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The Atlanta Braves future is bright, but what will it cost?

By Kyle Walter

ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 07: Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves hits a grand slam home run in the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during Game Three of the National League Division Series at SunTrust Park on October 7, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 07: Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves hits a grand slam home run in the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during Game Three of the National League Division Series at SunTrust Park on October 7, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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Atlanta Braves
MIAMI, FL – AUGUST 26: A.J. Minter #33 of the Atlanta Braves throws a pitch during the ninth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on August 26, 2018 in Miami, Florida. All players across MLB will wear nicknames on their backs as well as colorful, non-traditional uniforms featuring alternate designs inspired by youth-league uniforms during Players Weekend. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images) /

Wagner clone?

AJ Minter burst onto the scene in 2018 as the de facto closer for much of the season in Arodys Vizcaino‘s absence. With Vizcaino hopefully being healthy on opening day, it isn’t clear who will be the closer.

That being said, Minter had a very good season. Personally, I think he is best suited to be a setup man, which is still a very important role. In the modern game, a setup man is often the more valuable pitcher in the bullpen, like Andrew Miller to Cody Allen in Cleveland, Josh Hader to Corey Knebel or Jeremy Jeffress in Milwaukee, and Adam Ottavino to Wade Davis in Colorado in 2018.

So, let’s assume that Minter is still just as good as he is now or better once he is arbitration-eligible. If I am looking for a precedent, the Atlanta Braves themselves kindly provided me one. Vizcaino’s first arbitration deal was for 897,500 dollars.

Considering that Minter is probably better now then Vizcaino was then, I’m going to be a bit aggressive with this prediction. I think he could easily surpass a million when his name is called. I’ll go with $1,100,000 as my prediction.

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1036241252700889089

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