House That Hank Built
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Atlanta Braves chat session: an early outlook for the 2019 season

By Alan Carpenter

Dansby Swanson of the Atlanta Braves hits a 9th inning RBI sacrifice bunt against the Giants in 2018. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)
Dansby Swanson of the Atlanta Braves hits a 9th inning RBI sacrifice bunt against the Giants in 2018. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images) /
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HIGH WYCOMBE, ENGLAND – JANUARY 23: A man walks his dog through the park as some areas of the United Kingdom see the first snow of the year, on January 23, 2019 in High Wycombe, United Kingdom. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
HIGH WYCOMBE, ENGLAND – JANUARY 23: A man walks his dog through the park as some areas of the United Kingdom see the first snow of the year, on January 23, 2019 in High Wycombe, United Kingdom. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images) /

1st Question

Q:  What are your thoughts on the offseason?  What was good, what was bad, what else should they have done?

While things could still change even at this date, the phrase ‘missed opportunity’ comes to mind.  With the early acquisition of Josh Donaldson, that left the Atlanta Braves in a position in which 1-2 addition players of some significance could have set them up for printing World Series tickets, yet no such moves came to pass.

That said, I do not wish to diminish either Brian McCann or Nick Markakis.  Both will add significant experience and production.  In particular, you know what Markakis will bring:  155+ games, .280-290 BA, high OBP, excellent AB’s.

I’ll add more about McCann in a bit, but I want to talk about the outfield first.

The Braves were ‘in’ on Michael Brantley, plus others, but never pulled the trigger to insure that they got somebody – anybody – else to help out offensively or defensively.

Sirius/XM host Casey Stern had an apt illustration a few weeks ago to characterize how off-season deals have gone for the Braves… I’ll paraphrase that:

  • You have a guy co-worker in the office who is single, though active in dating.
  • He often tells the office crew about How Things Went last weekend… and usually, as the story goes, they had a good time.
  • Somebody will ask, ‘So are you gonna see her again?’  The answer is always ‘nah, I don’t think she’s quite right for me.’
  • After several of these encounters, the rest of the office gets the vibe… it’s the girls not wanting to see him any more, not the other way ’round.

In this scenario, Alex Anthopoulos is ‘the guy’.  He is very often saying he’s involved in possible deals, but never got the deal completed.  At some point, we’d have to suggest to our friend that maybe it isn’t the other trade partner’s fault.

The Braves are loaded with pitching prospects… more than they can possibly use.  If they aren’t used in trades, Atlanta runs the real risk of them losing their appeal or getting hurt or not living up to expectations or simply floundering in AAA with no place to go.

With respect to that, yes:  Atlanta may need to ‘overpay’ somebody to get a deal done.  The “Have Nots” of baseball want to rebuild at the expense of a team like Atlanta, and the Braves want to win a title.

So figure out who wants Kyle Wright or Luiz Gohara or Kyle Muller or Ian Anderson and get the deal done for a Mitch Haniger or J.T. Realmuto or Corey Kluber or Joc Pederson or Edwin Diaz.  Or pay the extra $1 million to get Brantley.

You want to go deep into the playoffs?  Then sign Craig Kimbrel.  Make a big trade… although that’s probably going to be difficult to do now that Spring training is underway.  It’s not impossible, but it’s more difficult.

It almost doesn’t matter who else it could have been, frankly… this team is close to being able to break out of the pack, but now they will be in a dogfight.

The bottom line here is that Anthopoulos went halfway down the aisle by getting Donaldson and McCann early on… and failed to go any further.  So fans have been left standing at the altar.

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