The Braves have easily been the offseason’s most active team in the early going. Atlanta has made a pair of rotation additions, signing southpaw Drew Smyly to a one-year, $11MM deal and bringing in Charlie Morton for one year at $15MM.
Single-year terms has become a staple of the Alex Anthopoulos regime in Atlanta. They’ve had plenty of success with short-term additions of Josh Donaldson and Marcell Ozuna, but last winter’s Cole Hamels signing didn’t pan out as the left-hander’s year was derailed by injury. The front office decided to roll the dice on a new pair of veteran hurlers after coming up one game shy of a pennant in 2020.
Each of Morton and Smyly was indeed projected by the MLBTR staff to ink one-year deals this winter. However, both pitchers pulled in a bit more money than anticipated during what is widely expected to be a frigid offseason in the wake of teams suffering massive revenue losses. Morton picked up $7MM more than anticipated, while Smyly’s deal came in $6MM above expectation.
There are plenty of reasons the Braves’ front office decided to jump the market on these specific pitchers. Morton put up ace-caliber numbers from 2017-19 and rounded back into form down the stretch after a difficult start this past season. Smyly has battled injuries and inconsistency throughout his career but flashed a new level for the Giants in 2020. The 31-year-old showed massively improved raw stuff and generated whiffs in bunches en route to a 2.01 FIP. He’ll need to prove he can sustain those gains for more than 26.1 innings, but it’s easy to see the upside.
One other factor worth considering: the qualifying offer. Neither Morton nor Smyly has received one in the past, meaning they’ll be eligible for the QO next winter if they spend the entire season in Atlanta. It’s not especially likely either player warrants a QO in eleven months. Morton would be entering his age-38 season and might not even wish to keep playing; Smyly’s a year removed from a 6.24 ERA season. But the same would’ve been true of Kevin Gausman a year ago, and he sufficiently rehabilitated his value during his platform year to earn a qualifying offer from the Giants this offseason.
So, how do MLBTR readers feel about the Braves’ two new additions? Grade each deal from the team’s perspective. (poll links for app users)
I like the Braves approach in recent years. Beyond the one year deals, the early offseason signings. It seems they have their targets and the price they want to pay. They are not waiting out player markets in hopes of a potential below market deal. Does it mean they could miss out on deals or overpay? Of course. But it’s not my money and it beats scrambling to fill spots when the market has been picked bare.
Of course that’s not every signing but seems to be a more common occurrence.
I rated the Braves moves thus far as a “B” mainly because I think they over-payed on both Morton and Smyly. But, I admire their willingness to boldly go after SP they way they did, basically blowing off the strategy of the other 29 clubs (waiting to see how the off-season plays out before ponying up the $ to add to their rosters). While many teams will have a long and drawn out offseason, the Braves are almost done!
Completely agree. I think an “A” for anyone this offseason will be a difficult task unless one team lucks into last minute signings.
But getting players you want in the fold early is nice. Maybe not worth millions in overspending but knowing where you’re at early in the offseason can’t be a bad thing.
I know this is a big IF but if LeMahieu is signed and they add pitching the Yankees may get an A. They already got Ellsbury, Happ, Paxton and Gardner off the books, and kept Britton.
@NY, would you give them an A if Sanchez is the Opening Day starter behind the dish?
@NY, will you still give the Bombers at A if Sanchez is the Opening Day starter behind the dish?
Please excuse the double
post……my mistake
NY_Yankee, I’ll give them an A if they can somehow manage to fix their rotation.
Based on Morton’s ’17-19 seasons, was his performance good enough to have his $15,000,000.00 option picked up? I’d say “yes” and so did the article when it’s stated he put up “ace-like numbers”. So, it could be viewed as if his option was picked up by the Rays & then was traded to the Braves at the upcoming winter meetings as a salary dump. All the Braves had to do was give up ZERO in prospect capital and take over his salary.
They had to overpay for Smyly bc someone offered him a three year $30M deal
No. He’d have taken the $30m in a heart beat. He wanted $30m and when he realized it he took the $11 the Braves offered him.
Lol I know which Article you read. They were asking for 3 years 30m. If anyone met the deal they were asking, he wouldn’t have taken a lesser deal.
GMs around the league were shocked by the signing details. Alex even had an interview talking about how he wants to be aggressive & strike first.
So it isnt a reach to say He was probably willing to end the bidding before it ever started. Agent asks for 10m/Year for 3 years, He only wants a 1 year deal so he offered him 11m. The agent jumped on it quick because no one was going to come close to that $/year.
To his credit, his quick strike method allows him to move quickly from signing to signing. Landed Smyly immediately. Then lands Morton. Still working on an Ozuna deal. Last year he landed Will Smith & D’Arnaud. Then Hamels & Ozuna.
He is gonna miss on some of these deals (Hamels) but the ones that workout (Ozuna, D’Arnaud, Donaldson) make the team better & ppl remember those big moves.
He probably got him lower, especially with Big Incentives to minimize damage if it fails. However, This is a Player Alex watched a lot when he was in the AL East (At Smyly’s Peak). This year Smyly bounced back a little & the Front office looked the analytics they looked at. They decided they wanted him & they got him.
“Overpay” is kind of relative though, especially in the modern climate. If your approach is to get guys signed early, I think it requires a little more money to get it done.
Well when youre up 3-1 on the dodgers and then the dominate in the world series. And you have to address your biggest weakness which was starting depth. Right now they have to be the favorites along with the dodgers if they bring back Ozuna and get some bullpen depth.
D for Smyly
A for Morton
In what world people think Morton isn’t worth $15 mil is mind blowing
Rays declined it being cheap trying to get him to come back for less knowing he wants to stay close to home. They goof’d
Smyly was a bad signing plain and simple. Should have never been made. Rather have Wilson or Wright try to hold down that 5 spot or any number of the prospects they have.
No one is gonna stick if they never have a chance to see them. Lots of guys ready to go. Muller, Davidson, De La Cruz, Weigel. Plus strong playoff starts from Wright and Wilson
Smyly plugging up the 5th spot for $11 mil wasn’t the answer.
Smyly might make sense if you’re worried about injuries. But he’s literally the biggest health risk himself lol
What better lefty starters are out there this year to get than smyly
Wright will start the year though in the rotation bc Soroka won’t be back for a little bit I think
Soroka is ahead of schedule and already throwing off flat ground. As long as there arent any setbacks he could be ready for opening day or close to it.
It’s taken others 5 months to come back from Achilles injuries which puts Soroka on track to be ready February when pitchers report.
If he misses any time at all I doubt it’s more than April.
We have too much starting pitching depth now.
That statement has never been spoken by any organization ever. Last year should show us you can’t have too many starters. Wilson, wright, and Muller will all get starts by the end of the season. For all we know Fried and Anderson could have Tommy John by the end of the year. Who would have thought Soroka would year his achilles.
While the 2 starting pitcher signings are nice they better pickup a bat capable of doing what Donaldson/Ozuna did the last 2 years. Freeman has to have protection or all the teams will just pitch around him.
Still need at least 1 bat that has some power. I’d go Renfroe or Pederson. Catcher will be fine. Lots of good back up options internally. I’d give Riley the year to sink or swim at 3rd base.
Morton a B+, Smyly a C in my opinion. Smyly is too injury prone for 11M.
Smyly feels like he could be their next Donaldson/Ozuna signing.
I agree. He was surprisingly good last year. Maybe he finally comes back healthy…maybe. I feel like Smyly had a multi year deal on the table and the Braves felt more comfortable doing a higher deal at one year than two. Like rather do a 1/11 than a 2/16 or something, but that’s just an assumption.
That smyly signing is going to be ugly sorry. He’s never held a rotation spot down AND produced for a full season. Let’s throw 11 million at him in a bum economy and prays he magically puts it together!
Sounds like an overpay, wishful thinking by FO and fans are eating it up becuase they’re doing “something”
Together, this all means is they won’t get the premium upgrades this team really needs, unless Morton hits the fountain of youth. But it’s hope and prayer for a team who was 1 game from the WS. That’s weak
While Donaldson and Ozuna have been produtive before, there were many of the complaints made toward those signings too. Donaldson hasn’t been healthy the last few seasons. Donaldson is declining. He’s blocking Austin Riley. Ozuna has only had one good year in the majors. He doesn’t have enough of a bat to make up for his defense.
I don’t think anyone thinks Morton is going to be an ace, but I’m sure he can bounceback to being a solid #4 starter. Maybe something akin to his 2017 season isn’t out of the question if he can stay healthy.
MLB, while valid about them, the criticism extends well past those 2. The Braves have ignored the big upgrade to get a bargain non stop. It sometimes works, and it sometimes becomes Hamels
I think he’s going to be a good pitcher, but he won’t be worth 11m.
That being said, it was still a good signing and he will be a very solid pitcher next year.
Uh ozuna had a career year but he’s had several good seasons so
Ur wrong on that one
Before 2020, 2017 was the only season he put up an OPS above .800. He’s had some good seasons, but I should have said elite offensive wise.
Maybe they’re not necessarily viewing Smyly as a starter. 14 K/9 and 0.7 HR/9 would certainly play in the bullpen.
That being said, he could also serve as a steadying force in the rotation until Soroka is ready. He would also give the Braves more balance in their rotation since Fried was the only lefty.
I had that thought so too @QS, but smyly has never been in the pen long term. Maybe they overpaid to get him into the pen? But a lot of speculation just to look at the contract positively for me
Yes! I never had the “warm and fuzzy’ with Hamels, but Ozuna and Donaldson were sure fire successes from the word go. Smyly will be fine, Morton will be TOR arm we need. Now we need a bat and a catcher to back up D’arnault.
i would argue Smyly is a great get even at an inflated value. Braves paid up a bit to get their guy, but most early offseason moves usually see the guy picked up at a premium and usually they are a longer commitment at that inflated price, so getting Smyly on a low year number makes that move safer. assuming it doesn’t affect their finances too much through the year it should be a good move.
I’m giving the Smyly signing a C grade. I would’ve given it a lower grade If they wouldn’t have made a move to acquire Morton. It’s a one year deal and they definitely overpaid but it seems like the braves would rather strike fast and get the guys that they want even if it means overpaying the acquisition a little bit. I gave the Charlie Morton signing an A. They are both on one year deals so if something goes wrong it won’t hurt the Braves long term.
Big boy is learning how to use periods and type more than four words per comment!
My question is simply “Do the two signings improve the Braves ?” On paper most everything looks better and the results needed to make these signings worthwhile are over the normal value. We aren’t going to know until they are well into 2021 season. It would appear to me they have way over spent. The Ray’s offer would appear not even close to the 15m.
Morton was an easy B grade. Smyly I struggled to give better than a C. If Anthopoulos hadn’t done some really good one year deals, I would have given it a D so I will give AA the benefit of the doubt.
A lot of posters commenting on the cost. Same things said when the Braves got Donaldson. Same thing when they got Ozuna. You simply pay more for a 1 year deal. You don’t want the commitment of multi-year deals, you have to pay a little more. Why would a player except a 1 year $8 million deal over a 2 year $16 million dollar deal? Smyly pushes it a little for me but again, giving AA the benefit of the doubt.
Curious why Morton was only a B for you?
Because he is no longer an A pitcher.
Because they over paid by 25% of what his value was likely on the market, while only betting against two Florida teams. Morton was staying in the southeast the Braves overpaid massively. It’s a C for me. Throwing excessive money at a guy who only wants to play for 3 teams and two are historically broke… that’s not a good front office move
Amazing what fans get excited about
@Laughing@you. You didn’t read a thing about the added cost of a 1 year deal, did you? Retirement was a very real option for Morton so it’s not just 3 teams. If you want him you still have to convince him.
It’s exciting because Morton is going to be our no.4 pitcher. That is a good thing.
@vntc. I guess for me this deal COULD turn into an A, depending on how Morton performs.
Agreed, if Morton was obsessed with staying “close to home”, the Braves could have called his bluff and offered him under $10 million. If he didn’t like it, he can pack up and play in Seattle or Anaheim.
Just two years ago he was crying about playing close to Delaware and now it’s Florida:
mlbtraderumors.com/2018/04/astros-rumors-charlie-m…
When you make that much money, just buy another home wherever you want. If Milwaukee offers the most money, then guess what? That can be home now too. With schools closed and everything being done with social distancing, he can bring his entire family with him.
Salary cap, maybe you put more stock into that than I do
He wasn’t walking away after expecting the Rays to pay him another year 15M, imo. Maybe at end of next year
@Laughing So here’s the thing: you keep using the term “overpay” but isn’t value really just perception? If the Braves wanted Morton, Smyly and a bat- and they add all three guys at prices they’re comfortable with- is it an overpay? Value isn’t universal. The goal for the majority of us as fans surely isn’t to be able to say, “Boy, our team sure got great value!” You’re simply judging something based on someone else’s perception of the market. I full well admit they could be questionable moves if they burned all of their money and can’t add a bat, but we don’t know that yet.
Value is perception. His perception is the Braves overpaid. You answered your own argument.
“ If the Braves wanted Morton, Smyly and a bat- and they add all three guys at prices they’re comfortable with- is it an overpay?”
It’s all how you want to see it sure. I’m just looking at market value. You can look at it with your heart, I’m looking at value
The rays just cut him at 15M, they weren’t giving him 15M now. The Marlins weren’t bidding 15M. O hi Who was paying Morton?
Maybe it doesn’t hurt. But if they could have gotten him for 10M let’s say, that 5M buys a pen arm or bench bat, at least? When everyone is crying poor, they threw regular offseason money around. You can feel how you want, I have a very strong feeling they are now going to cry poor and not get Freddie that big bat protection
So you’re paying a 37 year old to throw 200innings and make up for lost offense? That’s a LOT to ask for a 37 year old, especially when most here want to throw 31 year olds out to the gutter
Braves do a fantastic job of identifying players and securing them early in offseason. They do equally well not signing star players to ridiculous long term deals that last through declining years of players. That’s why they never even made Donaldson an offer and why they are out on ozuna. Those two strategies combined is A+ cutting edge work ! One of the best ran franchises for decades. Kudos to them
You could also say having Donaldson probably puts them in the WS, given how tight 5+6+7 were and they were up big
But at least he’s not signed for age 39! Who needs to win
Not necessarily. Donaldson has hit .133 his last 2 trips to the postseason. With him clogging up the middle of the lineup, they probably don’t make it to the NLCS.
Using past postseason stats to predict how a guy is going to do in future postseasons is so so foolish
Donaldson is a big bat you have to respect a heckuva lot more than Austin Riley no matter his current month long numbers
Laughing: What did Donaldson’s stats look like this year? Not that good. He barely hit his weight, had single digit COMBINED XBH’s AND played LESS than half of the season (28) games played. I’d take Ozuna’s 1 yr deal over OVERPAYING Donaldson.
…the acquisitions rate an overall A- to B+, respectively.. but, because AA didn’t wait out the market in a vain attempt to squeeze the last ounce of value out of the deal.. the deal rates a clear and solid A. More GM’s should look at what they need.. who fulfills that need.. and make the deal.. or get out of the market, altogether..
THoughts?
Well said, gson. I agree
Well said, gson. I agree.
Morton was fine but Smyly was completely unnecessary. They didn’t need to pay him 11 million after 5 good starts to be a borderline rotation candidate. There are way too many quality options out there to have jumped the gun for a journeyman.
Who would you have preferred instead of Smyly?
Not signing him at all.
Yeah, for me, if you wanted Smyly, fine, but there’s enough uncertainty and injury that it wasn’t necessary to throw him $11M. That was a short line.
One team made Smyly a three year $30M deal so that kinda forced ATL to overpay if they wanted him
You actually believe that?? If he got that offer he would be with said team.
Morton- B+, Smyly- B-
One year deals plays it safe and AA keeps his job. The bonus is if one out of the two pitchers performs very well. These one year deals do not disrupt the future payroll or blocks guys after this year.
The only problem is they are still not better than the Dodgers and I expect someone in the NL East to push them for the division next year.
Smyly is either an A or an F. So I gave it a C. You’ll never be very right if you’re not willing to be very wrong. I think the chance of Smyly staying healthy is slim indeed. But if he’s healthy he’ll be great . Kinda like Rich Hill.
Morton is a great signing. A.
Great signing? He was only going to TB, Mia or Atl, and the other two are broke. Atl overpaid against themselves
That’s an A? Eesh
An a would be Morton signing for Smyly’s terms
Enh. He’d have stayed with Tampa for that. Since he lives in Bradenton, Atlanta needed to pay a premium. If he’s a 2.5-3 WAR pitcher that’s fine. I think he’ll be better than that .
The Rays cut Morton at 15M and still are talking about trading Snell and KK to cut money
Assuming the Rays were offering 14 million is a big reach
He essentially got paid the option the Rays turned down. I’m sure 90% of other teams would have taken up that option.
90% would have taken it I agree. Including the team I root for. But Morton was only signing with 10% of the league so.. who cares
The guy has 4 young kids and has been clear for 3 years they are his priority. Assuming that just disappears for a few million more is foolhardy
Who cares? Maybe Morton? Maybe he was only willing to take what the option was or retiring. If his price is $15 million, he isn’t going to change that if he’s thinking about retiring. $15 million for one year of even #3 level starter production isn’t bad. It’s actually a bargin.
I went C for the same reason. I think you’re right about Smyly. He’s either going to make them look like geniuses or it will be a zero sum like the Hamels deal
I smell best rotation in the league potential with Fried Soroka Anderson Morton Wright/Smyly
It won’t be. Thats not even the best rotation in the division once the Nats grab someone to fill out the bottom of their staff.
Scherzer was ok last year.
Strasburg was out for the season.
Corbin is good.
That’s the best rotation in the division?
Carpal tunnel is a lot easier to come back from than an Achilles tear.
But the guy coming back from a blown Achilles is a guarantee to be the same level in year 1?
If anything, their signing of Morton+ Smyly implies soroka is a huge red flag internally for them too. Relying on him for 2021 is dangerous to say the least
They should add Mike Minor on a “minor” league deal
No matter how you slice it, Morton/Smyly are the backside of a rotation that features, on the front side, 3 of the better young arms in the game. And the two vets are “good clubhouse guys”, whatever that means.
Ya, maybe they could have come cheaper. But Billy Ripken is 100% right; while the rest of the GMs are calculating if Morton is worth $15,000,000 or $14, 750,000, AA is out there signing guys.
Get ‘er done……As John Maddon would say “Load the wagon; don’t worry about the horse bein’ blind”.
next, the Rays should trade Snell to Seattle for Emmerson Hancock & Trammel
Neither team would do that.
No such thing as a bad one year deal so can’t fault them too much even if they are fairly pricy.
If Player A is better than Player B, Player A signs for 3-years and Player B signs for 1-year, and Player B’s team misses the playoffs by a game then your silly comment would be incorrect.
There is always a bad one year deal. Blue Jays are making a habit of them.
I mean, AA making moves that needed to happen during the season in my humble opinion. He has this way of making me want him fired to doing things that save his job (in my eyes). Good thing I’m just a couch GM. Guy would have been fired at least 3 times already. But these moves are solid and the rotation looks strong at the moment
He did this in Toronto. He will go for broke if he’s looking for a contract extension.
Word
I said “B” because Morton will be great when the playoffs come around, plus he can eat up a bunch of innings that the young guys maybe can’t. Plus, he is a great guy and will make for a great veteran presence and will be a great teammate for the young arms in Atlanta’s system. The reason this wasn’t an “A” in my book, is he is what 39 now, so he maybe won’t throw the same number of innings that he could’ve and would’ve, even 3 years ago. Also, he had an injury-plagued 2020 and had a high ERA to show for when he did take the mound.
Or he’s 37 and at any time he can be Rich Hill for LAD and throw 50 innings for 14M.. two years ago
Writing in a 37 year old for 200 innings with ink is honestly hilarious
Who says they have to throw 200 innings for it to be a successful signing? They can manage the vets innings with plenty of internal options. They hired these guns for the playoffs.
“Smyly flashed a new level for the Giants”
As does everyone else for some reason….it explains how they won 3 WS in a 5 year span while having 3 of the worst 10 lineups to ever win a WS….miles and miles of heart and Bochy helped also but something happens to scrubs when they put on a Giants uniform….
A on Morton. C on Smyly as I think they overpaid, but they obviously see something there. I think they have a lot of SP depth. They’ve been good for quite some time it’s nice to see them spend a little to hopefully ensure a lengthy playoff run.
“It’s not especially likely either player warrants a QO in eleven months. Morton would be entering his age-38 season and might not even wish to keep playing; Smyly’s a year removed from a 6.24 ERA season. But the same would’ve been true of Kevin Gausman a year ago”
Wrong! Kevin Gausman might have been a year removed, but after Smyly pitches in 2021 he’ll be 2 years removed, not just 1 like Gausman. Makes you wonder how these writers miss out on simple math?
The writer was comparing Smyly’s hypothetical next year with Gausman’s actual last year, both one year segments of time. No problem with the writer’s math.
Incorrect, he was comparing Gausman’s qualifying offer to the one Smyly could receive at the end of this year since Smyly’s has never been offered one. That is unless “QO” is that statement means something else? So yes there is a problem with the writers math…
I would only care about “over-pay” if it was my money. The fact is, Morton and Smyly are not being signed to be #1 and #2. They are stabilizing a rotation that fell apart in 2020 due to injuries…but was one game from the World Series. Fried and Soroka needed support. Morton and Smyly give them that on one-year commitments. To get the deals done early, it costs a little more.
There is also the added fact that they’re paying 3/5ths of their rotation peanuts, so it’s not crippling to “overpay” your 4th or 5th starters. When you have to acquire Tommy Milone and start Minter in a postseason game (though incredible job he did) I feel like it’s hard to argue against the security of spending some coin on veteran arms.
I love the signings, now if they get a good middle of the order bat that should just about cover it this year.
It’s not crippling unless this prevents them from bringing Ozuna or another bat in
B+ for Morton, C- for Smyly. Either way, they have an overall solid and cheap rotation that allows them to spend money other places also. The rotation is leaps and bounds better than last yr and that’s what matters.
I agree. The Ray’s knew Morton was choosing between Atlanta, Tampa Bay or Retirement. They either thought the Braves would be cheap & easily outbid or they were willing to let him go (Age, Durability or Lost Velocity).
I give the signing of Morton an A+. If he doesnt work out, The team can still make playoffs & fall short of a WS Title or NL Pennant.
If Morton simply follows up his down year with an Identical year that would be an improvement (he had a 4.03 ERA when you combined Postseason & Regular season #’s & given the short sample size of 2020 doing so is logical, especially for Pitchers).
We all know he could do much better than that & could help in Postseason.
I’d Give the Smyly deal a C…because D+ wasnt on the Ballot. He has some stuff going in his favor. He could be solid. He could even help against the Dodgers (In his first 2 games he threw 4.1 IP & 1 ER vs LAD. Even if he isnt starting in Playoffs he could come out of the Pen a few Innings). His Velocity & spin rates were good last year.
However, It’s a HUGE RISK at a HIGH PRICE. The Durability will always be Questioned after how long it took him to get back. As a result, He doesn’t have a good sample size of recent success. He hadn’t had a good year since 2015 & last season he BARELY Pitched more Innings than BRAD HAND DID!!!!
I’d love to say It could be a huge steal but now the guy is making $11m, I guess I cant say that….unless the Braves win a WS.
When you look at the market, there were other options that look great. Tanaka is solid, even if he costs a little more.
Bullpen Stars like Brad Hand, Hendricks, Yates & all the other great Pen Arms likely wont make 1/11m.
Salty Rays fans grading the Morton signing an F
Irrelevant if they don’t trade or sign a hitter or two.
They will 100%
I’m sorry I don’t get the excitement over a 37 year old pitcher and a long reliever lol I guess it don’t take much to the braves fans excited these days. I wanna know when is our coward of a gm gonna actually make a move that takes some balls and get a real impact player instead of getting old washed up pitchers and signing hitters to a 1 year deals. You want to impress me aa sign a impact player to multi year deal until then I will think as is an over rated coward of a gm too afraid to look bad
Your criteria to “be impressed” is multi year deals to impact players.
1) Ronald Acuña, Jr.
2) Ozzie Albies
You must be absolutely blown away by AA. Two incredibly impactful players, signed to extremely long term deals, for vastly under market prices.
Or are you only impressed by long term deals that will pay the players deep into their 30s when the performance doesn’t match the price tag? Impressed by the genius work to sign Pujols and Miguel Cabrera?
My wife is currently pregnant and in a decade I can sit my 10 year old son on the couch and tell him “Son, you see that hairy, old guy playing right field for the Phillies? Yes, the one making all of the errors in the field and batting .215 with 11 HRs. You might not believe it, based on his current detriment to the team, but he was a very good player and was a highly sought-after free agent a long time ago. Back before you were even born! Despite the negative effect he is having on the Phillies this year, and for the last several years really, his signing greatly impressed some people 13 years ago. Those people don’t know what they are talking about. But they were impressed nonetheless.”
You cited two extensions, not free agents. Big difference when you are young and need a big payday rather than signing a free agent vet and your team is contending for a World Series.
That is kind of the point. You don’t have to sign big long term FA deals to win. There is no GM Handbook that says you must have at least X overpriced veterans to be allowed to compete. The argument that AA is a coward for avoiding them is ludicrous.
Both are experienced pitchers with both having careers in NL/ AL, but Atl probably overpaid
Morton looks like he will be this generation’s Charlie Liebrandt. Next up AA needs to make a deal to get Joey Gallo.
Bryce Wilson, Kyle Muller & lower prospect I think could get it done
If you guys love having older past thier primes players more Power to you. I guess I like to win and to me Morton does not do that for us and by the way I never said I wanted a 13 year contract but how about. We sign a couple of impact full players to let’s say 3-4 years and before Everyone jumps my butt about how we were one game away to the ws I would bet the farn that was just a freak year this I bet we get bounce again in the first rd cause our coward will sign another scrub can’t stand aa he is a chicken ##it moron of a gm. I know I guys all walk hard one for 37 year old pitcher but I’m sorry does nothing for me
Which impactful players in their prime are you going to get for 3-4 years?
C-Morton, Aging Pitcher likely in full-on regression mode(He was cosidering retiring for crying out loud), the depth piece is nice and vet in the clubhouse, but they are over-paying for it imo!
C-Smyly, Injury prone pitcher, trying to catch lightning in a bottle(like Gausman) LHP is nice and he did look real good in his what 5 starts, but again an over-pay for a guy who could be this years Cole Hamels!
Will be interesting to see how big of an impact these guys have for ATL in a(hopefully) full season tho!
Note to Ross: periods.
You can give Morton & Smyly what it takes if you know Ozuna is leaving. Hope I’m wrong and while a Pederson or Renfro makes some sense a right handed hitter with power helped Freeman to his best season even if abbreviated. Won’t be surprised to see Puig even, he will not break the bank.
I think after seeing a team be so successful and make it to a 3 games to 1 lead in the NLCS with the starting pitching it ended up sending out there you can’t not get some good pitching help. One of the best offenses in baseball means even mediocre starting pitching would be enough to send this team even deeper into the playoffs. They got within 1 game of the World Series with basically one excellent starter all year (Max Fried). Now next year with Soroka coming back and Ian Anderson showing he also has “ace” written all over him.
With those 3 you have one of the best (if not the best) 1-2-3 in baseball. With those 3 young legitimate aces all you need is a good, steady and reliable vet or 2 and Morton is that and then some. If that rotation stays healthy for most of the year the Braves would be damn near unstoppable.
I mean just look at this lineup
1. Ronald Acuna Jr. RF
2. Ozzie Albies 2B
3. Freddie Freeman 1B
4. Marcell Ozuna DH (Hopefully)(Hopefully he resigns and hopefully the DH stays)
5. Dansby Swanson SS
6. Travis d’Arnaud C
7. Austin Riley 3B
8. Adam Duvall LF (Also Drew Waters is coming soon)
9. Christian Pache CF
About the DH…Before this season I had always been on the side of not wanting it. I didn’t like it and certainly didn’t think it was fair the AL had that advantage but after this past season I’m not sure I can go back to watching pitchers flail around up there. Let’s put it this way…The DH should have never been created at all, it’s weird, it doesn’t fit the rules of baseball great, it affects how pitching staffs are used (often allowing AL managers to keep pitchers who are pitching well in even if they’re losing.
All that said though, it’s a thing, it’s been in the AL for half a century and isn’t going anywhere so might as well have it stay in the NL now too. I think it will (if not this upcoming season, definitely next. I think it will be here this upcoming season though)
Now how about this Rotation to go with that line up (plus their great bullpen)