What can you say about a twenty-five-man offense that died?
That they were beautiful. And brilliant. That they loved walks and home runs. And wins. Once, they specifically had six All-Stars.
At the time I smiled too. But now I sit and wonder whether they won because they got lucky – in which case this regression would be explicable – or because they were healthy, in which case they’re all hiding nagging injuries. Either way we’re out of first place, which for some stupid reason bothers hell out of me, having grown up with the notion that we always had to be number one.
Team heritage, don’t you know?
Bringing over kip’s comment, which was JC’ed:
It seems like we could all use a good laugh and some perspective on how quickly things can turn around. Therefore, I’m posting a comment I was in the process of writing back in July 2021 after Ronald’s first ACL tear that argues for a mini-rebuild. It was so long I saved into Microsoft Word but never finished (you can tell the exact moment I stopped writing/caring because I couldn’t be bothered to finish the word “again”, which is my favorite part of this).
In hindsight, it’s mostly nonsense. Indiago Diaz was called an “intruging prospect” and I said Austin Riley was far from a sure thing (10.8 WAR the last two seasons). I was sadly correct about Soroka, however.
Is this year’s team likely to make another miracle run like 2021? Probably not, but if they can get into October healthy weird stuff can happen.
Anyway, enjoy the following at my expense:
It’s time for a mini-rebuild, with the goal of putting the best possible team around Ronald Acuna in 2023 and the rest of his prime years. Here’s my thought process:
Freddie Freeman is a free agent and should not be resigned for the amount he’s probably asking, so trade him
Freddie has been a joy to watch and I will miss him dearly; the fact that ownership did not bite the bullet and allow for more spending last season cost him his best shot at the World Series with Atlanta. The reality is the amount of money he commands in the market is probably too much for the Braves, and even if we did spend the money, there’s likely to be a Votto-like decline after the first few years of the deal. Unless ownership increases payroll significantly, having 25 – 30 million committed to one player in his decline years seems reckless. The goal should be to spend money on players that can help Acuna as he enters his prime years.
Soroka, Acuna and potentially Anderson have serious injuries that leave their status for 2022 in doubt
This is probably my best argument for the mini-rebuild: Both our number one starting pitcher and number one position player had serious injuries within weeks of each other and there’s no guarantee either of them will be back in time to make a meaningful run in 2022. This obviously becomes more of an issue if Anderson’s shoulder is seriously injured.
The farm system is good, but not great
Fangraphs and MLB.com has us 17th and 15th, respectively. Some of the decline is due to big league promotions and some of the decline is due to the lack of international signings in recent years. There’s significant question marks about the hit tools of the top hitters in the system, Pache and Waters, and as such both need more time in the minors. A mini-rebuild allows for more prospect depth from trades, some of the intriguing pitching prospects (Vodnik/Indiago Diaz) time of develop into assets that could command helpful trades pieces for Acuna’s prime years and a chance for Pache and Waters to develop their approach. Punting this year and next allows for more pitching prospects to learn to pitch at the big league level without fear of being shuttled back to Gwinnett.
The big league roster has too many holes this year and probably next
Assuming we trade Freeman or let him walk, there isn’t much healthy, elite talent outside of Ozzie and Fried next season.
Swanson is an average to slightly below-average shortstop; Riley has upside, and while I’m bullish on his long-term prospects, he is far from a sure thing right now and you aren’t winning much if he’s your second best hitter; Alex Jackson is not an everyday catcher, and while I think one of the two catching prospects will stick, it’s probably too soon to know for sure; Pache needs more time and that leaves a hole in center field for the foreseeable future; the only proven, healthy starting pitcher signed beyond this year is Fried.
In summary, I think our window with this roster has closed, but there’s a chance we can contend agai
Fandom means always having to say there’s tomorrow.
Why isn’t Chipper coaching this team with hitting?
Kip wasn’t the only one who despaired in July 2021. It had been a very frustrating season before Ronald got hurt, and his injury convinced a lot of us that the season was toast.
And dont forget June 1 2022. The Braves were several games below .500 and ten full games behind the Mets. Then we promptly had a record setting June and were on the way to overtaking the Mets.
I’m not predicting that kind of turnaround will happen. But do I believe it could? Hell, I’ve seen it done twice in the last three years.
For the moment, let’s just please hang onto this lead. This streak has gotten plenty ugly.
Reynoldo Lopez. That’s all I’m going to say.
Quite a game for Ozzie today… let’s squeeze in another run here.
EDIT: Thnx O’s… we’ll take that gift. Time for another run.
got home in time for the last pitch!
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