UNCBlue012
Well-known member
yes lol
Looking Ahead - The 2020 Offseason Thread
- Thread starter clvclv
- Start date
It will be hard for any bats to sign until the DH is settled. Waiting on this is typical of MLB in the sense they just can’t seem to change with the times to make the sport more appealing to a wider audience. There’s no reason for the off season to drag on like this when it could be a big event that generates a huge spike in interest during the offseason.
CrimeDog247
Spring Training Invitee
He doesn’t qualify for it, makes too much money. You can give him yours and he can invest it.
Heyward
<B>Voted Worst Poster <br>'13, '14, '15 (Co-Winner
Heyman- Interested teams suggest Trevor Bauer seeks a 5- or 6-year deal for $36M to $40M (about $200M). Bauer is coming off a brilliant Cy Young season but the star market is slow. The record AAV is $36M by Bauer’s UCLA teammate Gerrit Cole. Agent Rachel Luba declines comment on talks.
tululush
New member
Bauer and Heyman having a feud on Twitter about how this is false. Lol who knows.
CrimsonCowboy
Moderator
So does Kris Bryant tell the Cubs "Get me out of here!" or what?
CrimsonCowboy
Moderator
For as smart as he can be sometimes, Heyman is insufferable on Twitter
The more the Padres and Dodgers load up on pitching, the less interested I become in giving up Wright or Wilson in a deal for someone - particularly someone with one year of control.
Folks around here don't seem to share my worry, but I think innings are going to be a concern with the younger guys. If AA is going to stay in character and keep the future as just as big a part of the plans as the current season, he's going to make sure these guys' innings are limited - at least until late in the season if not the playoffs. If there are only enough resources available to add a bat for LF (regardless of whether that's Ozuna, Brantley, Bryant, or a platoon), the pen is going to be significantly thinned out without Melancon and Greene and there are 1,458 regular season innings to cover in a 162 game season. If you limit Fried, Anderson, and Soroka to ~ 140 IP each in an effort to keep from blowing them out that's A LOT of innings the rest of the staff is going to have to cover.
I'm hoping the Braves can get a deal on Ozuna with the slow market. Even if there is no DH this year I think it's coming and we can handle him in left. That was the plan last year. His value would be down without the NL DH and we could probably either do another one year deal or possible a value deal for a longer term contract if he wants security. It's a tough year to be a free agent.
huh? elaborate?
UNCBlue012
Well-known member
Rotoworld is saying the Mets and Blue Jays are finalists for Springer
https://www.rotoworld.com/baseball/...9887786?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
https://www.rotoworld.com/baseball/...9887786?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Wariness about giving Ozuna a huge deal is certainly warranted, just like it always is after a guy has a career year heading into his 30s right before he hits the FA market.
His BABIP was very high at .391, well over his career mark of .319. His HR/FB rate of 26.5% was also a career high by a few points. By all appearances, 2020 was Ozunas career year, and very unlikely to be replicated.
Now obviously Ozuna is a good hitter with many good peripherals, but anyone paying him as if he’s a legit 1.000 OPS bat moving forward long/medium term will be in for a rude awakening.
His sprint speed for 2020 was average, so maybe we are being too rough on his defense in LF. Maybe we are putting too much stock into his poor arm, and it is a fact fans tend to overvalue arm strength (see all the raves about Camargo’s defense), so maybe Ozuna in LF for a season isn’t going to be the end of the world.
He would be insane to sign before the DH is settled though.
His BABIP was very high at .391, well over his career mark of .319. His HR/FB rate of 26.5% was also a career high by a few points. By all appearances, 2020 was Ozunas career year, and very unlikely to be replicated.
Now obviously Ozuna is a good hitter with many good peripherals, but anyone paying him as if he’s a legit 1.000 OPS bat moving forward long/medium term will be in for a rude awakening.
His sprint speed for 2020 was average, so maybe we are being too rough on his defense in LF. Maybe we are putting too much stock into his poor arm, and it is a fact fans tend to overvalue arm strength (see all the raves about Camargo’s defense), so maybe Ozuna in LF for a season isn’t going to be the end of the world.
He would be insane to sign before the DH is settled though.
PawPawMaxwell
Called Up to the Major Leagues
Already signed the starters, still need relievers but not necessarily now. Was a response to Blue012 whining about big deal. Sarcasm!
I don
I agree, but I think we could get him cheaper in the current market. I don't think anyone thinks he's a 1.000 OPS guy. He's been around for a while and has one full season where he was over .900. He's a good hitter, but .800-850 is probably a good year for him. His contract last year was fair and honestly the annual value should stay in about that range with a multi-year deal in this market. I don't think anyone is going to get too carried away over a career year in a 60 game season. He is a good hitter though, and I think he's our most realistic option. We do need a middle of the order bat.
NYCBrave
Well-known member
Happy New Year all. New Bowman article up. And while it doesn't provide much, it does provide some interesting discussion points.
-feels Ozuna is a long shot to re-sign with Braves unless they feel the need to "go for it" since they came so close last year.
-Mentions Braves have no interest in trading for one year of Bryant.
-Says Braves think Soroka will be ready for opening day (but may not push it)
-Discusses the closer options who Snitker thinks are in the running. Martin, Smith and Matzek mentioned. In addition to Minter. Of course that could change if we sign someone
-feels Ozuna is a long shot to re-sign with Braves unless they feel the need to "go for it" since they came so close last year.
-Mentions Braves have no interest in trading for one year of Bryant.
-Says Braves think Soroka will be ready for opening day (but may not push it)
-Discusses the closer options who Snitker thinks are in the running. Martin, Smith and Matzek mentioned. In addition to Minter. Of course that could change if we sign someone
tululush
New member
Why wouldn’t we “go for it” this season? We should be going for it every season for the foreseeable future.
The bullpen will be an interesting situation, after we figure out lf/3rd/our big bat. It would be nice to bring back one of Melancon or Greene, but with bullpen arms, in general, being so volatile, I could see us filling it internally.
We will get another quality bat for the outfield. I’m confident about that. I feel that AA wouldn’t have invested so much in pitching if he weren’t going to address such an obvious hole. It may not be Ozuna but I don’t think he’s going bargain bin. We are a contender and I’m sure he knows that.
NYCBrave
Well-known member
Because the ownership doesn't plan to spend that much money?
"Go for it" can take on so many different meanings - in this case he likely means AA pushing all his chips in to take one shot, and that makes perfect sense.
Breaking the bank and spending big on Springer or Bauer would likely end any chance of bringing Freeman back. Fans would love it at first, but would be screaming bloody murder next winter when Freddie leaves - probably even louder when he's shown the door following consecutive seasons where he won an MVP and brought a Title home. If you think he's got another 3-5 years of MVP/All-Star level production left in him (count me as one who does), every dime you spend has to be with that in mind. Someone mentioned him going home to finish his career if they don't give him an extension - can you imagine the screaming if he finishes up his career with three 30 HR/100 RBI All-Star seasons as a Dodger/Giant/Angel? Heaven forbid that came along with a championship too.
Not trading anything of consequence for a player on a 1 year deal (Bryant or anyone else) makes perfect sense. Jed cleared a lot of money with the Darvish trade, he's not going to let Bryant go for pennies on the dollar now - if he doesn't get something good for him, he'll hold out and get a draft pick next winter when he walks. A couple of Newk/Touki/Muller/Davidson/De La Cruz type of arms probably doesn't do it before the deadline - he's probably better off waiting until then to see if someone gets hurt and/or somebody panics. If you bring Bryant in and he pushes you over the top, how are you going to sign BOTH him and Freddie next winter? The Gnats just went through the same situation with Strasburg and Rendon, no?
AA's "going for it" in the sense that he's going to spend big on someone that fits our LF/3B/DH need as long as it doesn't cost any pieces that are currently on the roster or that are really close to contributing, and the player(s) brought in don't get in the way of working out something that allows Freeman to retire here. I'm as big a "flags fly forever" guy as anyone around here, but making a major move that compromises your chances of keeping Freeman/Acuna/Albies/Soroka/Fried/Anderson group together for the foreseeable future would be crazy - as long as AA doesn't do anything stupid, he's eventually going to hang a flag with that group in place.
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NYCBrave
Well-known member
Good analysis. The Bryant situation is interesting because with the way he's faded in recent years, I don't think next year is a guarantee he'd get a qualifying offer and turn it down. He'd have to have a huge season to be at that point again.
Let's assume Freeman gets an extension that works out to $25 mil a year. I'd probably only feel comfortable giving Ozuna $18-$20 mil a year for 3-4 years. That's likely not going to get it done, so you can see why he's a long shot for us.
I wonder at this point what "pushing all our chips to the center" means. Trading Pache, Waters, Wright, Muller, Langaliers, etc? Sure that would likely shorten our overall window of contention. But the way things are set up for us now, with Acuna and Albies signed until the end of this decade, and assuming Freeman signs a 4 year extension, and with the control we have left over Soroka and Fried (4 years each) and Anderson, we currently have a 4 year window bare minimum.
We do have some payroll flexibility in the short term, but it may be time to consider locking up Swanson soon as well, along with Soroka and Fried in the next 2 years to extend our window.