Braves To Sign Jeff Francoeur To Minor League Deal

Horsehide Harry said:
Not saying that Mallex and Inciarte are currently equal players or ever will be. I am saying that their tools as far as the position they play and their offense are similar. Is Inciarte better defensively? Sure, his arm is better, his routes are better but Mallex probably has better speed and has youth on his side. But both are LO type guys, as are Albies and probably Swanson unless he develops a little more power. And the team isn't going to field 8 light hitting LO type guys and be successful. So, if you keep Inciarte and he hits LO, Mallex has no place on the team no matter how he develops and Swanson and Albies eventually inclusion will put a big burden on the other positions to provide power and production.
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But inciarte could be a much better hitter.

I'd hold one one more year unless I get the big overpay I listed

The Cubs have basically every position locked down with a stud except c and cf. they have a lot of position guys that look to be good players but not studs ready in a year or two. They are going to have to go The full Shelby for Tehran and 2/3 Shelby for inciarte.

Otherwise they can take their shot with the bad cf or consider happ or another of their prospects.

If they just want to give us blocked Beaz than they can have mallex but not inciarte

We hold all the cards bc we don't have to trade now bc we have control and don't care if we win this yr
 
Russ2dollas said:
I assume all Desmond support is for him playing 3b.
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Ian Desmond at 3B makes the 2016 Braves a playoff contender?

Where do I sign up???

Signing Desmond - at this point - would be one of the most-boneheaded moves in the history of front office blunders. Seriously. 28 other teams, some of whom actually needed a SS or 3B and have legitimate shots at being relevant, haven't been willing to give up anything of value for him but the rebuilding Braves should?

Once they passed on the opportunity to sign a long-term "answer" in LF (when J-Up and Cespedes were still floating out there to be had), it was clear that they weren't going to use draft picks on stopgaps to try to back in to the playoffs this year.
 
The only thing I can add is that signing Desmond sounds like a Wren move.

Between, Kelly, Garcia and Beckham, I like the chances of third base being productive this year.
 
clvclv said:
Name 5 better.
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I'll assume you are ruling out arbitration? (which isn't really fair because Julio's "bargain" is mainly just buying out his arbitration years)

Nevertheless, I'll name more than 5.

Mike Trout: 5 yrs/134.25

Anthony Rizzo: 4 yrs/32

Chris Sale: 2 yrs/23.5

Chris Archer: 4 yrs/21.25

Starling Marte: 4 yrs/29.5

Carlos Carrasco: 3 yrs/19.7

Madison Bumgarner: 2 yrs/23.75

Paul Goldschmidt: 4 yrs/40

To me, those are all clearly better and I didn't even spend that much time looking into that list. Among recent Braves extensions, I prefer both Simmons and Freeman.

Now, don't get me wrong - Julio at 5 yrs/40 is awesome, but he was mediocre last year. There is some uncertainty with him.
 
clvclv said:
Ian Desmond at 3B makes the 2016 Braves a playoff contender?

Where do I sign up???

Signing Desmond - at this point - would be one of the most-boneheaded moves in the history of front office blunders. Seriously. 28 other teams, some of whom actually needed a SS or 3B and have legitimate shots at being relevant, haven't been willing to give up anything of value for him but the rebuilding Braves should?

Once they passed on the opportunity to sign a long-term "answer" in LF (when J-Up and Cespedes were still floating out there to be had), it was clear that they weren't going to use draft picks on stopgaps to try to back in to the playoffs this year.
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Again (not sure why this concept is so hard for some to grasp), the idea behind signing a guy like Desmond is that he is going to be signed to a very good bargain contract. The Braves would lose the 40th pick in the draft to sign him, but hopefully with that bargain contract his trade value is higher than the value of the 40th pick in the draft. He could then be traded at the deadline or next offseason for something more valuable than the 40th pick in the draft, but only if he signs a bargain contract. Nobody is suggesting giving him the going rate for a 2-3 WAR SS.

Who cares where he plays? Who cares if he plays 3B or 2B? Who cares if Aybar slides to 2B so Desmond can play SS? The Braves are going to be horrid, so the point is to add surplus value to the organization, and Desmond might be a source of it.

The same reasoning applies to Freese and Fowler before the Cubs signed him to a insanely team friendly contract themselves.
 
Pretty sure that Gallardo signing lowers that pick to 39th. With the Braves committing to spending this year, it's an excellent bet than there will be several first-round talents who are "tough signs" available. No way I want Desmond in any form, but especially not at the expense of that pick.
 
Enscheff said:
Again (not sure why this concept is so hard for some to grasp), the idea behind signing a guy like Desmond is that he is going to be signed to a very good bargain contract. The Braves would lose the 40th pick in the draft to sign him, but hopefully with that bargain contract his trade value is higher than the value of the 40th pick in the draft. He could then be traded at the deadline or next offseason for something more valuable than the 40th pick in the draft, but only if he signs a bargain contract. Nobody is suggesting giving him the going rate for a 2-3 WAR SS.

Who cares where he plays? Who cares if he plays 3B or 2B? Who cares if Aybar slides to 2B so Desmond can play SS? The Braves are going to be horrid, so the point is to add surplus value to the organization, and Desmond might be a source of it.

The same reasoning applies to Freese and Fowler before the Cubs signed him to a insanely team friendly contract themselves.
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This is the operative word - "hopefully".

Don't get me wrong I am (and have always been) for signing anyone for below-market rates. I wouldn't disagree that Desmond might be a really good fit. He's just not a good fit on a one-year deal. Would he be an upgrade over Garcia? Of course. Sometimes SS-level defense at 3B would be great. He had a good (and much more typical) second half last season. I actually think he'd be a great fit - IF you're willing to commit to him as your 3B placeholder until Riley (or even possibly Maitan) is ready. That's AT LEAST 3 years. If you want to give up the pick and can sign him to play 3B for something like 3 years/$30 million with a team option for 2019, I'm all for it.

The problem is that it simply makes no long-term sense to surrender that pick in the hope that you can trade him for something better before August. If he gets off to a slow start like last season (in part because he's pressing and still trying to prove that he deserves a big contract) and you get nothing from him, you'd have been better off keeping the pick and finding out what you've already got in Adonis and Ruiz and using that money to pay for for draft and international bonuses.

THIS is the only time he's going to be this far behind the 8-ball. If you sign him to an inexpensive contract and he performs like he did before last year, you've got a helluva a trade chip that you can cash in any time someone's willing to overpay in the next three years. If he goes back to being a 20-20 guy and his defense looks that much better because he doesn't have to play SS, you take advantage of that inexpensive production until someone's willing to pay for it. Just don't back yourself (or him) into a corner where he has to do that right away. If no one comes along and offers you something that's much more valuable before Riley or Maitan is ready, you ride the contract out, say thank you for keeping us from having to rush those guys, and cut bait when the time is right.

It's a lot like the Orioles/Fowler situation. I'm not going to give you WAY more than anyone else has offered PLUS the pick for you to come here for one year, rebuild your value, and tell me "eff you" when someone offers you what you're worth next winter. The QO next winter is likely going to be in the $18+ million range depending on how the CBA negotiations go. I'm not going to give you $10 million this winter, gamble that someone will give up $18 million plus a pick next winter when they wouldn't give up $16 million this winter, and then have to find another stopgap for 2018. There are better places I can spend those resources. If you'll sign a longer-term contract that makes it really easy for me to trade you for something better than I gave up to get you when NOBODY ELSE wanted you, I'm listening with both ears.

The Braves "blew" the money on Arroyo's contract when they KNEW they couldn't get anything else for him because they got Toussaint. If Desmond will sign a deal that gives them enough time to get that kind of prospect in return for him, I wouldn't think twice about signing him.

The Fowler one-year deal with the Cubs was a no-brainer from the team's perspective since they're going to be competitive in 2016. You simply can't compare that situation with where the Braves are right now. Signing Desmond doesn't make the difference in being competitive or not if it's just for this year. If you can't get more value than you'd have gotten for 6 seasons worth of the player you might get at #40 before the deadline, you just *issed away the money.
 
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