I agree. Similar to the Marte/Rentera deal that I always argued against. All things considered it was a good deal for the Braves. However I feel they gave up too much at the time of that trade. It should not have cost a top 5 prospect for a 30+ SS coming off of a bad year.
The Olivera trade is another situation. The Simmons trade is another one, imo. Maybe I am the one off base but I feel the Braves have not been properly valuing their own players in recent deals.
A "Top 5 prospect" that a lot of other pundits (as well as scouts and GMs) rated much more correctly than those who had him in their Top 5.
If you want to make the statement that the Braves have been guilty of overvaluing their own, I don't think many will disagree. Typically 29 other organizations do the same thing - that's all part of the hype machine - some just do it better than others, and this organization was applauded for its ability to hype its own better than most.
If you're going to use that as an example, you have to at least allow others to say that the same case can be made for the players on the big club's roster as well. Freeman's a cornerstone franchise player who many folks here believe isn't even a Top 10 player at his position. Teheran's a cornerstone player with a 40-30 career record coming off his worst professional season. Simmons was being marketed as one as well. The best offensive season of his career resulted in an OPS+ of 90 with 17 HRs along with a .296 OBP.
I've NEVER criticized him for that. Like everyone else, I held out hope he'd eventually improve with the bat - that wouldn't turn him into just an All-Star, it would make him All-World. He's absolutely the best defensive SS I've seen in the 40 years I've watched or played the game. Unfortunately he was just here at the wrong time - a period of transition - and those charged with trying to build the foundation for the future felt it best to trade him for another piece of that future that's further away than any of us would like.
The undeniable fact is that baseball has changed and that it's just not enough to be an absolute wizard with the glove anymore. There was a stretch that started that change - the period where you had absolute offensive studs like A-Rod, Nomar, Ripken, and Larkin who weren't just marginal defenders at the position, they were really good with the glove as well. We had a stretch where that looked like it was going away recently, and suddenly here comes Correa, Lindor, and Seager.
The point is, Andrelton's never going to fit in their category no matter how much his bat hopefully improves.
"2017" has never been a "lie", it was a goal that wasn't explained clearly. There's no question that fault lies with "The Johns". It's always a mistake to put a public timeline on trying to completely transition a franchise. Their mistake isn't any less hurtful than the one Theo and Jed made in saying this year was never the goal and that they got to where they did "a year early". Cubs' fans (not to mention Borass) were screaming for their heads when they sent Bryant down this spring. Then they were unhappy when they didn't alter the plan yet again when they didn't start shipping out prospects for a couple months worth of a starter at the deadline. But guess what? They've now got Lester for 5 more years, should be able to extend Arrieta for at least that long, and will likely wind up with one of those guys the fans wanted back in August WITHOUT giving up anything. They'll now have those arms for the entire time they have Bryant, Schwarber, Russell, and Rizzo under control for below market values.
The point is someone - I don't remember which one - made the mistake of getting backed into a corner by a member of the media and stated that they could see being competitive by 2017 IF everything fell their way, and everyone ran with it. Lots of posters here can't stand the fact that they are now much more careful about sharing any information about what they're trying to accomplish, but that's exactly the reason why. Fans (myself included) easily choose to ignore that "if everything goes right" part. I would imagine part of that ideal scenario included both Freeman and Simmons growing into better offensive performers among quite a few other things completely beyond their control. The Braves' current situation is EXACTLY why Theo and Jed tried so hard to keep expectations in check in Chicago - they just couldn't be sure that all those bats would be ready in 2015. Truth be told, they still aren't all there yet - Russell still has a ways to go, and Soler has only shown short flashes of being the player they think he can be.
Again, that doesn't change the fact that someone said the wrong thing about the rebuild or "The Plan". It just illustrates the problems that can arise when you talk too much and try to keep fans a little too excited.
