Official off-season trade rumor and suggestion thread

Braves1976 said:
Speaking of Cuban players, here's another interesting Cuban CF and RHH that may be better than Dayron Varona. MLBTR reports:

"Center fielder Guillermo Heredia has defected from Cuba in order to pursue a contract with a Major League club, reports Baseball America’s Ben Badler. The 23-year-old Heredia is old enough and has enough professional experience in Cuba’s Serie Nacional to be exempt from international spending limitations.

Badler ranked Heredia, who will 24 at the end of the month, as the 11th-best player in Cuba back in August, and while Badler notes that he’d drop Heredia on a newer list, that’s due more to the emergence of young players than anything Heredia has done to drop his stock. Heredia runs well and is a plus defender in center field with good range and reads as well as a strong throwing arm, Badler writes."

This kid sounds even better than Varona, if so I'd like to sign him but he probably won't become available till after opening day according to MLBTR.
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I wonder if the thaw with Cuba will allow more Cuban players to head to the US. It would be nice to have a more organized way to funnel Cuban players into the big leagues as opposed to having a huge bidding war every time one defects.

Dayron Varona has to be one of the coolest names I've heard.
 
Braves1976 said:
There were certainly some that implied if not outright said we had a real shot at signing him. Shoot, multiple posters had line-ups drawn up with him listed.
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I'm the "ring-leader" of that group tyvm, and will wait until I see that situation play out or hear it from a more reliable source than DOB before I think that door's been closed. Remember, Hart speaks GM-Speak better than most - we weren't necessarily trading Heyward, Justin, or Gattis until they were gone. We weren't "rebuilding" and looking toward 2017 from the day he took over - even though I wasn't alone in saying so the minute JS expressed an interest in having him come in. This is Hart's specialty, and he's one of the (if not the) best at what he's doing right now. Other GMs tend to get more press - Theo and Jed, Friedman, Beane, etc. - but their forte is making something from nothing over 5-7 years (although Beane has been pretty good once he got the A's to a higher level). Hart was given a 2 year period to completely retool a contender and turn it back into a contender that could sustain success, and he's already made huge strides in accomplishing just that.

Moncada is a bit of a pipe dream for most clubs that aren't in Boston, New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles because of the dollars that will be involved, but the point still remains - they didn't clear all this payroll space for nothing and we will see payroll increase as we move into the new park. Many doubted their sincerity in the pursuit of Lester but it was serious - the timing indeed just wasn't right. The dollars weren't the issue. If you were going to get the two best seasons of a Lester deal BEFORE the new stadium opens, it just didn't make much sense. If you assume (like some of us do) that the finances are there for two or even three big expenditures before the new stadium opens (and that revenues will continue to grow), there are plenty of big-ticket items available once we see what we have in what we've landed thus far...

2016

David Price

Jordan Zimmerman

Johnny Cueto

Mat Latos

Rick Porcello

Doug Fister

Jason Heyward

Justin Upton

Yoenis Cespedes

Denard Span

Dexter Fowler

2017

Steven Strasburg

Andrew Cashner

Greg Holland

Aroldis Chapman

Jose Bautista

Carlos Gomez

Alex Gordon

Neil Walker

The Braves are going to play big on a couple of players that many in the industry aren't expecting them to, and considering Moncada is the only one of those not named Gomez, Span, Fowler, Walker, or Heyward that's capable of being a middle of the diamond player I won't rule him out until he signs elsewhere.
 
Can we please trade John Hart up North?

Jeff Hoffman, who the Blue Jays selected ninth overall in the 2014 draft, is being discussed as compensation in the Duquette to Toronto negotiations.
 
cajunrevenge said:
We should sign that Heywood fella, I hear he is black jesus.
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black-jesus-sacred.jpg


No, MLB rules say that you're ineligible to sign with a team which has denied you thrice.
 
tomahawkchop10 said:
I see us making a run at Price next year. Then I'd like to see us interested in Gordon in 2017.
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No, no, no, no.

If we make a play for anyone, it's hopefully some hitting.

We've acqiuired a buttload of pitching this winter, would be a waste.

I think Minor is dealt but between Julio, Wood, Hale, Fried, ManBan, Folty, Sims, Sanchez, Jenkins, Miller, among others, we should be fine there for awhile.

There is zero need to sign a pitcher for massive dollars, NONE.
 
tomahawkchop10 said:
I see us making a run at Price next year. Then I'd like to see us interested in Gordon in 2017.
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It's well within the realm of possibility. The free agent market is flooded with premium arms next offseason, so I think it's likely the team makes a play for one of them if they feel they can add a TOR piece at below, or even slightly below, market value. If that creates a log jam in the rotation it's almost idyllic -- choose your favorites and move the others for offense (because there are precious few impact bats available over the next two FA cycles.)
 
Jeff Passan ‏@JeffPassan 7m7 minutes ago
Sources: Milwaukee in serious discussions with Phillies to acquire Jonathan Papelbon. Unclear if Brewers are on Papelbon's no-trade list.
 
To me it doesn't make sense to sign a pitcher with the payroll budget. The team has two aces already.
 
Braves1976 said:
Speaking of Cuban players, here's another interesting Cuban CF and RHH that may be better than Dayron Varona. MLBTR reports:

"Center fielder Guillermo Heredia has defected from Cuba in order to pursue a contract with a Major League club, reports Baseball America’s Ben Badler. The 23-year-old Heredia is old enough and has enough professional experience in Cuba’s Serie Nacional to be exempt from international spending limitations.

Badler ranked Heredia, who will 24 at the end of the month, as the 11th-best player in Cuba back in August, and while Badler notes that he’d drop Heredia on a newer list, that’s due more to the emergence of young players than anything Heredia has done to drop his stock. Heredia runs well and is a plus defender in center field with good range and reads as well as a strong throwing arm, Badler writes."

This kid sounds even better than Varona, if so I'd like to sign him but he probably won't become available till after opening day according to MLBTR.
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I couldn't handle this board if we sign a guy that is defense first... The glove boner that this guy would give nscapi and zeets would be just too much to bear. We would have to hear about how many WAR he got us while finishing almost dead last in runs scored, again.

:tchop:
 
thethe said:
To me it doesn't make sense to sign a pitcher with the payroll budget. The team has two aces already.
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That depends on if Teheran and Wood can develop into top of the rotation, game 1 & 2 type starters. Certainly possible though.
 
I think we're pretty much done signing and trading (until July anyway). I'd be interested to see who everybody thinks will be the 25 man roster when we break camp.
 
Fangraph's Kiley McDaniel reports that catcher Lorenzo Quintana has defected from Cuba.

Quintana batted .270/.362/.413 with four homers over 35 games this past season in Serie Nacional and won a Gold Glove a few years ago. The 25-year-old is exempt from MLB’s international bonus pools since he's played more than five years in Cuba. He'll need to establish residency and be cleared by the OFAC before being allowed to sign with a major league club.
 
@JesseSanchezMLB: More than 200 scouts attended workout for Hector Olivera last week in DR. SFG, SD, TX, ATL, NYY among teams showing strong interest. #Cuba

Hector Olivera defected from Cuba last September in hopes of signing with an MLB team and he’s drawing plenty of interest.

According to Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com, more than 200 scouts attended a workout for Olivera last week in the Dominican Republic. The 29-year-old second baseman still has to be cleared by the U.S. government before signing with the a team, but Sanchez writes that the Giants, Padres, Rangers, Braves, and Yankees are among the teams showing strong interest in him.

Olivera has long been considered one of the best players in Cuba. In fact, Baseball America ranked him as the No. 6 player in Cuba last August, but he carries some questions due to his age and injury history. He missed the entire 2012-13 season due to thrombosis in his left biceps and hasn’t played in any international competition since. However, he batted .316/.412/.474 with seven home runs over 273 plate appearances in his return to Serie Nacional last season while amassing more walks (38) than strikeouts (25), so he can still get it done with the bat. It’s worth noting that he spent a lot of his time at DH, so he might have to prove that he can stick at second base stateside.

PS: Braves hoping to sign Olivera to replace CJ at third by 2016?
 
Here's more on Hector Olivera from BA: "At around 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, Olivera is a physical righthanded hitter with a loose, quick swing and a good hitting approach. He showed good power for a middle infielder, and given that several Cuban players have transformed their bodies and increased their power since leaving the island, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Olivera did the same. His size, athleticism and plus speed (at least at his peak) made him one of the most well-rounded players in Cuba."

Source: Top Teams For Cuban Infielder Hector Olivera
 
Beachy close to signing with a new team, working out financial details.

Doesnt say who it is though.
 
Braves1976 said:
Here's more on Hector Olivera from BA: "At around 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, Olivera is a physical righthanded hitter with a loose, quick swing and a good hitting approach. He showed good power for a middle infielder, and given that several Cuban players have transformed their bodies and increased their power since leaving the island, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Olivera did the same. His size, athleticism and plus speed (at least at his peak) made him one of the most well-rounded players in Cuba."

Source: Top Teams For Cuban Infielder Hector Olivera
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Glad the Braves are at least kicking the tires on Olivera. Way more realistic target than Moncada, and seems to be a solid player. Would fit short term at 2B and long term at 3B. There's a chance that timing would benefit us if OFAC clears him soon. Many suitors have already exhausted their 2015 budget and we still have enough room to sign someone like this. Not to mention, we can entice him with immediate playing time at 2B.
 
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