AskCoppy Live from last night's Social Media Night

dak

dak

Well-known member
As usual, a ton of info from Coppy and very candid. After hearing this, I'm now a little more nervous that Inciarte will be traded before the deadline. When asked what the Braves would look for in free agency, Coppy said they'd focus on value signings and gave this list: at least one and maybe two starters, Catcher, RHH OF with power, at least two BP pieces that are RH.

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nsacpi said:
Surprised that third base was did not make his list of priorities.
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Agreed. Also, the 1-2 SP part makes it seem that we'll trade some of our SP depth. I think when we're doing our usual 2017 roster musing, it will be appropriate to list one of the 5 rotation spots as a FA veteran. So maybe this: Teheran, Wisler, Folty, FA Veteran, [huge internal competition].
 
Why would we need 2 starters unless we make a big trade?

Tehran folty and wisler look like lock right?
For solid 4/5 guys we have Blair gant Perez Jenkins Ellis
 
dak said:
As usual, a ton of info from Coppy and very candid. After hearing this, I'm now a little more nervous that Inciarte will be traded before the deadline. When asked what the Braves would look for in free agency, Coppy said they'd focus on value signings and gave this list: at least one and maybe two starters, Catcher, RHH OF with power, at least two BP pieces that are RH.

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I liked it.

Coppy doesn't seem to dance around the questions. He also has a similar mindset to a lot of us here.

I think he really did want to keep Heyward. I was hoping to hear a question about if our payroll was bigger would we have kept Heyward for the future like Freeman.
 
One thing about going for a starting pitcher in FA. I know we can't expect 100% internal consistency in statements coming out of the FO and sometimes they just say something to say something, but not too long ago JC talked about how signing FA starting pitching was the least efficient allocation of resources. I happen to agree with that. So I hope the talk about signing a FA starting pitcher is just that. I'd rather give the guys we have in the system opportunities to lay claim to the job.

Edit: It occurs to me that maybe JC meant a trade for a starting pitcher, which is a different proposition, and not inconsistent with his earlier comment. Also the focus might be on a value signing...maybe a guy coming off an injury rather than a guy with a QO. That is also a different proposition.
 
At some point he makes a comment about trading for a 3B, but he also mentioned Ruiz's presence on the depth chart a couple times. It's obviously a fluid situation, but maybe the thinking is that they want a full-time corner OF that bats right-handed as a higher priority than a full-time 3B that bats right-handed. With Ruiz's presence as a ready-for-2017 option at 3B, they're in a slightly better position there than corner OF. One thing seems for sure, at least one of the Smith, Inciarte, and Markakis won't be on this team come opening day 2017.

As far as adding a veteran SP, one obvious gap we have is MLB-ready LH starting pitching. They narrowly missed out on Brett Anderson two offseasons ago, and he would be a "value signing". Plenty of injury risk, but that also means he can be had on a short-term contract (and no QO).
 
Here's a list of LH SPs for next year. Left off guys who will almost certainly have their options picked up. Not a real inspiring list, but there are some reasonable low-risk signing in there.

Brett Anderson (29)
Jorge De La Rosa (36)
Rich Hill (37)
Derek Holland (30) — $11MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Scott Kazmir (33) — can opt out of remaining two years, $32MM on current contract
Colby Lewis (37)
Jon Niese (30) — $10MM club option with a $500K buyout
CC Sabathia (36) — $25MM vesting option with a $5MM buyout
C.J. Wilson (36)
 
One thing he mentioned about Ruiz is that he had hoped his power would be playing better than it has. Overall, he is pleased with Rio, but I think there is still some doubt in the mind about whether he will hit for enough power to play on the corner.
 
dak said:
Dustin was mentioned a couple times, but I don't believe it was in reference to the 3B depth chart.
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It was. One of the fans mentioned it as a possibility of him at 3rd and Coppy didn't disagree.

I think most telling is how down he is on Wisler.
 
I don't have a big problem with dumpster diving for another veteran starting pitcher to round out the rotation like they did with Norris and Chacin this year.

Dustin Peterson has very pronounced splits. He really has hit LHP very well this season with a .934 OPS against them compared to .707 against RHP. Mariners had him at 3B, but Braves moved him to LF due to doubts about his ability to field 3B in the long run. So he hasn't played any 3B in two seasons, but that doesn't mean he couldn't go back there. My guess is we'll know more if he shows up in the instructional league with an infielders' mitt. It would certainly help both his prospects and the team's if he could play 3B adequately. I think it's important to remember that Ruiz is 22 and Dustin Peterson is 21.
 
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