Looking Ahead - The 2020 Offseason Thread

TheBravos said:
I’m truthfully a little discouraged. I think we can compete no doubt. With the Dodgers being...well the Dodgers(great pitching staff), the Mets now looking like they will spend whatever they want (and also have a great pitching staff), and now the Padres basically trading for EVERY good pitcher on the market...dang.

I think if Liberty is willing to keep up somewhat spending wise, we could be just as good or better than any of these teams. I’m just not convinced they will. Even with our affordable contracts, I feel they will make cheaper moves that will keep us so very close, but just not good enough to get us quite over the hump.

Is it just me, or is anyone else getting a bad feeling?
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No, not really. the Braves rotation is easily in the same neighborhood as the best in the league on paper. There may be some risk there, but there is risk for everyone.

Braves need to add some bats. There are still plenty of ways to do that.
 
The more this off season drags on, I'm thinking we end up with Brantley on a very reasonable 1-2 year deal that we mostly can live with. I thought Ozuna might still be in play for us, but a team with a DH like Texas will probably jump in and offer more years than we are comfortable with.
 
If there is no DH, the Braves need 2 bats. A RHH to replace Ozuna, and a LHH to help cover some OF PAs.

If there is a DH, the Braves need 3 bats.

Only one of those bats has to be the everyday .850+ OPS variety (Ozuna, Turner, Cruz, maybe Brantley or Bryant). The rest can be platoon types (Rosario, Joc, Duvall, maybe Mazara).
 
Enscheff said:
If there is no DH, the Braves need 2 bats. A RHH to replace Ozuna, and a LHH to help cover some OF PAs.

If there is a DH, the Braves need 3 bats.

Only one of those bats has to be the everyday .850+ OPS variety (Ozuna, Turner, Cruz, maybe Brantley or Bryant). The rest can be platoon types (Rosario, Joc, Duvall, maybe Mazara).
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In the no DH scenario, do we definitely need a RHH? We have an overly Right Handed lineup and Brantley would fit in nicely.

Righties: Acuna, Swanson, D'Arnaud, Riley, Pache? Lefties: Freeman, Albies (Switch), Brantley
 
Enscheff said:
If there is no DH, the Braves need 2 bats. A RHH to replace Ozuna, and a LHH to help cover some OF PAs.

If there is a DH, the Braves need 3 bats.

Only one of those bats has to be the everyday .850+ OPS variety (Ozuna, Turner, Cruz, maybe Brantley or Bryant). The rest can be platoon types (Rosario, Joc, Duvall, maybe Mazara).
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Cruz being the biggest bat and most likely to be short term I'd think. The day the DH is approved, I expect him to slot in nicely. Unless we are working on a trade for JD instead. I feel like Rosario could slot in as an everyday guy, and then look to DH.
 
Tapate50 said:
dont we need a bat and a LF if the DH is in play?
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Probably - but the level (and cost) of those "bats" could vary significantly.

The market has been slow to develop (as expected), but the longer all this drags on the more it's probably realistic to wonder if they believe Waters can be an option sooner rather than later.

If they think spending money on someone that offers significant swing and miss concerns is wasteful and doesn't improve their chances significantly, Waters is probably the best defensive option available. How much worse is he going to be than playing Duvall in LF full time if you spend all the money on Ozuna or Cruz to DH? Remember you're talking about a player you may have hitting 7th or 8th in the lineup.

Ideally (for me) there is a DH and you bring Ozuna back and still have enough money left to add Rosario or Mazara and one more pen arm. The numbers guys would need to work their magic to find out for sure, but I think a lineup of Acuna, Freeman, Ozuna/Cruz, Rosario, d'Arnaud, Ozzie, Dansby, Riley, Ender/Pache matches up with just about everyone else when you consider the upgraded rotation. As long as you've got Ozuna or Cruz to plug in behind Freddie, is the downgrade from Rosario or Mazara significant enough to try to go with less-expensive options at either or both positions?

A lot of your response probably depends on where your lineup preference falls. If you're dead-set on hitting Freddie 2nd behind Acuna, you probably want two bats. If you're OK with a more traditional order that has Ozzie or Dansby hitting between the two of them with Ozuna or Cruz "protecting" Freddie, one bat may be enough - especially if you believe Dansby will have a big season since this will be his platform year. Even if you don't start with Waters in LF there will be left-handed bats like Goodwin/Reddick/Bruce/Joyce out there that you can sign on the cheap to balance the lineup.
 
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NYCBrave said:
In the no DH scenario, do we definitely need a RHH? We have an overly Right Handed lineup and Brantley would fit in nicely.

Righties: Acuna, Swanson, D'Arnaud, Riley, Pache? Lefties: Freeman, Albies (Switch), Brantley
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It’s more about production vs pitcher handedness than the number of batters from each side of the plate.

In 2020 the Braves tied for #1 in MLB vs RHP with a wRC+ of 126.

They were #15 vs LHP with a 101 mark. Folks suggest more Albies PAs will help, but in 2019 with Albies in the lineup all year they posted a nearly identical mark of 99.

The Braves need a replacement for Ozuna/Donaldson to bolster the lineup vs LHP, and that guy will probably need to be a RHH. They also need a guy to serve the Markakis role as the LHH cOFer, and Brantley is likely too expensive for that.

I think the plan should be a monster RHH like Ozuna, Turner or Cruz (maybe Bryant), plus a LHH to take the bulk of the PAs with Acuna and Pache. That guy probably has to be able to fake it everyday in case Pache starts in AAA. If the DH is a go, then a 3rd bat like Duvall is needed as well.

Ozuna: plays LF if no DH, mostly DH otherwise. If in LF they still need a LHH cOF until Pache is ready and then as a semi platoon with Pache when he is.
Truner: plays 3B and Riley moves to LF. A LHH to platoon with Riley is still needed.
Cruz: Only an option with the DH, and the Braves still need 2 cOF bats that can platoon once Pache is ready (Rosario and Duvall).

I expect there to be a DH, and I expect the Braves to acquire Ozuna or Cruz plus a platoon like Joc or Rosario or Mazara plus someone like Duvall. I expect that to cost upwards of $25M, so hopefully AA left the budget space to make it happen. If he signed Smyly and then doesn't have the cash to add those bats...he made a mistake.
 
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Enscheff said:
It’s more about production vs pitcher handedness than the number of batters from each side of the plate.

In 2020 the Braves tied for #1 in MLB vs RHP with a wRC+ of 126.

They were #15 vs LHP with a 101 mark. Folks suggest more Albies PAs will help, but in 2019 with Albies in the lineup all year they posted a nearly identical mark of 99.

The Braves need a replacement for Ozuna/Donaldson to bolster the lineup vs LHP, and that guy will probably need to be a RHH. They also need a guy to serve the Markakis role as the LHH cOFer, and Brantley is likely too expensive for that.

I think the plan should be a monster RHH like Ozuna, Turner or Cruz (maybe Bryant), plus a LHH to take the bulk of the PAs with Acuna and Pache. That guy probably has to be able to fake it everyday in case Pache starts in AAA.
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This is my Maine take. We can Claw back to the top of the division like this. We could dip the competitions Tail in drawn Butter.

Screw it. It stands on its own rigid exoskeleton.
 
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Enscheff said:
It’s more about production vs pitcher handedness than the number of batters from each side of the plate.

In 2020 the Braves tied for #1 in MLB vs RHP with a wRC+ of 126.

They were #15 vs LHP with a 101 mark. Folks suggest more Albies PAs will help, but in 2019 with Albies in the lineup all year they posted a nearly identical mark of 99.

The Braves need a replacement for Ozuna/Donaldson to bolster the lineup vs LHP, and that guy will probably need to be a RHH. They also need a guy to serve the Markakis role as the LHH cOFer, and Brantley is likely too expensive for that.

I think the plan should be a monster RHH like Ozuna, Turner or Cruz (maybe Bryant), plus a LHH to take the bulk of the PAs with Acuna and Pache. That guy probably has to be able to fake it everyday in case Pache starts in AAA. If the DH is a go, then a 3rd bat like Duvall is needed as well.

Ozuna: plays LF if no DH, mostly DH otherwise. If in LF they still need a LHH cOF until Pache is ready and then as a semi platoon with Pache when he is.
Truner: plays 3B and Riley moves to LF. A LHH to platoon with Riley is still needed.
Cruz: Only an option with the DH, and the Braves still need 2 cOF bats that can platoon once Pache is ready (Rosario and Duvall).

I expect there to be a DH, and I expect the Braves to acquire Ozuna or Cruz plus a platoon like Joc or Rosario or Mazara plus someone like Duvall. I expect that to cost upwards of $25M, so hopefully AA left the budget space to make it happen. If he signed Smyly and then doesn't have the cash to add those bats...he made a mistake.
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Interesting, didn't even realize we hit so well against righties even with a mostly right handed lineup. I'm going to have to look into the stat breakdowns. I do remember Duvall hitting way better than expected against righties last year, that surely tipped the scales a bit.
 
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