for it. Holding back payroll for that big salary (probably Myers) forced the Braves to watch all the value BP arms get signed out from underneath them.

As a result, they ended up with no “big salary guy”, no BP additions, and a pretty bad situation in cOF....and a pocket full of cash.

All because they thought they could get someone like Brantley or Cutch for peanuts.
 
Hudson2 said:
Not getting 1 bullpen arm is inexcusable imo. We needed to get at least 1 reliable arm and he failed period. At the end of last season nobody in baseball or this board would have guessed we had Markakis and Duvall both coming back but that disaster happened also. Instead of value I would have rather overpaid and got a legit hitter than went the path he did. He had A pretty bad offseason imo and more depends on Donaldsons health.
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I kept banging the drum for Bud Norris. It was a bit of a joke, but I did think an extra bullpen arm would be a good idea. The pen ain't bad with Minter and O'Day. But you have to assume a certain amount of attrition.

Hopefully Parsons and/or Sobotka step forward and give us some good work this year. I'm guessing Jackson and Carle are the guys sent down when Minter and O'Day return. And let's not forget Winkler, who I like better than Jackson and Carle.
 
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I have made my position known about AA. But he couldn’t efficiently address everything listed. The starting pitching was fine. We have the depth to handle the injuries. We should have gotten on reliever at least and then to keep Luke over Sam was dumb. My biggest complaint is not upgrading the offense with at least one more impact bat. Could have been at catcher or outfield.

I also think he played the value game too tightly. He desired value over wins and hopefully it won’t hurt us too much this season. He also has a tricky off season next too. But with a worse FA class. I think his time was this year and he was too conservative or maybe just in over his head. I don’t know.

I still think we are a good club capable of making some noise. Just need things to go right with kids and neck/Mac being good.
 
nsacpi said:
I kept banging the drum for Bud Norris. It was a bit of a joke, but I did think an extra bullpen arm would be a good idea. The pen ain't bad with Minter and O'Day. But you have to assume a certain amount of attrition.

Hopefully Parsons and/or Sobotka step forward and give us some good work this year. I'm guessing Jackson and Carle are the guys sent down when Minter and O'Day return. And let's not forget Winkler, who I like better than Jackson and Carle.
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I was cool with Norris too, heck anybody that would have helped would be a welcomed addition. But to not get just 1 guy was pretty bad. Bullpen arms were pretty cheap this offseason and that just pours even more salt in the wound.
 
I think AA is good, and the bullpen will be fine when things shake out a bit. It’s certainly fine to wonder why we didn’t pick up a cheap piece or two there, though.

My ire is reserved for ownership, who seems to have the fanbase on a constant bait-and-switch hook for when we’re going to be a top-third payroll.
 
It really is frustrating as a fan. This team has some really good pieces, that with the right veteran additions, could make a deep run.

AA failed to do so and I hope the fans questioning him get louder.
 
nsacpi said:
I kept banging the drum for Bud Norris. It was a bit of a joke, but I did think an extra bullpen arm would be a good idea. The pen ain't bad with Minter and O'Day. But you have to assume a certain amount of attrition.

Hopefully Parsons and/or Sobotka step forward and give us some good work this year. I'm guessing Jackson and Carle are the guys sent down when Minter and O'Day return. And let's not forget Winkler, who I like better than Jackson and Carle.
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Luke Jackson has done unclaimed about seventeen times. I have no idea why he keeps getting brought back.

Carle wasn’t terrible last year so don’t mind him in his current role which should be low leverage dude/gwinnett train, but injuries are playing some role there.
 
Southcack77 said:
Luke Jackson has done unclaimed about seventeen times. I have no idea why he keeps getting brought back.

Carle wasn’t terrible last year so don’t mind him in his current role which should be low leverage dude/gwinnett train, but injuries are playing some role there.
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I agree Carle > Jackson

but he's still a sacrificial lamb type 8th guy whose main role is to protect the more valuable arms

oh and this

Sam Freeman > Carle
 
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AA's failures are well documented with not filling holes big enough to drive a 747 thru. My main objection to AA is his use of many J&J products to cover his ineptitude. His consistent fall back on not having the $$$ available for the perceived market value of a player. Braves fans are smart and you can't continually feed them the same BS and have them believe it. "we were 70% close to a deal" doesn't fly, that dog don't hunt remarks like "we have the funds to do what we think is best for the team". Has AA misled the fans?? A hell yes and that's worse,IMO, than not doing what's needed to greatly improve the team.
 
thethe said:
Do we ever see Luke Jackson when our relievers are healthy?
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Jackson and probably Carle will be DFA’d when O’day and Minter return.

There are not enough spots, so Gohora and one or two other guys like a Touki , Wilson, Fried will be in the pen. Those guys have better stuff than just about ANY of the guys we could have signed.

I’m sure AA might have signed someone else if he knew Minter, O’day, Gohora, Soroka, Folty, and Gausman would all be hurt to begin the season...what’s the chances.

We have pitching that teams would kill for. Most teams losing their #1 and #2 starters and two of our top three relievers would be a train wreck. Take away those four guys on the Phillies or the Nats and see how they would look?? Just give it a few weeks and you will not see Luke Jackson ever again.
 
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