Bartolo Colon is on revocable waivers, and while he could be of interest to a contending team in need of pitching such as the Dodgers or Angels, Marc Carig of Newsday hears that the Mets will not simply let Colon go to a claiming club in order to shed the remainder of his salary (Twitter links). The Mets feel that they can hang onto Colon and find a good trade for him in the offseason, when the remaining commitment will be just one year at $11MM.
Elsewhere in baseball’s Eastern divisions…
- MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo runs down the Mets’ options with Colon and lists some potential destinations, speculating that the A’s and Pirates could be under-the-radar fits. While he ultimately deems the A’s a long shot (noting that they would only place a claim to block the Angels), he does remind that the Bucs were interested in Jon Lester prior to the July 31 deadline, and the Pirates did successfully complete a waiver trade with the Mets in 2013 (Marlon Byrd and John Buck for Dilson Herrera and Vic Black).
- Nationals trade acquisition Jose Lobaton hasn’t hit much this season, but the catcher has provided plenty of defensive value and credits one of his former teammates, James Wagner of the Washington Post writes. Lobaton says that the years he spent learning about pitch framing from Jose Molina have made perhaps the biggest impact on his game. Lobaton ranks 35th out of 91 catchers in total extra strikes added via framing, according to Baseball Prospectus. (Unsurprisingly, his former teammate Molina ranks first.)
- Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel provides a brief scouting report on new Red Sox outfielder Rusney Castillo. As McDaniel notes, while Castillo added a significant amount of muscle since defecting, the extra muscle hasn’t caused his 70-grade speed to diminish. The key to Castillo’s future will be his hit and power tools. While they project to be average (think .260-.270 average and 15-20 homers), they’re volatile enough that either could swing to above-average or below-average in short order.
- Despite repeated stories that the Marlins will not trade Giancarlo Stanton, his name has appeared in trade speculation, but Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald thinks the Red Sox should have their eyes on another NL East corner outfielder. Jason Heyward, one of the only core players on the Braves not to receive a long-term deal that extended the team’s control this offseason, would look very good in a Red Sox uniform, Lauber opines. Lauber suggests that the BoSox should look to trade a package of three young players to the Braves to land Heyward and extend him so that his prime years come with Boston. Heyward’s left-handed bat would help balance the lineup, and his elite defense is a good fit for Fenway Park’s tricky right field, he adds.
Cardinals 2015 Rotation: Wainwright, Wacha, Lynn. Lackey, Colon.
So you’re giving up on Miller after one down year? He’s only 24 year old, was a top 10 prospect just prior to last year and had a solid rookie year. I don’t get it.
I’m not “giving up on him” but his only good pitch is his fastball. He has to find another pitch he can rely on or he’ll never be more than a #5.
The Cards are far more likely to use Gonzales than to trade for Colon, to say nothing of Miller who IMO starts out in the rotation but is demoted if he doesn’t get his act together within 5 or so starts.
Scott Lauber needs to dream on. Jason Heyward is NOT going anywhere. IMO, the Braves give him the long term extension he deserves this winter. They just wanted to see if he could stay healthy this season and he has done that.
They don’t have the cash. Sorry.
If true, then this is the year to trade him. He’s a top-five defensive RFer who gets on base, is an excellent baserunner, and would rake in an AL park.
They won’t, though. The Braves’ front office is very underrated for making boneheaded moves or non-moves. They’ll turn down multiple perfectly reasonable offers for him because they value him too much, and then let him walk and have nothing to show for it.
They’ll have a draft pick for him at least
Whoopee. That’ll help them in 2015.
It isn’t true. The Braves and Heyward’s agent couldn’t agree on a long term deal due to Jason’s previous health concerns. The thought is that if he stays healthy this year he will get his long term deal this winter. So far he has stayed healthy so my guess he gets his money this winter.
They will have the cash to sign at least one of JUpton or Heyward after 2015. Uggla’s money coming off the books after next year and the anticipated revenue increases from the new stadium give them additional money to play with.
Plus the ~23 million of heyward/upton salaries coming off the books.
I doubt the Braves trade Heyward. Although I don’t think they can afford to sign Heyward AND Justin Upton long-term.
I doubt it also. Of the two, I think they would go with the younger, home grown player.
Holt, Cecchini, and Ranaudo for Heyward?
It’s going to take a heck of alot more than a utility player, a third baseman with both questionable hitting and fielding and a bottom of the rotation starter to get that deal done.
Do not underestimate the value of Holt. And Cecchini was struggling but he’s been hitting well. Ranaudo has potential to be #3 SP. And plus, team getting Heyward is getting only 1 yr of service. That team’s ability to extend Heyward should not count into the value of trading for Heyward. Heyward’s career batting avg is .262. He’s not gonna require top prospects.
He’s overrated by fans and overvalued by the organization. The way most Braves fans talk about him, you’d think he was a career .330 hitter.
I’m not a Braves fan. I’m a Red Sox fan and that deal is not good enough.
I wasn’t disagreeing with you. Regardless of whether or not they should, the Braves would demand a king’s ransom for him. Although I do not think they are open to trading him unless they get a deal they cannot refuse.
Holt has an unsustainable BABIP. He will regress next year. How much is a light hitting utility guy batting .270 actually worth in a trade? Not much really. Cecchini has fallen from the number 4 prospect on the organization to the number 12 this year. All he brought to the table before this year was an ability to hit for average which he can no longer do. Ranaudo has a third starter ceiling, which does not indicate he will ever get there. Heyward will require someone to center the deal around and you have named no one who has enough value. Heyward is a gold glove winning left handed batter with 20 hr power. You need one top prospect and two borderlines to get that done, and that is not the deal you have offered. You need to at least offer players that are on the way up and not currently in decline or heading for a regression.
Heyward has only 1 yr left on his contract after this season. And he’s a career .262 hitter.
Again a hitter’s value has little to do with his batting average. .262 is an average batting average. He also has 20 hr power which could easily be 25-30 in Fenway. He’s 24 years old and heading into his prime. He’s also won a GG and is the 7th most valuable outfielder in baseball this year per fangraphs. Stop focusing on his batting average and open your eyes. This is a very good player, and lefthanded power which the Red Sox could use next season. He’s worth more than Brock Holt and a few borderline prospects.
no.. Heyward won’t easily hit 25-30 HRs at Fenway.
The word could was in there. What makes you so sure?
When you use easily, the word “could’ become useless. you said Heyward could easily hit 25-30 HRs at Fenway which basically saying it’s easy for Heyward to hit 25-30 jacks at the Fen. Heyward only has 1 season where he his 20+ Hrs. If you say Heyward could be 20-25 HR guy with Boston, I would have agreed with you but he’s not going to hit easily 25-30 HRs. Fenway has pretty deep RF except the very end and that very end is hard to hit a HR since it’s very short end. And when you see Heyward’s HR chart, he does hit HRs to RF most of the time but not to the extreme end of RF. That’s dead pull hitter and Heyward is not a dead pull hitter.
It does not matter if he is not a dead pull hitter. in Fenway that actually helps. It actually is shorter to right center in Fenway than Turner field not straightaway right. Unless you can pull it right down the line, which is the shortest of all. It should also be taken into account that he would play more games in the AL East where there are many hitters parks, particularly with closer right field fences. You should also take into account that he has yet to reach his prime. His age 25-27 years will most likely be the best of his career. Admittedly the Red Sox would have to resign him, but there would be no reason not to. And it’s not saying it’s easy for him to hit that many, that’s a figure of speech. It is a phrase that anyone would use when describing the likelihood of an increased production when changing ballparks.
And he hit 27 hrs in 2012. Why is it a stretch to think it’s possible that he will repeat something he has already done?
His value is as a better than replacement offensive player in addition to being one of the best outfielders in baseball. Go look at the WAR statistics for this season, he’s that high for his defense, similar to how Pedroia is still in the top 25 despite a down offensive season.
Holt reminds me of Iglesias. Hits for a high BABIP and fans fall in love. He’s had a good year but the guy is more of a utility player than everyday starter and its shown as he’s coming back down to earth.
Stats don’t agree with you on Holt and I glesias comp. Holt has career batting avg of .281 at the major and .307 at the minor. I’m not saying that guarantees anything but you can’t either say his batting will just go down. He’s a contact hitter and hard to strike out.
His Batting average on balls in play is .356. That’s higher than Robinson Cano, Mike Trout, and Jose Altuve. That indicates that either there is probably a high degree of luck involved in his hitting this year, or he is an incredibly talented hitter. He’s also hitting .224 since the All Star break. He’s most likely going to come back to Earth next year. He’s a utility player. Sure he’s a good one, but he’s a utility player.
Way too light.
What do you think would be a fair deal?
As a sox fan, I’d say Betts, Webster and Margot.
Ben won’t sac Betts for 1 yr service of career .262 hitter.
Yes because a hitter’s value is determined from his batting average. Although I agree that Betts is probably off the table.
But Heyward is only 25 and still has a lot of upside. The guy made the all-star game at the age of 20, he definitely provides a lot of value.
His offensive numbers aren’t good. He’s way too inconsistent and his plate discipline is atrocious. I cannot count how many times I watch his at bats and see him strike out looking on a 90mph fastball right down the pipe, or hacking at a ball that is more suited for a sand wedge than a baseball bat, especially in clutch situations. He plays great D in right and has an arm that will keep baserunners honest, but that’s about all he has proven that he has to offer consistently. Yes, he’s only 25 and was once a hype machine of a prospect, but I prefer to judge based on what is and not what could be.
Heyward has a career 11.6 percent walk rate and has chased pitches out of the zone three percent below the league average both this year and last year. He has his flaws, but “atrocious” plate discipline isn’t one of them.
I am curious, though, as to the reasoning behind his sudden lack of power. His batted ball profile hasn’t changed much at all, but none of his fly-balls are leaving the yard anymore.
His power has never been as good as advertised. If you remove the outlier that is his 2012 season, he’s not far off from his usual power numbers.
Using BA in every post weakens your credibility. Heyward isn’t just a .262 career hitter. There’s far more positives to outweigh the relatively low BA.
I could see Betts, Webster, and Sean Coyle or Margot being pretty fair as a Braves fan as well.
Betts isn’t moving for a short time deal at a position that is easier to replace than most, he’d be packaged for Stanton or top line pitching, but they’re a lot better off finding a place for him in the infield here than they are trading him for Heyward and I want them to go after Heyward. Coyle makes sense to me, throw in a much better pitching prospect than Webster and another prospect and call it a deal (though you can have Webster as a throw in if you want as well, he has crazy stuff but no confidence or control so he’s an interesting risk).
Not happening.
replace Holt with Betts and you maybe have the start to a package
A start? Betts for Heyward straight up would be an overpay by Boston.
Keep Holt as your super utility player, he’s much more valuable here than as part of a trade. Give them Coyle, a higher pitching prospect (besides Ball or Owens, anyone else is fair game) and another prospect, possibly Victorino as well and I would do it.
The sox don’t need Heyward. They have plenty of capable outfielders for next year. What they now need is solid production from the 3b position. WMB is not the answer.
Yes, but they currently have two left handed hitters who are starters (Holt and Ortiz). And one of them is likely to not be a starter next year (Holt). They need lefthanded bats.
Wont Vicotorino go back to switch hitting next year too?
I don’t think so. I think he stopped for good.
I couldn’t find a definitive answer online (weird I know) but I was under the impression he wasn’t switch hitting due to a leg injury from 2013.
But once he got healthy he said he was done with it (there had to be a month of so there he was actually healthy). It had nothing to do with his present injury. It was a choice he made when he came back from being hurt in 2013. He said he was done.
I think this latest injury will put an end to his switch hitting days.
If he is with the Red Sox next year, he should bat righty exclusively in Fenway and switch-hit (if he can) everywhere else. The only place where it might be worth it for him to try batting left-handed is Yankee Stadium.
Switch hitting made his back problem worse last year. He’s a more effective as a righty hitter than people think. It’s not worth it to switch hit anymore.
I don’t doubt it. My only point is that the only place where it might be worth it for him to try batting left-handed is in Yankee Stadium against a RHP. That would amount to about 30 at bats over the course of a season. I imagine that his back could take it.
No, they really don’t. In a ballpark like Fenway, you want as many right-handed hitters as possible. The Red Sox should try to trade for Adrian Beltre (and Elvis Andrus) or David Wright.
So we never anticipate having to hit against a right handed pitcher again? Because the dimensions of Fenway Park don’t enter into it if you cannot actually hit the ball. Because this year we’re 22nd in OPS against RHP and I would prefer if that didn’t continue to trend downward next year. Is there a lineup in all of baseball that would be happy with only 2 left handed starters? One of whom is unlikely to be a starter next year?
Victorino has been hurt for most of the year and Craig and Cespedes just arrived recently, so my guess is that their numbers are not a major part of those numbers.
I don’t put a lot of stock in the whole lefty/righty-righty/lefty dynamic. I think that if the Red Sox throw some combination of Castillo, Victorino, Pedroia, Cespedes, Ortiz, Napoli, Craig, Bogaerts, Holt, and whomever is catching for them on a given day, their offense will be fine, regardless of whether or not the pitcher on the mound is a LHP or RHP.
Really? Because we’ve tried that this season and lost our last 8 games. You should probably put stock on RHP/LHB matchups. Largely because they are real.
Has Victorino played in any of the last 8 games? Has Castillo? Are the Red Sox still playing JBJ on a regular basis? I would imagine that both Castillo and Victorino would hit better against RHPs than JBJ even though JBJ is a LHB.
I would also imagine that Andrus and Beltre would hit better against RHPs over the course of a season than Bogaerts and Holt. In a ballpark like Fenway, I would bet on good to great RHBs against RHPS over average to good LHBs against RHPs.
Victorino has not played at all in the last 8 games, and I wouldn’t put much stock in him playing much season either. JBJ has been in AAA, and unless he mysteriously learns to hit I don’t see him contributing next year at all. Castillo has yet to be seen. Why anyone would propose a lineup with 7 RHB is beyond me. That is just not good baseball sense.
They would be much better with Heyward, they don’t need to overpay, but they should certainly entertain the possibility. That way you don’t have to have Allen Craig in the OF (you either move him somewhere else or you move Napoli and put Craig at 1B where he isn’t a liability and isn’t as likely to get hurt again, which also keeps Cespedes in LF rather than getting bad jumps in all the real estate out in Fenway’s RF) and you can get a hell of a lot of value from the bench if you keep Holt as utility and Nava as your fourth outfielder. Victorino is as good as gone.
If the Pirates trade for Colon, I will eat my hat.
I’d hold off if I were you. Given your client’s performance, you might soon need that hat for actual sustenance.
Ike Davis is a tremendous talent with upside not even he knows. I will fight for every dollar he deserves and then most of the dollars he doesn’t deserve. His abilities to look at pitches two inches off the plate and make routine scoops look as difficult as they truly are don’t just grow on trees. The Pirates are undeniably grateful to have him, and the Mets have had second thoughts about how he was treated in New York.
Emptying the farm for Heyward seems pointless to me. The Red Sox have a good group of OF’ers already under contract for 2015 (Victorino, Castillo, Cespedece with Nava and JBJ as backups). They are in much greater need of help on the left side of the infield and the rotation.
There wouldn’t be any emptying of the farm involved.
So the Braves are planning on giving away Heyward?
No, they’d get plenty return but it wouldn’t be at the cost of the cream of the crop. The Red Sox are one of the few systems that could create a package for Chris Sale or Giancarlo Stanton if they were made available, they’d pursue Heyward as a more reasonable cost, not on the same level.
Heyward’s trade value probably won’t get any higher than it is now so I think the possibility should atleast be explored. IMO, I’d rather they re-sign Justin and get good players in return for Jason. But if Heyward is dealt, I’d have to imagine one of the prospects would have to be either Betts or Margot (though Betts is likely not going anywhere). The Braves have absolutely nothing in terms of CF prospects anywhere in the organization that profile as something other than AAAA/bench guys.
What about something like Victorino, JBJ, Garin Cecgini, and Bryce Brentz for Heyward and BJ Upton. That way you get an amazing defensive CF, two prospecsin AAA albeit with flaws, and a replacement for Heyward in Victorino. Red Sox get a bad contact but open up a spot for Betts and Castillo and get a young lefty to slot in behind ace speeds in the lineup!
That works if the Red Sox also trade Craig and Middlebrooks to the Mets for Daniel Murphy. But it is my hope that the Braves would prefer to trade Heyward and Upton to the Yankees for Carlos Beltran and Brett Gardner.
Why would the Sox want Daniel Murphy? He would have nowhere else to play.
Heyward isn’t so much better than Gardner that it wouldn’t make sense to take BJ Upton’s contract along with giving up Beltran as well.
It also doesn’t make sense for the Braves. Beltran will likely be retiring in a few years, and like Dynasty said, Gardner isn’t as good as Heyward. The only benefit from the Braves’ standpoint is that they get rid of that God-awful Upton contract.
Gardner is also on a very reasonable contract for the next 4-5 years. Heyward is likely to become much more expensive than Gardner once he reaches free agency.
Beltran is under contract for two more years. Upton is under contract for three. It is a swap of bad contracts that is more likely to be better for the Braves than the Yankees, unless the Yankees can flip Upton to the Dodgers for Crawford or Ethier and they can recapture their form in a hitter-friendly ballpark.
Murphy could play 3B for the Red Sox.
Heyward could be a monster in Yankee Stadium and Gardner would give the Braves one of the best defensive CFs in the league, a leadoff hitter, and a very good offensive player as well. He is also from SC, so he could very quickly become the face of the organization.
If Beltran gets his elbow and knee fixed this offseason, he could still be a productive player for the Braves for two more years, while I would hope to flip Upton to the Dodgers for Carl Crawford or Andre Ethier.
Why would the Mets want either WMB or Craig? WMB is awful and is a third baseman. Even though he’s had a down year, third is Wright’s for the foreseeable future. WMB has played two games at second base in the majors and minors combined.
You’d be rolling the dice on Craig, too. But even at his best, Craig is worth basically what Murphy is. So you’d trade a sure thing in Murphy to get back one terrible and unusable piece (WMB) and one piece where even if he bounces back and plays at his absolute best is only as good as Murphy? No way Mets do that.
Craig could play LF and prior to this year was a very good hitter, especially in the clutch. He is also under contract for several years, while Murphy is only under contract for one. It is unlikely that the Mets are going to sign Murphy long-term to be their 2B. They will most likely trade him for prospects. WMB could be a good platoon partner for Lucas Duda. The Mets can play Eric Young Jr. or Wilmer Flores at 2B.
You’re damn right on Betts, I could see the Sox coveting Heyward (as a Boston fan, I’d like to see them go after him personally) but he’s one of the top prospects in baseball, he’s not going unless it’s as a part of something blockbuster, not for a very good but non-star OF who is only signed for short time/short money. It may sound silly after the issues they had there this year, but OF is easy enough to figure out that Boston would be nuts to overpay to land a right fielder.
red soxs just sign a OF and now there talking added another. really what the need for that.they have 4 OF who can all start. wouldnt it be better for them to fill a spot of need not a spot with depth? i dont understand writers sometimes
Lefthanded hitters. We have none we need some.
if they needed a Left handed bat shouldnt they have traded for one instead of getting two right handed bats
They got what was available at the time. There’s no reason they have to stop dealing now just because they have already made a few trades and signed an international free agent. It’s not an if they need a left handed bat. They need a left handed bat.
well they need a 3rd baseman why couldnt he be the left handed bat instead of getting another OF and just log jam the OF like the dodgers
Just because they presently have four starting outfielders doesn’t mean they aren’t going to trade a few of them. I could see them moving Victorino next year and they could easily trade Cespedes if they don’t think they could resign him. None of those guys have contracts like the Dodgers outfielders so the comparison isn’t apt.
well i wasnt comparing contracts. i was just saying the more OF they have the more of a log jam it makes unless they trade one or 2 of them
Would you trade Victorino to the Dodgers for Andre Ethier and $13MM?
Not in a million years.
If they keep Nava he’ll provide a lot of value as the 4th OF.
Victorino will be moved.
Craig belongs at 1B or on another team, that way he’ll be less of a liability defensively and to himself as an injury risk, and that keeps Cespedes in left field rather than getting poor jumps on balls in Fenway’s spacious RF.
The right deal for Heyward could be a brilliant move for the Red Sox (paired with an extension for him that is), as long as that package doesn’t include Mookie Betts.
Cespedes/Castillo/Heyward, barring a complete flop from Castillo could be a great addition to a rebuilt contender, though it’s the rotation that’s the biggest concern.
Seems like the WAR stat really loves Heyward.
It does. It’s more due to his defense than anything else.
Colon to Dodgers for Van Slyke: Who says no?
Mets…
Why would the Mets say no to that? Van Slyke can play LF against RHPs and 1B against LHP.
You think the Mets can get more back for Colon?
Carlos Beltran and Brett Gardner for Jason Heyward and B.J. Upton?
Bartolo Colon for Shane Victorino?
Ughh this makes a little bit of sense, but also makes me want to throw up thinking of Dick Torino in a Mets uniform
Atlanta fans underrate Jason Heyward’s value all the time. He’s had some crazy bad luck injuries, like getting hit in the face with a pitch, but they’re always not giving him enough credit for what he does. The Braves are my favorite team and far too often I’m seeing fans bashing him when he’s usually the only player who actually looks like he cares to be on the field. I’ll never understand how he wasn’t already extended, but this front office has made some awful extension deals lately (Dan Uggla, Chris Johnson, etc) and it’s not much of a surprise. Jason Heyward is the most valuable player on the Braves roster. Hell, according to Baseball-Reference he’s the 3rd most valuable player in MLB at the moment (ranked ahead of Mike Trout), but he continues to get little support from the fans in Atlanta (they would rather cheer on Freeman and Chris Johnson and that’s a joke). If a trade to the Red Sox were to happen, I hope the fans in Boston would appreciate his abilities and not have unreal expectations for him. I’m sure they would soon fall in love with a player who impacts the game in all aspects.
I would rather see his left-handed bat in Yankee Stadium, playing RF for the Yankees.
I think the thing that hurts Jason Heyward was all the hype that came with him as a 20 year old kid and he hasn’t lived up to all of the hype which most players usually don’t. I’m a big Jason Heyward fan and I’m glad that he has been relatively healthy this season which has hurt him in the past and probably part of the reason why he hasn’t received the extension yet.
Kinda hope Colon is moved: save money towards next years payroll, syndergarrd/Montero gets called up, we should get back a decent piece in a trade (dodgers, angels)
I believe the Braves would be selling low if they traded Heyward before his contract expires. He seems to be finally coming in to his zone, just as he looked to be doing before he broke his jaw last year. I believe his future performance will be more similar to the way he has been playing for the past month than early in the season. The Braves will likely have to choose between either Jason or Justin Upton, and I think Jason will prove to be a more consistent hitter than Justin and with a similar OPS. You also have to keep in mind the inevitability of BJ being traded or cut, which could make it very awkward for Justin to stay in Atlanta.
They either sign him long term or they trade him, better to reload with more likely to be ready prospects than hold onto him to get a compensation pick if he walks.
Bartolo Colon, Dillon Gee, Daniel Murphy, and Kirk Nieuwenhuis for Gordon Beckham, Josh Hamilton, and $44MM?
I think that the Mets wouldn’t do that unless they’re willing to bank on Hamilton reversing his downward trend the last two seasons by moving into a pitcher-friendly park in Citi Field.
Besides, they’d arguably be giving up more in this trade than the Angels. Gee and Nieuwenhuis are cost controlled, and Murphy is better than Beckham. The benefit for the Mets would be ditching Colon’s contract (which is subsequently counteracted by taking on Hamilton’s contratc) and freeing up a few rotation slots for some of their younger guys.
I don’t think that the Angels’ ballpark is considered a hitter-friendly park, so I doubt that Hamilton would be affected by the change in ballpark.
The Mets need an outfielder and Murphy doesn’t have much of a future with the Mets as their 2B. Beckham is a superior defensive 2B and could become a better offensive 2B.
If the Mets want the Angels to pick up half of Hamilton’s contract, they have to give up some value in return and this proposal doesn’t involve any of their premium pitching prospects.
Even though I’m not confident the Braves can extend him (mostly just because the club will want to pay value based on what has been done and Heyward’s camp should rightfully ask for what he WILL do), I still don’t think Heyward will be moved. Mostly because he’s not just a ballplayer in Atlanta, the Braves have pumped a lot of marketing into him as one of the faces of the franchise. It’s not that a guy like that isn’t tradeable, it’s that you’re requiring an acquiring club to pay more than talent value because the player is worth more on your club than simply his talent.
If that was true, wouldn’t they have extended him by now, especially considering his lackluster performance over the past few years?
That’s exactly why they didn’t extend him. I’m sure the Braves offered, and I’m sure his camp rebutted knowing that a healthy year would net him a much, much more generous offer. Heyward and his camp were willing to bet on themselves, and it looks like it was the right move.
Even if you ignored Heyward’s 2011 stats, Heyward’s OPS has gone down every year since 2010. I seriously doubt that the decision to extend him was from Heyward’s camp. That said, I do believe that he has the potential to do well in free agency if he has a strong season next year, but he needs to get his numbers back up to 2010 or 2012 levels for that to happen. This is why I would like to see the Yankees bet on Heyward by trading for him and extending him before he has the opportunity to increase his value the way that they did with Brett Gardner before this season.
I view Heyward as the glue of the Braves, so I would have a tough time watching him leave. That said, there’s no chance the Braves re-sign Heyward and J. Upton in 2016.
Upton would probably be a better investment. Long-term, it would be easier to build around Freddie and Upton in the heart of the order. That line of thinking makes even more sense when you figure the return the Braves could get for Heyward is larger than that of Upton. I wouldn’t be surprised if Heyward is traded next season, it would just be bittersweet.
If a trade happens, I hope it’s not with the Red Sox and their overrated prospects.
Would you trade Heyward and B.J. Upton for Carlos Beltran and Brett Gardner?
My money’s on Heyward getting an extension this offseason. Probably will be more than the Braves want to pay him but will have to since they can’t afford to lose both corner outfielders in the same year. J-Up on the other hand might be traded this offseason. They have to cut down on strike outs next year and Justin’s the most movable piece of that problem.