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2017 Atlanta Braves Thread: Acquired Brandon Phillips, Pitchers & Catchers rpt SOON

Well hopefully CJ and Minor can do something for a few OF prospects.
 
Say Hey Deac said:
Getting rid of BJ means the team should have plenty of money next offseason to sign a young, marquee FA like Jason Heyward.
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it's gonna be hilarious when this exact thing happens.

seen discussion that Hart was stuck in his position to do exactly this: sell off the team and re-stock the farm. wouldn't be shocked if he retires in time for Coppy to spend the enormous payroll flexibility we'll have in building a team worthy of this new park in 2017.
 
remember when people argued that BJ Upton was good at baseball?
 
Still love this pic

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odds that Freeman hits a walk off HR off Kimbrel?

also, tempted to buy about a bajillion shirzees because my favorites are all gone. Gattis, Kimbrel, JUp, and Meds. Definitely feeling a Meds & Gattis shirzee.
 
Consensus around the league is that the Braves made out like bandits. Nobody thought they'd be able to get someone to take Melvin and 100% of his salary
 
The more time that passes the more I'm in love with this trade. Being that we are clearly not trying to win now, this will only pay dividends in the future. Well done.
 
DeacsOrDie said:
The more time that passes the more I'm in love with this trade. Being that we are clearly not trying to win now, this will only pay dividends in the future. Well done.
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My only objection to the trade is that I feel you could have got more for Craig closer to the trade deadline when a contender thinks he's the piece to a WS team. But I understand that once you get to that point, you aren't guaranteed to get rid of Upton. So I can't really complain too much. Hart is doing it the right way, just hope these arms pan out. Folty looked like he wasn't close the times I saw him this spring. Great arm but had no control of the fastball. Also, considering that the Braves got Freeman for the 78th pick and we just got a top 50 pick in this deal you can do some serious damage with that selection.
 
I like the trade, but I wish we had offered to pay BJ in 2015 and 2016 (since we aren't going to spend that money those years anyway) and gotten more from the Padres. Them paying his contract in 2015 and 16 really only benefits Liberty Media.
 
KLAW thoughts below. Keep in mind that for as much as he loves this deal, he is also lower on Wisler than anyone else...Wisler is top 50 in several prospect rankings (Fangraphs, Baseball America) and top 100 in a couple of others. KLAW is the only major prospect evaluator who has him out of the top 100.

I've understood most of the San Diego Padres' moves this winter, perhaps all of them, but this trade, which sends Craig Kimbrel and Melvin Upton to San Diego, looks like a much better deal for the Atlanta Braves than it does for the Padres.

Atlanta clears a lot of money -- one tied up in an asset with no apparent value and one tied up in a high-risk asset -- and gets some young pieces back along the way. The Padres upgrade their ninth inning, but don't address their lack of a true center fielder or lack of even a reasonable facsimile of a shortstop, and take on even more cost.

The Padres didn't have a major bullpen problem, so while Kimbrel would be an upgrade over just about any other team's closer except perhaps Cincinnati's, in practical terms it's probably worth just a win in the standings for San Diego. Deposed closer Joaquin Benoit is the picture of not-health, throwing just five innings after Aug. 15 last season due to a shoulder injury, and he missed all of 2009 due to a torn rotator cuff in the same joint. (Also, he's not French, so why is his name pronounced like he's from Toulouse?) Kimbrel is more reliable than Benoit, but one-inning relievers are the most volatile assets in baseball, and Kimbrel has already defied the odds with four straight years of health without even losing anything off his fastball. Perhaps he's one of the great exceptions to the high baseline rate of closer attrition, like Mariano Rivera, or perhaps throwing with maximum effort 70 innings a year, about 20 times a year working on consecutive days, will catch up to him. I don't know any team that can predict such collapses, but most clubs discount reliever values because of that uncertainty. This deal doesn't seem to do so, and that's before we consider how the Padres have had a history of composting ballpark refuse into useful relievers ever since they moved into Petco.

To acquire Kimbrel, the Padres took on his entire contract as well as that of Melvin Upton, so Atlanta will end up saving about $48 million over 2016-17. Upton's straight-line descent since he went to Atlanta has been a huge mystery, as he doesn't even have the mistake power that often marks the death rattle of an otherwise decrepit veteran hitter. I would like to argue that a change of scenery and hitting coaches can coax some value out of Upton's bat, but I don't believe in fairy tales.

Atlanta comes out huge winners in this deal, saving all of that cash, adding three players/prospects of value, and a draft pick, and Carlos Quentin, who is the rock that Charlie Brown always gets on Halloween. Quentin's extension in San Diego was a bad idea from the get-go, as he's an "American League player" (a euphemism for a guy who can't defend at any position) who is always hurt, last qualifying for the batting title in 2010. He's 32 and can still flash some power while covering the inner third of the strike zone with his torso, so while Atlanta has already designated him for assignment, I expect him to end up on an AL club looking for DH help or a right-handed bat off the bench.

Everything else Atlanta receives in this deal has value.

Cameron Maybin can still play plus defense in center when healthy, and had some doubles power before injuries derailed his career in 2013; Atlanta was planning to play Eric Young Jr. in center, even though he's a poor defender who doesn't get on base and has no power, so Maybin has a low bar to clear. They also get right-handed pitcher Matt Wisler, who missed my top 100 this year but was the Padres' top pitching prospect and is major-league ready right now. He looks the part of a durable mid-rotation guy, with a 92-95 mph fastball, average to above-average slider, and fringy to average changeup -- nothing knockout but enough of a repertoire to be a starter. If one of those pitches becomes plus, he could be a No. 2, but right now I think he's more of a league-average or slightly worse pitcher who adds value through durability. He becomes Atlanta's No. 7 prospect.

Outfielder Jordan Paroubeck is an outstanding athlete who trains in the offseason with Barry Bonds, who was reasonably good at the sport himself. Paroubeck can run and has some raw power, but is behind developmentally after missing the summer of 2013 due to injury and spending last year in the Arizona Rookie League at 19. His arm is adequate for center after the shoulder surgery but not right, so if he can't play center -- and he didn't last year with Michael Gettys on the same team -- he's going to have to hit for more power to profile in left. You can see the influence of Atlanta executive Chad Macdonald, who was in San Diego when Paroubeck was drafted and for most of Wisler's tenure there. Atlanta also gets the 41st overall draft pick, a competitive balance pick that was tradeable under the current CBA (as all draft picks should be), adding to their haul of picks, with selections at Nos. 14, 28, 41, and 54 on day one. The 41st pick in 2014 carried a slot bonus value of $1,384,900, so Atlanta will have the fourth-highest total bonus pool this year, after Houston, Colorado, and Arizona. To add a legitimate pitching prospect, a potential everyday center fielder, a lottery ticket outfield prospect and a top-50 draft pick while clearing one unwanted contract and one high-risk one had to be a no-brainer for Atlanta as it continues to retool to compete in 2017.
 
GPDeac said:
I like the trade, but I wish we had offered to pay BJ in 2015 and 2016 (since we aren't going to spend that money those years anyway) and gotten more from the Padres. Them paying his contract in 2015 and 16 really only benefits Liberty Media.
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Yes, this. Shedding BJ's salary doesn't seem to serve any immediate helpful purpose. It's only meaningful if we're going to put that money back into the payroll in the next couple of years, which I'm not sure the team is going to do. The FA position player crop is pretty barren, aside from Heyward and Upton, who it seems pretty clear won't be pursued. That would be really kind of genius though if Heyward was re-signed, and we essentially just gave up a year of Heyward in exchange for Miller and Jenkins.
 
Say Hey Deac said:
Yes, this. Shedding BJ's salary doesn't seem to serve any immediate helpful purpose. It's only meaningful if we're going to put that money back into the payroll in the next couple of years, which I'm not sure the team is going to do. The FA position player crop is pretty barren, aside from Heyward and Upton, who it seems pretty clear won't be pursued. That would be really kind of genius though if Heyward was re-signed, and we essentially just gave up a year of Heyward in exchange for Miller and Jenkins.
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a lot of people seem to think this is likely. that he left under weird circumstances and there was probably a "wink wink" nature to it. we'd have the money to sign him back, for sure.
 
ipitytheblue said:
a lot of people seem to think this is likely. that he left under weird circumstances and there was probably a "wink wink" nature to it. we'd have the money to sign him back, for sure.
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Oh my god that would be incredible. COME HOME DEUCE DEUCE.
 
Somebody is going to offer him way more than we are comfortable. We had our chance to extend him and passed.
 
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