Around The Majors 2019

Chipper is also from Florida and Freddie is a Southerner California kid who seems to really enjoy playing in front of friends and family when he’s out there. I could see a situation where he goes West after this contract with the Braves.

Fair point. But he's also a big time family man it appears. So I'm sure his wife would have a big say.
 
Fair point. But he's also a big time family man it appears. So I'm sure his wife would have a big say.

Cost of living in GA is way cheaper than Southern California. Even though he's already made more money than it would matter, he is living in a nice spot in suburban Atlanta.
 
I get your point. But it's going to be a very tough decision from the Braves standpoint from a PR perspective, especially if Freeman is still producing at a high level at the end of the deal. He's the face of the team and by all indications wants to be here forever. He also appears to be on the path to having his number retired here. It will be interesting how this plays out.

It's not going to be a tough decision at all. The narrative will certainly be that it's the hardest decision any GM has ever had to make, but letting a 32 year old 1B-only hitter walk away for an AL team is about as easy a choice as there is for a GM.

If Freeman really wants to sign a series of 1-2 year extensions, great. If he doesn't, bye felicia.
 
If we plan to let Freeman walk in 2.5 years then we definitely need to be all in for those 2.5 years. I would sign him to a 4 year 90 million extension right now if he would take it. I am comfortable taking a risk on Freeman through age 36. Freeman is our Chipper. Dont force Chipper to leave based on worship of projection systems.
 
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If we plan to let Freeman walk in 2.5 years then we definitely need to be all in for those 2.5 years. I would sign him to a 4 year 9 million extension right now if he would take it. I am comfortable taking a risk on Freeman through age 36. Freeman is our Chipper. Dont force Chipper to leave based on worship of projection systems.

Are you sure that Freeman isn't a free agent in 3.5 years? Lol
 
I love Freeman as much as anyone, but I completely agree with Enscheff. If he won’t take 1-2 year extensions it’s time for him to move on after his current deal expires.
 
I love Freeman as much as anyone, but I completely agree with Enscheff. If he won’t take 1-2 year extensions it’s time for him to move on after his current deal expires.

Right, I definitely don't think the right approach is to tack on a 5 year extension. I'd definitely consider two, and then see what he is open to beyond that based on his production.
 
Objective take when I’m not mad:

I think it’s fair to be very concerned about Wright, without being absurd or stupid. Granted it might not be good comparisons in this era of the new ball that has been screwing up both prospect (not just ours either if you care to look around for 15 minutes) and major league pitchers, but our college pitchers that have worked out in the last 10 years, you either saw it almost immediately (Alex Wood absolutely manhandling AA and skipping AAA about a year after the draft in 2012 as a reliever for a while, then starting and dominating for a stretch as a 22-year-old), or you at least saw flashes instead of being straight bad in their starts (Mike Minor coming up in August in 2010 and putting up a few solid starts in a row before imploding, probably mostly due to fatigue).

So, it’s fair to be concerned. Very concerned, in fact.

Something that I noticed when looking through brooksbaseball is something that Enscheff warned of last year, although it might not be to as bad of an extent as it could’ve been. Because his fastball didn’t move much, the Braves have tried to tinker with it, and in fact, at least by that source, his fastball moves just fine now. Well, it’s taking away from movement from his off speed. Basically, tin foil hat time, I think Wright is their Yankees Sonny Gray right now.
 
The call on Freeman is not that hard. We project what he is likely to produce during the years in question. And make him an offer equivalent to a 1 WAR discount. For example if he is projected to be a 3.5 WAR player during the period in question, we offer to pay him as if he would be a 2.5 WAR player. It's up to him whether those terms are acceptable.

That's the sort of approach a front office that focuses relentlessly on value would take.
 
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Objective take when I’m not mad:

I think it’s fair to be very concerned about Wright, without being absurd or stupid. Granted it might not be good comparisons in this era of the new ball that has been screwing up both prospect (not just ours either if you care to look around for 15 minutes) and major league pitchers, but our college pitchers that have worked out in the last 10 years, you either saw it almost immediately (Alex Wood absolutely manhandling AA and skipping AAA about a year after the draft in 2012 as a reliever for a while, then starting and dominating for a stretch as a 22-year-old), or you at least saw flashes instead of being straight bad in their starts (Mike Minor coming up in August in 2010 and putting up a few solid starts in a row before imploding, probably mostly due to fatigue).

So, it’s fair to be concerned. Very concerned, in fact.

Something that I noticed when looking through brooksbaseball is something that Enscheff warned of last year, although it might not be to as bad of an extent as it could’ve been. Because his fastball didn’t move much, the Braves have tried to tinker with it, and in fact, at least by that source, his fastball moves just fine now. Well, it’s taking away from movement from his off speed. Basically, tin foil hat time, I think Wright is their Yankees Sonny Gray right now.

I've thought all along that the natural comparisons to Wright were Wood and Minor. And Wood and Minor's progress through the minors was much more impressive.
 
The call on Freeman is not that hard. We project what he is likely to produce during the years in question. And make him an offer equivalent to a 1 WAR discount. For example if he is projected to be a 3.5 WAR player during the period in question, we offer to pay him as if he would be a 2.5 WAR player. It's up to him whether those terms are acceptable.

That's the sort of approach a front office that focuses relentlessly on value would take.

I don't disagree. It's easy to make these decisions from a strictly baseball perspective. But as a GM you also have to factor in revenue. If we essentially tell Freeman to kick the curb during a time when he is the face of the franchise, that could cause fan backlash which effects the bottom line (ticket sales, merchandise, etc)
 
I don't disagree. It's easy to make these decisions from a strictly baseball perspective. But as a GM you also have to factor in revenue. If we essentially tell Freeman to kick the curb during a time when he is the face of the franchise, that could cause fan backlash which effects the bottom line (ticket sales, merchandise, etc)

There is going to be fan backlash if Freeman doesn't want to be paid 25M during his early 30s seasons? I don't think so. He can take a hike. But I think Freddie likes Atlanta and playing for the Braves and would be happy to play on those terms.
 
There is going to be fan backlash if Freeman doesn't want to be paid 25M during his early 30s seasons? I don't think so. He can take a hike. But I think Freddie likes Atlanta and playing for the Braves and would be happy to play on those terms.

Yes. There is going to be a backlash.
 
You have to think one of the reasons for locking up Acuna and Albies this year was because they're looking down the road to a Freeman extension. Good or bad, you don't let Freeman go. It's very rare to have a continuous 'Face of a Franchise' who profile so very similarly as hitters = Freeman and Chipper. That could be 30+ continuous years.
 
There is going to be fan backlash if Freeman doesn't want to be paid 25M during his early 30s seasons? I don't think so. He can take a hike. But I think Freddie likes Atlanta and playing for the Braves and would be happy to play on those terms.

Do you really think the common fan has any idea? All they will know is he's no longer on the team. The common fan is the majority of the Braves fan base, not die hards like us who make up a miniscule portion.
 
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