Braves Sign Christian Colon

MadduxFanII said:
Minor league deal with a spring training invite.

http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2017/12/06/braves-sign-christian-colon/

You know, there was a time the Royals would sign OUR cast-offs.
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Am I the only one worried that the Braves have stated:

"We want 1-2 BP arms", and then acquired Ravin and Whitley.

"We want a SS to back up Swanson", and then acquired Colon.

I'm hoping these moves are the backup plans to higher profile moves. But man, if they are THE moves...depressing.
 
Enscheff said:
Am I the only one worried that the Braves have stated:

"We want 1-2 BP arms", and then acquired Ravin and Whitley.

"We want a SS to back up Swanson", and then acquired Colon.

I'm hoping these moves are the backup plans to higher profile moves. But man, if they are THE moves...depressing.
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Anything is possibile, but I see all of the moves made so far as working on the Gwinnett Braves. Whitley, Brothers, Reed, and Colon are all minor league deals. Only Ravin is a major league deal.
 
Chico said:
Anything is possibile, but I see all of the moves made so far as working on the Gwinnett Braves. Whitley, Brothers, Reed, and Colon are all minor league deals. Only Ravin is a major league deal.
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I really hope you're right.

I think the unexpected severity of the Maitan punishment has me even more pessimistic than usual.
 
Enscheff said:
I really hope you're right.

I think the unexpected severity of the Maitan punishment has me even more pessimistic than usual.
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Every time I think 'that can't be THE move' I remember Raul Mondesi, Brian Jordan, Garrett Anderson, Chris Woodward, Ruben Gotay, Greg Norton, Eric Hinske, Alex Gonzalez, Rick Ankiel, Troy Glaus, Jack Wilson, Julio Lugo, Paul Janish, Reed Johnson, Emilio Bonifacio, Ryan Doumit, Jonny Gomes, Alberto Callaspo...
 
rawwr said:
Every time I think 'that can't be THE move' I remember Raul Mondesi, Brian Jordan, Garrett Anderson, Chris Woodward, Ruben Gotay, Greg Norton, Eric Hinske, Alex Gonzalez, Rick Ankiel, Troy Glaus, Jack Wilson, Julio Lugo, Paul Janish, Reed Johnson, Emilio Bonifacio, Ryan Doumit, Jonny Gomes, Alberto Callaspo...
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Point taken.

My only counter to that is the Braves 2018 payroll currently sits at about $88M for the full 25 man roster. Even the most dire projection of their total payroll is around $100M, which leaves them room to do something better than what we've seen so far.

So unless Liberty is making them do something odd like compensating for losing $20M in prospect value by dinging the 2018 payroll, the Braves should be improving...somewhere...with something that isn't complete garbage.

It certainly looks like they have filled all the open spots though...with terrible options.
 
Enscheff said:
Point taken.

My only counter to that is the Braves 2018 payroll currently sits at about $88M for the full 25 man roster. Even the most dire projection of their total payroll is around $100M, which leaves them room to do something better than what we've seen so far.

So unless Liberty is making them do something odd like compensating for losing $20M in prospect value by dinging the 2018 payroll, the Braves should be improving...somewhere...with something that isn't complete garbage.

It certainly looks like they have filled all the open spots though...with terrible options.
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AA has turned down other offers. I don't think Liberty would screw him over like that and say we're going to cut the payroll by $20M and make you pay for Coppy's mistakes, and still sign him. I also hope they're smart enough to know that would alienate fans even more than the scandal has. That would be a bad business decision when your average profit per customer has just increased.
 
Enscheff said:
Am I the only one worried that the Braves have stated:

"We want 1-2 BP arms", and then acquired Ravin and Whitley.

"We want a SS to back up Swanson", and then acquired Colon.

I'm hoping these moves are the backup plans to higher profile moves. But man, if they are THE moves...depressing.
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What are we doing with Camargo if we need a SS to backup Swanson? Is he going to start at 3B? And how good of backup do you expect for a guy who hit like Melvin.
 
cajunrevenge said:
What are we doing with Camargo if we need a SS to backup Swanson? Is he going to start at 3B? And how good of backup do you expect for a guy who hit like Melvin.
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That's the whole question...

Folks speculated (correctly, in my opinion) that dumping both Santana and Jace was a sign they were going to use Camargo in the utility role. That's a perfectly logical move for a team pushing for 85+ wins to make. Camargo is a playoff-contender-level utility option.

Camargo is NOT a playoff-contender-level 3B option. If Colon is the utility guy, that means Camargo is likely slated in as the everyday guy at 3B.

The BP is full of a ton of mediocre guys, most of which don't have options. The rotation is full of young guys that need to be tested at the MLB level. 3B is likely filled by Camargo, with Colon as the utility guy. So it stands to reason the Braves could go into 2018 with a sub-$100M payroll and a VERY bad team.

Hopefully (and most likely), these moves are just to cover the worst case scenario and other moves are coming, but so far they seem to be building a terrible team.
 
rawwr said:
Every time I think 'that can't be THE move' I remember Raul Mondesi, Brian Jordan, Garrett Anderson, Chris Woodward, Ruben Gotay, Greg Norton, Eric Hinske, Alex Gonzalez, Rick Ankiel, Troy Glaus, Jack Wilson, Julio Lugo, Paul Janish, Reed Johnson, Emilio Bonifacio, Ryan Doumit, Jonny Gomes, Alberto Callaspo...
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A few of those guys (namely, Hinske, Johnson, and Gonzalez) have no business being on that list.
 
We really don't know what the plan is with AA. It seems the Jays fan who stated that you'll hear rumors about what AA might be doing, but never know until it happens could have been correct. He has not said much of anything substantial to this point and others have just been speculating.

What I'm hoping happens is we go with an 8 man pen to start the season, Suzuki at C, Camargo as a UT, another UT, and a 4th OF. If that is the case, then that could be the reason we're looking for a proven Shortstop to play multiple positions. It could also be a reason we signed Whitley who would profile the best as a multplie inning reliever. I do not think Coloin is our answer as a UT guy. If rumors poppped up about that it would be more likely that it was from AA asking about shortstops in trades. I'm thinking (and hoping) Colon is being penciled in as the AAA shortstop.

I'm just speculating like everyone else.
 
rawwr said:
Every time I think 'that can't be THE move' I remember Raul Mondesi, Brian Jordan, Garrett Anderson, Chris Woodward, Ruben Gotay, Greg Norton, Eric Hinske, Alex Gonzalez, Rick Ankiel, Troy Glaus, Jack Wilson, Julio Lugo, Paul Janish, Reed Johnson, Emilio Bonifacio, Ryan Doumit, Jonny Gomes, Alberto Callaspo...
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I agree with Cy, but that is a relevant point.

One point (although grasping at straws) is that going cheap this year and giving the arms another season to develop does presumably give AA extra money to spend next winter in the unlikely event he decided to pursue Donaldson. If two or three of Newcomb, Fried, Wright, Soroka, and Allard happen to take steps forward and Julio bounces back with a solid season it allows you the opportunity to trade him and clear Markakis' money before you bid on him.
 
Chico said:
We really don't know what the plan is with AA. It seems the Jays fan who stated that you'll hear rumors about what AA might be doing, but never know until it happens could have been correct. He has not said much of anything substantial to this point and others have just been speculating.

What I'm hoping happens is we go with an 8 man pen to start the season, Suzuki at C, Camargo as a UT, another UT, and a 4th OF. If that is the case, then that could be the reason we're looking for a proven Shortstop to play multiple positions. It could also be a reason we signed Whitley who would profile the best as a multplie inning reliever. I do not think Coloin is our answer as a UT guy. If rumors poppped up about that it would be more likely that it was from AA asking about shortstops in trades. I'm thinking (and hoping) Colon is being penciled in as the AAA shortstop.

I'm just speculating like everyone else.
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I think you are pretty spot on. I think Frazier or Mous is pretty likely, though I’d be surprised if they give up a pick for Mous after the farm system was just pillaged.

I would also be surprised if the Braves don’t acquire an OFer, even if it’s just a platoon partner for Markakis in LF. Someone like Austin Jackson, who I wanted them to sign last year as the 4th OFer.

Stanton and Ohtani holding up the entire offseason is leaving us nothing else to talk about, so we sit here and cook up all sorts of speculative scenarios that aren’t very likely.
 
My guess is these are organizational depth signings who will have to do well to make the major league team.

Doubt they are intended as major moves, but who knows with present office. Seems like they might also be hedging against a middle infield trade.
 
You guys are forgetting that Colon drove in the winning run of the 2015 World Series. Those are the kind of intangibles you can’t teach.
 
Enscheff said:
Am I the only one worried that the Braves have stated:

"We want 1-2 BP arms", and then acquired Ravin and Whitley.

"We want a SS to back up Swanson", and then acquired Colon.

I'm hoping these moves are the backup plans to higher profile moves. But man, if they are THE moves...depressing.
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I think it's way to early in the offseason to be worried about the lack of big moves. I think it's possible we may be seeing a change in how the FO is run. The past three years the FO has been quick to make deals in Nov and Dec before the market developed. They seemed to get laser focused on a guy and did whatever it took to get him. The old FO did their deals early then spent jan and feb telling the media how smart they were. Think about all the big deals Coppy did before Christmas. Last year all they talked about were how thier 3 over the hill pitchers were going to eat innings but ignored the hole at 2nd, 3rd, rf and lf.

Maybe it's because he is new but AA seems to be a lot less open to the media and maybe more methodical in making trades and signing free agents.
 
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