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Sep 6, 2014; Marlins center fielder
Marcell Ozuna(13) watches the ball bounce off the wall. The review showed it was a home run by Atlanta Braves catcher Evan Gattis in the 10th inning at Marlins Ballpark. The Braves won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
CONS – The Case to Keep Him
- WHAT’S THE RUSH (Part 1)? Sure he can be traded, but you still need to field a competitive team in 2015. Right now, your lineup threats consist of Gattis and Freddie Freeman. That’s it.
Sure, the lineup is littered with singles hitters otherwise, but if I’m I the opposition and Freeman is the only guy I’m truly worried about, I walk him 150 times during the year and take my chances with the rest.
Gattis missed roughly a month in September… and pitchers dodged the remaining hitters. Result? Few runs and fewer wins.
- WHAT’S THE RUSH (Part 2)? Today is December 21st. At this time, most of the big free agents are signed and most teams have have already made their major acquisitions. While that doesn’t mean that more won’t be done (the Padres have a bazillion pitchers and outfielders, for instance), it does mean that the pickings may be slimmer now that they would have been in October or November. This is a trade you cannot afford to blow – and the deal should be just as good or better next season as it is now.
- BETTER PLAYER BALANCE. Trading Gattis means being forced to go get an ancient backstop to support CBeth – who may or may now be quite up to the 5-day-a-week role yet. But keep the Bear, and you set this up:
- Gattis catching 3-4 days a week
- Bethancourt catching the rest with Gattis platooning in LF with a real fielder (Zoilo Almonte, Dian Toscano, Joey Terdoslavich, or a PTBNL). That would get maximum use out of him offensively, and probably extend CBeth’s ‘catching life’ for another year or so. That could pay dividends years down the road.
- DON’T ANNOY THE FANS ANY FURTHER. Okay, so you’ve already traded Heyward, JUpton, and La Stella. Brian McCann went away a year ago, while Chipper retired the year before that. Yes, we the fans can see this handwriting on the wall, can we keep something nice for a little longer? We might actually still buy some tickets in 2015 if there’s a Bear presence.
Next: The Next Billy Hamilton?
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