So apparently Jurickson Profar is suspended for the the next 80 games. I am not a big fan of hot takes, but I leave this space for others to have them. To me, the only significant Braves question is whether this simply means they will accelerate the return of Acuña, I suspect the answer to that question is Yes, largely because it is unclear that they are accompliching anything by slowing his return. In any case, what was a platoon of Kelenic and Bryan de la Cruz will probably shortly be joined by Jake Marisnick and whatever else they’ve found.
Ryan tells me that Reynaldo Lopez is about to be put on the IL. If this is true, I suspect acceleration with respect to Strider is in order, but much less acceleration is required in his case.
If Strider and Acuña can come back soon, the loss of Profar and Lopez is bearable if the team starts hitting. If they don’t start hitting, getting Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax in their promes won’t halp.
Hot take? This is a franchise in decline. We’re headed for a fourth straight season of underperformance relative to expectations. The 2021 title was the peak of the rebuild.
I’ll co-sign to AAR’s supposition that Anthopoulus loaded up the books too tightly, or was either given a different impression about spending from ownership. Even as recently as that end of season presser in October, there seemed to be some confusion on AA’s end about spending. He said payroll was going up, but then declined d’Arnaud’s option after saying it would be picked up, then restructured Bummer and Lopez’s contracts. But payroll is down, and Profar was the only significant move of the off-season, at a relatively small price.
Now, this team is markedly worse that last year’s, and only big contributions from Strider and Acuña can fix that.
I don’t want to be Pollyanna here — for one thing, the cost of the wardrobe alone would be prohibitive, but I think it is fair to say that Strider can compensate for Lopez and Acuña can compensate for Profar. Indeed, I think that was everybody’s expectation three days ago. That doesn’t get us all the way there — Schwellenbach needs to compenate for Fried, for example. But I still think there is more than a reasonable chance that RIley, Olson and Albies all improve from 2024, and probably enough to offset an expected decline from Ozuna. That leaves us more or less where we were for the regular season, right? Decline is certainly possible, but nothing yet has made it inevitable.
Training with Tatis in the offseason before your breakout year and getting busted the next. I’m starting to wonder if Tatis really had a skin infection.
“I know a guy in Santo Domingo….”
This is our first significant player with a PED suspension, so I’m not particularly familiar with the process. Is the postseason ban a regular part of the punishment? That seems odd.
Also, I really roll my eyes at players who both take full responsibility for their actions and would never ever knowingly do such a thing.
The playoff ban surprises me too. Does it ring a bell for anyone else? Also, I agree with the responsibility thing. Ryan Braun fooled me, and I haven’t been fooled since.
Did Profar try and blame it on his interpreter?
Hey, it worked for Otani and the Dodgers!
recapped. woe is me.