Time to extend Gattis

A DH in the NL would kill a lot of interests from fans like me that enjoy the integrity of the game. (if you field, you hit) It's why I like baseball and not slow pitch softball. Why not just have 9 fat sluggers and 9 fielders then?

I can't fathom a scenario where an AL team gives up a ton in a trade for a >30 year old DH.
 
I completely forgot we had him locked up until 2018. Yeah, I wouldn't extend him for a while if we decided to do so.
 
gilesfan said:
I'm not seeing a .900 OPS guy unless he can slug well over .600.

Nelson Cruz

David Ortiz

Victor Martinez

Adam Dunn

Chris Carter

Brandon Moss
Click to expand...

You aren't encouraged by his lower outside swing percentages? I think thats a great development so far this year. He is clearly swinging at less unhittable pitches.
 
gilesfan said:
A DH in the NL would kill a lot of interests from fans like me that enjoy the integrity of the game. (if you field, you hit) It's why I like baseball and not slow pitch softball. Why not just have 9 fat sluggers and 9 fielders then?

I can't fathom a scenario where an AL team gives up a ton in a trade for a >30 year old DH.
Click to expand...

Why is the NL the only league to the pitchers hit?

Baseball would be a lot better if they wouldn't let hitters step out of the box. The game would fly by and you could still have the DH.
 
thethe said:
Yes, what a shock that I would be calling for this but my main reason for this is because I believe the DH is coming to the NL. I wouldn't extend Gattis if I didn't think it was coming over but I think Gattis could be a very productive player into his last 30's if the DH was here and we should be proactive in keeping him. I also think he is popular with the fans which also helps future revenues.

What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

Most players do not stay "very productive" into their late 30s. What is the evidence that the DH is going to be adopted by the NL?

To me Heyward and Justin Upton are far higher priorities.
 
nsacpi said:
Most players do not stay "very productive" into their late 30s. What is the evidence that the DH is going to be adopted by the NL?
Click to expand...

I think baseball will use it as negotiating tool to ge tthe players association to buy into full drug testing.

Its the only league that uses it. It makes no sense and with the decreased offense baseball needs to make the sport more appealing to the younger generation.
 
Have no idea why we need to lock up Evan unless it's a 5 year 10 million deal.

He isn't 21, he's 27. And he plays catcher.

We could draft the next best catcher next year, or maybe we have him this year or the year after. Plus, we still have Laird.
 
thethe said:
I think baseball will use it as negotiating tool to ge tthe players association to buy into full drug testing.
Click to expand...

Any evidence for this? My impression is that the great majority of players and the union are now strongly invested in a strong drug testing program with stiff penalties. What are they dragging their feet on that baseball would need to provide them an inducement to agree to?
 
nsacpi said:
Any evidence for this? My impression is that the great majority of players and the union are now strongly invested in a strong drug testing program with stiff penalties. What are they dragging their feet on that baseball would need to provide them an inducement to agree to?
Click to expand...

The players union is still going to want something for there cooperation. That usually means more money for the their players and the DH is a very expensive position.

Again, just a feeling I get partially because I want it to happen because I want Gattis to be on the Braves for a long time.
 
thethe said:
Also, the NL is basically the only professional league left that doesn't have a DH. It makes no sense anymore to have that.
Click to expand...

Sure it makes sense not to have it. The game is more interesting and fun when pitchers hit. Bob Nighengale of USA today is the only national writer that says there are enough traditionalists among owners to stave it off for now. If we get a traditional commishner in Selig's chair you won't see the DH for a long time in the NL. I love the difference between leagues. It makes the WS. And no on extending Gattis, he is a flash in the pan just enjoy him while we have him, but don't pay for bad knees when we have pressing other needs.
 
I'm on board with those saying we don't need to extend him at this time. We have him through his prime. Now if we wanna talk about a deal to buyout his arbitration years, that might be more under consideration.
 
I love Gattis, but as things are right now I don't really see the point. If the dh is implemented a year or 2 before he hits FA we can reconsider.
 
Odds are we are getting Gattis' s best years now. By the time he is a free agent he should be declining. No reason to extend him. I will believe the DH in the NL when I see it. I would welcome it, I still say it should be a designated fielder so the pitcher still has to bat. We could have Bethancourt catch and Gattis hit.
 
I just don't see the point in extending him if we have him under control for 4 more years. See where he is in 2 years. We have time with him.
 
You extend young players earlier because you want to get a discount on their growth in exchange for giving them financial security. Gattis is already controlled well into his decline years, so extending him past those years doesn't make a ton of sense.

It would be very foolish to bank on a significant MLB rule change to make an expensive extension make sense.
 
yeezus said:
I just don't see the point in extending him if we have him under control for 4 more years. See where he is in 2 years. We have time with him.
Click to expand...

If I had to guess, I would put him on an AL team who needs a cheap DH. 2 years from now we'll likely have a corner OF need or can possibly be in the market for a CF as we may be shipping BJ off for a bag of balls.
 
I think it makes sense becaues I don't believe we have seen the best of Gattis and that he can always be traded if catching isn't allowing him to get on the field consistently. If you do believe that Gattis will be a 900+ OPS guy then I'd rather settle his arby years before he truly breaks out.
 
thethe said:
I think it makes sense becaues I don't believe we have seen the best of Gattis and that he can always be traded if catching isn't allowing him to get on the field consistently. If you do believe that Gattis will be a 900+ OPS guy then I'd rather settle his arby years before he truly breaks out.
Click to expand...

This is why I agree. I wouldn't necessarily add years, but I would love to lock him in before he has the monster year I can see coming in '15 or '16.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top