Baseball America put out a recap that you can read here.
They had this to say about Kevin Maitan:
Maitan arrived at spring training noticeably heavier, and he was listed at 222 pounds on Orem’s Opening Day roster, a gain of 47 pounds in two years. With all the added weight, Maitan’s athleticism, bat speed and explosiveness have slowed considerably. He is batting just .262/.307/.374 playing at elevation in the hitter-friendly Pioneer League, and defensively he has 16 errors in 17 games at shortstop (as well as four errors in seven games at third base). Opposing evaluators say they now overwhelmingly consider Orem teammate and fellow former Braves infielder Livan Soto a better prospect, with some going so far as to say they have zero interest in Maitan.
I would imagine some fans would be happy to hear that the mega prospect we acquired and subsequently lost is moving in the wrong direction. It might soften the blow of losing such a huge piece of our farm system. However, I find no satisfaction in Maitan’s struggles. We scouted him, signed him for $4.25M, and he’s not had one stretch of productive professional baseball since. Would you be happy if he was declining for us?
Also, you’ll see, some of the other prospects we lost are developing nicely outside of our organization.
Game thread.
From last thread on Murphy and smoking, I have to agree that Murphy is being confused with someone else. Based on his religious beliefs and athleticism in general, I don’t see it.
In the 60s and before, long term health problems of smoking were just being understood, but short term consequences were often disregarded. In the 80s I’m sure some went on with players, but short and long term consequences were clearly understood.
In response to OT, NO it doesn’t make me happy. The kid has the potential for a very bright future in one of the best sports to be part of. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding our signing and losing of the guy, I’d rather he cross paths with an awesome mentor who can relate with and impart good habits to him.
I’m glad us Braves fans aren’t having to lament the loss so far, but I want only the best for the guy.
@2: yep.
On the other hand, what is Kevin worried about? He got… what….. $4.5M to sign with the Braves? If he never plays another minor league or major league game, he’s set up for life. Yes, it’s a shame to waste talent and, yes, it’s always nice to see a kid grow and succeed, but I’m not wasting any pity on him. I just hope he puts all that money in T-Bills and lives off the interest.
@4 Sorry, $6.5M.
Well, you got Uncle Sam and the buscons to pay as well, so the number gets eaten up pretty quickly.
Pretty simple. Don’t significantly dent it. The closer it gets, the more I become concerned that the strategy of trading off 40-man filler like Wisler, Sims, Ruiz, Peterson, etc. — something even Keith Law said they should do — could be not working. Either the Braves are over-valuing those players, which is possible, or they aren’t getting them anything.
Or, they have several deals in the works, and they’re simply letting the market play out to see where the chips end up falling. What I’d love to know is whether they think it’s a garage sale mentality — wait until the end and teams will be much more negotiable — or the supply and demand are in reverse and it could end with more buyers than players.
I fear that the Braves are getting strong armed. Other teams are probably asking for too much knowing that we have a ton of pitching prospects and not settling. Hopefully they will ease off before the deadline.
I have a feeling that the Braves are trying to get quality to improve their 2018 team without giving up too much future talent, and that teams that are talking to them are trying to get as much future talent as possible for their rosters while giving up as little current talent as possible.
@7 Wisler, Sims, Ruiz, Peterson etc. have almost no value. And yes, the Braves *either* have over valued them, or adroitly and correctly think they have no value and thus haven’t tried to trade them and just are like, OK, filler.
I have a clear memory of our new editor’s first reaction to the news about Coppy…
HANDS OFF MY MAITAN!
We all know better now of course, the vagaries of youth. Wasted on the young etc…what would we have wasted on him!
Dear Kevin, we’re glad you are fat
we’re absurdly happy ’bout that
return please the Porsche
when you do then of course ‘ya
the key, leave it under the mat.
@9 Tell me more.
I couldn’t have been more right about Maitan (so far). So at least I have that to fall back on, lol. My 76-win stance ain’t lookin so hot.
@12 Well, my theory – and it’s just a theory, right? But my theory is that the Braves are trying to get as much as they can, for as little as possible. But other teams, they’re trying to TAKE as much as they can. The Braves, they want to get A LOT while giving up A LITTLE. But the other guys, they want to give up A LITTLE while getting A LOT.
So there may be some friction there. Like, AA might text the Mets and say something like “I’ll give you Matt Wisler and a signed Chipper Jones all you can eat wings receipt from Hooters, and you send me Jake deGrom and maybe a fungible reliever from your pen!” But then the Mets are like, “no, you send us you ENTIRE MINOR LEAGUE ROSTERS, ALL OF THEM, plus like, your six best team doctors maybe, and we’ll give you a highlight reel of plays from when Jose Reyes was useful!” And that might not be close enough for a compromise, until the Mets throw in Mike Piazza’s Aetna prescription meds card or something, right?
Soria to the Brewers.
Hey Rob …. Braves continue to sit on hands while others get better ……………..
Heyman seemed to think a Senator broke the trade news.
Tad, I was literally *just* wondering where you were. I think you owe it to yourself and all of us to keep this going every day the Braves don’t make a move up until the deadline. After, July, though, I’d say it would get old. This has the potential to be one of my favorite things on Braves Journal, and this place has been around for a while.
The best part of a span when the Braves are winning is Tad going back into his troll cave.
@8
That’ll be the ridiculously irritating excuse if they lamely do nothing, anyway…
The best relievers are going, going, gone.
When they are winning nothing to talk about … fact is Braves are in contention and they refuse to improve team ..AA not wanting to make his 1st wrong BIG move … so why dont we just trade Markakis for a class A – outfielder .. Trade Freddie Freeman for a future 10 round pick … maybe Albies for a couple AA pitchers ..and work to get back here in contention in 2025 …
Yeah. That’s about you in a nutshell.
You live in a dungeon of despair and pessimism, which literally has no factual connection to anything the Braves are doing or any potential deal they might be working, but you need to vent on the internets, so here you are, all up in your feels so very hard.
Yes.
Argument without evidence. Complete fabrication based on nothing more than fan angst driven by a 24 hour news cycle where the weak minded equate not being in the headlines for a day with not working to, or eventually actually improving the team.
Everything else from this point forward in your comment is just internet whinging and drama queen bullshit.
It’s probably worth remembering that Kevin Maitan is an 18-year-old teenager who has something like an 8th-grade education, was paid a bonus of several million dollars, was told that he was the best prospect since Miguel Sano if not since Miguel Cabrera, was forcibly separated from the Braves — the team that seems to have more or less hid him from public view for a while so they could sign a contract with him that everyone in baseball knew had already essentially been agreed to — and sent to Orem, Utah, which is one place that I think many of us would not necessarily want to spend our time as an 18-year-old.
I think there’s at least a reasonable chance that he’s eating as a coping mechanism to deal with stress, because I know that’s what I did when I was 18, and I don’t know what kind of support structure the Angels have put around him but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was inadequate, because teams generally treat minor leaguers like minimum-wage laborers rather than the future faces of their franchise.
Madeiros. Former first rounder, #20 in the Brewers’ system. So… Lucas Sims?
AAR can now rest easy: Happ to the Yanks.
Passan says Nats could become sellers if this series against the marlins goes badly. Nice work Stu.
TAD- We still have time. Just relax.
It appears the Nats are going to start moving guys soon. They Phillies haven’t made any moves, so we are fine right now.
While it’s entirely possible that teams strongly prefer to start a conversation that begins with names like Allard, Soroka, and Wright rather than Wisler or Sims, it’s not like the Braves don’t know what other teams are offering. So, I really don’t believe that teams are strong arming the Braves with huge demands, and the truth is that even Wisler has good trade value. The Braves have plenty of minor league talent to have worked out many of the deals we’ve seen without surrendering a top 10 prospect.
I really believe, and this is rooted mostly in what I’m reading, that the Braves have a very narrow scope of who they’re interested in. They’re not going to trade for a rental reliever when they think they’ve got potential packages on the table that will satisfy the reliever need — and they know there are plenty of rental relievers they can trade for at the deadline if a package deal for a controllable player doesn’t meet the need after all.
I think we’ll see a trade even if it’s just for relievers. I think AA is shooting for the moon right now and no other deal is going to happen while the moon is on the table.
PS. The moon in this case is someone such as Fullmer or Archer. I don’t believe DeGrom is a serious consideration, but I would love to be wrong about that.
Well, so much for the Brewers doing the right thing and getting J.A. Happ instead of the Yankees.
Guess we’ll be hearing about Archer to the Brewers for a handsome package of more than we’d pay.
Even if the Gnats become sellers, no one here really believes the Braves would trade for Bryce Harper, right? — Getting that guy to extend before going to free agency is an impossibility, isn’t it? I know that’s the only way I’d want to do that.
#FreeTAD
Let the man post. I hope his post count increases exponentially every day we don’t acquire someone.
Why would teams be willing to trade with other teams for a reasonable return, but when it comes to trading with us, demand a great deal more? It doesn’t make any sense, if you think about it. We’re not the only good farm system in baseball.
Whoa, whoa, what’s wrong with Tad? Knock it off, Sam.
Also, he now has access to McDonald’s.
Tad is the person inside of all of us. The feeling is natural. This is classic FOMO. This is Garden of Eden stuff. We would have all rather had just traded for Kelvim Herrera 2 weeks ago.
Orem, Utah *might* be a better place to grow up than Venezuela though. Perhaps Coppy can arrange some kind of human trafficing escapade that sneaks him across the border to Vegas or something.
Bleacher Report says Blue Jays and Braves are in discussions re Marcus Stroman.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Stroman would have been awesome, but I don’t know now given his shoulder issues. This is what scouts get paid for, but shoulder fatigue never sounds good to me.
They’re just re-publishing Jon Morosi’s tweet, that the Braves and Jays “have discussed a Marcus Stroman trade, although there is no evidence of current progress.”
@27
Doubling up on that, Ken Rosenthal just wrote an article saying the same thing. Basically says that there’s a thought that Nats ownership might want to sell so they don’t go over the luxury tax threshold in a year where they don’t make the playoffs. He does say that Harper would probably not be traded (still some thought that they can convince him to re-sign, which would probably go away if they traded him).
In any case, the Nats Sell bandwagon is picking up some serious steam!
UPDATE: @41, Those last seven words are the motto of this trade deadline, so far.
Fried will start Saturday with Newk and Julio being pushed back for an extra day of rest.
Man, if I’m a Yankees fan, I’m pretty nonplussed by their moves. They’re sending a lot of future talent out for what amounts qualifying for a single elimination playoff game with Seattle.
Drury’s good, but hasn’t had a place to play in NY. The rest of what they’ve sent out ranges from meh to quite meh. With that bullpen, they’re going to be heavily favored in a 1-game playoff, and then adding Happ sure makes the rotation a lot tougher in the next round(s).
If I were a Yankees fan, I would choose joy.
If I were a Yankees fan, I would suck
FTFY.
The Yanks are much improved.
I know it’s fun to talk about whether the Nats should trade Bryce Harper and what kind of haul that would be. But you’re not trading for Harper for the next several years. You’re trading for him during one of the worst seasons of his career as he’s about to leave for free agency. How much would someone possibly give up for Bryce to make it worth it for the Nats to make such a statement? Unless you think he’s going to go to a contender and catch fire, what’s the upside? And he was already on a contender, and he has not played well, so that idea is kind of out anyway.
It’s interesting a fan of a team that’s a division rival of them. If they sell off, it makes games against them more winnable in 2018, but in theory, it’s going to strengthen them past this year even more. And if you don’t like the idea of that, then why are you wanting to trade prospects from your own team, thus creating the same result?
The thing about trading for Bryce Harper is that it’s not just about what you’re getting, it’s what they’re giving up. It’s the single biggest possible white flag you could raise on the season — it’s basically telling your fans that the season is over and they should tune out. That is an insanely expensive decision to make, and has to be priced in to the haul they ask for.
Agreed on Yankee decisions, though. That is a really good team and they’ve made themselves better. I’m glad we don’t play in their division.
@48
I have never, in my life, said to myself, “Oh crap, [insert division rival here] just traded for a bunch of prospects! In five years, they’re gonna be really good if about 10 different things go right for them!”
I don’t understand people who do, either. Like, the people who wanted Philly to trade for Machado so that they would lose prospects…I just don’t get it at all. “Yay, the Phillies basically just clinched the division title with a trade! That’s great, because in three years, if everything goes right, we might be better than them!”
We are here, right now, competing for a division title. Can we focus on that, please? I’m not saying trade everybody (in fact, I chose the middle choice on the poll, for the record), but the mental gymnastics of the people who think the best farm system=the best team 3-5 years later make my head spin.
If the Nats sell, good! That means they can’t come from behind and steal the division back! You can’t project what’s gonna happen five years from now. Besides, if they don’t retool now, they probably will in the offseason, and that half-season is not gonna make any difference at all.
Yeah, but prospects mean a little bit more to a team that has 9 more years of the worst TV deal to live out. I’ve come to understand why we are choosing to focus on controllable players, or at least why I think we are. I think the reality is we do want Bryce Harper (or Machado, or similarly expensive difference maker), but now is not the time to acquire him. The only way we’re going to balance the contracts of a few difference makers with the overall financial situation handed to the team is if we keep a bunch of low dollar controllable players in the pipeline so that we don’t continually keep voids in the lineup because we locked ourselves into a few big contracts (like we did last time we had to blow it up and rebuild).
The Nats are not going to sell the season. They may trade some rental players, but they’re goingto retain a strong nucleus for the rest of the season. I don’t think they will drop out of contention totally but they’re not as bought in as they looked a few weeks ago. For them, Bryce Harper is worth paying for the rest of the year just because he pays for himself basically.
Yeah, but prospects mean a little bit more to a team that has 9 more years of the worst TV deal to live out
Are you talking about the Nats with MASN, or about us?
Why didn’t the Gnats trade Harper last year? I mean they know they can’t sign him. Isn’t that they way you’re supposed to do it? LoL.
I’m in agreement with you. If they got back a Gleyber Torres, then maybe. I’d rather them stick with Bryce and let them miss the playoffs and not have Gleyber Torres either. But anything short of that, yeah, sure, punt the season and get back 3 pitching prospects.
Selling off Herrera, Madson, Kelley, Matt Adams, etc., get some middling prospects, torpedo the season quietly, and let Harper walk for a comp pick would be a good outcome too.
@52 Nah, I think he’s talking about us. We’re not able to reach a top third payroll because of the TV deal.
I continue to think the TV deal is much more of an excuse than an actual major impediment (and it’s one that not even the club or Liberty Media have used very much recently, to their credit). Especially after they were able to rework it somewhat when Fox Sports bought the old, smaller Peachtree TV package, and double super especially after the opening of the Battery and the big attendance uptick.
Perhaps the TV deal keeps us from having a top five payroll and playing in Yankees/Red Sox/Dodgers land every year, but I’m very skeptical that it requires a team in a large market city (which Atlanta is) to have a mid-market budget.
The TV deal was renogiated years ago and it’s middle of the pack now.
They are printing money at the Battery. More so if we can make the playoffs. I really don’t think it’s gonna be about money. It’s about not having to give up certain minor leaguers.
The Braves, a large market team, operate like a small/medium market team. IMO. Doesn’t Metro Atlanta have like 7-8 M now?
@52, 55 I think it’s obvious I’m talking about us.
https://www.ajc.com/sports/baseball/braves-ceo-says-deal-isn-crippling/BrLd6lhz8GTyOXdjNRZyDI/?icmp=np_inform_variation-test
The Braves have by far the worst TV deal even after renogiating. I didn’t go out of my way to look at all TV deals, but this article makes it sound like the Braves lag behind even the worst in the league.
Hey, gNats selling opens up the possibility of getting Herrera via trade – should still be inexpensive. Didn’t Jaime Garcia do a big bounce last year? Time for us to get a little trade bounce off the gNats.
Heck, let’s pair him up with Matt Adams for some bench power.
I’ve got goosebumps….
Heyman says the Braves are “also in play for Hamels.”
Yes, Jaime was traded twice.
I’m not sure Morosi or Heyman or Olney or whomever have any true idea what the Braves are doing. And I bet they’re looking at dozens of players — and may have even made offers — that the writers have no idea about.
I still don’t truly get their fascination with Cole Hamels.
Rosenthal says we are interested in Hamels and Beltre.
Might as well get Kela too.
Kemp as slow as ever.
Also, I forgot how much I hated BJ Upton. How could I forget? IIRC, he’s the only person to make me drop a “significant” curse word on Braves Journal. So BJ is #1; Kemp #2. Melky just doesn’t move the needle for me. I don’t know why.
Someone posted this article on Twitter written in August 1991 by an LA Times columnist. It hilariously didn’t age well.
Some of you older folks who hate the Dodgers will like this.
http://articles.latimes.com/1991-08-23/sports/sp-1014_1_braves-atlanta-dodgers
Joe hates player safety rules.
Yes, Chip…Chase Utley snapping that guy’s ankle in half in that playoff game was a paragon of beautiful athleticism.
@67, thank you!
Hopefully Fried learns some stuff from watching Rich Hill pitch.
Well, Hill was about a dozen years older than Fried is now when he learned, so…
For those that don’t appreciate Dansby’s tremendous defense, Culberson’s allowed two additional baserunners through 5 innings from the shortstop position.
I wish Dansby had been playing.
One positive for MLB of all of this tanking is that it definitely creates a windfall of news in the last week in July. So they have that going for them…
Rich Hill looks like my accountant.
73 — Costing us a run.
Ugly inning. Score some runs off this bum, Braves.
Good defense, Rob. Andrelton played tremendous defense, an altogether different species.
@67 Braves should post that in the locker room for this series.
Missing Dansby tonight. FakeDansby just doesn’t quite measure up.
With Albies just coming back after a few days off, I think the lineup may not do much tonight.
79—That should stop all the Andrelton trashing that goes on around here.
Man, Hamels to Cubs. What a day. I need a cold beer.
Does Chip know there’s a game going on?
Just got Machado’d. Ugh……
Phillies lead 5-4 in the 5th. Braves could fall 2.5 GB.
Chip Caray: STILL SO BAD AT HIS JOB.
Braves just gonna stand pat and let Phillies build a lead .. we are definitely waiting till next year it’s obvious….i say just tank it rest of way …. and get a better pick in next year’s draft…
@86
My favorite moments are when he suggests something so unbelievably stupid that even Joe is like, “Uh…no.”
He suggested that Matt Kemp should get NL Comeback Player of the Year and Joe all but said, What did he come back from…being fat?
Bad, Ozzie.
Night, y’all.
Yay! Sam Freeman to the rescue
Do we have any pitchers besides Freeman ???
88—It’s his complete inability to judge anything whatsoever about batted balls that kills me.
Why Sam Freeman continues to have a spot on this roster is getting to be at Tony Graffanino levels of craziness.
This game is already lost. Maybe Freeman can pitch his way off the team tonight.
Sam Freeman strikes again! And now introducing our next reliever……… Peter Moylan. Can you throw in the towel more than once per game?
I’m telling you we need a bat….. need…..
Maybe we’ll get a guy past second at some point in this series.
Oh boy Moylan ……
Hey.., we have prospects though
Good thing AA didn’t trade for Machado…
When it comes to Chip, I smile, nod my head, and say, “Yeah, he’s bad.”
Phillies just broke a team record, 6 home runs tonight in Cinci. Game still ongoing.
It wasn’t our starting pitching or crappy defense that upset as much as our offense against a guy we were told could not sustain his control into the third time around. 1st, 2nd or third we were pathetic.
Vintage Barves. Go get em tomorrow.
This game is quickly becoming a joke.
Let it rain. Let it pour. If Washington is supposed to decide on punting on the season over the weekend, our FO should be able to make even smaller observations over the same time period.
If you’re suggesting we should punt, then the GM should go with the season.
No, I’m saying the FO should see these games as additional proof there needs to be reinforcements.
Maybe Folty will pitch a no hitter tomorrow
Pretty ill-advised gamble by Tucker, down 6 with 2 out in the 9th.
I figured you were talking about the Braves deal, but Peter Angelos and MASN are screwing the Nationals out of a bunch of money, and they’re still outspending us.
If you as a GM can’t tell this team needs a pick me up .. you are blind .. evidence by the last 2 weeks play .. teams know now Braves may over spend now and will be vultures ….
The Phillies may run away with this division. What a shame.
Recapped