Alex Wood has been impressive in each of his two major league seasons, albeit in a limited number of starts. Wood, who turns 24 in January, owns a 1.119 career WHIP and has struck out almost exactly one batter per each of his 249 career innings. However, only 35 of his 66 career games have been starts, including 24 out of 35 in 2014.
As the Braves are still searching for a 5th starter at the moment, Wood will undoubtedly be used as a full time starter in 2015. This should be the season that we finally get the answer to the question, “How many innings could Alex Wood chuck, if Alex Wood could chuck innings unencumbered by some arbitrary restrictions placed by management?â€
The good news for the Braves is that Wood has actually pitched better as a starter, so it is not as if he has been padding his stats with short, maximum effort relief appearances, and he also has a sustainable .306 career BABIP as a starter. He averaged 6.5 innings pitched per start in 2014, so he goes relatively deep into games by today’s standards.
One caveat: Wood has an unusual delivery, and the Braves have been leading the way in MLB’s Tommy John revolution for some years now. If reading some random guy on the internet makes you feel better, my gut tells me that Alex is going to stay healthy this year (please don’t read the same prediction that I made last year for Kris Medlen). I don’t believe that anyone has ever put a finger on what really causes pitcher injuries, be it mechanics, pitch counts, year round baseball, or whatever, but I’m not worried about Wood’s delivery in the short term. As he ages and loses flexibility, he may see some issues à la Tim Lincecum, but I predict good times for Alex Wood in 2015.
😀
@Blazon
You mention the kleptocrats and then forget about them a paragraph later! The Yekaterinburg training facility will be absorbed into the state-conglomerate ROSBYALL the minute they realize they have a natural resource!
@Rusty
Great Wood-up, excepting the jinx you peppered in at the end.
JC’d…Alex just taught me the term!..reposting from previous thread.
Edward, good one, i am nothing if not inconsistent.
:
Our man in the Caucasus…
Forget Cuba, over exposed, so overpriced…you stand in line meekly and pay through the nose…
let’s take advantage of the collapse of the ruoble and get set up in a hurry somewhere in one of those seven time zones(or is it eleven)…major disaffection among youth with the sneering kleptocrats who run the show – do you think any of them would question a contract offer and/or insist on an auction with every other ML team?
Hey, they can play hockey. It’s the ice, you say, plenty of it. Well, yes, time to toil in the sun then, be positive. Unsigned, undrafted, unknown, this is the country with a rich athletic tradition and even a sound working knowledge of dope when arms get tired – throwing the hammer/javelin/discus, what problem can a baseball pose? Power? have you seen those slavic muscles, dear God.
The double play and the Infield Fly rule will take a little longer to be absorbed, the absence of overt corruption/match fixing will bewilder at first but how refreshing after Vladimir, let’s get the hell out. And so far from the Gulag if things go wrong.
I am not entirely kidding. The time is ripe. We are on our back foot, so are they. Take a million or three Liberty dollars(how many roubles will that buy today?) to get started and put it to work with a couple of key guys,one at each end, use the indigenous social media to get the word out. Seriously. Why not.
It’s not that difficult a game to adapt to in its essence. Hit the ball/throw the ball. The rest can come later under the Georgia sun, our Georgia. All that needs to be done at this stage is identify the raw talent, sign something, ship ‘em out. Thumb our nose at our competition.
Cuba and Curacao we have done – in Yekaterinburg the Braves training camp is underway. The local slugger we have identified is happy to sign – a 10 year deal @ 100 million roubles($600 p.week) per, we have the right to void when it suits . Or pay him in the dollar equivalent if/when that suits. No Boros.
We have already found three guys who can throw over 100. One doesn’t even take a stride towards the plate. He’s on a bottle and a half a day but, hey, that will make his ML debut more effective – wild, we’ll spread the word.
Again, i’m not entirely kidding. It could be done and tried at a cost that’s paltry compared to what we dish out now to mediocrity. 3 years would be enough, we would know by then. The right 2 guys to start it are obviously critical, the rest can follow. Russia is falling to pieces – there are millions of disenchanted young men who can’t get a decent job , a few hundred of them might be world class athletes. Social media plus Our Man on the spot will help find some of them, we need only a few to get started.
Latest news! SPRING TRAINING IN THE CRIMEA.
We should just flip Upton/Varvaro for Myers when SD gets him.
I don’t know anything about what the Braves should do as much as I know that the Hawks need to go hard after Stevenson right now. Theres an opportunity to contend for the conference title this year that may not come again….
@5 Stephenson seems like poison to team chemistry. I guess if the Hawks dont have to give up too much.
This Myers kid hasn’t made a lot of friends
But apparently he’s made a lot of trips to Chipotle.
Myers has been said to be a jerk by a few people and has been compared to Bryce’s level of arrogance.
I doubt we would be overly concerned. I mean we do already have CJ and BJ on the team and we are interested in AJ as a back up catcher. Seems to be who we would like to target.
Red Sox trading for Varvaro. Hope there’s more to this. The Braves could use some of the OF depth.
It’s weird; three straight times I went to Chipotle, he was there. But here’s the thing! If he’s at Chick-fil-A, he’s fine! I don’t get it!
clearly i’m prescient with my choice of subject matter, full diplomatic relations restored with Cuba, announced this morning…full US embassy in Havana etc etc…
so…for Baseball what does this mean? the obvious would be a new franchise there, PDQ…bet they’re fighting over it already.
Myers must be a fan of meat that won’t make him resistant to antibiotics. Good for him.
@mlbbowman: The #Braves have traded Anthony Varvaro to the Red Sox for RHP Aaron Kurcz.
Aaron Kurcz, strikes out a lot of people
Braves traded Varvaro for a younger version of Varvaro. a 3 pitch reliever, sits in low-90s, can reach mid-90s.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=kurcz-001aar
Not entirely sure why we’re trading an arm for an arm when we have so many other holes, but at least we didn’t get another bounceback/rebuild project.
Ruggiano to the Mariners…ugh.
I guess the Mariners are off the list even though Ruggiano is nothing more than a platoon player against lefties.
I’m ok with keeping JUpton for one more season. The Braves should expect a large return for him and are smart for not settling for less than what they want.
Kurcz had a TJ surgery in 2012. I guess the Braves like collecting these kinds of guys.
Absolutely, the market for him isn’t great right now. Of course, we weren’t interested in Ervin Santana this time last year.
Kurcz? The horror… the horror…
The Havana Devil Rays anyone?
Mistah Kurcz–he dead.
You’d think they would go with Havana Reds.
Does the Brett Anderson signing affect Kris Medlen’s $$ figures at all? Anderson got $10M and has started 32 games over the past 4 seasons I think.
What a terrible offseason for us at this point.
The Havana Knights?
The Oarsmen
@philgrogers: With Justin Ruggiano traded, Cubs have cleared way to add RH-hitting OF who plays LF and CF. Is Joe Maddon tie enough to consider BJ Upton?
No way.
Even if Maddon felt like he could get something out of BUpton, there’s no way they’d give up much to acquire him.
I don’t think they would have to give us anything. Maybe we could send along $10-15m just for them to take him.
@22
yes!
@DOBrienAJC: Unlikely #Braves trade B.J. before season; other teams don’t want to pay any of $; ATL doesn’t want to give away Gattis to get rid of B.J.
Fair enough
@Ken_Rosenthal: Sources: Free-agent RHP Jake Peavy drawing interest from #Marlins, #Braves, #SFGiants. Option for Miami only if Haren retires or is traded.
Mark me down as unimpressed. Would rather resign Harang.
Well, we won’t be trading JUpton to the Padres.
Hard to believe the Nats traded Souza. Trea Turner’s supposed to be good, but I don’t think he’s supposed to step in for Desmond in 2016.
Worst case scenario: JUpton yields a draft choice next year. Gattis catches 120 games and DHs against AL teams.
There are worse fates.
We are still worse than last year at the moment. Last year we won 79 games. That’s a worse fate.
Are we worse than last year?
All the Rays fans are so pissed they traded Myers for a bunch of fringe prospects. Well, go to the games!
Can’t see us being worse. Not much better, but hardly worse.
Miller and Hale replace Santana and Harang
Markakis and his neck surgery replaces Heyward
Callaspo replaces Uggla and LaStella
Jim Johnson, Vizcaino, and Michael Kohn replace Varvaro
We have bullpen depth but I cant see anywhere else that we’ve improved
While offseason isn’t over yet, I honestly can’t think of a scenario which we can improve from last year. I am sure we are going to get one more SP to replace Harang (or resigning Harang can still happen) so the pitching side of things should be ok. The biggest concern I have is the offense which we are going to trade away Justin. I just don’t see how this offense can compete with BJ/Bethancourt, Markakis, Callaspo, CJ, and Simmons in the lineup at the same time. This is simply an uncompetitive lineup even if we keep Justin and Gattis.
Some aren’t getting that this was the front office’s strategy all along: do enough to keep the status quo — and simply by making enough moves, inspire a little hope amongst the gullible out there — while shedding salary and focusing more on 2017.
Hart’s not even trying to keep it a secret.
You don’t even have to read much between the lines.
“We’re not rebuilding, just reloading.” = “I understand Braves fans won’t tolerate what they did over in Houston. And I definitely don’t want our TV network to go bankrupt like theirs did either. So I can’t say it, but I’m saying it.”
Do we not have more money to spend? Where did that go? Are we going to have ExtendFest 2K15? Hard to top last year’s show.
@45 I agree. Being stuck with bad contracts and a weak farm system, we can only thank Wren for getting us to this point. I am only hoping that we are keeping Gattis and we are getting bats in return for Justin. I think we have reached an era that it’s harder to find good hitters than good pitchers.
We are at least as bad as last year because 2 teams in our division will be much improved. That might even out should Phils trade Hamels.
Maybe we need Danny Ferry to come in and magically trade away Joe Johnson. (The Hawks just stomped a big statement into the league in Cleveland tonight.)
Hart has a tough job at this point because he has to trade Jupton and he also has to keep the team from reaching Astros-level fail.
Hey, did the Kemp deal go through? It could be game on again for us/SD.
Kemp deal hasn’t gone through and apparently SD either found something they didn’t like with the physical or they are wanting more in return. They have till tomorrow to finalize it.
@51 The Hawks are the best team in town….what did I just say?
EDIT: @53, I lol’ed.
Man, Twitter is a scary place. I’m watching Dodgers and Padres fans duke it out because they both want Kemp. I even saw a Braves fan in there hoping we end up with him.
Pretty good long-ish piece on NAIA football here:
http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2014/12/17/7407699/naia-football-profile-paying-players
And I stumbled across a Posnanski article from 2009 on J.P. Ricciardi and bad contracts–in which, as I’m sure Joe himself would delight at now, he says David Ortiz is completely finished as a player and Adrian Beltre was way overrated. http://www.si.com/more-sports/2009/08/13/worst-contracts#
Five years from now which of us will look bright? I mean, what is BJ Upton going to do after we trade him for a dented can of organic dark red kidney beans to make us all look really stupid?
(He’s not going to do anything, but it’s the principle that counts.)
With the Hawks & the Falcons, I always know better. Neither can break my heart.
Wish I could say the same for the Braves & the Dogs.
Just heard the news on Kemp. Them Itis boys have all the luck.
With so much money/years on the line, I wonder if the Padres stay in the deal?
Arthritis in both hips for Kemp. It destroys all market value for him to a certain extent. Only way this goes through is more $$ going to SD.
Do the Pads have anything we want after trading for Wil Meyer?
They have a couple young pitchers in Tyson Ross and Andrew Cashner.
For whatever reason, they don’t want Yasmani Grandal. At least we can piss away the next couple seasons with some competence behind the plate, if we’re not sticking with Gattis back there.
Joe Posnanski’s column on Theo Epstein has a line that says the Cubs are “probably not done dealing” this off-season.
I’m sure Joe’s sitting on something. What would the Cubbies have to promise Justin Upton to get him to waive his no-trade clause?
By the end of the season, the Cubs probably have:
– Russell at SS
– Castro at 3B
– Bryant in LF
Valbuena can even stay as Baez insurance at 2B. With Alcantara and Soler locking down the other OF slots, I don’t see any room for Jupton. I don’t see what need they have for more position players at all.
I was under the impression that Bryant was going to play third. But I’m plenty likely to be mistaken about that.
The demand for Justin seems low at the moment.
I guess high asking prices lowers the demand? Not ideal economics, but it applies.
Too many substitute goods.
Medlen a Royal
This from Ken Rosenthal:
Source: Medlen two-year deal with #Royals worth $8.5M – $2M, $5.5M plus $10M mutual option with $1M buyout if either party declines.
Source: Medlen deal with #Royals includes $4M in incentives in first year, $6M in second.
Good for the Royals. They remain root-able.
I hope Kris makes a comeback. I am guessing the Braves didn’t want to commit to a second year.
After consulting the completely meaningless and impatiently conceived ace measurement system I devised a few weeks ago, I can say with very little confidence that the Royals have signed the 21st best starter from the 2012-14 period–just after Dickey, Greinke, and Kuroda; and just ahead of Fernandez, Roark, and Hughes.
Best of luck, Kris, and damn it all to hell.
Royals have signed the 21st best starter from the 2012-14 period
That 0.00 ERA Medlen put up in 2014 was especially impressive.
It’s ok, guys, don’t forget: Alex Wood.
Medlen’s a tough case: insanely fun to root for, a low cost contract (dollars-wise), but still enough risk to say, “Ehhhh… yeahhh maybe he should go somewhere else.”
The defending champion SF Baseball GIants boast gaping holes in LF and 3B, here’s hoping we can get a good return on Jupton while unloading the hideous Chris Johnson contract.
It is very, very surprising to me that we lost Medlen to a team that faces essentially the same budget constraints. Either the Royals are reckless gamblers or our front office is rudderless and without a plan, because Medlen, given his popularity with Braves fans, is manifestly more valuable to us than he is to them.
Well, there’s probably some middle ground. The Royals may rightly or wrongly believe they can repeat last year, and so would take a calculated risk. I actually think he’s way more valuable to them, in a real sense.
Even if Medlen beats the odds — because let’s face it, the odds are against him — and throws 180+ quality innings next year, I’d still be with the Braves on this one. We’re talking two TJs…it’s OK in our current situation to throw David Hale out there if need be.
The Braves were correct not to commit to more than year. Rudderless? Ummm The guy is coming off his SECOND TJ.
dont we have like $30mil to spend on one starting pitcher and the bench? I thought I knew what our plan was, now not so much
I love Medlen, but I have an issue with him heading to the Royals for that amount. Didn’t we offer him a 2yr deal in the range of $8 also? We’ve already paid him twice when he couldn’t pitch. I wish he had been a little more loyal to be honest.
@82-You do know that the braves didn’t have to commit to a second year, right? They could have just offered him arbitration and had him for less than 6 million. The second year would actually have balanced out the risk-reward in our favor: slightly more money but with the reasonable chance of having a frontline starter for a full season in 2016 once he’s worked through the rehab and rust.
@81-Medlen put asses in seats and eyeballs on screens. He would not need to throw 180+ innings next year, he’d just need to make it back to the mound by August and he’d have been the best story the team had all season.
I honestly don’t understand any of you people. Patting Liberty Fucking Media on the back for not opening the checkbook to pay the one fucking player that we can all agree that we would ditch a hot date to watch pitch? So that we can, what, bring back Aaron Harang for another season and still not win 80 games?
Effing bonkers, the whole lot of you.
I’m not sure what an effing bonker is, but I’m one.
Kris Medlen’s arm is hanging on with glue and duct tape and it would be flushing money down the toilet a la Goodfellas style.
…This is just clever anti-Heyward satire, right?
@80 The Royals don’t have Uggla and BJ. That’s like almost 30m already.
I am more curious why they didn’t take another chance on Floyd. Maybe they are looking for someone better than Floyd/Medlen. I am quite sure they have told Harang to explore his market first.
Seriously, you guys have Stockholm Syndrome. You think it’s your job as fans to help our owners save money. It’s laughable. These are the facts:
1) We cannot afford to buy enough pieces (replacements at 3B, 2B and CF) to make us a contender next year.
2) Management’s only real objective is to be competitive in 2017.
3) We did have room in the budget to pay Medlen 2/8.5.
4) Gambling on Medlen would not in anyway interfere with management’s objective, and that money will otherwise be spent on various buckets of shit like Alberto Callaspo and Aaron Harang.
5) As a fan of the Braves I’d rather root, even against all odds, for Medlen to make it back to his sublime self than watch Aaron Harang give up 11 hits in 5 and 1/3 innings while somehow holding the Nats to only three runs in a game we end up losing 3-1 anyway.
Well, if you need a new sentimental favorite, might I suggest Michael Kohn.
@76
Yeah, I ended up with a lot of injury cases on the list–it’s one where the only human input was the design of the system. It’s not robust like a beet so much as it is robust like a weird salad with some injured beets in it.
@JoeCraig
I’m with you but…language!
I suggest you all come up with something to do for the next two years…non-Braves-related. See the world, hug a child, make a memory, etc….
Medlen wouldn’t have made an incentive laden 4 mil in arbitration.
@90 I don’t think a healthy Floyd is as good as he pitched for the Braves. It was only nine starts.
And five the year before.
And before that he was kind of meh.
@91 It is what it is. Bitching here wouldn’t make Liberty opening the purse.
@91 I hear what you saying, but I for one am looking forward to watching Harang pitch.
C’mon Hart, you owe us that.
91 — It’s not a given that the Braves can’t put an 85 win team that can squeeze into the tournament as a 2nd wild card.
1. The top 4 starters can keep the Braves in every game. They should be able to find a 5th starter who can pitch at replacement level.
2. The bullpen should be really good.
3. Freddie Freeman and Justin Upton are among the best 3-4 hitter tandems in the league. Evan Gattis has 30 home run potential.
4. Chris Johnson, Andrelton Simmons, and Alberto Callaspo are not as bad at hitting as they showed in 2014.
@84 I feel somewhat the same. When I looked at the deal he signed it struck me as very similar to the deal the Braves offered, only the Braves first year offered more money whereas the Royals second year did. I wonder if the Braves deal had had a mutual opt out option for the second year rather than just a team one, if he would have taken it.
Otherwise I am just very, very sad. Saying goodbye to your favorite player stinks. I can better empathize with Hayward fans right now, I guess.
‘Rissa, Simba is still going to pick them single everyday, even with Meds gone to BBQ Heaven.
Simmons’s defense is definitely going to be my favorite thing about the Braves next year.
I get it… but I will miss Medlen.
Speaking of favorite players, for the last few years I couldn’t decide between Heyward, Medlen and Simmons.
I guess I should be glad Andrelton is still on the team…
I am still trying to re-bond with this team. I am still stuck in the Chipper, Andruw, Smoltzie and Maddux era. I am trying to love Freeman, Simmons, and Teheran since we are going to see them play for the near future.
I honestly like Justin. I honestly hope we can keep him around as long as possible.
Peavy back to the Giants. It seems like Harang is about our only option if we want to add a viable strarting pitcher via FA. I have no clue what our plan is now. We have about $30mil or so to spend and nothing of value on the market outside of maybe 1 or 2 guys. David Ross seems to have narrowed his choices which does not include us. I guess if we are keeping Gattis then we don’t need another backup since Bethancourt will be around.
Don’t fool yourself though. Fredi will find a way to make sure Bethancourt starts more than Gattis. Also, we sure as hell better not bring AJ Pierzynski to Atl.
There’s no denying it anymore. I am not a fan of this offseason. It could change, but the direction hasn’t been clear, the prospects haven’t been piling up, and the market has dwindled to the point where the Braves couldn’t spend their money if they wanted to.
Yeah, the Johns ought to be flush by now.
Why would the Braves spend money on a guy that likely isn’t going to pitch or pitch very well? Your contention that folks would pay just to see Medlen pitch poorly is without merit. Lets remember that exactly one guy has come back from a second TJ to be an effective starter in MLB.
I truly hope that Kris Medlen is the second guy, but I’m ok with how the Braves handled the contract.
I was curious why we didn’t make an offer to Floyd also. He is a professional 4th 5th starter.
According to MLBTR the Braves seem insistent on packaging CJ or BJ with JUpton or Gattis. Sort of explains the lack of offers for either. No one in their right mind is going to take 3 more years of BJ for one year of Justin, even as good as he is.
As for the front offices performance this off season, I knew it was going to be lackluster the day it became clear that BJ wasn’t going to be treated as sunk costs. Factoring in Uggla/BUpton’s contracts into payroll is a big obstacle for anyone to overcome. But still with the current competitive environment, even if a big trade involving Justin doesn’t happen, with a LOT of luck the team can compete.
@JonHeymanCBS: braves now in serious talks involving justin upton with unknown team as @JeffPassan said
Apparently it’s being finalized
Once Justin is traded, the team is in full on rebuild mode.
At least its a clear plan. We are going to have a ton of money to spend and no where to spend it. Maybe we make a big play on Yoan Moncada?
In the current climate 14.5 extra million doesn’t seem like a ton. Hell, maybe the Braves use it to pay someone to take some of BJ’s contract.
Mets and Rockies deep in convo’s about a Tulo Trade. Lovely…
Ok, so according to Olney the Yanks, Astros, Rangers, A’s, and Mariners are not involved. That basically leaves SD and SF.
I’m thinking it’s the Orioles.
K Ros just said it’s the Pads.
@113
Bingo.
Pads, huh? Bringing the Hedges to Georgia, perhaps? Or the Tyson factory…
Dammit, do not sacrifice prospects to unload Johnson’s contract, you penny-pinching suits. John Malone doesn’t need that extra yacht.
Rebuild is on. Yay. I think.
Yep, Rosenthal saying we are getting one of Renfroe, Wisler, or Hedges. Prospect guru’s help us out here.
I wonder if we’ll be able to find out more info by getting in touch with Wisler’s mother.
Padres new outfield: Upton, Myers, and Kemp. Decent offseason for them
Padres are the new DBacks. Everyone’s gonna want to trade with that maniac over there.
Kemp in CF. The lulz, I have them.
@125, I guess CF defense doesn’t matter, just like on the corners, huh?
Curious that the Pads think Kemp can still play center.
I wonder if they rescind the deal with the Dodgers?
Bowden says Fried coming to ATL.
Edit: if true we really have a thing for TJ victims. Just had the surgery 8/20.
According to Heyman, Myers may play CF.
Fried’s got talent, but he hasn’t even pitched in AA and had TJ surgery in August.
I am not a prospect guru, but here’s John Sickels’ take on the prospects a year ago:
http://www.minorleagueball.com/2014/3/31/5568906/san-diego-padres-top-20-prospects-for-2014
“1) Austin Hedges, C, Grade B+: Excellent defender by all accounts. Reports remain positive on his bat, although there is a disconnect between the reports and his actual performance last year, perhaps due to a hand injury. Glove will get him to the majors, offensive production will determine if he’s a star or merely a decent regular.
2) Matt Wisler, RHP, Grade B+: Rated as a sleeper prospect entering 2013, he broke out with an excellent season in Double-A and looks like a textbook case of a cold-weather high school pitcher gaining both stuff and polish in pro ball, solid command of four pitches should make him a number three if not a two.
3) Max Fried, LHP, Grade B+: Ultra-projectable lefty already throws in the 90s with good mechanics and promising curveball/changeup secondaries. Command needs some tightening but overall pitching aptitude looks good. Future number two starter if the universe unfolds as planned.
5) Hunter Renfroe, OF, Grade B-: Enormous power potential, could become a 30-homer hitter. Looked like he made good progress with the strike zone last spring in college, but Midwest League pitchers found more holes in his swing and aggressive approach. I believe in the power but want to see how his other hitting skills hold up.”
I hope Fried’s not the main piece, given the recent injury.
HAHAHAHA! From the ESPN story on the trade:
“Atlanta’s recent signings of Giancarlo Stanton and Freddie Freeman lessened the team’s chances of retaining Upton.”
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12051465/justin-upton-acquired-san-diego-padres
Edit: Damn, they’ve cleaned it up. Glad I caught it before they did.
Seriously…what the hell is going on with this team? None of this is making any sense to me. I haz a sad for another shitty 2015 season.
Renfroe and Wisler not in deal, Jace Peterson 2B/3B/SS is
In the preseason Sickels had Fried as the Pads #3 prospect and Peterson at #6.
Write ups:
3) Max Fried, LHP, Grade B+: Threw just 11 innings due to a sore elbow, underwent Tommy John surgery in August.
6) Jace Peterson, SS, Grade B-: Good season in Triple-A, .306/.406/.464 with 12 steals, wRC+131 in 299 PA. Saw major league action, .113/.161/.113 in 58 PA. Not much left to prove in the minors but needs a clear opportunity.
Like Peterson a lot, but Peterson & Fried feels a little light…
I don’t mean to rush to judgment, but Hedges looks like he could be another Bethancourt. No thanks.
So,
Peterson to 3B in lieu of CJ? Or do we get a Callaspo/CJ platoon and Peterson at 2B?
We did good to get as much as Peterson and Fried. Remember, it’s just a year of Upton. I would’ve rather had Wisler, but similar to @137, glad we avoided Hedges.
I guess now’s the time when the broader fanbase has to make eye contact with the idea that we’re rebuilding, but just not saying it.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens to tickets/TV ratings.
So where does Gattis end up now? LF, or Houston/Texas?
Where does our payroll sit now?
I wonder if CJ is part of the deal? They need a 3B too, though you’d think we would’ve heard by now.
Also JJ Cooper from BA seems to be hinting that Gettys (just drafted) may be part of the deal.
140: Still am not convinced that it makes sense to move Gattis off the team or off the position. They control him through 2018, and they have no backup plan whatsoever. (A glove-first “prospect” with a bad glove is not a plan.)
Hedges not in the deal.
Gettys couldn’t be announced, have to be a PTBNL due to being drafted this year. Supposed to be a big power bat, lots of tools. Lots of K’s though, 66 in about 230 PA’s last year in rookie ball.
I agree, but the Braves have made it clear that 2015 isn’t a priority. If we are focused on 2016 & 2017 Gattis’ value is extremely high. Let me be clear though, I want him in Atlanta as a catcher. Not in LF. I don’t want Bethancourt starting.
The Braves were connected to Gettys a lot before last year’s draft. Adding him to Fried and Peterson would make for a nice haul.
Plus 14.5m saving. Can go shopping now.
@JonHeymanCBS: lhp max fried, ss jace peterson, 3b dustin peterson, of mallex smith going to braves for justin upon and low-level player
Sign Aoki and keep Gattis behind the plate
99 — Ok, now we suck. Wonder if we can break the record for least runs scored in a season in the modern era. Go for it!
14) Dustin Peterson, 3B, Grade B-: Hit .233/.274/.361 with 10 homers, wRC+80 in 563 PA in Low-A. Bat much less refined than high school scouting reports said, with serious strike zone issues. Turned 20 yesterday.
And OF Mallex Smith (not rated) also coming along with a low level player.
Edit: I misread it looks like we send a low level player so no Gettys and no CJ I guess
NOW LET’S SIGN JON LESTER
Lester has already signed
153 – YES!!!!
ha.
and Peavy… 5 years too late?
154—Yes, I’m aware. The joke is that we now have all this money to sign…???
…or extend…
Mallex Smith stole 88 bases in 121 games this year.
Looks like Hale is still the #5 starter though as Fried is the only pitcher coming and he won’t be ready until 2017 at the earliest.
Who’s left to extend?
Liberty must be cutting payroll without going public.
@159
I think that was a joke, too, in the same vain.
There’s no can’t-miss prospect in the group, but it bolsters a thin system and adds a good infielder who’s ready to help now in Jace Peterson, IMO. Against righties, neither Johnson nor Gosselin should start.
Wonder if we can lure Joe Maddon from the Rays?
Take out Dustin Peterson and Mallex Smith and this is a terrible deal for the Braves. But Mallex Smith immediately becomes our top OF prospect (Braxton Davidson is a complete wildcard at this point, IMO), and Dustin Peterson is now our top corner infield prospect (counting Peraza as a 2B).
It’s a totally different kind of deal from the Heyward trade, but even giving our scouts the benefit of the doubt the return for Upton is a good deal less than Miller and Jenkins, IMO.
@159, I thought I could just imply it without completely reopening the discussion…
Because half of the argument was that he didn’t fit in our budget. Obviously, he does now.
Ah, right. Well, so long as the payroll cut isn’t permanent, I really don’t care one way or the other if they spend in 2015. They’ll be losers at this payroll, and they’ll be losers if they throw $15 million at the dregs of the free agent market.
Wish the Braves had gotten Venable in the deal. That would have kept Gattis behind the plate.
The deal is highway robbery at this point. Gotta tip the ol’ cap to Hart. He found the right guy to deal with.
#168
K. Rosenthal:
“Worth noting: Chad Macdonald, who recently joined the #Braves’ front office, spent the previous three years with the #Padres.”
Maybe we are just paying BJ $60mil this season and then cutting him at year end. Might be the best strategy that Hart could come up with.
Go sign Aoki, Moncada, and Harang.
End of the day this team wasn’t competing next year. We got 4 players for Justin instead of a draft pick at year end and cleared $15m in payroll. Good luck to the Braves getting butts in the seats next year. I wonder how Freeman is feeling.
I actually like Fried a bit more than most, been following since HS. Obviously there is risk but could be a high upside add for just a year of Upton. I tepidly like the deal as it replenishes a lot of depth in the system to go along with the upside of Fried. Wonder if we could’ve got more, but it seems like they were trying for a while and no one was biting.
“Maybe we are just paying BJ $60mil this season and then cutting him at year end.”
That is… interesting. Almost certainly not what’s happening, but is there any reason you couldn’t do it if team and player both agreed?
@168-Hardly highway robbery. Max Fried is just a top high school prospect with a blown out elbow. Jace Peterson is just Tommy La Stella–slightly less projectable as a hitter but better defensively. The other two guys I like but neither are top-10 (or even top-15) prospects in a good system. In other words, neither are necessarily more valuable than the sandwich pick we would have gotten after the season. And we don’t know who the prospect is that we are sending the other way.
173: “Max Fried is just a top high school prospect with a blown out elbow.”
Prospect mavens’ consensus seems to be against you there. Although it’s always nerve-wracking to get a guy who’s not healthy, consensus seems to be that Fried has serious upside.
So will Jace Peterson play 2b or 3b?
@173, It’s for one year of Upton, and you get maximum control out of virtually all of them (unsure of Peterson’s service time). That’s huge. If the lot of them can accrue more than 4 WAR over time, that’s a nice little investment. Which seems decently likely to happen. Beats the hell out of Casey Kotchman.
I’ll just drop by before my 11 call to say “I don’t know the Padres’ minor leaguers well enough to critique this deal.”
Surely we can find an outfielder that can hit better than Bethancourt and play LF better than Gattis.
what if we sign a player with Justin’s salary that is a 2WAR player? Then the prospects become even more valuable for us. I guess this offseason can still play out in a lot of ways. Could Peterson start if we moved CJ to the Giants now? Maybe Callaspo plays 3b and Peterson plays at 2b with Gosselin now until Peraza is ready.
I wish we could trade B.J. for Norm Peterson.
@177 – With you on this. I can only go by others opinions. At first glance it looks like we have re stocked the farm with some decent prospects.
I’d like to try Gattis at third.
@182
So would I.
New thread.
This looks like a good deal for us. Jace Peterson looks pretty good. Fried is a pretty good prospect. I hope we have a new medical staff that can handle TJ issues well.
I’m pretty into this deal. I’d have been more into it six weeks ago–but I think it’s just what the doctor ordered.
Max Fried sounds like an option at KFC.
I love everything about Alex Wood. Everything about him. I pray we keep him in the system for a long time.