The Braves are in danger of losing one of baseball’s premier third basemen, free agent Josh Donaldson. With no obvious replacement on hand (general manager Alex Anthopoulos seems reluctant to hand the job to Austin Riley), the club figures to explore the free-agent and trade markets for hot corner help if it does see Donaldson depart. Mike Moustakas is the third-best free-agent 3B on the market, trailing Anthony Rendon and Donaldson, Atlanta is “looking at” him, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets.
Unlike Rendon and Donaldson, Moustakas isn’t going to cost a bank-breaking amount to sign. That alone makes him a decent fit for the Braves, who are more a mid-tier spender than a high-payroll club. The 31-year-old Moustakas is a free agent for the third straight offseason, and though he garnered fairly modest guarantees over the previous two winters, the former Royal and Brewer has nonetheless been quite valuable.
This past season, Moustakas slashed .254/.329/.516 with 35 home runs and 2.8 fWAR across 584 plate appearances. For the most part, those aren’t Rendon- or Donaldson-caliber numbers, but they’re plenty respectable relative to the amount Moustakas could receive this offseason. MLBTR projects Moustakas will sign for a reasonable $20MM over two years (with the Braves, in fact) – a far cry from what Rendon and Donaldson are likely to receive. And Moustakas doesn’t come with a qualifying offer attached, so signing him would not cost draft compensation.
While Moustakas does hold appeal, it seems the Braves’ goal is to re-sign Donaldson for what’s likely to be a far higher amount. According to Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Anthopoulos & Co. would “undoubtedly” like to bring back Donaldson, who was brilliant in 2019 after signing a one-year, $23MM pact with the club last winter. Anthopoulos wasn’t willing to discuss Donaldson on Tuesday, saying, “Normally I would speak on it, but I’m not going to get into free agents,” but he has made it known in recent weeks that he wants the soon-to-be 34-year-old back.
Aside from third, what other areas are the Braves aiming to bolster? Anthopoulos’ thoughts: “We have rotation needs, we can get better in the bullpen. Offensively, we’re always looking to get better. We need someone to pair with (catcher Tyler) Flowers, with Brian McCann retired. We don’t have an order, but we have so many areas that if we think there are good deals there, we’ll try to get them done.”
The rotation may well be the primary focus for Atlanta, which is lacking immediate answers besides Mike Soroka, Max Fried and Mike Foltynewicz. Dallas Keuchel gave the club 112 2/3 effective innings in 2019, but it’s “unlikely” Atlanta will re-sign the now-free agent, according to Burns. So, it seems probable the Braves will add at least one proven starter, whether it’s Madison Bumgarner (whom they’ve been connected to) or another name. Regardless, the Braves are planning to give left-hander Sean Newcomb another chance to emerge as a viable starter, per Anthopoulos (via David O’Brien of The Athletic).
In Anthopoulos’ estimation, “it makes sense for us to at least have him stretched out in spring and then go from there.” Newcomb was a highly touted starter prospect a couple years back, and he showed plenty of promise in the Braves’ rotation from 2017-18. However, the 26-year-old spent almost all of 2019 as a reliever after his control failed him over four starts.
As Anthopoulos noted, the Braves still have to figure out whom their pitchers will throw to in 2020. Flowers is coming back on a restructured deal, but McCann’s gone and Francisco Cervelli is a free agent. There are a few starting-caliber backstops in free agency in Yasmani Grandal, Jason Castro, Travis d’Arnaud and Robinson Chirinos, while there has been trade speculation centering on the Cubs’ Willson Contreras. But it remains to be seen whether the Braves would aim that high (Grandal could cost $60MM-plus) or settle for a backup type to pair with Flowers.
Just a few weeks removed from their second straight NL East-winning season, the Braves are clearly a team with enviable talent. But their holes are obvious at the same time, and it’ll be interesting to see how Anthopoulos addresses them this winter in an effort to get the team closer to its first World Series title since 1995.
Cubs should unload Bryant and sign Moose if they want to shed imo.
Actually, they are going to benefit from losing Donaldson. I’ve been saying it all offseason, not worth the money.
$24MM for 6.1 WAR? Sounds like a good deal to me.
That’s not considering the fact Donaldson didn’t have a loss of a draft pick attached to him, which was a big draw for ATL with continued international free agent market sanctions.
draft smaft. Time to win a WS not worry about 5-10 years for now.
Save money by acquiring two starters (Bumgarner and someone else). The only reason I would take JD is because of his defense over somebody like say…Moose. Offensively, both will hit you .250 and hit 30 plus homers. Spending close to 30 mil for somebody like that is not worth the risk.
I kind of agree with u on letting JD go for the picks. Not sure why u are so obsessed with MadBum though unless you honestly believe that when the Braves make the playoffs MadBum will suddenly get half a decade younger and pitch like he did in the playoffs before. My question is this: If you could pick 2 pitchers for the Braves out of Cole, Strasburg, Wheeler and MadBum would MadBum actually be one of the 2?
JDon also had a significantly higher OBP. His better ability at getting on base as well as the glove gave Donaldson almost twice the WAR. That is a significant down grade.
Also, Bumgarner could be significantly worse as a Brave. The guy allowed 30 home runs while pitching in cavernous Oracle park. His HR per 9 was 1.3..worse than Teherans. His splits are absolutely insane. He has a 5.29 road ERA. His park adjusted FIP is 4.25. Oracle park has covered up just how much he has regressed. If he moves to Sun Trust Park, Bum will get launched on. I hate to pick on your name but the only thing Bumgarner equals for the Braves is veteran leadership and a 4 or 5 spot starter.
That is fine if you feel this way. I disagree. Bumgarner will be fine in Atlanta. But dont worry. The Braves don’t care about winning a WS so they will probably stick with Faulty and the rest of their pitching prospect failures (other than Soroka).
MadBum would obviously not be one of the 2 if you could pick any 2 of those, but the Braves are not getting Strasburg AND Cole. Hell, they’re not getting either of them.
I was directing that question at BumgarnerEqualsNLCS. I guess my point was that he seems a little over obsessed with a 3.90 ERA pitcher that gave up 30 home runs last year. If Bumgarner equals NLCS what does Wheeler equal? What does Strasburg equal? What does Cole equal? I mean Cole is so much better at this point than Bumgarner that is Bumgarner equals NLCS then Cole must equal multiple consecutive world championships. If the Braves (or anyone) actually believed that they would brake the bank to overpay his projected salary and sign him now.
The numbers are what they are no matter how either of us FEEL about it; and they are a warning.
Cole and Bumgarner
Really? If I could pick three of those MadBum still wouldn’t make the cut. What if you had to pick one of MadBum and Cole?
Depends on the composition of the team. Right now Cole, but if that will hamper the Braves from spending on more pitching, then Bumgarner. I’d rather have Bumgarner and Wheeler in the rotation over just Cole. The Braves need more than 1 pitcher. Faulty needs to go.
Rumor has it they are gonna put “Duke” Newcomb back in the rotation next season. I kind of hope the Braves let Donaldson walk and spend the save $ on Grandal and Ryu. Injury history and age is a bigger concern with Ryu but that will also make him cheaper. Plus neither of them come with draft compensation and you know the Braves love that. It would leave a big question mark at third base but I am more comfortable using Camargo there with Riley trying g to figure it out in AAA then I am having Flowers as our starting catcher. Though I guess they could try to bring Cervelli back. I wouldn’t mind seeing what he has left in the tank. Ryu actually had a better season than Wheeler or Bumgarner last year. If the season ended a few weeks earlier he probably would have beaten out deGrom for the Cy Young. His injury history does scare the crap out of me though. He was pretty bad late in the season after he came back from his injury. His ERA went from being in the low 2’s to being in the 5’s. I also like retaining as many prospects and draft picks as possible. You never know when you are gonna give up a great one. I remember when we traded Adam Wainwright for one season of JD Drew. That was terrible. Also, when we trade Texiera to the Angels for Casey Kotchman we traded Texiera’s draft compensation too. Everyone already knew the Yanks were gonna sign Texiera that off season and they ended up giving the Angels the #24 pick in the draft for him. That is the pick the Angels used to draft Mike Trout. The Braves would have had that pick. We basically traded Mike Trout for one season of Casey freakin Kotchman. That kind of stuff haunts my dreams.
@StandUpGuy
You should probably try ignoring BumgarnerEqualsNLCS
That guy is a doom and gloom fan that thinks Acuna is garbage. He was also talking bad against Soroka but seems to have slowly changed his tune on him.
Yeah, I remember. He seems to have been better recently so I’m trying to give him the benefit or the doubt. He’s entitled to his own opinions and it doesn’t really bother me as long as he doesn’t act like everyone is stupid for not agreeing with him or as long as he doesn’t insult players or personell and act like they are stupid too.
The Braves AREN’T going to sign a pitcher for 25-30+ million a year, like Cole and Strasburg will get. Madison, Wheeler, and Hammels won’t cost that. I could see Teheran coming back for around 8-10 or the ex-Brave that went to LA.
Duh! Nobody’s saying Bumgarner is better than Cole or Strasburg.
He’s worth the money but the Braves could address multiple needs with a bit more than JD will command, so it does make sense that they could be better without him. Moose is a step down but if they also got a solid offensive catcher as well then the lineup isn’t a black hole after the #4 spot anymore.
Now that’s a fair point, but a different one than BumgarnerEqualsNLCS raised. He said “not worth the money.”
I’m a big believer that if Snitker would stop with the constant lineup shuffle he likes to do, the bottom 4 would be more effective long-term.
I hate the constant ever-changing lineups. I hated it as a player, and I hate it as a fan.
Markakis was a constant 5th! It didn’t help him
Don’t the Braves have like an 85 million dollar payroll right now? Lol they just got a new stadium and tv contract and y’all are worried about them spending money.
No new tv contract I don’t know where you got that info from
They reworked their deal but it is still one of the worst in all of baseball
It was 9th worst in 2016. They earned 83 million dollars from their tv deal this year according to Liberty Media CEO. Lol
Yeah. I believe the Braves were the very last team to sign a contract like that. They didn’t have any foresight about teams creating their own networks, which is weird because you would think they would be one of the first to do it after the whole TBS experiment. I miss the good ol TBS days. I could watch my Braves games no matter where I went in the US. I think the Yanks created the YES network literally the very next season after the Braves signed their current deal. This deal was for 20 years but I believe it ends in less than 10 years from now. Anyone know the exact length or time/date the Braves get to walk away from this thing and start the ChopNetwork?
Contreras would take at least 4 top prospects in return !
Depends what you mean by 4 top prospects but I assume u mean basically 4 of Atlanta’s top 10 at least… which would be completely outrageous. If it’s 4 of the Braves top 30, even that’s a too much. I think 2 really strong top 100 overall prospects is more than enough. Throw in a random minor leaguer with some projection
They already have the better brother waiting in the wings.
No chance it takes that much to get him
JTR didn’t cost that much lol
Well Phils gave up their #1 and 18th overall prospects plus a young talented catcher with 5 years of control. Will Braves really give up Pache or Ian and a Harris or C.J. PLUS another starter with 4-5 years of control?
Doubt it. I’m sure Flowers will do the trick. Or continue to wait on the younger Contreras.
The catcher the Braves drafted out of Baylor will be ready next year sometimes.
NO-WAY would he take that. Cubs may want that. He’s not worth 4 top prospects. Realmuto didn’t get that and he’s no-where close to as good as him.
Angel’s should sign Moose, trade Simba. and go with Fletcher at Short and LaStella at 2nd. they need another lefty in the lineup and a bit more pop
Lol no
At this rate, them winning the NLDS would be cause for a parade.
I think light hitting Jason Castro to the Braves on a very affordable contract
His bat is actually a little better than average. The average catcher has an OPS+ of 85. His is 101.
Why in the world would the Braves want to sign a “light hitting” player at any position? Trying to make the offense better, not create another hole in the lineup
I do not realistically think they are trading for Contreras, Grandal is going to the Reds and D’arnaud would be a huge mistake. . . . . Castro gives them a good veteran presence to pair with Tyler Flowers and the increased offense will be sought elsewhere.
Martín Maldonado or Yan Gomes would be excellent sharing catching with Flowers. They’re both well above average defensively and handle pitchers well. Not great hitters – Gomes is better – but you don’t give up an experienced game caller that can handle young pitchers to bring in a C that can get an additional 3/4’ers a hit a week…..if there is one out there in FA or available in trade.
I’ll take Bum, but this offseason is looking like the Braves have really dug himself into a major hole. They are unwilling to spend and have a crazy amount of holes to fill in a market not as rich as last offseason. Not a good sign for the bravos…. looking more like this last offseason was our shot. Unless some prospects take a major leap or we open up the pocket book some, it’s gonna be a long year for the Braves
The Braves will win the division again just like I’ve said they would the past 2 seasons. Half of y’all commenting on what players they should or shouldn’t get couldn’t coach a little league team.
YOU didn’t say the Braves would win the last 2 years.
The braves just spent $23m on JD for 1 year. I really don’t understand how Braves fans can sit back and say they won’t spend. They signed Freeman to big money, they locked up Acuna & Albies, and then JD signing.
They’re SMART spenders, not one that’s just going to go blow a wad like Boston or LAD.
They have the ability, but it’s a blend of now and the future. Simple economics. Which I’m not surprised people don’t understand.
Spending money to spend money doesn’t equal WS rings. The Braves have holes to fill, and they will do it.
I think Braves fans just want to complain to have something to complain about.
“Spending money to spend doesn’t equal WS rings”
Whatever the Braves are doing hasn’t worked for nearly 25 years.
Exactly. Our payroll is always on the low end and we can’t figure out a way to win it all. It’s a joke. Yes spending money doesn’t always mean a ring, but it typically does hurt your chances lol …. yanks have done it… Boston, philly…..
Talk to the Dodgers about what hasn’t worked, it’s been 30 years for them. And they spend a lot of money.
I realize that, trust me, it’s been painful. However, no matter how you look at it, Atlanta can’t spend like LAD, BOS, NYY, CHC – and just simply won’t.
Throwing money at the problems w/ out a plan is silly for them.
Their payroll is generally in the middle of the pack, not low-end. Batter will help increase spending as time goes, but the real issue is the terrible TV contract Atlanta has compared to other cities.
2027 is the final year of that deal. I expect heavy increase then to go into the top 25% of spending.
John Malone (owner of liberty media)is worth over 7 billion and the team is valued at 1.7 billion. The braves can spend just like any other billionaire owned team. They just choose not to.
You say they can’t spend and that’s a flat out lie. The horrible ownership by Liberty Media is what’s preventing them from spending because they’re given a budget. The Braves had a ton of money off the payroll to improve the team but LM kept 40% of that money to pay off other debts. They couldn’t care less about the Braves, just the profit.
You need to get your facts straight
First off LM couldn’t care less about the Braves. They only own the team because of the tax breaks they get for owning them.
When they bought the Braves MLB put stipulations in place in order for them to continue to own the Braves and collect the tax breaks.
The stipulation is that the Braves are run by a totally separate entity run by Terry McGuirk and can only be run through any revenue produced strictly from baseball.
It’s not so much the inability to spend as much as it is the inability to predict how much money years down the road they will have to spend.
MLB instead of forcing LM to sell the club allowed them to continue to own the club to prevent Mark Cuban from buying the team. The same way they blocked him from buying the Cubs when they went up for sale. The difference was MLB had multiple buyers at the time of the Cubs sale so they weren’t forced to sell it to him.
When LM gained the Braves in the mega deal and MLB was looking to make them sell LM wanted a fast sale and the only name interested was headed by Mark Cuban and baseball wants no part of him. LM was interested in keeping them for the tax break reasons so it worked out for both sides.
Only thing was MLB forced stipulations in there so either LM decided to run the Braves like the Marlins and drained all their profits or ran the Braves irresponsibly and used LM money to overspend and run the team with extremely deep pockets using unlimited resources provided by LM funds
You sound like the not-so-bright Chatt on the old Braves site. That thinks he knows everything but really knows nothing.
I think the Braves will sign a few major free agents, such as Donaldson, possibly Wheeler or MadBum, and a quality catcher(not Grandal) but someone substantially better than Flowers. I think our biggest moves may actually come via trade this season
Great post!
The better teams simply position themselves in the off-season now. All the contenders leave money aside as well as tradeable young prospects to get what they’re missing as the season unfolds.
The Braves found their bullpen couldn’t be fixed in-house in 2019 and brought in guys at the deadline that plugged that hole.
And one other thing about both the bullpen and spending money – whining posts like those above were all over Braves articles here last off-season asking why they didn’t go full out and give Kimbrel the $70-90m he was asking (remember the endless – “He has better stats then Mariano Rivera did at the same time in his career” nonsense?) The Braves got 3 better relievers then Kimbrel at the deadline for a fraction of the cost. The Cubs thought they got a bargain. Instead they got a lousy closer that came up lame, and the Cubs have yet another bad contract on the books, limiting what they can do in 2020.
I would absolutely be happy with Moose at 3rd & a trade with the Cubs for Wilson Contreras. How would you guys feel about signing Cole Hamels to a 1 year deal?
No on Cole Hamels unless it’s for the bullpen.
Hamels isn’t going to the bullpen. He was actually pretty good last year and can give some veteran leadership in the clubhouse for Fried and Newk. I’d def welcome the signing.
Contreras doesn’t want to come to Atlanta. Atlanta needs a 1 year stop gap until the top C prospects are ready in 2021.
I’m a no on Moose. JD is perfect protection for Freddie in the cleanup spot. Also a no on Contreras. We’d have to give up too much for a 1 year player. Hamels, though, I think would be a huge asset to the youngselters like Fried and Soroka in terms of veteran leadership and he would compliment them well. Not to mention he’d be cheaper than Wheeler or MadBum
I would rather sign madbum and if Grandal will take a two year deal get him then depending on money left get a 3B or use Camargo/Riley combo
I would be ok with Hamels, Moustakas and Castro. Then offer a Package of Swanson, Pache or Waters and other non top-100 prospects for Lindor.
If you go that route I think Grandal would be better and possible
I personally think the Braves should trade for Mookie Betts and Lindor. AA hunts for big fish.
That would be just a dumb trade. Lindor is going to get a 200+ million contract soon and Atlanta WON’T pay that much. NO, NO, NO
The Braves have several options. They need to sign Bumgarner and Moustakas.
I think they could get Starling Marte for a package centered around Wright. Maybe Inciarte, Trey Harris, and another lower pitching prospect.
Then maybe sign Hamels as well.
Marte can hit 4 and Moustakas 5
Then have a rotation of MadBum, Soroka, Hamels, Fried, and Folty.
Obviously I would love to add Garrett Cole instead of Hamels, but that is very unlikely and has A LOT more moving parts. It is able to be done though if Atl really wanted to make it happen, and only add about 15m to last years payroll.
I actually like all of what you said. That’s very rare from me.
The only part that I question is Marte, and for how long. Pache is ready, or nearly ready and should have beat Ender out last year. Him & Waters are close.
That OF of the future will be nuts with Waters, Pache & Acuna. That could be a 15 year outfield assuming everyone doesn’t fall off and suck down the road.
I like MadBum & Hamels, but that would be pretty Left heavy.
I would only have Marte for the 2 years lef ton his contract. That allows you to not HAVE to rush either Pache or Waters. This also allows Riley to benefit from some more time in AAA. Either way some form of Markakis and Duvall/Riley in left until Pache or Waters is for sure ready.
If they are both FOR sure ready for 2021 then you have the luxury of trading Marte after 1 year. He will still only cost 12.5 mil in 2021 so he will still be super cheap.
Everybody’s looking at everybody!
I see them “splurging” on MadBum and signing Moose. AA is known to pull the trigger on a trade or 2 so I think dealing for Contreras or Bryant is within the realm of possibility. Castro more likely and maybe a Brandon Kintzler or Steve Ceshek type for the ‘pen. They seem to like relievers with closing experience.
The Moose should get $20 million a year for two years! How much more does the guy have to ROCK to get some respect!!?? Does the guy have bad breath!!??
He’s not a $20m/yr bat. Sorry.
And the Moose rarely strikes out!
And he was born on 9/11!
(OK, not THAT 9/11…..
Newcomb had decent numbers before they put him in the pen.
Braves fans, why?
(I don’t follow the team).
Thanks!
Newk was put in the pen because he got off to a horrible start in 2019 and couldn’t throw strikes. He went to the minors and worked out his control in the bullpen. When he came back to the bigs it was as a reliever. The news is that they will give him another shot at starting this spring despite his excellent year out of the pen.
Get San Fran to eat $10 million of Buster’s contract 5 per year and give them Muller, Minter & Harris for him
Sign MadBum
Sign Moose
Trade for Mancini & Givens
Mancini is a brutal outfielder. Why would the Braves be interested in him.
I know you are set on Posey, but that just isn’t a good idea for Atl. I’m not a fan of Mancini either unless the force the DH on the NL in the new CBA
I’m interested in your opinion on this….Starting Pitching Braves. Sign Cole Hamels to a 1 year deal & Michael Wacha to a 1 year deal for the back of the rotation?
Oh, never mind. I read the rest of the article. But really, they gave up after four starts instead of finding out what was wrong with his control?
Prob because they had other options. He worked out well in the pen. But I think he figures it out going forward as a SP.
My only problem with them signing Moose is that the entire middle of the order would bat left handed. I’d prefer Donaldson but of they can swing Moose and Grandal with the money saved, I’d get over it real quick.
Yes as would i
This is where trading for Marte would help. Marte bat 4 and Moustakas bat 5. That also pushes Markakis down in the lineup.
I also think a trade for Bryant is very possible
There are a lot of excited Braves fans over the Braves pursuit of MadBum. So let’s look at the numbers to see what we’re really getting if we sign him.
2019: ERA 3.90 / IP 207.2
Well this looks like an innings eater to me. Let’s look at the background numbers though. Maybe he had some bad luck.
FIP 3.90 / BABIP against .292
That .292 BABIP is pretty close to league average and the FIP is identical to his ERA so that’s a pretty big confirmation that he wasn’t unlucky.
xFIP 4.31 / HR allowed 30
Isnt that something. xFIP is very interesting in this case because the Giants Oracle Park is one of the most pitcher friendly parks in the MLB and xFIP does what FIP does but includes the ballpark as part of its equation and re-adjusts ERA. This should be a concern to Braves fans because Sun Trust park is a hitter friendly park. You can look at some of the stats here:
google.com/amp/s/www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/coors-…
Bumgarner allowed that many home runs. We should all be a little concerned at what he does at Sun Trust park. Just look at his home/road splits.
Home: ERA 2.93 / IP 122.2 / HR 15
Away: ERA 5.29 / IP 85 / HR 15
It might even be safe to say that if Bumgarner repeats his 2019 performance than we got some good fortune.
You think you can write it off because of a combination of the juiced ball and greater innings? Think again. The much maligned Julio Teheran averaged 1.1 home runs per 9 while Bumgarner allowed 1.3 per 9.
If we bring on Bumgarner, we are not getting a TOR. We are getting a decent no.3 pitcher that will soak up innings. Teheran’s option was declined at $12 million and a lot of Braves fans believe that would have been an overpay for the guy.
With that in mind, how much do you believe Bumgarners AAV should be with the Braves? MLBTR estimates he will get 4/72 contract. That’s $18 million a year. I would say this is a pretty big overpay but it shouldn’t be a surprise because a lot of that money is for a name that isnt what it used to be.
Lastly, the production above makes it clear that MadBum is no longer a TOR. But maybe you are hoping MadBum is still the post season god he was in the past? The pitcher that he was was the post season savage. The pitcher that he is..we don’t know. We haven’t seen the pitcher that he is in the post season so all bets are off.
I don’t have a problem with MadBum being the veteran leader helping to take our young pitchers to another level but let’s not mistake Bumgarner for what he isn’t anymore.
I don’t think anyone is saying he is what he was 5 years ago but I think if he is totally healthy his numbers will trend up and I can see him being a #2 behind Soroka
If you think there arent Braves fans who think Bum is a TOR than spend some time looking through these comments.
As for him being a good no.2 what do you see in his numbers that give you that idea? Why do you think a regressed Bumgarner pitching in a much LESS pitcher friendly park is going to get BETTER?
Obviously you can find some who think he is but you always have a few and I think he is a #2 in Atl because he had a full year to come back from his injuries and his velo is also ticking back up I very much think he is going to have a better 2020 than 2019 I do not want the Braves to sign him for more than 3-4 years though but either way he is not going to get Cole or Strasburg money like a #1 anyway
His velocity is not ticking up. In fact he has never been an ace that depended on velo as much as others anyway. A better option is Hamels. He looks much the same, peripherals and all, but he has already said he would accept 1 year offers.
An article said he was ticking back up from high 80’s to low 90’s so unless the pros don’t know what they are talking about then he is gaining velo and I never said he was a flamethrower but obviously getting some of his velo back is a plus
I like Hamels also I wish they had money to sign both to put with soroka max and folty
Why not trade for Lindor. Give them Swanson and couple pitchers. Or trade for Betts. Give them inciarte pache and one pitcher. Use that 25 to 30 mil it’s gonna take to sign Donaldson to lock one them other two up long term.
I don’t mind Lindor but betts isn’t a good option when we have waters and pache being ready soon
There’s almost no chance either of those players even approach Betts’ productivity.
For the prospects it would take to get betts for one year I would want to see what they can do
Don’t get me wrong an outfield of acuna and betts would be awesome but I think it would be for only one year as to having acuna pache and waters could be great for years to come
Trade and extend. Problem solved
If only it were that easy
@SuperSinker
Betts is a horrible option for the Braves. Not because he isn’t great, but because he wants to test free agency. If the Braves want him then wait one year and sign him them…don’t give up all of those prospects for just 1 guaranteed year.
Anyone that trades for Betts is very stupid. He has basically said he is going to free agency after the season.
He’s a southern dude who wants to live in the south. I’m sure he’d be open to staying in Atlanta.
Cleveland’s strength is starting pitching. Why would the Indians trade Lindor for and inferior shortstop and two more pitchers? Look at the needs of both teams.
Cleveland is not going to trade Lindor for Swanson and a couple of pitchers. Do you look at the Indians and their needs? Starting pitching is their strength. The need bats. Please look a the needs of both teams before proposing your trades.
People on here kill me they complain about overpaying for MadBum but don’t look at the fact of how much Fried & Soroka we’re underpaid.
MadBum bring intangibles to the table that will help these young guys and there is depth in Wright, Wilson, Touki & Anderson that if you skip or push back a start here or there for MadBum to keep him fresh down the stretch.
These young pitchers absolutely need MadBum to teach them by showing them how to be professional and have that bulldog mentality.
This is one signing that goes deeper than just analytic stats.
I have been saying that very thing about an ex ace coming to this staff all they have had is Teheran for guidance ♂️
Wonder if AA would have interest in Kyle Seagar if Donaldson signs elsewhere. Just assume let Riley & Camargo fight it out in spring training and sign Grandal & Trade for Hanigar.
I doubt seagar is an option
Seager wouldn’t be a good fit. He’s pretty expensive for the type of player he is. They’d be better off letting Camargo and Riley duke it out and sign Grandal.
Braves should sign Donaldson or Moose, MadBum, and do whatever it takes to trade for Contrares (if he’s really available). That would solidify the team, and it’s realistic.
Contreras isn’t realistic. The Braves were not willing to give up that much for Realmuto, so they are not going to give that up for Contreras either.
If I’m Atlanta, I’m signing Donaldson, madbum, then trading for Giles. They survived with a flowers and McCann platoon last season. They don’t need Grandal to make the lineup work. I was almost just as impressed with Donaldson’s defense as with his bat. Bum adds a veteran presence that they obviously lacked in the post season and Giles could be the shut down closer they’ve lacked since Kimbrel’s departure.
They definitely need to solidify the bullpen, especially the closer position. Unfortunately, they took on the entirety of Melancon’s contract in that ridiculous trade so they’re kind of screwed there. Looks like he’s gonna be the closer for us unfortunately.
@thunderlips
They could trade Melancon if Atl was willing to attach a prospect to him. Find a rebuilding or low payroll team that would be willing to take the gamble on a prospect like maybe Jasseel De La Cruz.
If they spend big I would rather have madbum and Rendon maybe they have enough money for a betances or trade for an end of the game arm of some sort
As for the catching situation, what are your opinion on swinging a trade to bring in Tucker Barnhart from the Reds to become the catcher. A package deal with Barnhart and Amir Garrett for Bryce Wilson, Tucker Davidson, Greyson Jenista and a couple of lower level prospects.
I think they only need a catcher for 1-2 years until internal options are ready so I wouldn’t give up top prospects for a catcher at this point
That’s an overpay for sure. Barnhart is a glove only catcher and isn’t worth any real prospects and Garrett, while good, isn’t worth all those prospects.
Here we go again. If I hear AA say “the Braves can shop on any aisle, I’m going to scream.
So I know this will not happen, but the Braves could sign MadBum, Moustakas, Cervelli, and Garrit Cole. Trade for Starling Marte and Ken Giles. They could do this and only raise payroll about 15 mil. If you use the estimated contracts mlbt came up with.
MadBum 4 years 72
Moustakas 2 years 20
Cole 8 years 256
Cervelli 1 year 2.5 (this amount is not found anywhere, just an estimation)
Trade Melancon and Jasseel De La Cruz to Miami for anything.
Trade Inciarte, Wright, Trey Harris, and another low level pitching prospect for Starling Marte
Trade Touki Touissaint for Ken Giles. It would probably take someone else to get Giles, but maybe not much more.
I know this is my dream offseason and will never happen. It would raise payroll more then 15M because haven’t added in arbitration salary raises. However this is doable if they wanted to try to find a way to make their rotation and offense both better!
Well the signing of Will Smith throws a wrench in that plan Haha. Maybe Smith is the closer instead of trading for Giles. I know they said Melancon is still likely the closer.
I believe the Braves are going to still try and sign Donaldson and a cheaper catcher and they will be done newk will be in the rotation next year they have around $20 million now to be in line with starting payroll of the last few years so if they add 5-10 million that gets Donaldson and enough for a backup catcher
Or spend it all on Rendon and use one of the minor league catchers they have as a backup (Murphy,Ajax) or someone like that
As great as Donaldson was this year, I would rather see the Braves sign Moustakas for a fraction of the money, then invest elsewhere (SP). Production-wise, they are not significantly different and Moose can probably be had for a relatively short-term deal–on the off chance Austin Riley really breaks out as a 3B option.
X- Sign a top Reliever (W.Smith!)
– Sign Moustakas for 3B
– Sign a top SP (Wheeler or Bumgarner)
– Trade Inciarte, prospects to Cubs for C W.Contreras. Flowers to back-up Catcher. Camargo as super utility