Though Phillies righty Aaron Nola tells Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he hasn’t thought much about the potential of signing a long-term deal with the Phils, Gelb opines that Nola is a prime extension candidate for the team this winter. The 24-year-old’s recent arm troubles present some risk in approaching him about a long-term pact, but there’s inherent risk when extending any pitcher, and Nola has established himself as an above-average starter over his two-plus seasons of work, Gelb argues. With Nola still a year away from arbitration eligibility, the Phils could look to strike now in hopes of securing control over one or more free-agent years, as they did with center fielder Odubel Herrera in the 2016-17 offseason. Gelb’s piece includes a number of potential comparables as well as quotes from Nola and teammate Clay Buchholz, who signed a long-term deal himself at a similar point in his career.
More out of the NL East…
- FanRag’s Jon Heyman writes that one reason the Phillies might’ve made the surprising decision to remove Pete Mackanin as manager just months after giving him an extension was that the arrival of players like Rhys Hoskins, Nick Williams and other young talents may have somewhat accelerated the team’s timeline. Heyman writes that the Phils viewed Mackanin as “more of a caretaker” than a long-term solution, and they may now look for a skipper who’ll hold down the fort for years to come. Heyman notes that having a more concrete manager in place could be a selling point next winter when the team could pursue multiple top names in free agency.
- Heyman also reports that Braves chairman John Schuerholz and president of baseball ops John Hart are “said to be at odds” with one another, though Hart firmly denied the notion. “John and I are lifelong friends, and there is mutual baseball respect as well,” Hart tells Heyman. “Nobody totally agrees on every player, staff member, etc. That’s just baseball.” Heyman adds that Schuerholz “would love” to bring Royals GM Dayton Moore on board to run the team’s baseball ops department and groom Schuerholz’s son, Jonathan. The younger Schuerholz is currently the team’s assistant director of player development. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweeted yesterday that Moore is “more open” to leaving the Royals for the Braves than in the past, though the decision will likely boil down to whether he’s given full authority over the team’s baseball operations department. That’d suggest that Hart sticking around and holding onto the “president” title he’s held for the past few seasons would be a deterrent to hiring Moore.
- Derek Jeter’s former teammates Jorge Posada, Tino Martinez and Andy Pettitte are all candidates for jobs with the Marlins, reports Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. It’s not yet clear what role any would have with the organization, if hired, though Martinez’s first stint with the Marlins didn’t exactly end well, as he resigned from his post as hitting coach after allegations about being abusive with his players. In other Marlins news, Heyman writes that Jeter is “serious” about bringing Yankees exec Gary Denbo over to the Miami front office — likely as the head of player development and scouting. Michael Hill is expected to maintain his duties as the team’s president of baseball operations. Denbo’s contract with the Yankees is up soon, Heyman notes.
More and more discouraging news out of the Braves front office. Super high ticket and parking prices (with news of a parking fee hike today – unreal), high priced food (in the stadium), and terrible staff Service for another losing season with no hope in sight sums up he plight of Braves fans. Ugh
Not to mention a losing team on the field.
Exactly. Everything they hoped to do (and assured fans) with the rebuild and the new stadium has been a miss. There is optimism looming in Albies, Inciarte, and the ML system. If fans can live hat long to see it succeed.
Acuña. @vacommish, Get down off the ledge, man. Geez. Best farm in baseball if talking to anyone that’s not a ChiSox fan with a draft looming. Don’t let the geriatrics fighting in the front office fickle you of the future they won’t live to see. We have key parts with a new stadium and solid revenue streams not to mention a great opportunity for a GM to flourish in a baseball hot bed. Any comment not starting and ending in Acuña is irrelevant. Acuña.
His name is acuna, not acuña… There’s a difference.
The new stadium looks like the old cookie cutter ones to me…
New location, surrounding area has things to do, places to eat, stay, etc unlike Turner Field. Smaller seating (bc 48k is to much in Atlanta) and more intimate views of the field.
Of course, you could always start your own baseball team and build your own stadium.
You’re just looking at the field. No offense, but they did that on purpose
Acuña. It’s Acuña. I wonder if people have just omitted the proper spelling since it can be a pain to add a tilde on U.S. keyboards, especially mobile. Regardless, his name has one.
If I were a braves fan Iwould feel pretty optimistic right now. You guys have enough very good players to build around, all they have to do is keep those core players and make good choices from the farm system and you guys will be back on top in no time! Hey, it could be worse you could be a marlins fan like me lol
Is it? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Acu%C3%B1a
I stand corrected. Coulda swore I saw his jersey without it
Wait until the commissioner hands down his penalties. After that, we will see how optimistic we are.
$19 is super high ticket prices?
Good lord, Braves fans are the worst.
Seriously, the price hike was only due to the yearly inflation numbers. I don’t understand why people think 20- is a lot of money to spend.
They even let you bring in your own food and drinks. Every time I go I take a bag of sandwiches and bottles of soda
Only $19? Seriously? Dang, last time I went to see the Tribe in Anaheim I bought what I thought were good priced seats…..at around $80-85 a piece.
Most nights, especially weeknights, have discounts. Mets near me have one of the highest ticket averages but between third party sites and discounts, you can find tickets regularly for less than the price of a movie ticket.
Nothing special about the new stadium
Maybe not the field, but there is a lot of special things about the stadium and the surrounding area.
Most people go to games to watch a ballgame, not shop. You would think they would have spent more time on the stadium than the shopping mall. Suntrust is a better baseball stadium than The Ted, but it’s very vanilla, like most things the Braves churn out.
“Most people go to games to watch a ballgame, not shop.””
⬆︎THIS⬆︎
Yes there is. The greatest sport in the world is played there.
Philly fans react. Would you trade your 25-man roster and DL personnel to the Marlins for theirs? Given the added money Philly could keep Nola and a couple more pitchers. P.S. Be kind enough to think before responding.
Braves should trade for Stanton.He alone would fill stadium.Trade Pache,Muller,B.Wilson, Weigel,R.Sanchez,Kemp and Demeritte for Stanton and J.Brigham. If D.Moore is hired maybe he could get Moustakas. What a lineup Inciarte, Albies ,Freeman,Stanton,Moustakas,Acuna.
Marlins would never do this
And braves could never eat that salary
The Braves situation was always odd. All around the league the President of Baseball Operations was the primary spokesperson for the club (Epstein, Friedman, Domb., etc.) But with Atlanta the impression was given that Coppy largely ran the show.
In what the hell world is Dayton Moore leaving to be the GM of the Braves? Hart would obviously need to be fired first so that Moore could be the president. But then he’s walking into an organization that’s completely in turmoil, albeit one with a hefty farm system, but again one he had no hand in building. AND the Braves just re-signed their manager. Wouldn’t that be something that Moore would want a say in if he’s coming over? Maybe I’m just naive and can’t see Moore leaving the Royals at this juncture when the team is about to be in ruins. Piccollo would be the clear successor but it just doesn’t add up to me. Seems more likely Moore steps into the President’s role in KC and lets Piccollo take a shot at rebuilding this team. If there’s one thing DM has shown over the years, it’s that he’s loyal to a fault which could play in our favor or burn us I guess.