nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
I forgot about Culberson. You're right he will be part of the bench.
Discussion of Braves 2018 Offseason plans
- Thread starter Horsehide Harry
- Start date
I forgot about Culberson. You're right he will be part of the bench.
I know he "can", but I can't imagine many people look forward to that. Since being called up, he played 24.2 innings there last season, and 10 innings there in 2016. He's handled a total of 9 chances at 3B in his career and made 1 error.
It would likely only be in an emergency - obviously - but it doesn't look like he'd be an upgrade over Adonis in that platoon situation. SSS definitely applies, but I can't imagine how someone would be particularly comfortable with that if Dansby had to go on the DL or be sent down for a bit.
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
he's played much more short and second, which are the more difficult infield positions...he can play third and likely better than the typical third baseman
Bench is obviously Suzuki and Culberson. We can also pencil in a Tucker/Adams platoon in LF to start the year.
That leaves the final bench spot to be filled by one of Rio, Santana or possibly DPete.
I would prefer a better RHed OF be brought in, or buying low on Profar.
That leaves the final bench spot to be filled by one of Rio, Santana or possibly DPete.
I would prefer a better RHed OF be brought in, or buying low on Profar.
JxnMissFan
Gwinnett Bound
How about Dat Dude on a cheap one year deal as a bench player?
Horsehide Harry
<B>Mr. Free Trade</B>
LF/RF is all about getting to the young guys. That means you actually have to find one of the young guys. I think everyone now will agree that Peterson isn't an everyday answer (and likely not a bench answer).
As long as Markakis stays, which it looks like he will, then he likely is the RF.
That means you have to have a short term place holder for LF with the expectation that Acuna will be up fairly quickly. Outside of Adams, Tucker and Santana (DPete shouldn't really be in the conversation until he gets another 1/2 year at AAA to show he does/doesn't belong) you have bargain bin options like: Dyson (too expensive), Granderson (too expensive), Franklin Gutierrez, Heisey, Austin Jackson (too expensive), Jaso (also backup 1B/C), Jay (too expensive), Adam Lind (not much experience in OF), Maybin, Nava (do you believe in 2017), Nunez (too expensive), Rasmus (will he play), Seth Smith, Ichiro, Werth (too expensive), Chris Young and Eric Young. All those guys have some chance of producing WAR higher than Santana. Some like Nunez, Jackson, Lind and Werth are not believable for differing reasons. Some like Eric Young are just not enough of an upgrade over Santana and Tucker to be worthwhile.
Maybin, Smith and Ichiro look like they would be about the only realistic possibilities. Ichiro will play cheap if at all. Smith probably wants more than one year. If Maybin would play for 1/$4M I think he would be my man. I might do an Ichiro and Maybin signing for 1yr/$5M total and see if I could swing a trade with the Orioles maybe Teheran and Markakis (plu $5M) for Austin Hays. Then start the year with Maybin/Tucker, Inciarte, Adams/Ichiro and soon transition to: Acuna, Inciarte, Hays with Maybin and either Tucker or Adams on the bench.
As long as Markakis stays, which it looks like he will, then he likely is the RF.
That means you have to have a short term place holder for LF with the expectation that Acuna will be up fairly quickly. Outside of Adams, Tucker and Santana (DPete shouldn't really be in the conversation until he gets another 1/2 year at AAA to show he does/doesn't belong) you have bargain bin options like: Dyson (too expensive), Granderson (too expensive), Franklin Gutierrez, Heisey, Austin Jackson (too expensive), Jaso (also backup 1B/C), Jay (too expensive), Adam Lind (not much experience in OF), Maybin, Nava (do you believe in 2017), Nunez (too expensive), Rasmus (will he play), Seth Smith, Ichiro, Werth (too expensive), Chris Young and Eric Young. All those guys have some chance of producing WAR higher than Santana. Some like Nunez, Jackson, Lind and Werth are not believable for differing reasons. Some like Eric Young are just not enough of an upgrade over Santana and Tucker to be worthwhile.
Maybin, Smith and Ichiro look like they would be about the only realistic possibilities. Ichiro will play cheap if at all. Smith probably wants more than one year. If Maybin would play for 1/$4M I think he would be my man. I might do an Ichiro and Maybin signing for 1yr/$5M total and see if I could swing a trade with the Orioles maybe Teheran and Markakis (plu $5M) for Austin Hays. Then start the year with Maybin/Tucker, Inciarte, Adams/Ichiro and soon transition to: Acuna, Inciarte, Hays with Maybin and either Tucker or Adams on the bench.
msstate7
Well-known member
Since we aren’t going for it this year, doesn’t it make more sense to just go with tucker and/or Peterson?
Probably, but as a fan I’d rather watch Maybin out there for $4M than the garbage they are currently projected to trot out there. It’s going to be pretty rough watching Tucker be awful, and LAdams regress back to be AAAA self...While Markakis slaps enough singles to post a “professional” .280 BA and “catch everything he gets to”.
It’s not like signing Maybin is going to block the Braves from doing anything of any consequence next offseason.
If we sign Frazier for 3B then Camargo strengthens the bench with Culberson, Suzuki, and the 4Th OF (Adams). Then you have LF slotted as the #7 hole in the lineup and you can run out any of Camargo, Preston, and Adams in LF as you like.
Frazier makes a lot of decisions easier.
Frazier makes a lot of decisions easier.
Add Frazier and Maybin and suddenly the Braves have an outside shot at WC contention without hampering anything in the future.
The fact moves like that aren’t happening is why I think they simply don’t have any payroll left.
there are a few reasons why the signings may not be happening.
Free-Agents that are still Free-Agents...
Yu Darvish
Eric Hosmer
J. D. Martinez
Jake Arrieta
Mike Moustakas
Lorenzo Cain
Wade Davis
Lance Lynn
Greg Holland
Alex Cobb
Jay Bruce
Logan Morrison
Addison Reed
Todd Frazier
Jonathon Lucroy
Carlos Gomez
Andrew Cashner
Neil Walker
Jaime Garcia
Alex Avila
Eduardo Nunez
Jon Jay
Carlos Gonzalez
Jarrod Dyson
Tony Watson
Howie Kendrick
Jason Vargas
Chris Tillman
Lucas Duda
Cameron Maybin
John Lackey
Jose Bautista
Brandon Phillips
Jeremy Hellickson
Curtis Granderson
That's 35 of MLBTR's top 56 free-agents. Attributing that to a lack of resources is more than a bit speculative at this point.
I don't think anyone believes that AA's planning to make a huge splash by any means, but it's just as easy to assume he's simply waiting the market out. Even if Moustakas, Frazier, and Nunez signed elsewhere, you could still bring back Phillips on the cheap. There are plenty of options available to upgrade LF in the event he wants to do that - if not CarGo, Carlos Gonzalez, or Maybin, you still have Jay, Dyson, or Kendrick that could be solid platoon pieces.
The music's going to stop at some point, and several of these guys will be left without a chair. They'll certainly be inexpensive options that can keep things interesting enough until AA decides to pull the trigger on Acuna.
I think we're finally seeing many of the front offices catch up to Borass to an extent - they're not going to give these guys megabucks for 5. 6, and 7 years and only get 3, 4, and 5 years worth of production.
Yu Darvish
Eric Hosmer
J. D. Martinez
Jake Arrieta
Mike Moustakas
Lorenzo Cain
Wade Davis
Lance Lynn
Greg Holland
Alex Cobb
Jay Bruce
Logan Morrison
Addison Reed
Todd Frazier
Jonathon Lucroy
Carlos Gomez
Andrew Cashner
Neil Walker
Jaime Garcia
Alex Avila
Eduardo Nunez
Jon Jay
Carlos Gonzalez
Jarrod Dyson
Tony Watson
Howie Kendrick
Jason Vargas
Chris Tillman
Lucas Duda
Cameron Maybin
John Lackey
Jose Bautista
Brandon Phillips
Jeremy Hellickson
Curtis Granderson
That's 35 of MLBTR's top 56 free-agents. Attributing that to a lack of resources is more than a bit speculative at this point.
I don't think anyone believes that AA's planning to make a huge splash by any means, but it's just as easy to assume he's simply waiting the market out. Even if Moustakas, Frazier, and Nunez signed elsewhere, you could still bring back Phillips on the cheap. There are plenty of options available to upgrade LF in the event he wants to do that - if not CarGo, Carlos Gonzalez, or Maybin, you still have Jay, Dyson, or Kendrick that could be solid platoon pieces.
The music's going to stop at some point, and several of these guys will be left without a chair. They'll certainly be inexpensive options that can keep things interesting enough until AA decides to pull the trigger on Acuna.
I think we're finally seeing many of the front offices catch up to Borass to an extent - they're not going to give these guys megabucks for 5. 6, and 7 years and only get 3, 4, and 5 years worth of production.
50PoundHead
Hessmania Forever
I haven't been following the FA signings that closely this winter, but it's obvious things have been very slow. Some interesting names. I imagine agents and teams are both waiting for the first few dominoes to fall so that they can fashion their offers accordingly.
What makes me think the guys in charge have caught up to Borass so much is the fact that EVERY team just got a cash infusion of $50 million from the investments made in MLBAM and technology. If you put yourself in AA's shoes, you should still be able to find a way to sell your superiors on the fact that even though Coppy just cost them $20-ish million, they're still ~ $30 million better off than they were not so long ago. He's already worked a miracle in getting Kemp off the books - which SHOULD earn him lots of points in their eyes. JMO, but the optimist in me thinks there's just as much of a chance that with what we're assuming is around $15 million left before matching last season's $130 million payroll, AA's just waiting in the weeds for Frazier and/or CarGo to be willing to take pillow (or 1+1) deals.
Sure it's pie-in-the-sky wishing, but since we've seen no mention of financial constraints (anywhere other than this message board) it's just as reasonable to think that if AA went to JS and McGuirk and made them realize that he could add both on one year commitments for $25-ish million, while making the playoffs AND buying time for Acuna and Riley (also making them cheaper down the road) that the resources are there to accomplish all of that if they're willing to spend some of that windfall they just got. While the stars would need to align to get both, I don't think many would argue that after adding the veteran rotation pieces in the Kemp deal, a lineup of -
Ender, Albies, Freeman, Frazier, CarGo, Flowers, Markakis, Swanson (with Acuna looming)
would make the Braves the second best team in the division.
Southcack77
Well-known member
if the front office has closed the books on free agents and trades then the one year signings make sense, but if they are still in that market it’s not the right timing.
JMO, but there's no such thing as a bad one year signing - especially during a rebuild. If they were able to add two guys like that and the young pitching doesn't take a step forward, there's nothing keeping you from spinning Frazier and/or CarGo off for prospects to replace some of the kids lost in the Coppy mess. It's typically done with Pitchers, but both guys finished pretty strong last season and would certainly be attractive as rentals for contenders - especially if they put up strong numbers in SunTrust as the weather warms up. You obviously don't expect them to bring back blue chippers, but they'd get you a better return than guys like Nunez, Dat Dude, Maybin, Kendrick, etc. would.
Just another way of "buying" prospects - except we'd have signed them to contracts that wouldn't be in the way next year than taking bad contracts back from someone else.
Southcack77
Well-known member
When you are the high bid for a one year free agent there is some question whether you can get any significant return for them in trade.
My point was that if the Braves have 20 million to spend, throwing 11-12 million of it into one year deals may limit their ability to make bigger deals.
There is some risk of losing a particular player but looks like a buyers market at the moment.
Hard to assess what the mo big parts might be when they might want to trade Teheran or others and then acquire established pieces.
They probably are sorting out all of the market values and trying to assess what they can do.
Ultimately, Frazier and Maybin seem like lovely acquisitions. This is ultimately what I wanted them to try and do.
But maybe they have grander plans. Maybe they want to see how low Moose can go rather than commit to players now.
Or maybe they are tapped out.
It’s going to be interesting to watch.
Braves1976
It's OVER 5,000!
Did anyone see this? @bvenezolano
3h3 hours ago
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Sources: Atlanta Braves 3B Adonis García signed a contract with LG Twins in KBO.
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