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Braves 2022-23 OiR Chat
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Anthony Franco
11:28
Teams love the up-the-middle profile if you can bring some offensive juice. Javy Báez and Trevor Story got paid well for the same sort of profile a year ago
Foul Ball
11:28
Will Shuster make the opening rotation?
Ghost of Rick Mahler
11:28
Dodd or Shuster to land in the rotation?
Guest
11:29
I feel like the 5th spot is going to be somewhat of a hot hand situation between Soroka, Shuster, Dodd, Anderson, etc.  Thoughts?
Anthony Franco
11:29
I'd guess it goes to Shuster at this point, although I'd have picked Elder for the job a couple weeks ago. Agree it feels like a situation where all those guys could get looks depending on performance
11:30
Minimal chance that all four of Fried, Strider, Wright and Morton stay healthy from start to finish as well, so there'll be a decent amount of turnover
Boston Braves
11:30
Morton hasn’t looked like he was two plus years ago. The $20M AA gave him for this season was a big mistake, especially when you have 3-5 other good options at cheaper rates. We could have used that money on a solid SS.
Anthony Franco
11:31
I like the Morton deal well enough. Velocity was still strong, he looked like himself for most of the second half before a bit of a home run spike in September
11:32
$20MM is a hefty one-year salary, especially for a team that was apparently up against it from a payroll perspective, so I get your point. But I also don't know where else I'd have preferred to see them invest that
11:33
There basically wasn't a "solid" shortstop this winter. It was either a $175MM+ commitment to one of the big four or you're rolling with what you've got internally. The market for mid-tier starting pitching took off, and I'd rather have Morton at 1/20 than go four years at $65MM+ for the likes of Taijuan Walker or Jameson Taillon
Steven
11:34
Is there a possibility that Ozuna is able to build enough value that the Braves will be able to trade him for another player?
Anthony Franco
11:35
I don't think so. Best reasonable hope is that he hits well enough to be a serviceable DH/left field option who contributes even if he's on a higher salary than you'd like
Michael
11:35
Do you think Sam Hilliard has a shot at LF.   Kid had a good spring and he's dirt cheap lol
Anthony Franco
11:36
Looks like he'll be on the Opening Day roster and should have an opportunity to play himself into regular reps. That depends on his play though
11:37
Hilliard has big power and has flashed offensive ability at times but never made enough contact to consistently produce in Colorado. At age 29, it's hard to envision that clicking out of nowhere but he clearly has some interesting physical tools
Kramer
11:37
How do you see the long-term effects of all these extensions? Genius and will put them on another level then other top teams or down in flames by the end of it all
Anthony Franco
11:38
Ha, guess I wouldn't go as hyperbolic on either end but mostly the former. If you can keep really good players around for mostly below-market prices, go for it
11:40
It'll reduce some of the annual roster turnover and inhibit your ability to play at the top of the free agent market, but if you can essentially lock down a core that has shown time and again it's capable of winning 90+ games and backfill that with a strong scouting/player development staff, you're doing well for yourself
Gogerty
11:40
A lot of pundits place ATL in top 5 teams in all of baseball this season. As the season nears, where would you place them? Thank you.
Anthony Franco
11:41
Yeah they're in the top five for me. Still think they're the best team in a loaded division
Rob A
11:41
Do you think the strider extension was an over pay? I know we had control of him for 5 years, but seems like we went way above price to keep him for the extra year and the option.
Anthony Franco
11:43
Yeah, that one was a little bit different from most of the other extensions. I think it's a fine deal for the team but a really good one for Strider. The last two arbitration seasons are valued at $20MM and $22MM, respectively, which beats what he was likely to get at that point
11:44
Essentially, they tamped down his first-year arb salary ($4MM in '25) and tacked on what could be a well below-market club option ($22MM) in 2029 but take on a decent amount of risk in 2026-28 to do it
11:45
I don't mind it but agree it's not the kind of no-brainer decision for the club that a lot of the other extensions have been
KC24
11:45
Braves took 3 HS pitchers with their first 3 picks last year, signaling that they were taking a long term approach to rebuilding the farm. Does this mean we will start to get aggressive going after win-now free agent pitchers or continue to hope on Elder, Wright (even though he broke out), Anderson to try to figure it out? Seems like all the additions in the past few years were to the lineup and not to the 4-5 range of starters
Anthony Franco
11:48
Yeah I think that'll have to happen anyways if Fried walks in a couple years and/or once Morton departs. They've got a decent amount of internal starters who could reasonably approximate what the back-end guys in free agency might provide, but they'll have to sort through the likes of Elder, Anderson, Shuster, Dodd, etc. over the next year or two to determine how aggressively they have to hit free agency
11:49
The draft point is an interesting one. Will be curious to see where they go in 2023. They'd been really college-heavy at the top of the drafts before last year
11:50
Are they shifting to more of a long-term upside play by going after more prep arms or was it a one-off that reflected a weak 2022 college class, particularly on the pitching side? I think it might just be the latter but we'll get more clarity on that with how they operate this summer
Nick Anderson
11:50
Why did they send me down? I was dominant.
Anthony Franco
11:51
He'll be back. They just don't have much flexibility with the bullpen as currently constructed
11:53
If you assume they're carrying eight relievers, they've only got one spot left behind Iglesias, Minter, Lee, Jiménez, Yates, McHugh and Luetge. Those guys are mostly single-inning types, as Anderson is. If they want a mop-up type to round out the bullpen, someone like Jesse Chavez is a better fit
Once one of the top seven relievers gets hurt, Anderson probably comes back up. Bullpen decisions, in particular, often come down to who has minor league options available and who's fresh rather than strictly performance
Murph
11:53
Thoughts on the Murphy trade in the context of both the Braves’ and MLB’s offseason? Catcher was one of the areas least in need of improvement, but given the lack of affordable shortstop upgrades, adding wins anywhere especially at catcher defense with the expected stolen base uptick seems like a great zag to me
Anthony Franco
11:55
Yeah I think that's the way to approach it. I certainly wouldn't have pegged them to get Murphy at the start of the offseason and was surprised that's where they went. But if they're just trying to get better where possible and didn't have a great path to upgrading at shortstop or in left field if they weren't going to dive into free agency, then this works
11:56
Price was reasonable and it allows them to use d'Arnaud at DH a little bit more, which indirectly addresses one of the bigger roster concerns
???
11:56
Here's a question. Can Matt Olson be better than Freddie Freeman this season?
Matt Olson
11:56
Olson is about to benefit so much from the rule changes... Do you see him as a sneaky MVP contenders especially if the Bravos win?
Anthony Franco
11:57
Could he be better than Freddie? Sure. I wouldn't project it but think there's like a 35% chance of that. Olson's really good
11:59
I could see him being a down-ballot MVP guy. Would be shocked if he wins it though. We haven't had a first baseman win MVP in a 162-game season since Miguel Cabrera in 2013, which came in a season in which the league in all three slash categories a year after winning a Triple Crown
Ha, I'm an idiot
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