Wickman
Job 19:25
- Joined
- May 14, 2014
- Messages
- 20,898
- Likes
- 26,552
I understand that. I’m not for giving the guy 6 years. But I hope we’re trying for 2 with a high AAV. But we can make trades with our prospect capital and haven’t done that either
I personally think Kuechel would really help us. But there’s a reason he hasn’t been signed yet and I have to believe it’s because the majority of teams don’t think he’s worth the asking price.
I know the Braves are cheap and we all want them to throw caution to the wind and spend just to prove they are trying, but that’s not good business. And the fact that other teams feel the same way should let us know there’s more here to be cautious about than the average fan can see.
There's no way we could have added all three because they'd never spend that kind of money. But assuming they did, we massively upgraded in RF and at catcher. We have a cleanup hitter in Harper which allows Acuna to stay at leadoff and another great bat in Realmuto to put wherever you want to put him, say at 5. That's the best top 5 in baseball in the lineup. Then, to round out the lineup, you had Ozzie who was the hottest hitter in baseball for the first half of last season. He has a tremendously high ceiling. Then Dans and Ender who are both gold glovers defensively who at least have offensive potential. It would be hard to argue that that isn't the best lineup period in baseball. That offense could cover some pitching concerns. But instead we are avg in RF and below avg at catcher and may be leading off with Inciarte so that Acuna can bat cleanup to protect Freddie which means they won't pitch to Acuna.Here’s my question though: what changes if the front office swings for the fences this offseason?
Add Realmuto, Harper and Kuechel.
We’re more secure for sure. But everything still hinges on guys like Folty, Newcomb, the young crop of pitchers, and Ozzie and Dansby.
If it was going to require Ozzie to get Realmuto, I'm with you. I also wouldn't want to give up both Riley and Pache for him. But man, go get Grandal or something. We really needed help there at catcher and we didn't get it. Neither guy can throw anyone out and neither are very dangerous at the plate either.We don’t know what deals we attempted to make, but I just hope we tried via the trade market, or maybe laid groundwork for in-season. It was known we needed improvement for the staff and performance and injuries have made it a nightmare outside of a few young arms. I’m still cool with passing on Kuechel and Realmuto
Look, the entire rebuild is built around getting as many high-upside arms as possible and seeing which ones will be good and lead the rotation. The 2018 season accelerated the contender timeline and that is great! We have six guys that when healthy that can pitch at the major level right now who were in the minors last year and not get killed (Touki, Fried, Soroka, Wilson, Wright, and Gohara). At some point, we got to let these guys sink or swim. Plus, we are going to have spots open up. Teheran will be bought out after 2018. Gausman is a FA after 2020. Folty is probably heading to TJS (just based on BARVES and how hard he throws, etc). So let's who we can rely on and go from there. I'm mad we didn't do more offensively and find that AA's offseason plan was horrific, but I don't blame him for looking at the rotation and letting these guys ride or die.
AgreedAA giving the money to Donaldson instead of Grandal and not doing something...anything...to improve RF was a massive failure. If we got Grandal and let's say we got Domingo Santana for example (and gave up Fried, I don't know), then signed Derek Dietrich for the bench and rolled with...
LF Acuna
3B Camargo
1B Freeman
C Grandal
RF Santana
2B Albies
CF Inciarte
SS Swanson
We would be in much better place lineup wise IMO.
I really wish Soroka was healthy. I'd feel much better if he was. I hope all of these guys are in Atlanta and not with the Stripers. I wish we would have traded Julio and we could have had both Touki and Wright in the starting rotation with Fried and Wilson and eventually Gohara able to rotate in some as well. If that's the plan, I like these young arms a lot. But that is also a risky play as they don't have much experience and when guys figure them out they can get beat up if they are unable to adjust to it.Look, the entire rebuild is built around getting as many high-upside arms as possible and seeing which ones will be good and lead the rotation. The 2018 season accelerated the contender timeline and that is great! We have six guys that when healthy that can pitch at the major level right now who were in the minors last year and not get killed (Touki, Fried, Soroka, Wilson, Wright, and Gohara). At some point, we got to let these guys sink or swim. Plus, we are going to have spots open up. Teheran will be bought out after 2018. Gausman is a FA after 2020. Folty is probably heading to TJS (just based on BARVES and how hard he throws, etc). So let's who we can rely on and go from there. I'm mad we didn't do more offensively and find that AA's offseason plan was horrific, but I don't blame him for looking at the rotation and letting these guys ride or die.
I really wish Soroka was healthy. I'd feel much better if he was. I hope all of these guys are in Atlanta and not with the Stripers. I wish we would have traded Julio and we could have had both Touki and Wright in the starting rotation with Fried and Wilson and eventually Gohara able to rotate in some as well. If that's the plan, I like these young arms a lot. But that is also a risky play as they don't have much experience and when guys figure them out they can get beat up if they are unable to adjust to it.
I really wish Soroka was healthy. I'd feel much better if he was. I hope all of these guys are in Atlanta and not with the Stripers. I wish we would have traded Julio and we could have had both Touki and Wright in the starting rotation with Fried and Wilson and eventually Gohara able to rotate in some as well. If that's the plan, I like these young arms a lot. But that is also a risky play as they don't have much experience and when guys figure them out they can get beat up if they are unable to adjust to it.
That's why I'm so frustrated. I get we are loaded with young talent. But that young talent is unproven. We aren't paying anybody big money right now except Freeman. We have the capability to spend big money right now to try to win after winning the division last year. A few additions and we could be talking about a potential WS run. And then we heard the promises of shopping in any aisle and spending money in the marketplace. And then they went as cheap as possible and made no significant moves. I'm just extremely frustrated. And that's made worse seeing what the Phillies, Nats, and Mets did. I want to win. This offseason was a slap in the face to braves fans by the Braves FO.It blows my mind how stupidly poor AA's plan was offseason. AND HE WAS A GAMBLER IN TORONTO! We never heard of anything significant on the trade front. We were only connected to one free agent that didn't sign with us. It was unbelievably bad. No ingenuity. No creativity. It's like he signed Donaldson and McCann and was like "Well, we will wait out Markakis and if he signs with us we are done!". It's probably the worst offseason the Braves have had this decade.