House That Hank Built
Fansided

The Atlanta Braves and what might have been this season

By Alan Carpenter

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - APRIL 28: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Atlanta Braves jokes with Charlie Blackmon #19 of the Colorado Rockies at SunTrust Park on April 28, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - APRIL 28: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Atlanta Braves jokes with Charlie Blackmon #19 of the Colorado Rockies at SunTrust Park on April 28, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – MAY 06: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Atlanta Braves loses his bat after striking out against starting pitcher Walker Buehler #21 of the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning at Dodger Stadium on May 6, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – MAY 06: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Atlanta Braves loses his bat after striking out against starting pitcher Walker Buehler #21 of the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning at Dodger Stadium on May 6, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /

Third Base

WHAT HAPPENED:  Nothing, really.
TEAM RESPONSE:  You mean we could actually get Donaldson? Yes, please!

There really were not a lot of quality third basemen available this past off-season (unless you were in the Machado Battle Royal), but in theory, the Braves didn’t need one anyway.

17 third basemen (or at least those having 3B as an option… which includes Marwin Gonzalez and a few others) were signed to major league contracts in the off-season.

Then again, D.J. LeMahieu has been playing some 3B for the Yankees out of dire necessity, and he wasn’t on the MLB Trade Rumors list.

  • 5 of these were valued at or above $20 million… only Donaldson’s $23 million was for a single year…leaving he and Manny Machado atop the list.
  • 11 of these were valued at or below $5 million

Here’s what we’ve seen so far:

  • 1.1 fWAR – D.J. LeMahieu (Yankees)
  • 1.1 – Mike Moustakas (Brewers)
  • 1.1 – Eduardo Escobar (DBacks)
  • 0.8 – Manny Machado (Padres)
  • 0.7 – Josh Donaldson
  • 0.1 – Dylan Moore (Mariners)
  • -0.1 – Marwin Gonzalez (Twins)

None of the others have even broached the 50 plate appearance filter I put on this chart.

So there’s multiple ways you can look at this data:

  • “Donaldson hasn’t been very good.”  Kinda true, though he’s been making steady improvements.
  • “Donaldson is the 5th best of all those that the Braves could have signed… out of 17 or so.”
  • “Camargo would have been better”.  Possibly valid.  Johan’s numbers are not better right now, though the argument would suggest that more/consistent playing time would have eliminated that gap.
  • “Austin Riley would have been better”.  Doubtful, in all seriousness.  Sure:  he’s on a torrid run at AAA right now, but as even Vlad Guerrero Jr is learning right now, AAA is not the major leagues.
  • “Should have spent the money on pitching”.  Maybe, though again, buyer beware.

No – thus far, Donaldson isn’t exactly out-hitting his contract.  But the argument is that his presence makes the bench stronger and (dare I say it) more ‘flexible’.

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