Braves Meeting with Lester
- Thread starter Hawk
- Start date
I like the idea of adding Lester, but he'd have to be willing to come to Atlanta at a steep discount. That seems unlikely given the exceedingly deep wallets of the other bidders (ChC, BOS come to mind immediately). FWIW, Boston offered him 4 years, $70MM last spring -- Jim Bowden predicted he would get 6/132 from someone this offseason.
He is from the Atlanta area. He probably won't, but you just never know.
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
It does seem there is a desire of going back to the highly pitching-centric "Braves Way" of doing things. Without commenting on Lester in particular, I think this is a mistake. Mainly for two reasons:
1) The productivity and durability of Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz was very very unusual and you want to give minimal weight to the odds of something like that happening again. More typically pitchers break down. A long-term contract to a pitcher is very risky. If you are going to give out such contracts from a risk management perspective (which is very important for a mid-market team) it is better to give it out to a hitter. And I say that even with out bad recent history with Uggla and BJ.
2) We are in a golden era for pitchers. For a variety of reasons, the distribution and supply of pitching talent has shifted relative to the distribution and supply of hitters. The teams that recognize the fact that hitting has become relatively scarce (and I think this trend will continue) and adjust their spending and valuation accordingly will do better.
1) The productivity and durability of Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz was very very unusual and you want to give minimal weight to the odds of something like that happening again. More typically pitchers break down. A long-term contract to a pitcher is very risky. If you are going to give out such contracts from a risk management perspective (which is very important for a mid-market team) it is better to give it out to a hitter. And I say that even with out bad recent history with Uggla and BJ.
2) We are in a golden era for pitchers. For a variety of reasons, the distribution and supply of pitching talent has shifted relative to the distribution and supply of hitters. The teams that recognize the fact that hitting has become relatively scarce (and I think this trend will continue) and adjust their spending and valuation accordingly will do better.
True.
Just found this: In April, Lester purchased a $3.4 million mansion in the Atlanta area and plans to spend the offseason in the affluent Pleasant Hills area according to Realtor.com.
Dunit24
Awaiting a Promotion
Hart has a plan. We are going to be pitching dominant. I saw this coming with freeing up some space yesterday.
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
It does indeed seem to be his plan. The question is whether it is a good one.
CyYoung31
Shift Leader
He's trying to improve a strength (pitching) instead of trying to fix a weakness (hitting).
50PoundHead
Hessmania Forever
I'd be willing to sign for $1 million. Heck, they could have me for well below the league minimum.
chipchildress
Awaiting a Promotion
pitching was pretty dominant during the early 90's so i don't see anything wrong with the idea. with that said, the braves were close to the top in fewest runs allowed and at the bottom in runs scored and we saw how that turned out.
with such little hitting talent in the minors and on the current roster, it does make one wonder if and when they'll ever have a productive offense again. i guess one way to mask terrible offense for a while is to have great pitching. i'm guessing that is the plan for the next five years and they'll hope they draft better going forward. who knows though.
If we pay that much for Lester then its a huge mistake. The only way he is signing here is if he takes a discount thats why its highly unlikely that he is going to be here.
CyYoung31
Shift Leader
It's "the Braves Way".
I think thats even too much for Lester considering his age and our positional player needs. I think 5 years 80 is the highest the Braves can go.