Atlanta Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos discusses trades
As the Atlanta Braves ‘we’re real’ tour continues GM Alex Anthopoulos talked trades and limits. It seems money isn’t the biggest issue.
When the Nationals acquired Kelvin Herrera, we heard that Herrera’s contract got in the way. Clearly, that had merit but yesterday AA clarified the Atlanta Braves position.
It’s not really a change from the position I’ve put forth here but his statement fleshed out the rationale.
AA also confirmed that the way the team’s played so far merits the prudent addition of needed pieces.
The GM speaks
As the Atlanta Braves prepared to take on and eventually defeat the Yankees yesterday, the AJC’s David O’Brien published an interview with Anthopoulos discussing the team’s success and needs.
In spite of our moaning and groaning, the rotation’s been pretty good. They’ve given up 386 hits (fourth in MLB) and held opponents to the third lowest batting average – .229 – and the sixth lowest slugging rate – .383. It isn’t all peaches and cream of course.
While they are thirteenth in strikeouts, they rank 27th is free passes. Were it not for the improved defense things could look a lot different. The Bullpen failed to match that standard of performance.
Bullpen Woes
I’m not going to beat a dead horse here but the bullpen feels much like a roller coaster that we’re not sure will stay on the track.
Relievers are 20th in ERA (4.21) earned runs, WHIP (1.349), 28th in walks and 26th in strikeouts to walks ratio in spite of having the tenth most strikeouts. Six weeks ago Dan Winkler looked like the next closer. Since then he’s fallen off considerably probably because he’s exhausted.
The biggest culprits of the regulars are Sam Freeman and Peter Moylan. Moylan posted a 1.846 WHIP before heading to the DL. Freeman at least strikes out hitters but his walks continue to mount up at the worst possible time.
Some of this comes down to misuse by Manager Brian Snitker, some is just lack of talent and some due overuse as the Braves try to protect the young arms in the rotation.
It’s not the money…well not entirely
When the Nats added Herrera we heard the $4m+ remaining blocked the deal. Apparently that’s only half the issue.
I’ve repeated this mantra a few times but I’ll do it again. . . on second thought I’ll let AA do it.
“Dollars are always going to be a factor, but my concern . . . because we are a mid-market club and (the low-cost players) to make it all work and depth is going to be important . .(we can’t trade them all to win now) . . .
He pointed out, as he has many times since taking over, that the farm system we have resulted from years of hard work by his predecessors. That work came about because the Braves dumped existing prospects in order to win immediately, forgetting the future. Anthopoulos isn’t about to do that.
“. . . You want to go out and (fill) three, four, five spots, rarely are you talking about trading one for one. . .you’re talking about trading three (prospects) for one, four for one. You do that three or four times, it’s 12 (prospects gone). . .So we really have to be mindful to preserve our depth.”
That puts a team who just lost 12 prospects on course for another empty system in six or seven years particularly with lost draft picks and reduced signing money. However, the Braves are looking to improve.
The market is open and the Braves are shopping
This isn’t to say the Braves won’t be making a few deals. In many ways, they have to deal some prospects to clear out room for more. They simply don’t want to chop a hole in the pipeline. They also want to give this team a chance to win. AA said that makes things complicated.
. . . We have a really good, competitive club . . . we owe it to the guys. . . and the fan base, and to ownership and everybody in the Braves organization. . . to try and win as many games as we can.”
That’s a wrap
O’Brien focused on the bullpen because it’s the glaring hole. I’m sure AA sees a bigger picture with other ways of helping the pen. O’Brien opined the following relative to the relief market.
Will the Braves pay the cost to bring in one or more . . .If the cost is multiple prospects. . .the Braves will do that only for a reliever they’d have multiple years of control over (not a rental)
In my post about right handed relievers, I said this.
I’m not including expensive rentals or relievers with contracts in this discussion.
That’s exactly what O’Brien said and what AA implied. If they go after a reliever they plan for that reliever to be a Brave for a long time. In that context, you might see a current player leave as part of the deal.
In any case, AA confirmed what he said in the winter about money not being a problem if he thought the deal was right,. He also said he was going to improve if possible without stripping the system.
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That makes sense to me. How about you?