Trades/acquisitions

Horsehide Harry said:
It's about value. If you can get a Dansby replacement (Abrams) (saves you roughly $10M after 2022) and a Ozuna replacement (Hassell) (saves you roughly $13M at some point) then paying Hosmer $13M per year in 2023 is certainly preferable than paying Freeman $25M in 2023. You've theoretically saved yourself 10+13+12=$35M as opposed to hoping that a mid thirties Freeman will be worth $25M per year.

I admire Freeman. In a vacuum, I would say the Braves should sign him and keep him around. Buy him a rocking chair when retires. Just be prepared to spend the money to plaster over the cracks caused by his failing productivity as he ages. I have no interest in seeing the "grand old man" simply for that sake only. My interest is in winning baseball with a desire for a chance at a WS or two.

And yes, Hosmer, isn't a desired option for 1B. Freeman is light years better and likely will be in 3 years still. But will the difference between the two be enough to outweigh the talent and financial flexibility gained?

If you assume that, in the scenario above, Abrams and Hassell never develop or develop marginally to only become barely serviceable ML players, then you don't do the deal 10/10. But, that's why you pay your talent evaluators. I'm working from a "for instance" basis. I don't have the scouting reports that Atlanta theoretically has on Abrams and Hassell. I'm just paper scouting, which is all I can do, and firmly admit that it may not be exactly that trade that needs to happen.
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We could likely do a lot more with the money saved by simply not re-signing Freddie, than to make that trade and be stuck with a terrible contract for the next 4 years.

If we're trading Freddie, you can likely expect at least 1 very good prospect in return that would be roughly as likely as Abrams or Hassell to work out. Might as well take the trade without an albatross contract coming back.
 
Deester11 said:
Could be. Only they're shopping at the Bargain Hut instead of Macy's...
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We all think this - me included to a point - but the devil on your shoulder when you argue with yourself still has that *hit-eating grin on his face.

Logically, we're sellers. Smart, overzealous fan is still looking to improve around the edges and hope for a hot streak. The funny thing about that is that Alex knows better than we do that the fringy prospects he might be willing to trade in a fan-pacifying deal aren't going to get you much in the way of legitimate help, and he's way too smart to give up anything of value that fits into his current plan to get into a wildcard game. The problem is that *amn devil is still grinning, and he makes me wonder whether AA is still a "buyer" - one who's trying to cook up a bigger deal with an eye towards the long-term and not-so-distant future, not necessarily the next two months. We've seen it before with Theo going out ahead of things and signing Lester a year early.

I have no idea what that kind of deal might be, but maybe he's "buying" at the young, controllable piece level. Something that's not necessarily going to significantly impact THIS pennant race, but a big piece or two that will be in the lineup or rotation on Opening Day 2022. We've certainly not been tied to him yet. but someone earlier mentioned Merrifield. A Pache plus for Whit would be the type of deal that would make all kinds of sense for both teams. The Braves get a top of the order CF/LF bat who would not only significantly impact this year's race, but the 2022 and 2023 races as well - and one on an Acuna/Albies-like contract that allows you to extend Freddie plus a DH and bring back Morton if he wants to give you one more year.

Not saying I think that's what he's working on, but it just seems that if he's "buying" on any level higher than Duvall and a pen piece that that's the kind of buying he's looking to do.
 
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Carp said:
We could likely do a lot more with the money saved by simply not re-signing Freddie, than to make that trade and be stuck with a terrible contract for the next 4 years.

If we're trading Freddie, you can likely expect at least 1 very good prospect in return that would be roughly as likely as Abrams or Hassell to work out. Might as well take the trade without an albatross contract coming back.
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I get it. It would be a gamble of sorts. However, after 2022, Hosmer is only owed $13M per year and the Braves routinely sign guys in that range that don't work out too well. IF Hosmer doesn't work out (ie. give you 1.5-2 WAR yearly) then your margin for error certainly shrinks. I think it's a gamble I could take.

One thing is sure. That package is unlikely to be anywhere near as bad as getting Casey Kotchman and Stephen Marek
 
NYCBrave said:
The only way I see us getting that much from Morton is if we agree to cover the remainder of his salary this year. He's still owed $5 million over the last 2 months. Might not seem like a huge amount, but not all teams can take on the salary.
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Don't forget the word is out that they CAN take on salary. Eating what's left on Morton's contract wouldn't exactly come as a shocker since they've already eaten what was left of Ender's deal.
 
It doesn't make sense for the Braves to sell while they are in the division race.

Winning is the point.

Attendance is even more the point.

Picking up some low chance prospects isn't as valuable as that.

So until they are clearly out they need to be in.
 
Carp said:
We could likely do a lot more with the money saved by simply not re-signing Freddie, than to make that trade and be stuck with a terrible contract for the next 4 years.

If we're trading Freddie, you can likely expect at least 1 very good prospect in return that would be roughly as likely as Abrams or Hassell to work out. Might as well take the trade without an albatross contract coming back.
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If the Braves had no intention of contending team for three years maybe. But obviously we should be looking at contending.

Alao giving Preller an out for that stupid Hoamwr signing that also gives him a championship caliber player would be too much to stomach.
 
Southcack77 said:
It doesn't make sense for the Braves to sell while they are in the division race.

Winning is the point.

Attendance is even more the point.

Picking up some low chance prospects isn't as valuable as that.

So until they are clearly out they need to be in.
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They have a 6% chance of winning the division.
 
I get the value argument, but are we really better off to trade and get prospects (FV 40-45) who are never likely to be much more than replacement level players just to say we got something?

Those guys can usually be signed as Free Agents to fill rosters every year. Trading Morton for a couple of them now really doesn't help much if the purpose of the farm is to provide players for the ML team.
 
mfree80 said:
I get the value argument, but are we really better off to trade and get prospects (FV 40-45) who are never likely to be much more than replacement level players just to say we got something?

Those guys can usually be signed as Free Agents to fill rosters every year. Trading Morton for a couple of them now really doesn't help much if the purpose of the farm is to provide players for the ML team.
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We have a 6% chance of winning the division. I’d say there’s a much better than 6% chance that the players we’d get in return for Morton would be more helpful to the organization - whether as a player or a trade piece.
 
Mariners send Rafael Montero and Graveman to Astros for Joe Smith and Abraham Toro..... Graveman and Joe Smith are FA are year's end, so the M's must really like Toro.
 
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