Looking Ahead - The 2020 Offseason Thread

Boy I do hope that AA didn’t do all this this offseason to just neglect the fringe upgrades. I can’t imagined him missing the easiest parts to fill.
 
Melancon has his flaws and I'm not sure he's the best option to close for much longer but I was a huge fan of the guy so I'm heartbroken over that. I think Atlanta had their closer in Will Smith (yes, 2020 be damned), so I get that. Just grab Rosenthal so I feel better.
 
bravesfanforlife88 said:
Done deal....ouch
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I don't care much about MM. We NEED at least one, RH, relief pitcher with some pedigree for a couple of million. At this point, MM is just a guy IMO. He's solid but he's not missing bats. We just need a good RH other than Martin. If they want to try Wilson, Touki, etc in the pen, ok. But IMO we have to have a RH that we are pretty sure can get it done.

LH bat for the bench and RH RP are essentials IMO.
 
I'm fine with the pen the way it is. Melancon was such a heart attack almost every time he took the mound. To his credit, he had a knack for getting out of jams, but he was still frustrating. I feel much more comfortable with Smith, Martin, or even Matzek closing out games.

Between Newk, Touki, and the rest of the Gwinnett crew, we have enough quality pen options behind our projected opening day pen. I'm more worried about rounding out the roster with quality bench players. Bruce and Cabrera match up with our needs extremely well. They really need to be in Atl uni's to start the year.

Also, let's get Flowers back in here. He'll be super cheap again and is a pretty amazing back-up catcher.
 
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I have always thought AA considered Smyly as a extra bullpen arm come playoffs. We still need at least one more pen addition though.
 
UNCBlue012 said:
Melancon has his flaws and I'm not sure he's the best option to close for much longer but I was a huge fan of the guy so I'm heartbroken over that. I think Atlanta had their closer in Will Smith (yes, 2020 be damned), so I get that. Just grab Rosenthal so I feel better.
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He could cause a bit of heartburn, but I enjoyed watching Melancon pitch. Absolute throwback "here it is" kind of pitcher. If there is such a thing as a legitimate closer by definition, Melancon probably isn't it. Great competitor.
 
Jay212033 said:
Jeremy Walker must be done because he was just released to sign former Brave Travis Demeritte.
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Probably done for this year. I believe he had shoulder or elbow surgery. I always found it hard to believe that he wasn't on the 60-day DL last year.

Edit: Jeremy Walker was on the 60-day DL last year.
 
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Demerritte not a bad guy to have sitting in AAA. Didn't get much of a chance for the Tigers. I suspect he'll never amount to anything substantial, but he's got enough skills where he could still prove to be a useful player.
 
MadduxFanII said:
I think you could go into the season with the bullpen we have now and feel like it could work out. You absolutely can't do that with the bench as it stands.
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Agreed. I actually really like some of the small, cheap, potentially-productive moves they've made around the margins of the pen. But the bench / position-player depth is trash, and that really needs to be remedied as soon as it feasibly can.
 
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