Looking Ahead - The 2020 Offseason Thread

Riley doesn’t even have a full season of ABs yet. I would probably wait until the end of year to call him valuable or a bust. He has the raw power to be a star. Just not sure the hit skill to realize it.
 
Carp said:
He was a negative WAR player in 2020, and according to Fangraphs has only been worth .1 WAR for his career, so I wouldn't say he is a "great value" at his current production. All in all, he's been a replacement level player up to this point in his career. We'll see if that changes, but at this point he's looking more like a lefty smashing bench bat.
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It’s important to remember Riley only has 503 career PAs, and only 120 against LHP. That’s not even a full season yet. A replacement level player with upside for more who is making league minimum is fine for the worst regular on a contending team.

He made real improvements last year, and those improvements were in the exact areas he needed to improve. This season he should get another 500+ PAs, and we will have a better idea as to whether or not the progression continues.

Projections have him at about .250/.310/.460, which is a roughly average bat that belongs in the bottom half of the order. But those same projections are also projecting no improvement in his BB rate, and a negative regression in his K rate. If he maintains that sub-25% K rate and improves his BB rate even a little, he is capable of being an above average bat with average-ish defense at 3b. That’s a 2 win guy at league minimum as the worst regular on the team...which is a great scenario.
 
Yes Riley made improvements last season but his play in the postseason was alarming. Good pitching destroyed him. I am worried his improved plate discipline will come at cost of effectiveness. He might just not have what it takes. But he deserves a shot for sure. Maybe more time learning pitch recognition will help. I don’t know.
 
bravesfanMatt said:
Yes Riley made improvements last season but his play in the postseason was alarming. Good pitching destroyed him. I am worried his improved plate discipline will come at cost of effectiveness. He might just not have what it takes. But he deserves a shot for sure. Maybe more time learning pitch recognition will help. I don’t know.
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I think being skeptical of Riley is smart. That said we shall see what happens.

I will predict at least 3 stories in the preseason about Chipper and Riley being best friends and Chipper mentoring him. IF Riley does well I expect every national broadcast to talk about Chipper as the Riley whisperer.
 
Enscheff said:
It’s important to remember Riley only has 503 career PAs, and only 120 against LHP. That’s not even a full season yet. A replacement level player with upside for more who is making league minimum is fine for the worst regular on a contending team.

He made real improvements last year, and those improvements were in the exact areas he needed to improve. This season he should get another 500+ PAs, and we will have a better idea as to whether or not the progression continues.

Projections have him at about .250/.310/.460, which is a roughly average bat that belongs in the bottom half of the order. But those same projections are also projecting no improvement in his BB rate, and a negative regression in his K rate. If he maintains that sub-25% K rate and improves his BB rate even a little, he is capable of being an above average bat with average-ish defense at 3b. That’s a 2 win guy at league minimum as the worst regular on the team...which is a great scenario.
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I'm not saying he has no value or that he can't get better. But it was stated that he's a "great value" even at his current production. I just don't agree with that. His current production is not what I would categorize as great value, even for someone making league minimum.
 
Swanson won’t be traded. Not only is he a 2-3 WAR player, but he’s also a fan favorite. He loves the kids, not like my boy sleepy Joe, but you get the point.
 
Why is everyone trying to sneak politics in today. Are we having a sneaky political joke day.

If so I saw this one the other day.

Why is trumps presidential memoir twice the size of any other president.


Because he has 7 chapter 11’s.

Disclaimer:
The jokes in this post do not represent the views of this poster, the board or any advertisers making the chosen one money.
 
Sheffield10 said:
Swanson won’t be traded. Not only is he a 2-3 WAR player, but he’s also a fan favorite. He loves the kids, not like my boy sleepy Joe, but you get the point.
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Probably not, unless he had a gigantic year and his arb number goes crazy. I do not feel they sign him back unless it’s a team friendly deal. His injury history along with his up and down production would be concerning otherwise.9
 
TheBravos said:
Probably not, unless he had a gigantic year and his arb number goes crazy. I do not feel they sign him back unless it’s a team friendly deal. His injury history along with his up and down production would be concerning otherwise.9
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if he has a great year the Braves will want to keep him no matter what his arb number is. at that point it's a one year deal and you hope he does it again.
 
Super said:
if he has a great year the Braves will want to keep him no matter what his arb number is. at that point it's a one year deal and you hope he does it again.
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Correct. But even with a monster year his arb number still won’t go that high. So you could have a 4-5 win SS for 10 million. So you keep that.
 
Someone correct me if I’m wrong. If a veteran player signs a minor league with a team doesn’t the player have to the option to void the deal and become a free agent at the end of spring training? If that’s the case there could be some interesting bench pieces available at end of spring training. It seems more veterans have signed minor league deals than past years.
The Braves bench if weak right now. Maybe AA is waiting until spring training to fill out the bench.
 
JxnMissFan said:
Someone correct me if I’m wrong. If a veteran player signs a minor league with a team doesn’t the player have to the option to void the deal and become a free agent at the end of spring training? If that’s the case there could be some interesting bench pieces available at end of spring training. It seems more veterans have signed minor league deals than past years.
The Braves bench if weak right now. Maybe AA is waiting until spring training to fill out the bench.
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Most veterans that sign these minor league deals do so with a clause in their contract allowing them to become a free agent if their team determines they will not make the major league roster. Usually it is a date prior to the end of spring training to give the player an opportunity to catch on with another team and potentially win a spot on that roster
 
bravesfanforlife88 said:
Most veterans that sign these minor league deals do so with a clause in their contract allowing them to become a free agent if their team determines they will not make the major league roster. Usually it is a date prior to the end of spring training to give the player an opportunity to catch on with another team and potentially win a spot on that roster
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I think that's the case pretty much all the time for the top-tier guys who sign minor league deals. Some of the lower level guys have clauses where termination rights are granted a couple of weeks into the minor league season. It also works the other way where a contract becomes guaranteed after a certain date, which leads to some guys being released at the end of spring training.
 
The point is there will likely be some very good players available in ST just because they aren’t the right fit for the spot their teams have available on their roster.
 
mfree80 said:
The point is there will likely be some very good players available in ST just because they aren’t the right fit for the spot their teams have available on their roster.
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It’s pretty optimistic to describe those guys as “very good players” or to count on finding quality contributors among the group of vets who get cut in spring training.
 
MadduxFanII said:
It’s pretty optimistic to describe those guys as “very good players” or to count on finding quality contributors among the group of vets who get cut in spring training.
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i personally don’t think they’ll be much different than guys like Asdrubal Cabrera.
 
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