Atlanta Braves offseason ahead according to Alex Anthopoulos
By Fred Owens
The search for missing pieces
Anthopoulos sings the same song all the time, aren’t close on anything. They made a serious run at Diaz but Seattle wanted multiple starters, and the Braves walked away. They called back about Mitch Haniger, but Gabe Burns, writing for the AJC, reported that Seattle wasn’t interested.
The Diamondbacks said thanks but no thanks when asked about David Peralta, and Michael Brantley’s wants three years and $60M. I like Brantley – not that much, but I do like him. At that price, I prefer Andrew McCutchen. According to O’Brien in the Athletic, team Anthopoulos remains in the outfield market, but not at the Brantley price.
Starting pitching is expensive – who knew? The Reds are hard in on Keuchel and Pollock, that should be fun.
The Indians extended Carlos Carrasco, and would rather trade Trevor Bauer who upset the word when he told the truth about excess values, then got in a Twitter war trying to explain what he meant people who didn’t want to understand what he said.
Burns piece suggests the Braves see Bauer as a clubhouse problem. He reminds me of Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory, he’s smart but never majored in diplomacy.
Nate Eovaldi agreed to a deal to return to the Red Sox – no surprise there – so the pitching market is thinning rapidly.
Summing up everything said by Burns and O’Brien is pretty simple. They see things they like, but the ask is too high no matter if it’s money or prospects. Teams seem to think if they wait long enough, they can squeeze prospects from Atlanta. As an old state trooper friend used to say, “That answer just won’t work son; try again.”
Atlanta Braves Payroll
The Atlanta Braves made a point of telling everyone that Liberty Media had no say at all in payroll issues. As I’ve noted here on many occasions, Terry McGuirk makes the final payroll decision based on input from his baseball brain trust and income projections for the year.
O’Brien suggests $135M as an upper limit. His numbers suggest about $20M left to spend; more if they can move Teheran.
They seem unlikely to spend big on the bullpen; the GM told O’Brien the Braves would “probably” piece it together as they did last year. If they bring in a closer, they want a proven closer. Applying the GM’s previously stated wants of control and relatively low-cost, Kirby Yates fits the description as does Will Smith and maybe one or two others.
A starter will come via trade and if possible, their corner outfielder as well.