Atlanta Braves winter meeting simulation summation

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ATLANTA, GA – OCTOBER 5: A fan of the Atlanta Braves do the Tomahawk Chop during the game against the St. Louis Cardinals during the National League Wild Card Game at Turner Field on October 5, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /

I consider the Atlanta Braves deals at the winter meetings simulation a success. We didn’t get everything we wanted but we did pretty good.

The final day was anticlimactic and disappointing for your simulated Atlanta Braves gm in a few ways. I had to be offline much of the day and that may have hurt in the end. I retrenched slightly so it wasn’t a total flop but measured against prior work it was just okay.

Mostly the day featured a futile search for final pieces. Here’s what happened.

The bullpen piece

I offered Brian Shaw two years, $14M with a third year option at $8M. When I went offline the offer looked like winning but while I was away from the hotline the Mariners offered three years and $33m.

I like Brian Shaw and felt he was the right piece but even had a been online I probably would not have given him the third year.

Lets be honest, the meaning of option years on short contracts is simple, They say, ‘I think you’re great – not great enough to give you that year, but really good.’ Relief pitchers in particular have a short shelf life and while the third year would have been relatively inexpensive it’s also likely to be wasted dollars.

That left me with a hole in the bullpen where I planned to put an experienced arm. By the time I contacted the agents (looked at my spreadsheets) all of the big names were gone.

I added Robbie Ross ( he had an awful 2017) and Kevin Siegrist (not his best year) on minor league contracts with an invite.

In the end no one wanted to deal any more – I can empathize it takes a lot of time – and I was left to fill the hole internally.

The Pen Today

The bullpen today sets up like this.

Arodys Vizcaino (R) CL
Jose Ramirez (R)
A.J. Minter (L)
Sam Freeman (L)
Dan Winkler (R)
Akeel Morris (R)
Lucas Sims (R)

It doesn’t water the eyes but it does look solid. I see Sims as moving into a Wade Davis role. His stuff plays up in relief and while he doesn’t throw a hundred, if he locates it he can be very effective. That’s why I didn’t trade him.

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