In a lockdown, you’ll take any type of Braves news that you can get and today was actually kind of a big deal for the Braves, as it seems all of their MILB affiliates have been purchased by Endeavor, owner of WME, UFC, and IMG. Here’s an excerpt from the above article:
The owner of WME, UFC and IMG says that it is creating a new subsidiary, Diamond Baseball Holdings, which will own and operate a number of MLB Professional Development League clubs. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.
The company will operate the Triple Affiliates of the New York Yankees (the Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders), Chicago Cubs (Iowa Cubs), St. Louis Cardinals (Memphis Redbirds) and Atanta Braves (Gwinnett Stripers). The company will also operate all of the Braves’ other minor league teams as well as the Single A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants and the High-A affiliate of the Yankees. It is also in talks to acquire other minor league teams.
International Signing Day Will Go On!
The Braves are finally without sanctions then this bloody lockout happened and the international signing day was in question. Well, no more! A few years back, the day got pushed back to January and, apparently, will follow suit in 2022!
Catching You Up on all Braves Signings
Braves have made some MLB and MILB Signings and/or trades, so let’s look at all that has occurred thus far:
“Oh, and I’m going to need one more thing… A first baseman. Yeah. I want you to pay my first baseman for the next 6 years.”
From the last thread, this Endeavor news seems a little shady.
More info on the whole Endeavor buying MiLB teams thing is here.
Endeavor represents baseball players, don’t they? This seems like a potential conflict-of-interest minefield, just like Brodie Van Wagenen’s insane tenure as Mets GM.
SPEAKING OF WHICH… the new Mets GM just recently worked for Endeavor, a firm that was recently sued for poaching another company’s baseball agents! In the lawsuit, they accused Endeavor of doing that because they were afraid of losing their only MLB client, who’s believed to be Carlos Correa.
So, Endeavor wants into baseball in the worst way, and they want to both represent and employ players. Curiouser and curiouser! I’m sure it’ll all work out fine.
In response to Rob’s JC’d comments at the end of the last thread, which were:
Have you guys noticed a lot of guys signing with Japanese teams since the lockout? Do they know something we don’t about the viability of the upcoming season, are they just risk averse, and/or is there a theme with all these that tweener major leaguers might be the ones lost in the shuffle of a protracted lockout?
I’m not sure it’s even something we don’t know. The chances of this getting resolved without the prospect of games being affected is essentially zero IMO. The chance that games are affected is significant…hopefully not as high as 50-50, but I’m not so sure. The chance that this turns into a 2004-05 NHL-style self-immolation is not zero. If you read this, you have to wonder if the league even really wants this resolved at the moment. So yeah, if I’m a tweener who would be interested in/OK with playing in Japan, I very well might sign there. Because even if this does get resolved in early March and doesn’t affect the schedule at all, the offseason will be so rushed that a lot of those types of players won’t know whether or not they’re gonna have a paycheck until it’s too late to pivot if they don’t.
Not a fan of Endeavor. Not a fan of anything associated with UFC.
I don’t like change.
If MLB games are impacted, I vote that we become Yakult Swallows Journal.
https://translate.google.com/?sl=en&tl=ja&text=doom&op=translate
If you’re a marginal player, I could totally see signing a one-year deal in a foreign league to give you financial and scheduling certainty for the 2022 season rather than trying to scramble around and set up a deal in the 48 hours between the CBA being resolved and camp opening.
Like, Carlos Correa and Freddie Freeman aren’t taking that road. But if you were looking at a minor league deal to try and win a bench spot on the Royals with a 60% chance of being cut anyway, what’s the downside potential?
As for the minor league thing, corporate consolidation is sketchy at the best of times. Could see this go sour in a hurry.
@7
For me, I think this could be signs of very good things coming ahead. We’ll see.
@5, seconded.
The Braves drafted John Nogowski in the MILB portion of the Rule 5 draft. He played 1b in the Giants AA system. They also picked up a few relief pitchers
@10 He played some MLB ball last year for the Pirates. He must be our 1B of the future, huh?
I miss baseball already, but I do not miss it enough to form an opinion on a castoff farmhand from the Pirates organization who if we’re very lucky could possibly perform up to the standard of Scott Thorman.
Dale Murphy on the DOB/EOF podcast today sounded more of the opinion that Freddie’s gone, without explicitly saying so. He was making the point that Freddie has a complete story in Atlanta now (successful rebuild, MVP, World Series title) and that the reasons to stay is a much smaller list now.
I think Freddie’s gone because I don’t think AA will go above 5 guaranteed years and I’m totally on board with that. No matter what happens the Braves have gotten the best years of his career. Far too many players better than him have fallen apart in their 30’s. A trade for a 1b + signing someone like Castellanos for LF should be fine.
Fwiw, I’m fairly sure that the Braves just wanted to add a 1b to the system as an emergency backup. Regardless of what happens he’s not the starting 1b next year.
Ah yes, the fear of big-money players collapsing in their 30s is real, so the solution is… to give a big-money, long-term deal to the 30-year-old Nick Castellanos? And also to trade prospects to fill the hole you created by doing so? All to save barely any money, and get marginally younger, when your window is wide open and you should be going all in? I will say, if you’re worried about players “better than” Freeman falling victim to the ravages of time, acquiring worse ones so they can fall victim to it instead is certainly a plan.
Don’t overthink it. Again, the peril here is in trying to get too clever.
IMO, they’re not going to let Freddie walk and we’ll see quick movement after the lockout. From my source, there was an internal battle on years for Freddie.
Greetings from Atlantic City…
For those who get MLB Network, a couple of classic Braves/Mets games are being shown today: the 19-inning, “Rick Camp Game” from July 4, 1985 & Game 6 of the 1999 NLCS.
The very sight of Ken Oberkfell in a Braves uni still makes me shudder, but Andruw’s walk-off walk still makes me grin.
FWIW… call it blind faith, if you like, but I, too, believe a Freddie deal will get done.
I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve watched a ton of Braves games over the last decade and so have spent a lot of time watching Freddie play. Based on what I’ve seen, I don’t see any real reason to think decline is imminent.
Freddie’s basic offensive skillset has always included an ability to hit the ball hard to all fields, while also maintaining a pretty good BB/K ratio. The only “old player” skill he’s developed is the ability to hit more a bit more power starting in 2016, but there was no discernable tradeoff made to achieve that. Physically speaking, he hasn’t bulked up a ton and he doesn’t have a history of accumulating injuries in a way that would suggest things could fall apart health wise. The eye test and the back of the baseball card both display a guy who’s been a remarkably consistent performer, year-over-year.
I hope that when push comes to shove, the Braves cave and give Freddie a 6th year guaranteed if that’s what it takes.* 100% agree with @15 that sometimes the obvious move is the best one. The Braves don’t have any big bats waiting in the minors who could be plugged into the lineup if they were just given a chance, and any players not currently in the org who might have a chance of approximating Freddie’s productivity at the plate (.300/.400/.500 every year!) will cost a similar fortune to Freddie. On top of all that, Freddie is a great guy, fun to watch, and clearly makes baseball a better and happier place when he’s on the field and on our team.
There does come a point where contract demands could be too much – 7 years? 8 years? But I haven’t heard anything solid to say that it would take that to keep FF in ATL.
I think we lock up Freddie too. It is worth it, especially if we win one more title.
@18 I agree. His ability to go the other away seems to me to indicate a skill that will take longer to diminish than if he was pull heavy…once you can’t catch the fastball early it can be a problem flying open and getting beat outside. While Freddie has had his mini slump moments with strikeouts, he isn’t someone that suddenly becomes Rob Deer over a lengthy period of time. Furthermore, he isn’t in the same type of physical shape like Miguel Cabrera or Albert Pujols, so I think he will age much better than those two did.
Having followed the Freddie discussion for several weeks (if not months), I get the distinct impression that if ATL signs him for more than five years, many Braves Journalers will be very happy, and one will be very frowny. Put me in the former camp.
I’m not as sanguine that the Braves get this done as some here, but I am convinced by arguments such as those made @18 and @20 that he is not a great risk to decline precipitously. And on the other side, I seem to recall someone (the potentially frowny poster) saying that Freddie is already in decline based on this year’s stats, which is a rather unpersuasive argument.
@21 My real worry regarding signing Freddie is that… it’s just weird that he got to free agency at all if the Braves wanted him back and he wanted to come back. We had a very long time to get something done – we’ve know the end of the 2021 season would occur, for years and years! Suggests that one side, or both, had some reservations about whatever terms were on the table… and if you can’t get something done before FA, feels like getting to FA only reduces the chances.
New thread.
https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2021/12/09/braves-2021-player-review-pablo-sandoval/
If the report of a 5/135 offer was correct, it seems obvious that the Braves were hoping Freeman would make the decision with his heart and not his head; taking a severely under market deal for the sake of narrative. The delay, then, comes from the fact that he’s not biting.
I originally put a little amateur psychoanalysis here, but then remembered how much I hate amateur psychoanalysis and deleted it.
@15 You aren’t paying attention. I would NOT give Castellanos a 6 year deal either. A 3 year deal is more likely, as is more like it for any player in their thirties. Freddie is declining physically just as any human being in their thirties is doing. I get it, you all hero worship Freddie, but he is human, like all of us. Forget him, he is all about the money. The Braves are too.
@20 Wait, wait….you are saying because he isn’t as in as good of shape as Pujols and Cabrera that he will age better???? That makes zero sense. I say the opposite. I say those seven straight strikeouts in the World Series are signs he is already aging.
For those saying he goes the opposite way in hitting, he does NOT, despite what nitwit Chip Cara says. He is a ground ball pull hitter as are most lefties.
@21 Not saying he is already in decline. Saying he is showing signs of decline and that players his age decline quickly. Giving a 32 year old player a 6+ year high value contract is idiotic. I will be happy if the Braves sign him to a reasonable 5 year guaranteed contract with a 6th year option. I will be just as happy if they pursue other reasonable option. I don’t get emotionally attached to players like y’all do.
@21 Given that you are calling me a “frowny poster” I will call you obnoxious poster. I have never used this year’s stats as proof of anything either positive or negative regarding Freddie. He had great stats this year. I have only said that player’s his age have historically been a poor risk going forward. Good GMs know this. If Pujols and Cabrera age poorly then any player can age poorly then any player can age poorly. I would NOT give him a 6th year guaranteed. 5/135 is ideal….and even that is risky. Also, I am not a “frowny” person at all. I am just not delusionally in love with an old player whose best days are in the past. The future belongs to Ronald, Austin, Ozzie, Ian, Max, and possibly Matt Olson (if they go that route). I will be fine if he stays and I will be fine if he leaves.
So, go away obnoxious poster and leave me alone. Please don’t @ me. I have heard enough of your obnoxiousness.
‘Tis the season to be jolly.