Atlanta Braves Armchair GM, 5&6

Oct 6, 2015; Bronx, NY, USA; Houston Astros relief pitcher

(29) throws against the New York Yankees during the seventh inning in the American League Wild Card playoff baseball game at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta Braves Armchair GM #5 Bravswillriseagain

Bravswillriseagain is a very intelligent baseball man, but likes to judge based on his “eyes”,  which were sharp for years until cataracts blurred his 20/20 vision.  When a not so fortunate incident of mistaking dog droppings for Belgian chocolate at Turner Field’s annual “Doggie” Day event forced his hand, Bravswillriseagain decided it was time to get his vision fixed.  Now that he’s back to his normal self and is no longer mistaking Dan Uggla‘s “hustle” with good defense, he’s leading the pack of visionary, literally, armchair GMs.  The future, dull for a very long time, is back at 20/20 and very bright. He has a lot to say and is twitter trained to keep it quick using abbreviations when it’s plausible to do so.  Once abbreviated supercalifragilisticexpialidocious to supercalifragilisticexpiali”doche” causing his Twitter page to explode in confusion! Likes to keep options open, hence the swinger lifestyle he has set for he and his wife Esmerelda!

Note from Bravswillriseagain regarding his decision making…

Firstly, I’m not huge on the new metrics/”WAR” on assigning dollar values, but I gave it a shot anyhow based on 1 WAR being worth 5-7million give or take per several different reports. Some of my suggestions/estimation may be a little south or north based on that 5-7mill/WAR. Also, when listing out the different tiers, some players I repeated multiple times based upon certain glaring needs ie: Bullpen/Catcher/Bench. Obviously the bullpen being the biggest of issues, especially our lack of a consistent lefty thats not LOOGY only material. I truly believe our bullpen could be sured up with 2 solid signings (a lefty and a righty) and there are viable options to both on the FA market. The second glaring issue is obviously Catcher, and I believe that what tier the Braves truly fall in will determine what direction they take in signing certain catching options. Honestly, left field is a toss up depending on what actual money their is to spend. A veteran starting pitcher would only be a necessity (to me at least) if the Braves fall into Tier 3 (and of course Tier 4), otherwise we have plenty of options to roll out and still be competitive (hopefully more so than this past year). Okay but enough chit chat, lets get down to what I’d do *sits down in armchair and pours a glass of whiskey*

Tier One

15millon/Nickels to spend…. blah 4-5 players…yeah lets see how ugly this is…

Catcher: Based on these $ constraints I believe our best bet would be resigning A.J. Pierzynski or bringing back Jarrod Saltalamacchia. I’d say AJ would be looking for an increase in pay, whereas Salty would be receiving a decline in pay. AJ gave us a WAR of 1.6 (unlikely to happen again, based on that WAR he would be worth between 7.5-10m umm nope, but he’s 39 so that’ll never happen) but I would be comfortable giving him a 1yr 3million contract (maybe with extra incentive based earnings as well) which would be an increase of 1 million from last year. Salty put up a WAR of 0.5 which equates to a salary of 2.5-3.5 mill which is close to half of his salary for last year. I would also be comfortable giving him a 3 million $ contract.

Lefty Reliever: This where I begin my repetitiveness. But I truly want either Tony Sipp or Antonio Bastardo. Sipp had a war of 1.7 and Bastardo had 0.9. To make these numbers work I’d be willing to go to 4.5 mill for either. I think either would be really solid signings. Both would be receiving raises as well Sipp (2.4 m last year) Bastardo (3.1 m).  A true lefty non loogy reliever would be essential imo.

Righty Reliever: I would want Matt Albers if he could be had for around 3.5 mill (posted a WAR of 1.4 and made 1.5 mill last season) maybe thats a big if considering the WAR but I agree  that ERA is fluky.  Another idea given these constraints would be bring back Nefatli Feliz who was terrible last year (So was Jim Johnson before McDowell got ahold of him).  I’d take a flier on him for around 1 million which would also free up some more $ for the remaining players at this tier.

Platoon LF/Bench: At this tier I’d go for a platoon in left with Kelly Johnson against righties and Steven Pearce against lefties (I’m a Gamecock alumni so of course I like Pearce). KJ produced a 0.3 War and SP posted a neg 0.4 War. In a platoon situation I think Pearce could return to his norms. Plus both players are versatile in the positions they can play. I’d try my best to sign each to 2 million $ contracts or slightly more if Feliz was the right handed option signed for the bullpen

These numbers add up to 15 million or less if Feliz was the righty signed, but I’d allocate left over money to make any other signings happen.

Tier 2

Hey,  more wiggle room! Thanks.

Catcher: Of course I want Matt Wieters. Did he play up to his 8.3 million contract last year? Nope. Can he return to what he was?…. maybe. Same can be side for Alex Avila who didn’t play up to his 4.5 million contract last year either. Wieters posted a WAR of 0.8 and Avila posted -0.1 (normally muuuuch better than that needless to say) Based on last year’s WAR numbers, Wieters would be worth around 5 million or so and Avila even less. Now I expect rebounds from both, maybe even more so for Avila. But I’m biased to Wieters because he’s an SC native and a switch hitting catcher. With that said I’d go in the bank for 6.5 m/yr for both. Avila could even come cheaper than that given how bad last year was, but I smell a fluke there. Wieters may demand much more on the open market/bidding war, But 6.5 is what I’m using for these purposes.

Lefty Reliever: See above Sipp/Bastardo @ 4.5 mill

Righty Reliever: Keep Albers as mentioned in tier 1 (3.5m), but throw in Mark Lowe as another option at 4.25 million a year (War last year was 1.5 mill). Once again I think both would be solid options.  That would bring the amount between 14.5 to 15.25 m before adding any one else…. now let’s move on to left field again.

Left Field: Here I like Ben Zobrist,  Gerardo Parra, or Colby Rasmus (less than the others but love the power). Z made 5 million last yer and put up a WAR of 1.9. Parra had a down year and made 6.25 mill and posted a WAR of 1. Since its the good ol’ competitive free agent market I might slightly overpay for Parra, but I’d give him or Zobrist 10 million a year. I think Rasmus could be had for around 8 million a year (what he made last year, posted 2.6 WAR though I don’t know how much his pay will increase due to a deep outfield market) If money was saved on Rasmus you could still potentially add a Kelly Johnson or Steven Pearce (Go Cocks) with the remaining salary.

These numbers add up to between 24.5 and 25.25m (Not splitting hairs on that .25 sorry close enough for me, if its that big of a deal don’t tender Mike Minor for god sakes, shoulder injuries/surgeries are no bueno for pitchers)

Tier 3

Show me the money!

Catcher: Still looking at Wieters/Avila for 6.5-7 million.

Lefty Reliever: still Bastardo/Sipp @ 4.5 maybe even 5

Righty Reliever: Still Albers/Lowe for between 3.5-4.25

Starter: This is where I’d go after a veteran ala Mark Buerhle (sp) or Brett Anderson but I would not go over 10 million for either unless cuts were made elsewhere (Bye Bye Minor) Buerhle posted a 0.9 WAR but made 14 mill… Anderson posted a 1.5 War but made 10 millon. Age is an issue for Mark and injury is an issue for Brett. So I’d stay firm at 10 for either unless I could rid myself of Minor’s BS arb salary.

Left field: same as tier 2 with any money left over going to the previously stated players. So Zobrist/Parra/Rasmus maybe bench bat KJ/SP if money left over.

Tier 4:

In the words of Rick James…. I’m rich beyooooootch. (58 mill to spend type rich)

Catcher: I still stick with Wieters/Avila @ 6.5-7 m

Lefty Reliever: Still Sipp/Bastardo 4.5-5 m

Righy Reliever: Albers/Lowe: 4-5 million (since the money is there for a change)    sooo that leaves roughly 41-43 million to spend depending on what numbers you use

Now left field: My money would be going to Alex Gordon or Chris Davis (he can play left, especially if Adam Dunn can/did) I’d be comfortable with 17-19 mill to either player honestly. Davis scares me because he has a trend of good year bad year good year… But power doesn’t lie, even in the .196 avg season he hit 26 homers and was injured some too.  He might actually get more than said figures due to this power because that brings in the even bigger bucks, but I’d find balance somewhere even if I went up to 20 to 21 mill based on having 41-43 m to blow on left field and a starting pitcher. But my offer would certainly be competitive (and hey if Freddie Freeman went down again, Davis can play first too) Oh for WAR Davis put up 5.9 and Gordon put up 2.8 (down year/injury) But yeah I’d shell out some dough.

Starting Pitcher: Hmm well There’s Cueto who could be looking at 20-24 million a year. Gallardo could get 16-19 million. Zimmerman could get 17-19 m too. Even Chen from Baltimore could net around 15-17 million. Obviously the amount of money going to a left fielder would determine what I would spend on a starting pitcher. but with that much money left one could do lots potentially, but I’d balance it to where I could get a top hitter and at least a high tier 2 starting pitcher.  Gallardo fits.

So yeah thats my thoughts, sorry for the repetitiveness of some players, but we need more quality even if costly players. I’m tired of these sutured together elbows and shoulders. This is just what I would do. Hopefully you liked some of it or at least enjoyed my commentary haha. Have a good day buddy. Go Braves

There you have it!