Matt Olson to Braves!

Duval is a fake it in CF type.
Yates is not going to available for a while. His contract suggests we expect to get value in 2023.

I'm not sure who we can get to play in the OF for our pitching depth. We just traded our one big upside guy.

It's certainly possible we can get solid 4/5 production from a couple of Wright, Davidson, Strider, Muller, Touki, Ynoa and Elder. But that is a pretty big gamble on 40% of the rotation. Especially with Morton old and off a broken leg. And Fried seems like a guy that needs rest. I'm sure we'll sign an Annibal Sanchez type too. We do every year and they get 1 million if they make the team.

I'm good with taking a low risk option like that. But I WANT to give those guys the opporutnity to fail/succeed and that outcome means much more to the Braves long term than 8 million on some #4 veteran pitcher.
 
Right, but even if we sign someone we still can put one of those guys in the rotation. It doesn't seem smart to expect Anderson/Morton/Fried to stay healthy all season. You don't want to suddenly be in May with a rotation of Morton/Elder/Ynoa/Wright/Muller because Anderson needs surgery and Fried has a blister.

But I would like to keep in reserve enough to make a significant upgrade at the deadline that costs nothing but assuming a contract.
 
Lets assume Soler in LF. By June 1st this is the lineup:

Acuna
Olson
Ozuna
Soler
Riley
Albies
TDA
Duvall
Dansby

That is a STACKED lineup. Depending on how Ozuna bounces back you could be talking about top 5 in the league.

Top 3 in the rotation is very good. Back end has a lot of high end talent guys.

Back end of bullpen is great with help from the arms that don't make it to the starting rotation.

I think the team looks very good after the one outfield signing.

Then at the deadline you take a big contract for a pitcher off a teams hands.

Because the back end rotation guys you are counting on have proven nothing. We aren't a developing team, we are champs.... I'm not gambling rotation spots with arms that have barely had any sustained success in MLB... that's just not smart. And you're way too comfortable with the very real health problems that our staff has exhibited.
 
Olson was already better than Freeman in 2021?

I was talking more as far as ceiling and historical performance. Freeman at 27 had logged 2000 more PA and better offensive numbers even with the general not greatness of Freeman's first 2 seasons.
 
Because the back end rotation guys you are counting on have proven nothing. We aren't a developing team, we are champs.... I'm not gambling rotation spots with arms that have barely had any sustained success in MLB... that's just not smart. And you're way too comfortable with the very real health problems that our staff has exhibited.

I'm making a calculation that the team overall is good enough to make the playoffs after the obvious LF addition we are going to make.

I don't really care about adding a middle ot back end rotation spot to increase the regular season win total by 1-2.
 
How many more good years will Freddie need to make the HOF? Will 4 more mostly healthy years around career averages be enough?
 
I was talking more as far as ceiling and historical performance. Freeman at 27 had logged 2000 more PA and better offensive numbers even with the general not greatness of Freeman's first 2 seasons.

Freeman's been building a borderline HoF career. Olson will likely not be able to boast that by the end of his career.

Nevertheless, I think Olson will be the more productive player from 2022 until the end of Freeman's career. And unfortunately that is what the Braves needed to prioritize.
 
How many more good years will Freddie need to make the HOF? Will 4 more mostly healthy years around career averages be enough?

He doesn’t have the huge peak other HOF have, so his case will need to be made on sustained excellence. Four years at ~4 WAR will get him in the discussion (~60 WAR, ~ 400 home runs, ~2300 hits), but probably not lock status. I think he would need at least two more years of league average production on top of that to guarantee it.
 
I wonder if AA is more shaken by Freeman leaving or that he gave up 4 prospects to get a player? It's very much in character for AA not give out a long term high AAV deal. It's very out of character for AA to part with 4 prospects. Especially prospects with the potential to contribute.

I'm ok with what AA gave up. Pache and SL are most likely glove first players. They aren't the guys that can carry a team. Plus catcher seems to be one of the positions that can be efficiently addressed by bringing in free agent veterans. As all Braves fans know, the chance of minor league pitchers ever making it to the majors is a crap shoot. So no strong feelings from me when it comes to trading pitchers.

I think Freddie will go to a surprise team. I'm sure the Dodgers are only offering a 3 year deal. I hate to see Freddie go. I think he has 3 to 4 more good years in him but AA made the right call for the future of the Braves.
 
Watch the Phillies or Mets get FF. I'd hate him in the division

Well. FF tried to recruit Harper to ATL before.

maybe Harper brings him to PHI and they can be in perennial 3rd-4th place together and block October out of their schedules for boating and hunting.
 
[video]https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/video/jim-bowden-joins-chris-hassel-to-discuss-the-breaking-news-that-the-braves-have-traded-for-1b-matt-olson-from-the-as/[/video]
 
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