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MLB Off-season Thread 2015-2016 IOTI Back to the Future was a lie
- Thread starter CreeperBlocks
- Start date
tiggerkiddo
Member
This is what baseball hell looks like.
Rafa=FedKilla
Banned
Damn.
Are the Montforts really that cheap? I know it is nearly impossible to developing serviceable pitching in Colorado, but I thought KBO players would be a great market inefficiency to exploit....
tiggerkiddo
Member
The failed Neagle and Hampton deals scared them senseless.
Monforts only spend some money if it means Coors is bumping and they are making money. Winning optional!
Monforts only spend some money if it means Coors is bumping and they are making money. Winning optional!
Frozenprince
Banned
Park's power in Coors would be nuuuuuuuuts. But the Rockies don't have an intl presence in the Asian market, really. So they probably don't have much on him at all in the first place despite his fit.
gaming_noob
Member
Smoak is gone then. Davis would be awesome.
If they do sign Davis (doubtful), I bet they will trade him next winter. There's just no conceivable way to keep him AND either of Bautista / Edwin, and I'm pretty sure the Jays would prefer either Bautista or Edwin to Davis long term.
the offence would be fucking insane in 2016 though... like wow
HarryDemeanor
Member
Gotta be the Expos.
Dmncnby2k9
Banned
Rockies saving 1B for Murph da Gawd.
Silver Arrows
Banned
Fatal Frame
Silver Arrows
Banned
I guarantee that the team who won the bid on Park is going to get a lot of Korean journalists on their doorstep.
but seriously, I think it's going to be an AL team at this point and if not, probably a Midwest team, possibly either the Royals, Yankees or maybe even the Tigers
but seriously, I think it's going to be an AL team at this point and if not, probably a Midwest team, possibly either the Royals, Yankees or maybe even the Tigers
Heyman already said it wasn't us.
Probably the Mariners.
chicagocubsfan
Member
Lol Natinals.
Mr. Enigma
Member
Matt Williams must have accepted a PR position within the Nats.
Teix is here for another season and Bird is waiting to takeover.
I’m at work and bored so I decided to review each of the Braves’ trades from the last year.
Jason Heyward [Edit: And Jordan Walden!] to the Cardinals for Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins
OK, so, I hated the trade at the time but that was mostly because (a) fuck the Cardinals and (b) I had just spent the previous season making fun of Shelby Miller for being terrible. So this trade was basically the worst possible outcome for me. It didn’t end up being that bad though, at least so far. Heyward had his usual excellent 5-6 win season for St. Louis, but he didn’t blow up and win an MVP so my salt levels stayed surprisingly low. Meanwhile, Shelby Miller was Atlanta’s best pitcher in 2015. Miller put up a career high in innings (205.1) and (if you discount 2012) FIP (3.45). I wouldn’t call Miller an ace, as his FIP- and ERA- were only 91 and 78, respectively, but he had a really nice season overall and he’s only going to be 25 next year. It’s probably also worth noting that his September numbers were his worst and pretty far off the mean of his other months, so his numbers could look better if that month went better. Like I said, it was his longest season yet by innings, so his poor September might have been due to exhaustion. Miller also had a couple of near no-hitters and a couple of Maddux’s, and he was the most consistent starter on the team. I’m pretty happy to have him in the organization. Meanwhile, Tyrell Jenkins accomplished the most important thing he needed to do for his development: he stayed healthy. The Braves gave him their Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award for some reason that I don’t quite understand, but he was still pretty good. His ERA was shiny but he walked a few too many and didn’t strike out enough batters. He does get a ton of groundballs though. I think he might end up pitching out of the bullpen in the majors but Atlanta will give him a shot to start I think. He still has a ceiling of a #3 if enough comes together for him. So for one season of Jason Heyward, Atlanta got 4 seasons of a solid #2/3 in Shelby Miller plus another 6 potential seasons of either a mid-rotation starter or a reliever. That’s not bad. They might trade Miller for some good ‘spects in a year or two as well.
Edit: Yeah I forgot Jordan Walden was in this trade too. I don't think it really changes my analysis any tbh.
Current Grade: A-
Justin Upton [Edit: And Aaron Northcraft!] to the Padres for Max Fried, Jace Peterson, Dustin Peterson, and Mallex Smith
Trading Justin was a no-brainer, especially after moving Heyward. So how much value did they squeeze out of one season of a 3-4 WAR player? It’s looking like a lot right now. Max Fried didn’t pitch in 2015 since he was recovering from TJS, but his pre-injury reports gave him the potential to be a #2/3 or maybe even better, with some comparisons to Cole Hamels. Indications are that his rehab has gone really well and he’ll be starting in the minors next season. Jace Peterson was the Braves starting 2B in 2015 for most of the season. He was fine. The bat wasn’t all there, but his defense was great and his baserunning was solid. He does need to strikeout less and try to get caught stealing a lot less though. He’ll probably get another shot to start next season, but he’s probably destined to be a utility guy. He’s got some Martin Prado-esque upside, but I think he’ll stick around as a valuable contributor off the bench. Dustin Peterson got moved off 3B and into LF in High-A ball, where he started off the season showing improvement in both the hit tool and power department. Then he was injured in the Carolina Mudcats bus crash and his performance fell off a cliff after that. I think because of the bus crash he can get a mulligan on the second half of 2015 and BA still thinks he’ll be good enough to start in LF for major league teams. I don’t know if he’ll end up having a role in Atlanta due to Olivera being in LF, but maybe they can trade him for a decent player at another position. All Mallex Smith did was steal 55 bases, hit 340/418/413 in AA (and he put up a 106 wRC+ in AAA too) and play solid, though not great, CF defense. He’s got true 80 grade speed but his routes and first steps in the outfield still need work. He’ll get to hang out with Michael Bourn in 2016 a lot so hopefully Bourn can coach him on some stuff. Atlanta thinks Smith will be their starting CF as soon as next year and for the foreseeable future, with the upside of a top of the order hitter and potentially some All-Star level seasons. So for one season of Justin Upton, the Braves got a potential FOR pitcher, their centerfielder of the future, a potential starting left fielder, and a useful bench piece. Thanks San Diego!
Edit: Man, I forgot the shitty throw-in player in this trade too!
Current Grade: A
Evan Gattis and James Hoyt to the Astros for Mike Foltynewicz, Rio Ruiz, and Andrew Thurman
I was really high on this trade when it happened, but it hasn’t worked out as well as I hoped so far. Let’s start with what they sent away:
Evan Gattis in 2015: .246/.285/.463, 99 wRC+, 27 homers, 0.0 WAR
James Hoyt in 2015 (in AAA): 12.12 K/9, 2.02 BB/9, 2.03 FIP, 28 years old
Hoyt is an oldish reliever so whatever, but hey, nice numbers guy. Not going to miss him. Evan Gattis was worse than I would have expected and proved exactly why the Braves needed to trade him despite having 4 more seasons of control over him. His power is great but he’s not actually a good hitter, doesn’t walk, and has no position to play. Maybe if the NL had a DH they would have kept him, but imagine how bad he would have been playing LF everyday. Foltynewicz was kind of a disaster as a starter but he put up nice AAA stats and good peripherals in the majors. He started 15 games for Atlanta and had a 8.00 K/9 and a 3.01 BB/9. That last number is really encouraging considering how often he was walking guys previously. However, he also gave up a lot of hits and a lot of homeruns. It’s cool that his fastball averaged 95mph and touched 99 pretty regularly, but it’s flat as fuck and his secondaries are still too inconsistent. They’ll give him another opportunity to start next year, particularly because his fastball was starting to show better movement right before he landed on the DL with a flu/blood clots/he got part of a rib surgically removed. There’s still FOR potential given his stuff, but I figure the odds of him ending up in a relief role are at about 95% right now. He could be very, very good while only pitching one inning at a time though so if he does end up in the bullpen, he could be a relief ace. Not the ideal outcome, but not a terrible one either. Rio Ruiz had a rough season. He was in AA all year and started out really slowly. His second half was a lot stronger and he finished with a 91 wRC+. I’m not really sure what to think. Reports are still mixed on his defense and his power took a step back, but he was also dealing with moving orgs and jumping to AA ball for the first time. He was only 21 last year so he wasn’t old for the level. I think prospects are allowed to struggle once before you should give up on them and he did show really good adjustments as the season wore on. I think there’s still a starting third baseman here, but unless his power develops significantly his ceiling is probably a 2-3 win player. Atlanta will probably send him back to AA to start 2016, but if he carries over his adjustments from last year, he could quickly move up to AAA. Either way, Austin Riley is the Braves’ true 3B of the future. Andrew Thurman had an uneven season. His velo improved to the mid-90s, and he put up great numbers in A+ (2.99 FIP, 1.73 BB/9). However, he was old for that level at 23, and then he was also injured in the Carolina Mudcats bus crash. I think he missed about a month recovering from whatever his injuries were and after he came back he got promoted to AA where he was a disaster (5.92 BB/9, 0.88 K/BB, 5.18 ERA). There’s some #4 starter potential here, but he needs to be healthy and fix whatever went wrong for him in AA. The Braves sent him to the AFL where things haven’t gone much better for him, but his stuff is still pretty solid. All that being said, I’m definitely disappointed in how the players Atlanta got in this trade have progressed. They’ll still probably get some useful pieces out of it and I’m not sure they could have done much better in terms of ceiling by trading Gattis for any other packages.
Current Grade: B-
Kyle Kubitza to the Angels for Ricardo Sanchez
Kubitza had some helium at the time of the trade after putting up a 145 wRC+ line in AA. He wasn’t quite as good with the Angels, batting 12% above average in AAA and .194/.256/.194 in his first taste of the majors. He still strikes out way too much and his defense at 3B will never be great. It wouldn’t be bad to still have him in the Braves org right now just to have some depth at third, because the current depth chart for that position is Adonis Garcia, ???, Rio Ruiz. But Kubitza isn’t someone you build a team around and might not even hit well enough to hold down a starting gig. So trading him for a high-ceiling LHP prospect is a pretty solid move. Sanchez struggled with his results and with staying healthy while starting games for Atlanta’s SAL team. His strikeout rate fell and his control is still pretty messy, but he was 18 and two years young for the level, and the leg injuries he dealt with probably didn’t help his control. He’ll repeat the level while still being a year young for full-season ball and Atlanta will let him pitch more innings next year as long as he’s healthy. He’s supposed to have a nice breaking ball and a fastball that can touch 95. We’ll see what he develops into, as he could be a mid-rotation guy (or better?) or never make it to the majors. This is a pretty solid high-risk, high-reward trade.
Current Grade: B
Craig Kimbrel and BJ Upton to the Padres for Matt Wisler, Jordan Paroubeck, Cameron Maybin, Carlos Quentin, and a draft pick
This one gets complicated. So, the Braves probably had a lot of options on the table here, given Kimbrel’s dominance and decent contract. They chose what was probably the weirdest option and packaged him with BJ Upton. Their thinking was that they still got some decent value in the players they got back, and a ton of potential value in the dumping of BJ’s entire remaining contract. And… they might be right? Kimbrel had a career worst season in San Diego, putting up a disgusting 2.68 FIP (wait, that’s still pretty good). BJ Upton was somehow pretty good. In 87 games for the Padres he had a 110 wRC+, positive baserunning and defense numbers, and he was worth about 1.6 wins. As a reminder, he was worth -0.2 wins over two seasons in Atlanta. But for the Padres, he played at a 3 win pace. I don’t get you, baseball. Matt Wisler was OK while starting for the Braves. He pitched 109 innings with a 4.93 FIP as a rookie. Not great numbers, but he had a really awful run sandwiched in between a couple of decent stretches. He’s got mid-rotation stuff (a FB that sits 92-95 and touches 96, a plus slider, average change and curve) so he just needs to work on his command and sequencing. I think he’ll be a solid starter and figures into their long-term plans. Jordan Paroubeck didn’t play for the Braves and was traded to the Dodgers in July. He’s supposed to be a raw but toolsey outfielder. The Braves kept him back in extended spring training because he was injured, but for the Dodgers he put up really strong numbers on two of their rookie level teams (while being a little old at 20). The Braves only traded him for extra cash in their 2015 international bonus pool money, and he was one of I think 4 such trades. So, the value they got out of him was contributing to being able to sign two high-upside international prospects this year (Derian Cruz and Cristian Pache) without going over their bonus slot, which is important because they’re planning to go WAY over their bonus pool next year and reportedly have a handshake agreement in place with the best prospect on next year’s market, Kevin Maitan. So going over their slot this season would have prevented them from signing a bunch of players next year. Carlos Quentin was immediately DFA’d so they just ate his salary which was limited to the 2015 ledger. Cameron Maybin was finally decent and they used him as their everyday CF last season, and they’ll probably package him for another prospect this winter or next season. And the draft pick they received was used to draft Austin Riley, who dominated the rookie leagues as an 18 year old and might be Atlanta’s best prospect right now. Additionally, they were able to use the money they saved by dumping BJ’s contract to do the trade with Arizona where they got Touki Toussaint, plus they had the payroll space in 2016 to justify doing a bad contract swap of Chris Johnson for Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher which means they’ve gotten a ton of money off the books for 2017. Since 2017 is the planned return to respectability, we’ll see how they use that additional budget space but there’s a lot of good options they could take. They probably could have gotten a much stronger prospect package in return for trading Kimbrel on his own, but (a) they still arguably got a lot of return value when you follow all the threads and (b) I’m convinced BJ Upton would have stayed terrible if he stayed in Atlanta and getting his money off the books is potentially huge.
Current Grade: B+
Phil Gosselin to the Diamondbacks for Touki Toussaint and Bronson Arroyo
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Ahhhahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Current Grade: A+
Alex Wood, Jose Peraza, Jim Johnson, Luis Avilan, and Bronson Arroyo to the Dodgers for Hector Olivera, Zach Bird, and a draft pick from the Marlins
Sigh. I’m not a fan of this one. I have improved my opinion of it a little bit since it was originally announced, but I still don’t think this one was a good idea. I’ll grant a couple things: one, Jose Peraza may have entered the year as a top prospect, but a lot of evaluators were down on him after a middling year in AAA and no improvement on his 3% walk rate; and two, Alex Wood had been a #2 starter in 2014, but his velo and strikeouts were down in 2015 and his pitching mechanics are still an extensive DL trip waiting to happen. As mid-rotation starters with 4 years of service time go, Wood was probably the least valuable of that group due to his injury worries. And Jim Johnson and Luis Avilan may as well be invisible. Including Bronson Arroyo was kind of useless here since the Braves still paid almost his entire salary. I don’t know, whatever. Hector Olivera is 30, hadn’t played in the majors at the time of the trade, and has a lot of injury issues (including a damaged UCL and a likely Tommy John surgery in his future). Scouts seem to generally think he’ll be an above average hitter, and he might be, but it’ll be while playing in left field apparently. At least the Dodgers paid like $28 million of his contract already. Still, his ceiling is probably an average player (about 2 wins). Zach Bird is an interesting pitching prospect, with a high-90s fastball. But his control was terrible in AA and he’s probably destined for a relief role. But hey, maybe they’ll use that draft pick to grab another Austin Riley? Time will tell.
Current Grade: C-
There were a couple other trades they did, swapping minor leaguers for minor leaguers, and they sent a couple mediocre A-ball bats to Arizona in exchange for a draft pick (which they used to select their possible catcher of the future Lucas Herbert) and Trevor Cahill, but honestly they’re not worth digging into. This was a 3000 word post and I’m not proofreading it.
Jason Heyward [Edit: And Jordan Walden!] to the Cardinals for Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins
OK, so, I hated the trade at the time but that was mostly because (a) fuck the Cardinals and (b) I had just spent the previous season making fun of Shelby Miller for being terrible. So this trade was basically the worst possible outcome for me. It didn’t end up being that bad though, at least so far. Heyward had his usual excellent 5-6 win season for St. Louis, but he didn’t blow up and win an MVP so my salt levels stayed surprisingly low. Meanwhile, Shelby Miller was Atlanta’s best pitcher in 2015. Miller put up a career high in innings (205.1) and (if you discount 2012) FIP (3.45). I wouldn’t call Miller an ace, as his FIP- and ERA- were only 91 and 78, respectively, but he had a really nice season overall and he’s only going to be 25 next year. It’s probably also worth noting that his September numbers were his worst and pretty far off the mean of his other months, so his numbers could look better if that month went better. Like I said, it was his longest season yet by innings, so his poor September might have been due to exhaustion. Miller also had a couple of near no-hitters and a couple of Maddux’s, and he was the most consistent starter on the team. I’m pretty happy to have him in the organization. Meanwhile, Tyrell Jenkins accomplished the most important thing he needed to do for his development: he stayed healthy. The Braves gave him their Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award for some reason that I don’t quite understand, but he was still pretty good. His ERA was shiny but he walked a few too many and didn’t strike out enough batters. He does get a ton of groundballs though. I think he might end up pitching out of the bullpen in the majors but Atlanta will give him a shot to start I think. He still has a ceiling of a #3 if enough comes together for him. So for one season of Jason Heyward, Atlanta got 4 seasons of a solid #2/3 in Shelby Miller plus another 6 potential seasons of either a mid-rotation starter or a reliever. That’s not bad. They might trade Miller for some good ‘spects in a year or two as well.
Edit: Yeah I forgot Jordan Walden was in this trade too. I don't think it really changes my analysis any tbh.
Current Grade: A-
Justin Upton [Edit: And Aaron Northcraft!] to the Padres for Max Fried, Jace Peterson, Dustin Peterson, and Mallex Smith
Trading Justin was a no-brainer, especially after moving Heyward. So how much value did they squeeze out of one season of a 3-4 WAR player? It’s looking like a lot right now. Max Fried didn’t pitch in 2015 since he was recovering from TJS, but his pre-injury reports gave him the potential to be a #2/3 or maybe even better, with some comparisons to Cole Hamels. Indications are that his rehab has gone really well and he’ll be starting in the minors next season. Jace Peterson was the Braves starting 2B in 2015 for most of the season. He was fine. The bat wasn’t all there, but his defense was great and his baserunning was solid. He does need to strikeout less and try to get caught stealing a lot less though. He’ll probably get another shot to start next season, but he’s probably destined to be a utility guy. He’s got some Martin Prado-esque upside, but I think he’ll stick around as a valuable contributor off the bench. Dustin Peterson got moved off 3B and into LF in High-A ball, where he started off the season showing improvement in both the hit tool and power department. Then he was injured in the Carolina Mudcats bus crash and his performance fell off a cliff after that. I think because of the bus crash he can get a mulligan on the second half of 2015 and BA still thinks he’ll be good enough to start in LF for major league teams. I don’t know if he’ll end up having a role in Atlanta due to Olivera being in LF, but maybe they can trade him for a decent player at another position. All Mallex Smith did was steal 55 bases, hit 340/418/413 in AA (and he put up a 106 wRC+ in AAA too) and play solid, though not great, CF defense. He’s got true 80 grade speed but his routes and first steps in the outfield still need work. He’ll get to hang out with Michael Bourn in 2016 a lot so hopefully Bourn can coach him on some stuff. Atlanta thinks Smith will be their starting CF as soon as next year and for the foreseeable future, with the upside of a top of the order hitter and potentially some All-Star level seasons. So for one season of Justin Upton, the Braves got a potential FOR pitcher, their centerfielder of the future, a potential starting left fielder, and a useful bench piece. Thanks San Diego!
Edit: Man, I forgot the shitty throw-in player in this trade too!
Current Grade: A
Evan Gattis and James Hoyt to the Astros for Mike Foltynewicz, Rio Ruiz, and Andrew Thurman
I was really high on this trade when it happened, but it hasn’t worked out as well as I hoped so far. Let’s start with what they sent away:
Evan Gattis in 2015: .246/.285/.463, 99 wRC+, 27 homers, 0.0 WAR
James Hoyt in 2015 (in AAA): 12.12 K/9, 2.02 BB/9, 2.03 FIP, 28 years old
Hoyt is an oldish reliever so whatever, but hey, nice numbers guy. Not going to miss him. Evan Gattis was worse than I would have expected and proved exactly why the Braves needed to trade him despite having 4 more seasons of control over him. His power is great but he’s not actually a good hitter, doesn’t walk, and has no position to play. Maybe if the NL had a DH they would have kept him, but imagine how bad he would have been playing LF everyday. Foltynewicz was kind of a disaster as a starter but he put up nice AAA stats and good peripherals in the majors. He started 15 games for Atlanta and had a 8.00 K/9 and a 3.01 BB/9. That last number is really encouraging considering how often he was walking guys previously. However, he also gave up a lot of hits and a lot of homeruns. It’s cool that his fastball averaged 95mph and touched 99 pretty regularly, but it’s flat as fuck and his secondaries are still too inconsistent. They’ll give him another opportunity to start next year, particularly because his fastball was starting to show better movement right before he landed on the DL with a flu/blood clots/he got part of a rib surgically removed. There’s still FOR potential given his stuff, but I figure the odds of him ending up in a relief role are at about 95% right now. He could be very, very good while only pitching one inning at a time though so if he does end up in the bullpen, he could be a relief ace. Not the ideal outcome, but not a terrible one either. Rio Ruiz had a rough season. He was in AA all year and started out really slowly. His second half was a lot stronger and he finished with a 91 wRC+. I’m not really sure what to think. Reports are still mixed on his defense and his power took a step back, but he was also dealing with moving orgs and jumping to AA ball for the first time. He was only 21 last year so he wasn’t old for the level. I think prospects are allowed to struggle once before you should give up on them and he did show really good adjustments as the season wore on. I think there’s still a starting third baseman here, but unless his power develops significantly his ceiling is probably a 2-3 win player. Atlanta will probably send him back to AA to start 2016, but if he carries over his adjustments from last year, he could quickly move up to AAA. Either way, Austin Riley is the Braves’ true 3B of the future. Andrew Thurman had an uneven season. His velo improved to the mid-90s, and he put up great numbers in A+ (2.99 FIP, 1.73 BB/9). However, he was old for that level at 23, and then he was also injured in the Carolina Mudcats bus crash. I think he missed about a month recovering from whatever his injuries were and after he came back he got promoted to AA where he was a disaster (5.92 BB/9, 0.88 K/BB, 5.18 ERA). There’s some #4 starter potential here, but he needs to be healthy and fix whatever went wrong for him in AA. The Braves sent him to the AFL where things haven’t gone much better for him, but his stuff is still pretty solid. All that being said, I’m definitely disappointed in how the players Atlanta got in this trade have progressed. They’ll still probably get some useful pieces out of it and I’m not sure they could have done much better in terms of ceiling by trading Gattis for any other packages.
Current Grade: B-
Kyle Kubitza to the Angels for Ricardo Sanchez
Kubitza had some helium at the time of the trade after putting up a 145 wRC+ line in AA. He wasn’t quite as good with the Angels, batting 12% above average in AAA and .194/.256/.194 in his first taste of the majors. He still strikes out way too much and his defense at 3B will never be great. It wouldn’t be bad to still have him in the Braves org right now just to have some depth at third, because the current depth chart for that position is Adonis Garcia, ???, Rio Ruiz. But Kubitza isn’t someone you build a team around and might not even hit well enough to hold down a starting gig. So trading him for a high-ceiling LHP prospect is a pretty solid move. Sanchez struggled with his results and with staying healthy while starting games for Atlanta’s SAL team. His strikeout rate fell and his control is still pretty messy, but he was 18 and two years young for the level, and the leg injuries he dealt with probably didn’t help his control. He’ll repeat the level while still being a year young for full-season ball and Atlanta will let him pitch more innings next year as long as he’s healthy. He’s supposed to have a nice breaking ball and a fastball that can touch 95. We’ll see what he develops into, as he could be a mid-rotation guy (or better?) or never make it to the majors. This is a pretty solid high-risk, high-reward trade.
Current Grade: B
Craig Kimbrel and BJ Upton to the Padres for Matt Wisler, Jordan Paroubeck, Cameron Maybin, Carlos Quentin, and a draft pick
This one gets complicated. So, the Braves probably had a lot of options on the table here, given Kimbrel’s dominance and decent contract. They chose what was probably the weirdest option and packaged him with BJ Upton. Their thinking was that they still got some decent value in the players they got back, and a ton of potential value in the dumping of BJ’s entire remaining contract. And… they might be right? Kimbrel had a career worst season in San Diego, putting up a disgusting 2.68 FIP (wait, that’s still pretty good). BJ Upton was somehow pretty good. In 87 games for the Padres he had a 110 wRC+, positive baserunning and defense numbers, and he was worth about 1.6 wins. As a reminder, he was worth -0.2 wins over two seasons in Atlanta. But for the Padres, he played at a 3 win pace. I don’t get you, baseball. Matt Wisler was OK while starting for the Braves. He pitched 109 innings with a 4.93 FIP as a rookie. Not great numbers, but he had a really awful run sandwiched in between a couple of decent stretches. He’s got mid-rotation stuff (a FB that sits 92-95 and touches 96, a plus slider, average change and curve) so he just needs to work on his command and sequencing. I think he’ll be a solid starter and figures into their long-term plans. Jordan Paroubeck didn’t play for the Braves and was traded to the Dodgers in July. He’s supposed to be a raw but toolsey outfielder. The Braves kept him back in extended spring training because he was injured, but for the Dodgers he put up really strong numbers on two of their rookie level teams (while being a little old at 20). The Braves only traded him for extra cash in their 2015 international bonus pool money, and he was one of I think 4 such trades. So, the value they got out of him was contributing to being able to sign two high-upside international prospects this year (Derian Cruz and Cristian Pache) without going over their bonus slot, which is important because they’re planning to go WAY over their bonus pool next year and reportedly have a handshake agreement in place with the best prospect on next year’s market, Kevin Maitan. So going over their slot this season would have prevented them from signing a bunch of players next year. Carlos Quentin was immediately DFA’d so they just ate his salary which was limited to the 2015 ledger. Cameron Maybin was finally decent and they used him as their everyday CF last season, and they’ll probably package him for another prospect this winter or next season. And the draft pick they received was used to draft Austin Riley, who dominated the rookie leagues as an 18 year old and might be Atlanta’s best prospect right now. Additionally, they were able to use the money they saved by dumping BJ’s contract to do the trade with Arizona where they got Touki Toussaint, plus they had the payroll space in 2016 to justify doing a bad contract swap of Chris Johnson for Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher which means they’ve gotten a ton of money off the books for 2017. Since 2017 is the planned return to respectability, we’ll see how they use that additional budget space but there’s a lot of good options they could take. They probably could have gotten a much stronger prospect package in return for trading Kimbrel on his own, but (a) they still arguably got a lot of return value when you follow all the threads and (b) I’m convinced BJ Upton would have stayed terrible if he stayed in Atlanta and getting his money off the books is potentially huge.
Current Grade: B+
Phil Gosselin to the Diamondbacks for Touki Toussaint and Bronson Arroyo
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Ahhhahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Current Grade: A+
Alex Wood, Jose Peraza, Jim Johnson, Luis Avilan, and Bronson Arroyo to the Dodgers for Hector Olivera, Zach Bird, and a draft pick from the Marlins
Sigh. I’m not a fan of this one. I have improved my opinion of it a little bit since it was originally announced, but I still don’t think this one was a good idea. I’ll grant a couple things: one, Jose Peraza may have entered the year as a top prospect, but a lot of evaluators were down on him after a middling year in AAA and no improvement on his 3% walk rate; and two, Alex Wood had been a #2 starter in 2014, but his velo and strikeouts were down in 2015 and his pitching mechanics are still an extensive DL trip waiting to happen. As mid-rotation starters with 4 years of service time go, Wood was probably the least valuable of that group due to his injury worries. And Jim Johnson and Luis Avilan may as well be invisible. Including Bronson Arroyo was kind of useless here since the Braves still paid almost his entire salary. I don’t know, whatever. Hector Olivera is 30, hadn’t played in the majors at the time of the trade, and has a lot of injury issues (including a damaged UCL and a likely Tommy John surgery in his future). Scouts seem to generally think he’ll be an above average hitter, and he might be, but it’ll be while playing in left field apparently. At least the Dodgers paid like $28 million of his contract already. Still, his ceiling is probably an average player (about 2 wins). Zach Bird is an interesting pitching prospect, with a high-90s fastball. But his control was terrible in AA and he’s probably destined for a relief role. But hey, maybe they’ll use that draft pick to grab another Austin Riley? Time will tell.
Current Grade: C-
There were a couple other trades they did, swapping minor leaguers for minor leaguers, and they sent a couple mediocre A-ball bats to Arizona in exchange for a draft pick (which they used to select their possible catcher of the future Lucas Herbert) and Trevor Cahill, but honestly they’re not worth digging into. This was a 3000 word post and I’m not proofreading it.
Purple Cheeto
Member
"Mariners didn't bid on byung-ho park as they have trumbo for 1B"
"they have trumbo for 1B"
"they have trumbo for 1B"
FUUUUUUUUUUUCK. ME.
we can give you Hanley.
You want Tex?
Heyman's source's troll game is strong
Nice write-up man, I enjoyed the read.
The Olivera trade soured me so much that it almost made forget about those previous deals as far as how well Hart did in each of them.
I haven't been keeping up with the Braves talk as far as potential free agent targets go. I know Gammons shot down the possibility of Wieters (thank God) and that's it
according to mlbtraderumors
which i think all the other ones have either been said to not have the top bid or didn't bid now.
they have confirmed the tigers yankees and royals all did not get him.
I wonder if the white sox would think they could maybe turn him into a 3b and if not just slot him into DH as they could use someone to bat 3 or 4 with abreu
Frozenprince
Banned
Otani obliterated the Korean line-up today. Like. Owned their souls. Nakamura of course was a great tablesetter. Game was over before it began.
Also the fact that you got Touki still makes me laugh. Satans dark powers must be dying.
Also the fact that you got Touki still makes me laugh. Satans dark powers must be dying.
good stuff, you forgot paco rodriguez in the dodgers trade.
Dat Kang influence
Jon Heyman @JonHeymanCBS: Pirates did not win bidding for Park, sources say
Carpe Libertatem
Member
Brewers make the most sense of the teams left
Skeptical of the report that Cardinals lost, though (the reporter that said so is a known troll), so maybe they're in play still. Most recently reported that he would be surprised to see them give Lackey a QO, five minutes before they gave him one
edit: Twins won maybe? I feel like that doesnt make sense for them - don't they have like 3 1B/DH?
Skeptical of the report that Cardinals lost, though (the reporter that said so is a known troll), so maybe they're in play still. Most recently reported that he would be surprised to see them give Lackey a QO, five minutes before they gave him one
edit: Twins won maybe? I feel like that doesnt make sense for them - don't they have like 3 1B/DH?
Softbank Hawks 3B Nobuhiro Matsuda declared international FA. Padres are interested. I'll post his stats later. I'll be surprised if he signs though.
Mystery team tearing the news apart! I want Nitkowski to be right.
Mystery team tearing the news apart! I want Nitkowski to be right.
Mauer will probably remain at 1st. The Twins have said they'll have Sano do OF work this offseason (barf), but I'm hoping they'll trade Plouffe and play Sano at 3rd.
No time for worrying about that though WOOOOOOO!
darkside31337
Tomodachi wa Mahou
Its not like anyone in the league is trading for Mauer's contract.
Don't think Sano in LF is going to work out. They should just trust Mauer like a sunk cost if it comes to it, better to pay him to not take 600 PA's at this point.
Park signing is great for them in general. Would much rather be the team that signs Park to like 1/4th of the cost of the 100+ million that Chris Davis is going to get.
Don't think Sano in LF is going to work out. They should just trust Mauer like a sunk cost if it comes to it, better to pay him to not take 600 PA's at this point.
Park signing is great for them in general. Would much rather be the team that signs Park to like 1/4th of the cost of the 100+ million that Chris Davis is going to get.
Eh, I'm not convinced Mauer is completely cooked at this point. Morneau didn't start clicking for 2 years after his concussion issues. It looks really bad, but I also think he should have enough goodwill built up to let him see what he can do for another year or two.
Mind you, the idiot sportswriters in Minnesota have picked nits about his fucking career forever and act like he is the reason this team is bad. It's fucking stupid.
Oh, and Sano in the outfield is a monumentally bad idea with Buxton, Hicks, Rosario, Kepler, and Arcia on the 40 man. Putting Sano out there is basically just signaling they're going to give up on Arcia for pennies on the dollar. And that's a poor move.
Mind you, the idiot sportswriters in Minnesota have picked nits about his fucking career forever and act like he is the reason this team is bad. It's fucking stupid.
Oh, and Sano in the outfield is a monumentally bad idea with Buxton, Hicks, Rosario, Kepler, and Arcia on the 40 man. Putting Sano out there is basically just signaling they're going to give up on Arcia for pennies on the dollar. And that's a poor move.
The Elite
BOSS
Mauer will probably remain at 1st. The Twins have said they'll have Sano do OF work this offseason (barf), but I'm hoping they'll trade Plouffe and play Sano at 3rd.
No time for worrying about that though WOOOOOOO!
Bat flips?
Welcome to the no fun league.
Yanks are willing to listen to offers on Andrew Miller. The Yanks want a stud in return though.
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer...-to-listen-to-offers-for-closer-andrew-miller
chicagocubsfan
Member
Dave Martinez is interviewing with the Dodgers. Hoping he gets the job, he deserves it.
BFIB
Member
I hope he does that bat flip just for the meltdowns.Mauer will probably remain at 1st. The Twins have said they'll have Sano do OF work this offseason (barf), but I'm hoping they'll trade Plouffe and play Sano at 3rd.
No time for worrying about that though WOOOOOOO!
CosmicQueso
Member
Excellent read. Man, that's one HOF post. Thank you!
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