The latest from the NL East…
- As of last Tuesday, the Nationals had yet to speak with Ryan Zimmerman or his agents, Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post reports. Zimmerman is a free agent for the first time in his 15-year career, after the Nats spent $2MM to buy out their $18MM club option on the veteran first baseman for the 2020 season. Back in August, Zimmerman said that remaining in Washington was a priority, and he was willing to play on a series of less-pricey one-year contracts. Assuming he hasn’t changed that stance, Zimmerman could be viewed by the Nationals as something of a fallback, as the team may feel safe in first exploring other first base options.
- The Mets will interview Steve Karsay for their pitching coach opening, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports. Karsay is currently the Brewers’ bullpen coach, after spending 2012-18 as a pitching coach in the Indians’ minor league system. Of course, most fans know Karsay best from his 11 seasons and 603 1/3 career MLB innings with five different teams (most notably the A’s, Indians, and Yankees) from 1993-2006. Twins assistant pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and University Of Michigan pitching coach Chris Fetter are the only other known candidates linked to the Mets’ job.
- Between Will Smith, Mark Melancon, and Shane Greene, the Braves could be committing roughly $33.5MM in salary to three relievers next season, Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes. Greene’s salary is still up in the air, as the Braves could potentially non-tender the righty rather than pay him $6.5MM in projected arbitration salary. A non-tender or trade could be possible if the Braves are wary of overspending on their bullpen, since $33.5MM is rather a hefty sum for a trio that only featured one member (Smith) who posted really outstanding numbers in 2019. Tucker observes that the Braves already have around $100MM (barring any more non-tenders) on the books for player payroll for next season, which leaves them with quite a bit of spending capacity if the team is willing or able to match its season-ending $144MM payroll figure from last year.
Joel Sherman = Fake News
Yea Joel “the clown” Sherman is terrible
Do you know what Joel Sherman’s high paying job is during the season?
He wears the Mr. Met uniform and dances around Chitifield like a clown. He uses the same philosophy in his night job as a reporter for a tabloid.
His most profitable job is blending the two as a shill for the Wilpons.
What’s the difference between ‘most profitable’ and ‘highest paying’?
Do you know how much dry cleaning costs for a mascot uniform?
Trades of Greene and Inciarte would free up about $13 million in payroll, not that the Braves payroll is outrageous as it is. Obviously the Braves won’t trade either for salary relief, but both could be parts of packages for a bigger piece.
Not going to get much beyond salary relief for either of them. They may not have any value for now as clubs realize Greene at least is a non-tender candidate.
Inciarte is a cost-controlled starting outfielder with an elite glove in all three spots. Like I said, he can easily be part of a bigger package. Have to think a package of Inciarte, Swanson, and two top prospects makes Cleveland listen if they entertain trading Lindor.
Cleveland has a good young center fielder in Oscar Mercado coming off a very good rookie year. . I do not see them interested in Inciarte
The Indians would want prospects they can develop.
They are not going to trade one of the top 3 players in the AL for 2 stop gap players like Inciarte and Swenson.
Start with 2 of Wright, Pache,and Waters. From there the Indians will negotiate as to who else they’d want.
Inciarte and Swanson are solid regulars who can help them stay competitive in the short-term. (No, they aren’t All-Stars or needle movers, but they can be productive contributors that are under control for multiple years.) I didn’t say they’d be the headliners. As a Braves fan, I’d offer those two along with Waters and Bryce Wilson while hesitantly agreeing to improve the offer with Wright in lieu of Wilson. That’s a big haul for someone the Indians have no intention of signing long-term.
Cleveland’s front office is know for setting a price and be not willing to come off that price. That is why Corey Kluber was not traded last offseason despite many, many rumors. Trevor Bauer was not traded until their price was met. I do not see Inciarte being in any package that Cleveland would want in a Lindor package.
Lindor has two years of control and Cleveland is a playoff contender in 2020. They will get what they want or Lindor will be an Indian in 2020.
No arguments there. Cleveland has an exceptional front office as do the Braves. I get my “package” is partially my fandom salivating at Lindor joining Albies, Freeman, Acuna, and (hopefully) Donaldson in the Braves lineup. My true reasoning for Inciarte would be it would offset some of the financial obligations owed to Lindor and makes giving up two top prospects palatable. Obviously, I think it’s a worthwhile trade for my Braves, but it’s a good starting point for the Indians for a player they’ve all but said would be gone within the next two years.
The Indians are trying to cut payroll all year… why would they take on a bunch of salary to get rid of their best player?? And your answer to why the Braves want to do it makes sense… salary relief. That should tell you Inciarte’s value.
Swanson hit 204 in the 2nd half last year. He’s a huge injury liability. He is not a dependable player. He doesn’t hit for power. He doesn’t hit for average.
89 OPS+
748 OPS
I don’t want that as a regular.
Not a contender without serious upgrades-
Twins are good, White Sox are improving, Tigers and Royals are garbage.
Yankees, Redsox, Twins,,A’s, Astros , rays all have potentially better teams than Cleveland.
Cleveland, with their deep starting pitching staff will be a contender. The Twins have only two starters as I typed this comment. Astros are likely losing Cole and have major problems coming on the horizon. Video at 11. Red Sox have issues as well. Yes, Yankees, A’s Rays are good. So are the Indians.
Inciarte just had the worst defensive year he’s ever had to go along with a below average bat. I wouldn’t even want him on my team. I’d have to assume interest in him is low. If a GM is giving up a good player, they 1) are going to want better players or good prospects and 2) aren’t going to be enthused about taking a $7M chunk out of payroll for a slightly above mediocre player coming off a down year and declining in the one area he was known for.
Are you people Braves fans? It really doesn’t sound like it. If you are Braves fans, you are really clueless about how the Braves have operated in the past. They ARE NOT going to trade for Lindor. They rebuilt to get young and cheap controllable players for a few years. Lindor will probably be a 200+ million dollar player in the next couple of years. The Braves don’t need another outfielder. Acuna isn’t the centerfielder Ender is at this point. I can see not tendering Greene, don’t think he is worth 6.5 million if the Braves have the money to keep him fine. I hope if the Braves can sign Donaldson for 3 yrs. around 75 million, if not I hope they can sign Moustakas for 2-3 yrs. If neither happens the Braves are still in good shape. Riley and Camargo can play 3rd.
Lindor is not an OF- he is an elite SS which the Braves lack.
This just in…… cubs are a 3rd-4th place team. Back to you Marty
This article has nothing to do with the Cubs?
Still wondering why AA paid such a hefty price for Melancon.
He was very good? Now Shane Greene, on the other hand
First AA was criticized for not bringing in more relief help. Then he did, and now he’s being criticized for paying too much for the relief help he brought in.
LOL
As the season went on in 2019, all contenders – and many non-contenders – were looking for bullpen help. The price for those willing to trade some was high. And who doesn’t know it?
You mean Beck, the 23 year old with the 5.65 ERA in high-A? Winkler, who has already been non-tendered?
I’m thrilled with the backend of our bullpen right now. It may not take the “best bullpen” in baseball award, but it’s filled with veteran relievers who have both failed and succeeded for many years. So many coaches and former players say bullpen pitching is more mental execution than it is about talent. Probably won’t have one All-Star in that pen next year, but they each bring experience and calmness that we haven’t had since the days of Venters, O’Flaherty (Hell of a follow on Twitter) and Kimbrel.
Because he got him at the deadline and wasn’t willing to pay an overpay in prospects
AA really messed-up on not signing Kimbrel, 3 yrs. 53 million was cheap. I think. he tried to make up for it with Melancon. I would like to see the Braves get maybe Ken Giles if we can get him without giving up any top prospects. Maybe use Greene in that deal. Maybe a Touki. Will Smith will help a great deal, he could be the closer. If we don’t get anyone else for the pen, I think we will be fine. Wilson would be a good closer, not enough spots for a starter.
Kimbrel time may be in the rearview mirror.
cuz it worked so well for the Cubs… SMH…
How was the price for Greene high? He had a rough start with the Braves but ended up being a solid member of the pen. He gave up 4 runs in his last 20+ innings. He will be a solid 7th/8th inning guy that can close if your closer is due for a day off. Melancon gave up 3 runs in his last 15 innings and he could be a solid 7th/8th inning guy that can close if needed. Smith is another solid reliever that can close or be the 7th/8th inning guy. They have a lot of flexibility in that pen.
Those three would make a very solid back end of the pen. They could use a top starter to bump everyone down one peg or even a solid number 2 to add veteran leadership. Baumgarner maybe?
I agree the Braves should hold onto all 3. You cant have too much help at the back end of a bullpen. If they find themselves in a situation where there’s 2 good lefties due up in the 8th they could use Smith in the 8th and Melancon or Greene in the 9th and vice versa.
I think Bumgarner is very much on their radar and they should probably bring in a RH 3B. Moose makes sense but I’m sure they will look for a way to bring back Donaldson bc he balances out the lineup much better.
Agree mightily! Greene was not expensive in terms of prospects and his salary is only a little high considering how consistent he is, year in, year out.
The Braves should be uber aggressive considering how close they are to winning it all.
Wentz is a legit prospect. Looking at how dumb the Tigers are, it was a huge overpay. Detroit would’ve probably accepted Brian Jordan.
Greene was one of the best closers in the AL in 2019 when he was traded. He was also the Tigers best trade piece. At least a half-dozen contenders wanted him.
The Tigers were not going to give him up for garbage. It appears you need to read up on Al Avila and the players he’s brought into MLB over the past 30 years as a scout – starting with future HOF’ers Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, and Max Scherzer.
Be careful about who you call dumb.
A few thoughts on the Braves bullpen…..
They’ve already said that Newcomb will get another chance at starting in 2020. So that removes an arm there.
Then I’m looking at 2 set-up guys – Jackson and Webb. Jackson needs more consistency – he loses control of his pitches and winds up grooving soft pitches in to get strike calls. But if he can level out some – and many quality relief pitchers do that at his age, 28 – then the Braves may have another solid set-up man. Webb was extremely impressive until he got hurt. If he’s healthy, they have another above average set-up guy – and Webb is someone that looked like a possible future closer in 2019.
So it appears that the Braves will carry high salaries in the pen to start the season. The starting pitching at this point has Mike Foltynewicz as the expensive guy, getting $7.5m. Soroka, Fried, and Newcomb are not even at arbitration yet, so their salaries will be reasonable. Add in a free agent signing – Bumgarner appears to be the strong possibility – and the Braves will be having a relatively low MLB payroll for their starting staff going into 2020.
Kyle Wright will be getting innings at some point – due to injuries or a starter slipping – probably Touki Toussaint as well. The Braves are coming out of a rebuild, so their their top priority is to try to bring some of their younger pitchers along. At some point in 2020 if the starting pitching is in need of a veteran arm or a need for a position player develops, then the Braves can use Melancon or Greene in a trade, assuming they’re doing half-decent.
AA is positioning the team well to be flexible enough to make moves as needed during the season. He’s a sharp GM.
The Braves will not be able to trade Greene or Melancon in a package for a starter or bat at the deadline….makes no sense. Any team willing to trade a bat or starter the Braves might need will be one that is selling. A seller has no use for an expensive reliever at the deadline. So that has absolutely nothing to do with why AA would keep them.
Not totally true. Sometimes there are 3 team deals where the seller gets prospects, 2nd team gets the relief pitcher they need and the 3rd team gets the starter they need.
Yeah agree w you completely Jfl.
Those deals are few and far between. Teams interested in starting pitching don’t typically just give up productive relievers to other contending teams.
1. Because they need them to be actual contenders and
2. They don’t want to strengthen another contending teams roster.
And obviously no team is going to want to give up a starter for a rental reliever straight up. That just doesn’t make a lick of sense.
He is keeping them so if the young starters exit early in games (which they will) he has quality arms to cover 3-4 innings
Somewhat surprised The Mets aren’t considering David Cone for their Pitching Coach
Cone is a smart guy, but I don’t think they’re giving the job to somebody without prior coaching experience.
Keep all the relief, they are outlier!
Why not.They did it with their manager
Include Shane Greene in a package to Boston for Mookie Betts. Mookie would put Altanta over the top for 2020 and Boston would be able to reload their farm system a little bit and help out their MLB bullpen as well.
Red Sox won’t want a one or two year type player for their trades – they will want good prospects so they can drop payroll .
That’s dumb. The Braves have 4 outfielders right now not including Pache and Waters waiting in triple A. The Braves should trade for one of the 2 catchers the Cubs have. Not a one year rental.
I think if the Braves trade for an OF it will be with the pirates
Zimmerman made 18 million this season. I hope he saved some money in case 2019 was his last season.
He could go into coaching
Yeah, no way Zim gets anywhere close to that, from the Nats or anyone else. 1/$5m may be his ceiling, although he could probably gets some incentives tacked on for games or ABs.
He’s already making $2m with the buyout and has basically said he’s a Nat or will retire next year, so he’d likely sign for around $2m I’d think, which would equate to him getting paid $4m next year.
Considering that their starting rotation is very inexpensive and Freeman is the only high priced offensive player they’ve got, an expensive, quality back end of the bullpen is a very smart move. Grab a solid starter and re-sign Donaldson and there’s no reason to expect anything less than a NLCS appearance.
I believe Greene is a Non-Tender at that price. What would his arbitration numbers be without the 30+ saves he had for a team that lost over a 110 games?
Greene will definitely get tendered. He’s a very good reliever and has trade value if need be. The price isn’t unreasonable and the team could use him.
If they want to trade somebody from the bullpen, it should be Melancon. Obviously, the Braves will not trade away his entire contract, but part of his contract plus a bigger deal involving Riley or Waters seems reasonable.
I still believe Bumgarner remains priority one (unless of course, they decide to go after Cole).
Do you think before you type? You don’t want Melancon, so why do you think anyone else would want him? The Braves are in GREAT shape. They don’t need to trade top prospects away They ARE NOT going to sign Cole or any other pitcher that will make 30+ million a year. They don’t need to.
AA Keep all 3 relievers (I’m sure he’s gonna read this)especially Greene it’s not too much money spend on a pretty darn good relief pitcher. I’m not going to be disappointed if AA keeps all three. Bullpen help, good dependable help isn’t easy to find. Stay with all 3.
Braves will pass on both Betts, Donaldson, & Bumgardner. AA will sign Moustakis 2 years at $22 million, 1 year of Hamels at $15 million, & Michael Wacha 1 year $6 million. Finally the Braves send Touki Toussaint, Alex Jackson, & Culberson for Cubs catcher Victor Caratini.
Other than not getting Betts, all scenarios listed are extremely, extremely unlikely.
I agree with the Betts and Bumgardner thing. Josh not so sure. I think they will sign Moose if they don’t Donaldson. Hamels, Yes. Wacha, No. Don’t need Wacha, too many starters now take a spot away from a young guy. Don’t think the Braves trade away Culberson. I might send Touki, Ender, Alex Jackson and a couple of lower prospects to Cubs for the catcher and Kimbrel, maybe even Heyward., work out the money some. Cubs are saying they don’t have a leadoff hitter. Could use Duval in that trade
Braves are in on Donaldson and Madbum it just depends on how high the bidding gets on them mouse is a fall back option at 3B but that would make the Braves heavy on lefties in the middle of the lineup I could see them trading for Bryant if the price is decent or trading with the Pirates for Marte
I still think Hefner is the guy.
Can people explain to me why the Braves took on all of Melancons contract and give up 2 prospects?
The prospects didn’t have a future in ATL and they desperately needed a closer.
Zimm is gone!
I think I’m ok with the Braves overpaying for there current bullpen. It’s tough to get a good one and it was brutal how bad our bullpen was last year. The argument could be made that if it was half decent, then we would have had a record up near the dodgers or better. Regardless, there are a ton of holes to fill and if this money invested in the bullpen is all we spend, then I will not be happy. So go make some serious moves Braves
Best to let Zimm go and remember him fondly. Nothing worse then having a longtime productive player comeback and turn into deadweight. High probability of that happening with Zimmerman. He managed to carve out a couple decent seasons after he looked like he was cooked. But it’s best for both sides to move on. They’ll build him a statue one day. He’s really the original Nat.
If Nats resign Rendon and Stras, they’ll need to be cheap to fill out the rest of the roster and Zim is still loved by the fans. His defense is still elite (except for his throwing) and he can still hit. Injuries have been his downfall, so as long as he stays healthy, he’s serviceable. I’d think they could resign him and someone else to platoon and bring up Kieboom as a minor league contract guy to keep the right side of the infield cheap.
it only makes since that the Braves trade away a talented reliever since they just acquired a talented reliever. wouldn’t want that bullpen performing too well and god almighty above forbid Liberty Media invest semi-substantial money into this team.
sense**
Hard to believe Zimmerman is only 34 yo.
Still cant believe Zaidi got Atl to take on Melancons contract.
With managers only giving starters a couple passes through the lineup these days, I guess teams might as well spend big on bullpen