Atlanta Braves GM on the Trade One More Time

Jul 12, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; World Team infielder Ozhaino Albies hits during batting practice before the All Star Futures Game with the U.S. Team at Great American Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

Will we see Ozzie Albies in 2017?

"“He has a chance. . . (but) I don’t want to put any (pressure) on him . . . He’s a really good player.. . (he’ll be)a really good major league player. . .(he’’ll) tell us  when he’s ready. . there’s a shot . . .at some point in 2016. If you look at Furcal…. But yeah, I mean, he’s a big part of our future and we’re very happy that he’s part of the Braves organization.”"

Spin removed  – Gawd I hope so but we don’t know. I really want him up this year so I can trade Aybar. Remember Rafael Furcal fans.  I’m not going to commit to him, I might trade him.

Are you sorry you made the trade?

"“It would have been easy just to not make this trade.. . .Simmons is a fan favorite, he makes great plays. I want us to get better. I want us to not lose 97 games. I want us to have good young players filling our talent pipe year-in and year-out."

"“I am not afraid.. . .But we need more talent, we need to get better, and this trade helps that happen.” “If you want to start it out as it worked out that way for me, I’m fine with that baptism by fire.”"

Spin removed  – Boy do I wish I’d have done something else first or let Hart take the heat for this. We needed to rebuild the farm system, Freddie Freeman was hurt and Simmons was the only good chip I had that didn’t require giving up pitching.

This is as bad as it can get isn’t it. There’s nothing I can do now that will make them hate me more. So there’s nowhere to go but up. Right?

That’s A Wrap

The whole trade boils down to a few of those quotes. He said in a few different ways that the Braves were short of the major league talent needed to prevent a repeat of the 2015 debacle. He implied that Simmons was the only significant trade chip he had that would bring back a decent return aside from Freeman who is injured and wouldn’t have brought as much for that reason.

He also implied that Newcomb is the near major league ready ace the team so badly needs but can’t afford on the open market without once again stripping the farm system of all or most of its talent. He said outright that the only way to get Newcomb was to move quickly – probably because the Angels said let us know you’re not the only bidder – and that no one was offering a bat for Simmons.

I believe those comments. That they took three weeks to make the deal gives them credibility  No one asked if a bat could have been had if they packaged a good pitching prospect with Simmons. That probably wasn’t a consideration as their primary goal appears to have been Newcomb or a similar arm.

Next: Black Friday Deals and Steals?

The problem I had and have wasn’t with trading Simmons, it was that they didn’t get the bat needed and, when asked about the return in the trade, tried to spin the facts as if fans are uninformed and unable to understand the way things work. All Mr. Coppolella had to do was be honest  about the real reasons for the trade.

They wanted Newcomb, Simmons was openly tired of losing and the Angels made the only offer close to his real value. Instead our fearless and unafraid GM whined to the media about being tired of hearing about how bad the deal was and wondered why fans don’t trust him.  Craig Calcaterra  said it perfectly.

"“Perhaps, John, when you’re done being hurt and angry. . . you might  muster an ounce of humility about and responsibility for the undeniably ugly product you and your bosses have created and muster some awareness . . .  that the people who support your product have some feelings about that and, when we voice our displeasure about it, that something other than insulting our intelligence would be a more decent response. Or don’t. What do we know? Word on the street is that we’re just cynical, unappreciative dummies who don’t understand the complicated business of team building, so maybe we’re not worth the effort.”"

So far Mr. Coppolella appear to continue to believe we aren’t worth the effort.