Andrelton Simmons standing on a baseball field with a glove on his hand is a web gem waiting to happen, and this winter Braves Journal is going to determine which of his gems is the best of his best—his Jadeite. To see the previous posts in the series, click here.
Your votes have chosen the top two plays, but we have all had to mourn favorite plays falling by the wayside in the process. Several plays received such adulation from Braves Journal voters that it seemed a pity to not give them their proper due before we anoint the grand champion. Some of your most beloved plays (as indicated in past votes) are back to help us determine the ranking of Simmons’s top ten plays.
Consolation Bracket: Glove: Optional vs. Superman
Glove: Optional
Editor’s Pitch: In Minnesota this year, that will be a hit against Ervin Santana. Last year in Atlanta it was top of the 5th, one down. The catch itself is insane enough, with Simmons making the call to barehand it to give himself a chance to throw the runner out. Then, when the ball bounced slightly differently than he seemed to be anticipating, he stayed with it and nailed the runner with a perfect throw. Perfection on a diamond.
Previous Appearance: Glove: Optional lost to The Jeter in the first round of the consolation bracket.
Superman
Editor’s Pitch: Take a screen shot at 0:28 of this clip, throw a cape on the man, and you’ll discover the true identity of Superman. Clark Kent has nothing on Andrelton.
Previous appearance: Superman lost to You Shall Not Pass in the second round of the consolation bracket.
Glove reminds me ever so slightly of this:
http://climbingtalshill.com/2015/03/24/are-the-houston-astros-regretting-the-evan-gattis-trade/
LOL at the comments.., “Regret? I think the only thing they might be regretting is not making the trade sooner”
http://m.ajc.com/news/sports/baseball/forbes-braves-surpass-1-billion-in-value/nkfBb/
Well, the team is now worth $1 billion. I suppose this means Liberty isn’t selling anytime soon.
Why would they be regretting the Gattis trade at this point? They’ll only regret it if back problems force him to retire by 30 while Folty becomes Matt Scherzer. For 2015, they will appear the clear winners in the trade.
@4, why would that be? Maybe Liberty thinks the value has peaked and will only decline over the next 2 years. I don’t see why the absolute valuation of the team being above some arbitrary threshold (1 billion) would mean they couldn’t sell them.
4 and 5,
The ajc article says it jumped 500 or so million (most MLB up by 10 to 15 %, Braves up 30 or so %) because of the stadium deal. So, if the market has already absorbed that, then there is not another “big jump” but only the same kind of jumps everybody else gets.
The operating income is estimated at 33 mill.
I think it means that if Liberty wants to redirect cash into a more “core” enterprise, then they will be likely to sell. If Liberty is “investing” and isn’t sure which way to proceed with its cash, then they will stay the owner and tread water.
Also, the number of potential buyers drops whenever the price jumps like this. Only so many people can spend a billion on a play toy.
I’d love to see how that operating income is derived. 30x earnings valuation seems like a lot.
Samson McCutchen has cut his hair.
5 — Yeah, wouldn’t surprise me if Folty ultimately ended up being a reliever. Maybe Rio Ruiz will be good.
@5: To Cliff’s point @6, a valuation of $1 billion takes a lot of potential players out of the mix. I’m not sure what the rules are on buying a baseball team regarding the size of the ownership pool, but I foresee some of the only offers coming from groups made up of some capital pooling, no-name investors and a celebrity or two (for headline grabbing, of course). But maybe Mark Cuban will get tired of investing in the crap we see on Shark Tank and give Liberty a call.
@9
I agree. Folty needs another pitch if he wants to be a starter. He also needs to work on his control. Ruiz is the key man in this deal. If Folty can be a solid setup guy and Ruiz can be a league average 3B, it will look like a good deal for us.
I think the Braves are still hoping Folty can be a starter. His ceiling is still pretty high.
@10
MLB owners will never let Cuban in.
Puig? Fernandez? Abreu? Moncada?
It’s the no Cuban club, not the no Cubans club!
Alex,
Are you still looking for volunteers to recap the games?
If I knew how to upload a “No Homers Club” photo…
I can totally see Ruiz as an avg 3B and Folty as a set-up man. But in that case, it’s hard to Houston regretting the trade if Gattis gives them 4 seasons of 20+ HR and all the fanship that El Oso brings with him. I think they did just fine in this trade. Both teams did from our current vantage point.
@15, definitely. Email me at alexbravesjournal at gmail dot com.
Well, John Buck has retired.
http://m.braves.mlb.com/news/article/114939532/john-buck-announces-retirement
Best wishes to John Buck. I’m glad for him, and I’m relieved we won’t be doing something foolish like carrying 3 catchers.
I think the chance that the Padres regret trading for Justin is higher than the Astros regret for the Gattis trade.
@21 Hard to say, but so far the only player the Braves received from the Padres or the Astros who has particularly impressed thus far is Jace Peterson – but then again, he’s the only one of that bunch (aside from Folty) who was reasonably close to being MLB-ready when we got him. The high-ceiling prospects we picked up are all injured (Max Fried) or in the lower minors (Rio Ruiz).
Did I miss anything this offseason?
Nah, just a quiet few months.
New thread!