Atlanta Braves II

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#7,727
#7,727
Who knows with Liberty. Pretty sure Hammy nor BJ will ever wear Braves uniforms. Heard slight grumblings that ATL may kick the tires on Matt Cain when he hits the market TIFWIW
 
#7,728
#7,728
They've almost got to flip Bethancourt for a CF. My preference would be to package Bethancourt and a pitcher for a multi-year solution in center, but in any event, Bethancourt is an asset that the Braves aren't going to use themselves, so he needs to be flipped for somebody that can plug the most glaring 2013 hole, which is CF. (Short will have be worked out one way or another or another this year.)

The smart/ruthless play is to keep Bethancourt and let McCann walk after next year, but I expect the Braves to extend him with a big contract. It's understandable from a marketing standpoint, and God knows I don't want McCann to leave, but it's crazy for a team on a budget to give a huge contract to a 30 year old catcher when they've got a hotshot catching prospect in the wings. They'll do it anyway, and then they won't have any money to sign any free agents to plug the holes at which there aren't any ready replacements. God, the Braves need a new owner. Maybe Liberty will get dollar signs in their eyes after seeing what the Dodgers went for and finally try to sell.

Not that anybody in Atlanta would step up with any kind of a bid. We couldn't even find anybody to put an offer in on the hockey team.

I really need the season to start.
 
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#7,730
#7,730
I would actually keep Bethancourt and figure out the best way to man LF, 1B, and C with Freeman, McCann, and Bethancourt. You can stick an immobile ex-catcher in LF if you've got a good CF to help him out (which of course there's no way of knowing who will be out there in two years), so you could be flexible. Maybe you start out with McCann catching 120 games and Bethancourt 40 and slowly flip the ratio to keep McCann spry and ease Bethancourt into the job.

McCann's got a great bat and will probably take a hometown discount to extend, so it would be nice to keep him. The problem is the length of the contract. I'd be happy to give him a long-term deal if a plan was in place to ease him out from behind the plate -- which is why you keep Bethancourt around.

I assume this is all basically unthinkable stuff for the Braves. Which is why Bethancourt needs to be moved ASAP, before he goes to AAA and hits .240/.300/.325 and loses all his value.
 
#7,732
#7,732
I agree on timing of trading prospects. Prospects are so (over) valued these days. A decent amount don't pan out at all, and the majority have their highest trade value before reaching the bigs. Unfortunately, everyone is too scared to trade "the next big thing" and look foolish. I'm all for potential and ceilings, but there's a difference in looking the part and actually achieving it at the major league level. MLB production is worth the unknown of prospects to me.

Vercingetorix said:
I would actually keep Bethancourt and figure out the best way to man LF, 1B, and C with Freeman, McCann, and Bethancourt. You can stick an immobile ex-catcher in LF if you've got a good CF to help him out (which of course there's no way of knowing who will be out there in two years), so you could be flexible. Maybe you start out with McCann catching 120 games and Bethancourt 40 and slowly flip the ratio to keep McCann spry and ease Bethancourt into the job.

McCann's got a great bat and will probably take a hometown discount to extend, so it would be nice to keep him. The problem is the length of the contract. I'd be happy to give him a long-term deal if a plan was in place to ease him out from behind the plate -- which is why you keep Bethancourt around.

I assume this is all basically unthinkable stuff for the Braves. Which is why Bethancourt needs to be moved ASAP, before he goes to AAA and hits .240/.300/.325 and loses all his value.
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#7,736
#7,736
zjcvols said:
Not until they have Brian completely locked up.
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Which is the problem, for some reason I do not see Liberty opening the checkbook for a catcher in the second half of his career.. even though he is going to be the face of the franchise.

TBrown said:
Traded Asencio to CLE for $$
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Which is a good thing. He wouldn't have made the roster and he was out of options we would have lost him on the waiver wire anyhow.
 
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#7,741
#7,741
Scotty's Flat Top said:
Which is the problem, for some reason I do not see Liberty opening the checkbook for a catcher in the second half of his career.. even though he is going to be the face of the franchise.
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They opened the checkbook for a bad contract for Chipper at the end of his career. I think they'll do the same for McCann, assuming he doesn't decide to maximize his money on the open market. Maybe an MVP-quality season from Heyward or Freeman would make McCann expendable in a face-of-the-franchise way, but barring that I'd be surprised if they didn't try hard to extend him. It'll be more of a marketing decision rather than a baseball one, just like Chipper's extension.

Wren definitely needs to be thinking hard about this right now so he can decide what to do about Bethancourt. There's no sense wasting him at AAA for two years if the plan is to extend McCann.
 
#7,744
#7,744
If we trade for Xavier Nady, I might be done. How is he different from Diaz? How is he even an option?

Promote Myke Jones, ha.
 
#7,748
#7,748
Vercingetorix said:
They opened the checkbook for a bad contract for Chipper at the end of his career. I think they'll do the same for McCann, assuming he doesn't decide to maximize his money on the open market. Maybe an MVP-quality season from Heyward or Freeman would make McCann expendable in a face-of-the-franchise way, but barring that I'd be surprised if they didn't try hard to extend him. It'll be more of a marketing decision rather than a baseball one, just like Chipper's extension.

Wren definitely needs to be thinking hard about this right now so he can decide what to do about Bethancourt. There's no sense wasting him at AAA for two years if the plan is to extend McCann.
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I think Bethancourt will ride it out through the minors this year and replace Ross when his contract expires at the end of this year. Then back up McCann next year... if he is capable then sadly I fully expect McCann to go to market where he will be courted heavily and definitely get more money that Liberty is willing to pay. Maybe, he will give us a hometown discount.

Chipper's extension was a little different IMO but as you said.. it was bad. Catching is such a tough position and drop off is expected. Look at Mauer for instance, Molina had a great year and got paid but I doubt seriously he will ever finish north of .300 again. I don't think he deserved that kind of cash and we all know McCann's agent is still smiling over that deal. I hope he extends but in the meantime Bethancourt is a piece of the puzzle that Wren is holding dear and tight
 
#7,750
#7,750
I wasn't a huge fan of the wild card changes when they came out, but as I hear about how much some teams will be getting from their local media contracts compared to us, I'm glad the changes were made. Our financial future is a little discouraging.
 
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