Suzuki signs a 1 year deal

Sounds like Suzuki is betting on himself and that makes me more positive about his future. I think he could have got a 3 year deal for 6+ million from some team this winter. Funny that he has less at bats in his career year since 2007.
 
Good signing. Hope they can get Flowers to add a few years to his deal. I expect the Flowers / Suzuki combo to regress a little next year but they should still be an overall above average combo.

I don't think Sitzer gets enough credit. He is the one coach that seems to be getting results. Suzuki gives him a lot of credit, Ender is better than I thought he would ever be, and Freddie has turned into a beast since he has been the hitting coach. The hitting the last two years has been ok considering the talent on the team. Really the only guy that has not produced like they should is Dansby.
 
nsacpi said:
There was an interesting article in the AJC yesterday about him. Here is part of it.



It’s hard to fathom what’s prompted such exuberate results, but some credit goes to Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, who altered Suzuki’s practice swing.

“I used to do a one-handed finish in batting practice, and I wouldn’t do it in the game, and I’d tell myself mentally in the game to do it, to let go with one hand, and I couldn’t do it,” Suzuki said. “So (Seitzer) said, ‘Why don’t you just practice the way you hit in the game?’ So I went and hit and I probably hit about 150 balls that day. I just tried to be loose and finish with two hands until it became a habit. I can’t let go now, it’s hard for me to let go with one hand. So it’s instilled now.”

Suzuki is a bargain at $1.5 million. But his contract is set to expire, and the lure of being closer to his family in California and home in Hawaii may be too powerful to forgo.

The incoming pay day will play a role as well. Alongside Jonathan Lucroy and Matt Wieters, Suzuki heads an otherwise scarce free agent market for catchers. Safe to assume he won’t have to wait through the dog days of January to find his next destination this time around.

“Yeah, I don’t see why not,” Suzuki said about re-signing. “It’s a great place. I like all the guys here and stuff. But there’s a lot of factors: family, my kids starting school (in California), proximity to home (Hawaii). There’s a lot of things you can factor in, but you know, this is a place I’ve grown to love.”
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If only Chipper listened to me.
 
Have to feel good about any deal where you get good value on a high character veteran on a one year contract. Price for veteran catching continues to be very low. It's a great situation for the Braves, given their organizational depth issues at C.
 
Ha, yeah I'm a little more bullish on this one, but I also loved the Colon signing, so my optimism in on year deals is probably bordering on irrational.
 
dak said:
Ha, yeah I'm a little more bullish on this one, but I also loved the Colon signing, so my optimism in on year deals is probably bordering on irrational.
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In the end the Colon signing did no harm to the future of this team. It didn't work out but even if it did it wouldn't have changed anything.
 
True enough. It didn't work out, but many of the other FA and trade targets that seemed attracitve on 2 or 3 year commitments also ended up looking bad, so it could be worse.
 
Historically speaking, no one-year deal can be considered bad. You can always cut your losses and move on. But Suzuki might be around longer than that.

FYI: I like him behind he plate much more than Flow.
 
rico43 said:
FYI: I like him behind he plate much more than Flow.
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Yeah, who wants an elite pitch framer behind the plate with a team rebuilding around a young pitching staff when you can have a below average one back there instead?

Framing schmaming.
 
resigning a backup catcher coming off a real good year to a reasonable one year deal is pretty ok with me. If he regresses you are still paying him to be the backup catcher.
 
BeanieAntics said:
Oh wow, I would have never thought we could have gotten him for that cheap, even though I think its perfectly fair given I think Suzuki is performing wayyy above his head at the moment. Awesome signing
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If he duplicates it next year, he cashed in with multi-year deal after.
 
rico43 said:
FYI: I like him behind he plate much more than Flow.
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Why? Not mocking, seriously asking. The metrics mostly agree that Flowers is a much better framer, so I'd really like to read your rationale.
 
jpx7 said:
Why? Not mocking, seriously asking. The metrics mostly agree that Flowers is a much better framer, so I'd really like to read your rationale.
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Certainly not arguing those metrics - no doubt in my mind that Flowers is correctly ranked as the better framer - it's just a "feel" thing for me. I'm sure someone might be able to dig up info on this, but Tyler seems to miss a lot of foul tips, many that I think he ought to catch at times. He also seems to get crossed-up and has to lunge a lot more often than Suzuki - but the blame for that could very well lie with the Pitchers, who knows? I actually only prefer one over the other when Folty or Newcomb are on the mound since I think Tyler's much better suited to consistently steal strikes for them when they already struggle to throw enough quality ones to begin with.
 
clvclv said:
Certainly not arguing those metrics - no doubt in my mind that Flowers is correctly ranked as the better framer - it's just a "feel" thing for me. I'm sure someone might be able to dig up info on this, but Tyler seems to miss a lot of foul tips, many that I think he ought to catch at times. He also seems to get crossed-up and has to lunge a lot more often than Suzuki - but the blame for that could very well lie with the Pitchers, who knows? I actually only prefer one over the other when Folty or Newcomb are on the mound since I think Tyler's much better suited to consistently steal strikes for them when they already struggle to throw enough quality ones to begin with.
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I hear the same from a friend who played and coached a lot of baseball (that's not meant to disqualify board members' respective opinions, my meaning is he knows a lot more than me). He's not at all a fan of Flowers's defensive game for the reasons you list above.
 
thewupk said:
In the end the Colon signing did no harm to the future of this team. It didn't work out but even if it did it wouldn't have changed anything.
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I think you have to look at the alternatives forgone here. I'll just cite two alternatives that I advocated some for last off-season.

One was Charlie Morton, ex Braves prospect, who ended up signing with the Stros for 2 years at 7M per year.

The other was Edison Volquez, who signed for 2 years for a total of 22M.

Morton had a very nice season and Volquez blew out his elbow and probably won't pitch next year. In a nutshell, this illustrates the risks of going out to multiple years with pitchers. But it also illustrates the potential benefits. You get a certain type of player on one-year deals, and you get players with more upside on multi-year deals. Generally speaking. I think this off-season we should aim a little higher than the 40 something pitcher category. There is risk. But we should take it. Not 5 years or beyond type deals. But maybe 3 years with an option for someone like Lynn or Cobb.
 
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