The Atlanta Braves, the Off-Season, and the Coming Mess

But For Today…

Personally, my own frustration stems from teams – like the Atlanta Braves – choosing to sit on the sidelines when they could be making strategic moves to help them compete both now and in the future.

While I agree with players seeing ‘tanking’ and ‘rebuilding’ as an affront to the integrity of the game, the numbers support the tactics of the Front Offices.  And thus we have what we have.

But that doesn’t mean teams should just throw in the towel… in January.

Exhibits A and B: the Twins and Brewers. Both teams surprised in 2017. Both teams have bee very active in attempting to bolster their lineups now to build from those successes.

Atlanta is in the position that both of these clubs were a year ago: they have emerging young talent that needs one or two longer term veterans to help assist them. Apparently there was a modest attempt to add Christian Yelich, which – if successful – might have led to additional moves that would result in the kind of “win both now and later” tactics I’m referring to.  But the Marlins didn’t want to give in easily to a division rival.  I can’t fault that.

But it need not be a single ‘Yelich-or-bust’ plan.  Milwaukee, it can be argued, didn’t need Yelich at all. Their outfield was already productive. What they chose to do, though, was to improve multiple positions (Yelich and then Lorenzo Cain) and sort out the rest later. Risky, perhaps, but once they find a starting pitcher, they will be ready to rock in 2018.

The Twins? They are firing bullets in every direction, hoping to hit on something… anything. But both teams are actively trying. Their fans recognize this… and they will respond in kind.

Obviously, I recognize the turmoil that has been the Atlanta Braves Front Office since the Fall, but frankly: this IS the major leagues and there are a bunch of people who are professionals that have been doing team building for a lot of years. They can’t just lean on ‘office issues’ to excuse what amounts to near total inaction. Opportunities exist. Opportunities need to be exploited.

For their part, even the Mets have finally done so… they aren’t looking like a division contender yet, but in this division, a second place club could still sniff the playoffs.

The Braves need to do so as well.  It’s probably too late now that we’re in February and the trucks are already at their respective Cactus and Grapefruit League venues, though with so many teams in the same boat this Winter, there might still be a chance for them to cobble together a new plan that works for 2018 and beyond.

Yeah, I also get that money could be an object… but Terry McGuirk has always said that the money is available when needed.  I think I could identify a couple of needs.

But… But…

More from Tomahawk Take

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• Why the Atlanta Braves won’t extend Max Fried
• Atlanta Braves 2023 Preseason Top 30 Prospects List: 1-5
• Braves News: Braves acquire Diaz, moves around the division, more

So Mike Moustakas, perhaps?  No – with respect to my friend, I would pass on him because of the need for a short term deal and the draft pick compensation tied to him.  Giving up a 3rd round pick (actually a 4th rounder this year for Atlanta) isn’t horrible, but doing so for a guy on a 1 or 2 year deal is a bad idea.

It actually makes better sense to ditch the pick over a 3-5 year deal… but here we are:  a guy hitting free agency at age 29-1/2.  And there’s the rub.

Summing up:  I don’t pretend to have all the answers… but for sure, there’s a building problem here in baseball, and it isn’t going to go away by teams simply signing a bunch of free agents here in February.

Next: Listen to His Argument Anyway

But for the good of the game – and for the fans (especially those looking for something to root for after being disillusioned by the NFL this year) – let’s get some more teams competing… because that’s why we like baseball, right?