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Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Anthopoulos poured gas onto his own fire

By Alan Carpenter

FORT BRAGG, NC - JULY 03: A detailed view of baseballs prior to the game between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves on July 3, 2016 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The Fort Bragg Game marks the first regular season MLB game ever to be played on an active military base. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
FORT BRAGG, NC - JULY 03: A detailed view of baseballs prior to the game between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves on July 3, 2016 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The Fort Bragg Game marks the first regular season MLB game ever to be played on an active military base. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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CLEVELAND, OH – SEPTEMBER 20: Michael Brantley #23 of the Cleveland Indians bats against the Chicago White Sox in the eighth inning at Progressive Field on September 20, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. The White Sox defeated the Indians 5-4 in 11 innings. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – SEPTEMBER 20: Michael Brantley #23 of the Cleveland Indians bats against the Chicago White Sox in the eighth inning at Progressive Field on September 20, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. The White Sox defeated the Indians 5-4 in 11 innings. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images) /

What Has Happened

  • The Braves were supposedly “in” on Michael Brantley.   They seem to have not offered enough.
  • They were “in” on Realmuto… but didn’t offer enough (that subject was hand-waved away under the guise of not really being an area of serious need).
  • They were “in” on James Paxton… but didn’t offer enough.
  • They were actually outbid on Markakis, but got him anyway.

Other than that… nothing, despite having more pitching prospects than they have mound space for and TEN Top 100 prospects by the reckoning of Fangraphs.

Yes, the Braves ‘like them a lot’, but come on, Alex:  you can’t possibly use them all!!

I have spent most of the off-season in some form of defense of the front office… figuring they were just waiting on Miami or waiting for a price to drop or… something.

It’s February 15th.  Today is Pitchers and Catchers reporting day for Atlanta, and 2 of the stated 4 goals for this off-season (bullpen and starting pitching) have had zero results.

Yet as we sit here, I can infer from that interview that there’s enough money now to sign Kimbrel.  If you want to go further, they could almost certainly get Dallas Keuchel on a 3+option deal at this point, trade Julio Teheran to Houston/Milwaukee/Seattle and thereby upgrade the rotation a bit as well.

I get it – it’s not that simple, but even the beat writers want to think so:

"Q: With the free agents still out there, you know you can silence the criticism now by just signing a $15-to-$20 million player. Anthopoulos: Yeah. I respect it. You want a passionate fan base that’s engaged. But our job at the end of the day is to put a winning product on the field. It’s not winning the offseason. It’s not making a big splash. We don’t know who’s going to have a good year or who’s going to be healthy, who’s going to surprise. But on the whole, our talent level is very good."

Yes – it is indeed “very good”… but we aren’t after just a ‘splash’ here, either… we think there have been serious upgrade possibilities available (and they still exist) – especially important with a young pitching staff and surging rivals in the NL East.

I’m not saying ‘go out and sign Harper’… yeah, that’s the literal incarnation of ‘stupid money’.  I get that, too.  But Kimbrel (at least) isn’t that.

A couple of days ago, I suggest 3x$14 million perhaps being enough.  I still think so, but if it’s $15 million, would that kill your budget?  Really?

I said this the other day, too:  I want to win… and I want to crush opponents, not just beat them.  The opportunity to do that is available, yet hasn’t been exercised.

I think I have an idea why.

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