[*]Are there still negabraves out there that do not like what the front office has acheived?
It involved some pain. Personally tired of reading about "holding on to Kimbrel" when the overwhelming sentiment at this forum was to get rid of BJ
at any cost. Keeping a closer, especially one of that magnitude would have done plenty to run down his value. What is there to save on a 100-loss team? Yeah, he's somebody they would have wanted to keep, but the "value" of great closers is vastly overrated. Plus, they would've been still saddled with BJ, who would not have ever turned his career around in ATL. Told you that (if completely healthy) Jordan Walden could have been closer. Ditto with Vizcaino, but he was another trendy "trade him" designated board whipping boy for a while.
At any rate, they did what needed to be done to be rid of the bad contracts. It involved some difficult decisions by removing some good players, but it was understood what direction this was taking. Who knows what offers were rejected/discussed that didn't materialize? At least they're on the road to recovery.
Retaining Snitker doesn't impress me as it does with the majority here. All he demonstrated was ability to rectifiy the dismissal of Fredi and bring the club to near .500 level. Not experienced enough at MLB managing to give indication that he could direct them toward serious contender status. So, the one year guaranteed contract was a way to appease the players (and some fans) with Ron Washington parked at 3rd if they are to have somebody ready to kick it up a notch if Snit can't.
[*]Would anyone have done it differently now in hindsight?
That would require evaulation of every single move that was made and more time that it would take to reply here. So pass on that one. Off the top of my head, of course there would be re-do's. Bringing in the likes of Grilli, Johnson are warm bodies, nothing more. The recent 40+ ex Mets contingent to round out the rotation doesn't instill a huge amount of confidence. Either is possible to implode and not certain of either's role as mentor (esp. Colon) to the younger starters either, but we shall see.
[*]Do you all still disagree about the philosphy to draft lots of pitching?
It was me who told everybody that they were following the same philosophy as during the mid 80's. Nobody listened. Once again, here's why. During the decline, while still chest thumping about the division titles, the organization lost its reputation as a pitching factory. This was for a variety of reasons, not least of which was position in draft order to select/develop another future potential staff ace.
We cannot underestimate the influence of Bobby Cox. he is still apparently retained in a consulting capacity, is a HOFer, and obviously very respected for his opinion. He was in charge during the previous build. Despite some mishandlings with other GM's, it was largely successful. Simply it was just acquire as many young arms as possible and develop them. Some will round out the rotation and BP, while others became assets to trade to address other needs.
[*]Is the Markakis move still a bad move?
It was never bad, per se, but it seemed questionable at the time. They talk about not wanting to trade any of the starting OF's. If the right offer was made for Markasis, why
wouldn't you do it?
Many times throughout the last 25+ years, they've discussed need for team speed. Back then, they had it with Otis Nixon and Neon Deion. Despite changes in the game since that time, it still matters to wreak havoc on the basepaths by distracting the pitcher, moving the lead runner to 2nd to place in him scoring position and getting that run on the board early in the game. It sets a tone. They have some guys on the roster and the system capable of making that happen. With more power, team speed adds a useful dimension to the offense. Markasis clearly can't help with that, while 2 other current active OFers can.
[*]Did the offseason of weight lifting help Markakis (Like I repeated on numerous occasions)?
In most cases, it would help anybody. Not to be too self-serving, but all players should be on a yoga regiment too. It'd reduce risk of injury and recovery time off the DL.
[*]Was Heyward worth an extension?
Just stopped laughing after realizing that this was serious question. Heyward was the
least important component on a WS-winning team but with an eye-popping contract. How much more proof is needed that he's not the Special Player that he was promoted as since before he first came up? We don't need to get into the contributing factors (i.e. snake bitten after injuries, etc.). The point is that any player with that salary should be expected to help carry a team. In Chicago he doesn't have to, and in Atlanta he never unequivocally demonstrated that ability.
Shelby Miller
alone was worth that trade. Then look at the gift that keeps on giving since Miller got flipped.
[*]Are we all happy that the Johns are in power?
As he gains more experience, Coppy will gain more leverage to make his own decisions without having to check back with senior level staff. If they're better than .500 in 2017, it will surprise me but certainly in a happy way. However, there haven't been any obvious signs that the rebuild could have been accelerated, as there were during the late 80's.
