Matt Olson to Braves!

Russ2dollas said:
t's being described as a haul by neutral observers for a reason.
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Have to hope the Braves think they're selling high on everyone but Pache. I personally think this looks like a pretty fair deal for the second-best 1B in the game right now.
 
bravesnumberone said:
Better go ahead and start working on a long-term deal. Otherwise, it's right back in the same spot in two years.
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I suspect Olson will only be a Brave for 2 years. Unless he extents for very team-friendly terms. AA only does long-term deals on team-friendly terms, and rightly so.
 
AJonesATL said:
Analytically its hard to argue against this unless your a prospect lover that hates giving up prospects. We got a guy that was statistically better last year, that is younger and likely about $20mm cheaper. Olson + another big bat is > Freeman next year - and that's ignoring the long-term.

Emotionally while it hurts, its pretty rare that we've seen the 30+ year old baseball player sign the big contract and make his old team regret letting him go years later. In a weird way the Acuna injury for those that are Acuna fanatics like I am, is almost the best example of why you should appreciate this trade. Why? Because Acuna is one of the most talented and exciting players ever - and this season sucked when he was healthy...and turned into the best memory Braves fans have had in almost three decades. The punchline is winning is >>> name on the back of the jersey. Punchline is while we have an emotional tie to players, it always comes down to the front of the jersey and this move should give us a better chance to win both now and in the future.

Just one question - Anyone have concerns or data alleviating concerns of how bad Olson was in 2020? The one thing he doesn't have is a track-record of consistency, albeit his power numbers look like they have always been there, so wondering if 2020 was a case of significant bad-luck?
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I was with you until the "Acuña sucked when he was healthy in 2021". He was, in fact, quite good, as he has always been thus far.
 
Love Freddie but Olson is a stud and is younger and I think they’ll end up extending him. AA should be able to move pretty quickly on Soler and possibly Rosario both. What pitchers are available?
 
Russ2dollas said:
Interesting that AA said, "Acuna can't PLAY THE FIELD until may." Is Acuna the DH? I'd think running the bases the way he does would be tough on the knees.
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There's several options to go.

Acuna DH'ing until late May. Ozuna can DH after.

I think AA just looking for solid depth. We could bring Soler back or Rosario to be a body in the field. And then flip straws on Soler and Ozuna DH'ing when Ronald goes back to the field.
 
jpx7 said:
I was with you until the "Acuña sucked when he was healthy in 2021". He was, in fact, quite good, as he has always been thus far.
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Acuna had the highest WAR in baseball before he got hurt. So he was the de facto best player in baseball up to the point.
 
Trading prospects isn’t without risk, but a guarantee of giving Freddie big money is that it limits the players you can retain or sign.

As long as payroll doesn’t go down (AA said it’s definitely “going up”), then this move makes much more sense than retaining Freddie. Olson’s prime window aligns perfectly with our core.

If the Braves gave the majority of their remaining payroll to sign Freddie, then we were always going to need to trade prospects (like Pache or Langeliers) to fill out the roster with more affordable options. I’m excited to see how AA uses the payroll flexibility.
 
jpx7 said:
Have to hope the Braves think they're selling high on everyone but Pache. I personally think this looks like a pretty fair deal for the second-best 1B in the game right now.
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I think for me it's about 1B. I just do not put a lot of thought on 1B. If I'm moving a lot of my chips I want to get an impact bat who plays basically any other position. We could stick most anyone at 1B IMO. I know 1B defense helps. I know the confidence in FF over there helps the other INF. BUT I'd rather have Ozuna at 1B and Renyolds in CF (Obviously don't know if the Renyolds is gettable) than Olson at 1B.
 
Russ2dollas said:
I said or, not both.

And I would be ok without the deal being made.

I would rather have used that group to get a player at another position and either signed FF or Signed Soler to play 1B.

I feel like this is the package to get Bryan Renyolds, maybe throw in another arm. I'd rather put my eggs in the CF who can hit basket (with more control and a lower salary number) than in a 1B.
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Reynolds probably costs substantially more than the Olson package, for the very reasons you mentioned. Plus, as Encheff has noted frequently, the A's have a history of preferring a group of higher-floor, near-MLB players over one single blue-chip guy—which coincidentally made them a good fit for what Anthopoulos could offer.
 
jpx7 said:
I was with you until the "Acuña sucked when he was healthy in 2021". He was, in fact, quite good, as he has always been thus far.
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He was saying the Braves sucked when Acuna was healthy last year, then took off later with him out. I think his point was that this isn't basketball, your team doesn't ride on a big star one way or another the way it does in other sports.
 
jpx7 said:
Reynolds probably costs substantially more than the Olson package, for the very reasons you mentioned. Plus, as Encheff has noted frequently, the A's have a history of preferring a group of higher-floor, near-MLB players over one single blue-chip guy—which coincidentally made them a good fit for what Anthopoulos could offer.
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But that is not this package unless you are really low on Pache. Pache and SL are low floor in the sense they have great Defense that will carry them. But they also have a lot of offensive potential. Cusick is a high ceiling guy we just drafted.

High floor low ceiling would be more like the WF Lefty over Cusick. Or Shewmake over Pache. Or taking a lot of the Davidson, Touki, Elder, Muller type guys.
 
Russ2dollas said:
But that is not this package unless you are really low on Pache. Pache and SL are low floor in the sense they have great Defense that will carry them. But they also have a lot of offensive potential. Cusick is a high ceiling guy we just drafted.

High floor low ceiling would be more like the WF Lefty over Cusick. Or Shewmake over Pache. Or taking a lot of the Davidson, Touki, Elder, Muller type guys.
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I like Langaliers, but I like Contreras more. And I'm just not sure I see the offensive potential of Pache; at this point, the hope was he'd hit enough to stick in the lineup.

Either way, I don't think any of that group is truly blue-chip—which is what I think it will take for Reynolds.
 
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