The Morning Chop: Let the Atlanta Braves’ Off-Season Begin!

The 2016 baseball season ended for 20 teams yesterday.  Many were left with the ‘what could have been’ feeling; Braves fans exit with thoughts of ‘what could soon be.’

As bad as we felt about things in May, could you possibly have imagined a better scenario to finish the year?  A better record than 2015.  A career year for Freddie Freeman.  An offense to be reckoned with.  Our Atlanta Braves gave us a finish… for more than two months.

Sure – there are things to work on.  But the list seems to be a lot shorter now than we’d feared back in the Spring.  Heck:  this club just mowed down four playoff teams (oops:  two of them aren’t playoff teams… mostly thanks to Atlanta) over the last two weeks when they each needed to win some games for their own purposes.  That was just remarkable.

I will dispense with reviewing the game – we have a full recap, plus multiple Turner Field eulogies are either posted are soon will be.  So let’s just bask in one final happy box score that will hold us until the end of February when Spring games start up again.

Oh… and this:

Jon Heyman:   Your Bias is Showing

Last week, Jon Heyman at Today’s Knuckleball let us in on his ideas for NL MVP.  It’s an odd list:

• Kris Bryant – okay.  Probably the consensus pick, though 3rd or 4th on my personal list because of the strong team around him.
• Corey Seager.  No argument… I think he should be 2nd.
• Daniel Murphy. No complaint here – in fact, he would be my #1 vote, given that he picked up the slack of variously ailing or under-performing Nationals during the year.  Without him, I don’t think the Nationals win the division.
• Anthony Rizzo.  Here is where my complaint begins.  Rizzo was 2nd in fWAR, well back in batting average, 5th in OBP – among just NL 1st basemen.  Especially with Bryant as your ‘Most Valuable’ on the team, if you think he was this good, then wouldn’t that take away from Rizzo’s candidacy?
• Yoenis Cespedes.  I truly don’t get this.  3.1 WAR and he’s 5th?  Ender Inciarte was more valuable to his team than Cespedes.  Curtis Granderson had 2.6 WAR.  Christian Yelich belongs here (4.2) more than Cespedes.
• Nolan Arenado.  Sure: his defensive value is excellent, but that is factored into a 5.0 WAR.  Arenado was hot to start, but cooled in the Summer.  Seems Heyman didn’t realize this.
• Joey Votto – This vote position makes no sense unless you’re looking only at batting average.  101 RBI perhaps?  Adam Duval and Matt Kemp had more… getting nary a mention from Heyman.  In Cincinnati’s band box, Votto should have been better.  But Freeman was easily better… and he was on a better team, if you want to invoke that argument.
• Justin Turner.  If you think Arenado was 6th place good, then Turner should have been about 3rd or 4th.  But this is probably about right if you believe Seager was the Dodgers’ #1 guy.
• Freddie Freeman.  9th???  Even though he was 1st among 1st basemen with 6.1 WAR and 3rd in the entire league, Heyman knocks him down to 9th.
• Max Scherzer.  Probably a good position for him.

Heyman further undermines his own list with an honorable mentions-like list that includes 3 more Cubs’ players.  5 MVPs in the top 20 or so?  Sure, they were good, but does that allow for a single player to be the ‘most valuable’ for the league?  Especially when compared to others?

My Top 10 players adding the most value to their respective teams:

• Murphy
• Seager
• Bryant
• Freeman
• Brandon Crawford
• Arenado
• Votto
• Turner
• Goldschmidt
• Yelich and Scherzer

Preliminary Draft Order for 2017

More from Tomahawk Take

• Atlanta Braves 2012 Prospect Review: Joey Terdoslavich
• Braves News: Braves sign Fuentes, Andruw’s HOF candidacy, more
• The Weakest Braves Homers Since 2015
• Atlanta Braves Sign Joshua Fuentes to Minor League Deal
• Braves News: New Year’s Eve comes with several questions about the 2023 Braves

1. Minnesota Twins
2. Cincinnati Reds (#2 in 2016)
   
3. San Diego Padres
4. Tampa Bay Rays
5. Atlanta Braves (#3 in 2016)
   
6. Oakland Athletics
7. Arizona Diamondbacks
8. Philadelphia Phillies (#1 in 2016)
   
9. Milwaukee Brewers
10. Los Angeles Angels
11. Colorado Rockies
12. Chicago White Sox
13. Pittsburgh Pirates
14. Miami Marlins
15. Kansas City Royals
16. Houston Astros
17. New York Yankees
18. Seattle Mariners
19. St. Louis Cardinals
20. Detroit Tigers
21. San Francisco Giants
22. New York Mets
23. Baltimore Orioles
24. Toronto Blue Jays
25. Los Angeles Dodgers
26. Boston Red Sox
27. Cleveland Indians
28. Washington Nationals
29. Texas Rangers
30. Chicago Cubs

This list, of course is prior to the position jockeying that will take place after Qualifying Offers, free agency, signings, or the inclusion of Competitive Balance Picks.

Next: ICYMI - Braves Extend Jim Johnson

Those top 10 picks are protected:  if a team in that group opts for a QO-offered free agent, then they will lose their second draft pick – but not that premium selection