Power

So which outfield works best for us:

1) Kemp/Smith/Inciarte

2) Myers/Smith/Inciarte

3) Markakis/Smith/Inciarte
 
did I miss something... who is saying we don't need more power... it is clear we could use power at a minimum two more positions.. LF/C/3B-- at least two of those positions could use a guy who hits 20+ homers.. leave you burners in CF and RF/LF (depending).. defense and OBP up the middle.. if Ruiz is you guy at 3B.. then you need thunder at C and LF..

You must have missed all the posts claiming the team will be fine with a bunch of sub-.400 SLG% guys stealing bases all day as long as they aren't "holes in the lineup". Just scroll up a bit, maybe flip to the previous pages.
 
So which outfield works best for us:

1) Kemp/Smith/Inciarte

2) Myers/Smith/Inciarte

3) Markakis/Smith/Inciarte

None are good enough for a contending team. It needs to be:

LF - Braun/Cespedes
CF - Smith/Inciarte
RF - Markakis/Inciarte

Or don't even bother making a change.
 
None are good enough for a contending team. It needs to be:

LF - Braun/Cespedes

CF - Smith/Inciarte

RF - Markakis/Inciarte

Or don't even bother making a change.

if Cespedes puts up the numbers again this year, he would be a good get. not sure how much he would run though.. pretty steep, but Cespy/Smith/Ender OF would be pretty bad ass.. Freese or Turner at 3B with again.. Cerevilla/Flowers at C and you have a good team.. Need to fill in bench from minors..
 
if Cespedes puts up the numbers again this year, he would be a good get. not sure how much he would run though.. pretty steep, but Cespy/Smith/Ender OF would be pretty bad ass.. Freese or Turner at 3B with again.. Cerevilla/Flowers at C and you have a good team.. Need to fill in bench from minors..

Ces is probably pricing himself out of being a possibility for the Braves. I still think they should have signed him last offseason.

Kemp is doing better than I thought. A lineup like this wouldn't be bad at all:

Albies 2B
Swanson SS
Freeman 1B
Kemp LF
Markakis RF
Freese 3B
Cervelli C
Inciarte CF
 
I guess we will just have to agree to disagree.

You clearly think having a starting OF of Mallex/Inciarte/Markakis with a cumulative .400 SLG% ceiling (and probably much lower considering Inciarte has a MLB SLG% of .385, Markakis hasn't topped .400 since 2012, and Mallex has a SLG% of .385 in the minors) is how a playoff contender should be built. Albies will be in the very low .400's, and Swanson will be lucky to break .500 at the MLB level and will probably settle in the mid .400's. The only player currently in the organization who could approach a .500 SLG% is Freeman, and he is more likely to be in the .470-.480 range. We know 3B and C will be a disaster unless someone is acquired.

I think it makes sense to replace 1 or 2 of those guys with a guy that can slug in the 500's (like Braun or Cespedes). The funny thing is, even if the Braves added a couple .400 SLG% guys in Swanson and Albies they would STILL be dead last as a team in MLB. The offense is THAT bad. But hey, I guess it doesn't need to be addressed.

To each their own I suppose.

No one is saying it wouldn't be a good thing to add more pop in the lineup. I have said the exact opposite, for example in advocating for us drafting Kyle Lewis.

What will not help, however, is adding pop for the sake of adding pop. Matt Kemp has not been worth more than 1 WAR in any of the last 3 years because he is disastrous defensively. That would not help the team, no matter how many HR he hit or what kind of SLG he put up. Markakis is at least as good a player as Kemp at this point.

I want good players. Yes, usually power hitters are good players, but I don't want a guy with power who isn't a good player overall. That is my point. And yes, you can win with a lineup full of good players, even if they don't combine for 140 HR.
 
if I had to choose from that group.. kemp..

Again, Kemp has been worth either 1.3 (FG) or 2.0 (BR) WAR over the last 3 seasons combined. That is over a total of 377 games. And we would be paying him $18 million/year through 2019. The Padres would do whatever it took to get us to take him off their hands.
 
Again, Kemp has been worth either 1.3 (FG) or 2.0 (BR) WAR over the last 3 seasons combined. That is over a total of 377 games.

I wasn't happy about Kemp.. Not a fan of Myers either.. and I am over Neck personally. Station to station.. and no range. So none of those 'potentials' did much for me..
 
Ces is probably pricing himself out of being a possibility for the Braves. I still think they should have signed him last offseason.

Kemp is doing better than I thought. A lineup like this wouldn't be bad at all:

Albies 2B
Swanson SS
Freeman 1B
Kemp LF
Markakis RF
Freese 3B
Cervelli C
Inciarte CF

You seem happy to have sub-.400 SLG from RF, 3B, and C for someone so seemingly dead set against sub-.400 SLG.
 
What will not help, however, is adding pop for the sake of adding pop. Matt Kemp has not been worth more than 1 WAR in any of the last 3 years because he is disastrous defensively. That would not help the team, no matter how many HR he hit or what kind of SLG he put up. Markakis is at least as good a player as Kemp at this point.

Yup. But there are additional factors to take into account. I could see a scenario, depending on how much of Kemp's contract we have to take on and what we would have to give up in a trade, where I would trade for him. And then turn around and trade Markakis for a catcher.
 
Yup. But there are additional factors to take into account. I could see a scenario, depending on how much of Kemp's contract we have to take on and what we would have to give up in a trade, where I would trade for him. And then turn around and trade Markakis for a catcher.

For me, I don't really want Kemp, no matter what we're paying. He just isn't a guy, at this point in his career, who is going to help a team win games.
 
It seems to me there are two teams we should be putting some feelers out to. One is the Yankees regarding what they would want in return for McCann or Gary Sanchez. The other is the Padres on what they would want for Kemp or Myers. I'm not necessarily talking about doing this soon. But as something to be discussed with 2017 and beyond in mind.
 
Just to be clear, I don't like Kemp much at all, but I'm big on the idea of acquiring Myers.
 
I want good players. Yes, usually power hitters are good players, but I don't want a guy with power who isn't a good player overall. That is my point. And yes, you can win with a lineup full of good players, even if they don't combine for 140 HR.

All along I've thought that Mallex, Dansby, Ozzie and Ender would be ok in a lineup with a few more Freddies added. I'm starting to second guess myself. 140 HR is probably the starting point for home runs for good offensive teams. The four young guys and Freeman should give you 50 to 55 HR. If you add 60 to 65 HR at C, 3rd and LF that's 115 to 120 HR. That puts the burden of 20 HR on the bench. That maybe asking to much of the bench.

Looking at it this way I don't believe a future outfield of Ender and Mallex will work unless one or them finds some pop.
 
I wouldn't be entirely opposed to McCann, but I wouldn't love it, either. I, like others, like the idea of Cervelli more, but his price will likely be pretty high and for more years.

I think everybody realizes it at this point, but I would say 'no thanks' on either Kemp or Myers. If it had to be one, though, give me Myers.
 
Just to be clear, I don't like Kemp much at all, but I'm big on the idea of acquiring Myers.

One thing to keep in mind about Kemp and Myers is the financial side. Myers has three arb years left after this year. He will cost more in prospects. With Kemp we can make use of the financial flexibility we will have next year to minimize how much we have to send back in the way of talent.
 
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