House That Hank Built
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It’s time for the Atlanta Braves to go big and get greedy

By Alan Carpenter

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 17: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Atlanta Braves fails to come up with this single hit by Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies in the fourth inning at SunTrust Park on September 17, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 17: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Atlanta Braves fails to come up with this single hit by Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies in the fourth inning at SunTrust Park on September 17, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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Atlanta Braves
ATLANTA, GA – JULY 29: Sean Newcomb #15 of the Atlanta Braves is congratulated by Ender Inciarte #11 as teammates line up to greet Newcomb after throwing a one-hit game through 8 2/3 innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /

Now What Do We Have

That makes for a maxed 26-man roster of…

POSITION PLAYERS (with a rough lineup)

  • Acuna:  $1m
  • Albies:  $1m
  • Freeman: $22m
  • Donaldson:  $23m (est)
  • Mancini:  $6m
  • d’Arnaud / Flowers:  (total of) $12m
  • Inciarte:  $6m
  • Swanson:  $3.3m

BENCH

  • Markakis / Duvall / Camargo / Culberson:  total of approx. $10.4m

STARTING PITCHING

  • Hamels:  $18m
  • Folty:  $7.5m
  • Boyd $6.5m
  • Fried:  $600K
  • Soroka:  $650K

RELIEF PITCHING

  • Greene $6.5m
  • Jackson:  $1.9m
  • Melancon:  $14m
  • O’Day:  $2.25m
  • Smith:  $13m
  • Martin: $7m
  • Dayton:  $800K
  • Newcomb:  $600K (or equally-priced alternative if traded… Walker perhaps)

That’s 26 players that project to roughly $164 million.  It’s a stretch, to be sure, but it’s a stretch mainly for 2020 alone.

Heck, as it stands today, the Braves are waiting around for Donaldson to make a decision… this plan would ‘only’ be about $11-12 million above the figure for Donaldson’s cost alone.

In 2021, Melancon’s salary comes off the books. Inciarte would have one more year under contract, but with Cristian Pache knocking loudly at the door, it would be time to move Ender… if not right now.

Shane Greene would be a free agent and so would Hamels, Flowers, and Markakis.

Others would receive further arbitration increases, but the net could be a payroll that’s still better than this 2020 projection… while still having a very solid core to build on.

Of course nobody would worry too much about those numbers if they’re bands are marching down Peachtree by the time the next Halloween Day rolls around.

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