State of the braves

Trading Sale would be beyond dumb bc we would just need to replace him in the offseason. 18 million dollar option for what he's bringing is a no brainer to keep.
 
Trading Sale would be beyond dumb bc we would just need to replace him in the offseason. 18 million dollar option for what he's bringing is a no brainer to keep.
Yeah, that option makes him extremely valuable. If strider is done and AJSS is out, we don't have enough pitching. Reload
 
I'm not worried about Strider. Give him a full offseason and I think he's ok. Him, Sale, and Schwellenbach are a very good top 3. Go out and sign Dylan Cease in the offseason and it looks even better.
 
Don’t think a full sell off is needed, but moving some pieces makes more sense than not. Will also ensure we dip below the tax threshold and reset for next season.

Sell off Ozuna and Sale. Should be able to recover top end talent for them. Sell Murphy if you can get a few prospects back. Sell Iglesias for a bag of baseballs. Move a few pen pieces on expiring deals for a few minor league baseball cards.

Next season you hope Strider returns to form and SS takes another step.

Time to overhaul the coaching staff in general. The past few seasons of losing Freeman, Swanson, and Fried has crushed the leadership in the locker room. Need to get in a new voice.
 
Fried doesn't strike me as the leader type. He is having a heck of a season though. Keep Sale, SS, and Strider together next year and build on that. With the CBA coming up after next year and the tax getting reset after this year AA should be able to spend big this offseason.
 
The problem is they didnt sell last year after losing Acuna and Strider. We could have traded Fried, Minter and Iglesias and got under the luxury tax and got players who could help us soon. I suggested at the time Fried/Minter for Andy Pages, Trey Sweeney and a pitching prospect in the high minors. Instead we got nothing for Minter and like a 4th round pick in the upcoming draft. I dont think this season is over now that they let almost half the league in the playoffs but the team needs a shakeup.
 
Fried doesn't strike me as the leader type. He is having a heck of a season though. Keep Sale, SS, and Strider together next year and build on that. With the CBA coming up after next year and the tax getting reset after this year AA should be able to spend big this offseason.
It's traditionally been difficult for a pitcher to be the locker room leader. There are exceptions (I think of a guy like Scherzer), but leadership roles usually land with everyday players. I agree that Sale is one of the only guys on the team that seems to have a sense of urgency about him.
 
at this point I am relegating Riggy to bottom of the order only relief pitcher.. rehab the stats the best I can and hopefully dump him at the deadline... pay his salary and hope to get a lottery guy or maybe if he rebounds against weaker hitters and decent prospect back. Outside of him, I don't see anything else of value from the pen side.. maybe if you want to dump Prince Albert with his '26 option, you could get a good return.. but you don't want to have to completely rebuild the pen next year..

from the starters, I don't think there is much value this year.. you are not trading Sale (he would return a good package), but you want to compete next year and you are not finding ace level pitching for under 20 million like that...

hitters.. lol.. nothing.. I look at offers on Ozuna and Murphy.. but that is probably the only value that would be realistic to sell... not sure you are getting a whole lot for either.. but if you can dump the Murph salary, it could be worth it. But I do feel it is bad juju to sign someone to an extension and then basically play him part time then dump him 2 years later because a rookie (who might turn into Harris 2.0) pushed you out. So if Ozuna can get quality return, I am probably keep MethHead and rolling the dice with him and others at DH.
 
I think Murph could net us a very solid package if we trade him. Cardinals, Giants, Padres, and Astros all should have some interest. Maybe the Royals too with Perez looking like he is toast and on an expiring.
 
There is 0% chance AA punts 2026 with Acuna, Sale, and a Strider potentially at full strength.

This team very recently won a title despite a 10% playoff chances, so there is a very small chance we see AA be a seller at the deadline.

If the season continues to go off the rails, the only real trade candidates are Ozuna and Iglesias. I would consider moving Murphy to let Baldwin catch 140 games in 2026.

Now that the tax is reset AA could legitimately have upwards of $100M to spend in 2026. That kind of cash gets Tucker and Bichette and a quality SP. I'm usually against long term FA contracts, but this window is closing, so if there's any time to go all in on FA deals, it's now.

Once this team loses Acuna and Sale the run is likely over. So one more push in 2026 then look at a rebuild that's hopefully short-lived if they can't extend Sale like they did Morton.
 
I think Murph could net us a very solid package if we trade him. Cardinals, Giants, Padres, and Astros all should have some interest. Maybe the Royals too with Perez looking like he is toast and on an expiring.
After this year Murphy is owed 3/45 with another $15M option. It's starting to look like 2024 was definitely the aberration, and he would be extremely valuable in a trade.

A well executed trade of Murphy could possibly eliminate the need for a rebuild in 2-3 years, and would not weaken the catcher position much now that Baldwin has proven to be legit. He slots perfectly in the 5/6 slot of a contender's lineup, and could bring back a significant package of young players.
 
I don't trade Murphy. It's nice having 2 excellent catchers to keep each other fresh. Let Ozuna walk next year and use that money towards a SP like Cease and let guys rotate through the DH spot. I like Ozuna but he is literally a bat only guy and really limits you if you need to rest guys like Acuna in the field or have 2 catchers like we do that can both hit. The BP is gonna need a lot of work in the offseason and we're gonna need 2 good SP also along with a SS so AA is gonna really have his work cut out for him.
 
I think Iggy and one of Ozuna/Murphy. The Braves would probably rather trade Ozuna, but there could be a better market for Murphy.
 
There is 0% chance AA punts 2026 with Acuna, Sale, and a Strider potentially at full strength.

This team very recently won a title despite a 10% playoff chances, so there is a very small chance we see AA be a seller at the deadline.

If the season continues to go off the rails, the only real trade candidates are Ozuna and Iglesias. I would consider moving Murphy to let Baldwin catch 140 games in 2026.

Now that the tax is reset AA could legitimately have upwards of $100M to spend in 2026. That kind of cash gets Tucker and Bichette and a quality SP. I'm usually against long term FA contracts, but this window is closing, so if there's any time to go all in on FA deals, it's now.

Once this team loses Acuna and Sale the run is likely over. So one more push in 2026 then look at a rebuild that's hopefully short-lived if they can't extend Sale like they did Morton.
This is where I'm at. Go hard after 2 of Tucker, Bichette, and Cease. The time for AA to push his chips in will be this offseason and with how last offseason went and how much crap he's getting for the bad offseason he's not gonna repeat that mistake of sitting back bc it completely backfired. The tax is reset and with the CBA up in the air after next year then just go for it all.
 
If they do trade Murphy they will probably get a pretty good haul back. A lot of teams need a C and Murphy is top 5 and with 3/45 left after this year that's a pretty good deal.
Murphy also has an option. He is very valuable.

AA has a chance to deal from a position of extreme strength to patch up a couple weak areas. A smart trade of Murphy could mean no rebuild when Acuna/Sale leave.
 
LF isn't really a need (yet)...like it or not, the Braves have to see what they got in Profar. Biggest needs - in my opinion - are SS (Allen is fine as a defensive replacement, but they need to find a way to lengthen the lineup), 2B (Ozzie appears to be done as an above-average contributor), a solid arm for the rotation who doesn't show a bunch of warning signs when it comes to imminent injury, late-inning relief, and bench.

Sale should absolutely be on the trading block barring major improvements to our playoff prospects by July. As should Ozuna and Albies. These guys are likely at the peak value for the remainder of their careers right now. Sure it would suck to lose an ace pitcher...but that pitcher is going to be 37 years old by the start of next season and has a long injury history. What are the odds that his performance a year from now is comparable to what he's currently doing? Take the haul that some team in "win now" mode is willing to give up for him. Similar logic applies to the other guys.
 
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