Atlanta Braves 2015

[ucahogfan]

This was by far the best trade the Braves have made in a long time, and certainly since Hart/Coppy took over.  Hoping they don't trade Freeman, but if somebody offers anything close to what the Braves got in this deal then they have to do it.

Yeah, I thought Hart has made some good trades since he took over, but this is far and away the best return for the player we traded.  To get a young OF who was essentially just as if not more valuable than Miller in terms of WAR last year and then a potential All Star SS and #2/#3 type pitcher for prospects,   That is a beyond impressive haul.  And I don't want them to trade Freeman either, but if a team offers us a deal that is like the one we accepted for Miller, I want us to make the trade if we really are wanting to tank for the next season or so.

I'd be surprised if we started trading the young pitchers at this point.  At least not yet.

Just saying it gives us flexibility with so many young arms to shop a couple for an elite level OF since it is looking like it will be a pitcher (maybe AJ Puk) as the #3 pick next year.

[ucahogfan]

Rumors are circulating that Inciarte could be flipped as about a dozen teams have inquired. I don't think it is likely, but if a team offers one or even two top prospects, how can you say no?

And word is that Freeman will not be moved since he is under contract through 2021 which I think is smart and he will be the vet that our young roster will need.

[bulldog04]

How does our farm system stack up with the rest of the teams now?

[ucahogfan]

Well, we just completed an interesting trade with the Padres.

In exchange for Christian Bethancourt, we received 26 year old RHP Casey Kelly and 17 year old C Ricardo Rodriguez.  Kelly has a lot of talent as he was once a top 25 prospect in the game, but he has dealt with injuries in his career.  Rodriguez was the best C available on the international market in 2014.  Kelly provides us a little insurance on the big league roster as another young arm with a high ceiling.

It just seems weird that we would cut ties with Bethancourt who was once our top prospect or in the top two/three, but it also appear he might never hit well enough to be a big league regular which has always been the question mark with him.

[bulldog04]

Well, we just completed an interesting trade with the Padres.

In exchange for Christian Bethancourt, we received 26 year old RHP Casey Kelly and 17 year old C Ricardo Rodriguez.  Kelly has a lot of talent as he was once a top 25 prospect in the game, but he has dealt with injuries in his career.  Rodriguez was the best C available on the international market in 2014.  Kelly provides us a little insurance on the big league roster as another young arm with a high ceiling.

It just seems weird that we would cut ties with Bethancourt who was once our top prospect or in the top two/three, but it also appear he might never hit well enough to be a big league regular which has always been the question mark with him.

I think they reached the point of "crap or get off the pot" and didn't want to lose him and get nothing in return.

[ucahogfan]

How does our farm system stack up with the rest of the teams now?

I think Jim Callis said it was the 5th-8th best system based on his knowledge.  The top 4 are the Red Sox, the Dodgers (helped out by 4 top 30 prospects including Peraza), the Rockies, and the Pirates.  I think we jump into the top 2-3 at some point this year since we have the #3 pick as well as rumors floating around that we are going to blitz the international market in 2016.

[ucahogfan]

So, with the recent trades, I thought it would be interesting to see how our top 30 prospects are shaping up and how we acquired them:

1.  SS Dansby Swanson (#10 prospect in the game) - trade with AZ for Shelby Miller this offseason
2.  LHP Sean Newcomb (#19 prospect in the game) - trade with LAA for Andrelton Simmons this offseason
3.  SS Ozhaino Albies (#30 prospect in the game) - signed out of Curacao in 2013
4.  RHP Aaron Blair (#61 prospect in the game) - trade with AZ for Shelby Miller this offseason
5.  RHP Touki Toussaint (#69 prospect in the game) - trade with AZ for salary dump and backup INF last year
6.  LHP Kolby Allard (#88 prospect in the game) - 1st round pick in 2015, fell to Braves because of injury
7.  RHP Tyrell Jenkins - trade with STL for J-Hey and Walden last offseason (has been top 100 prospect in past)
8.  LHP Manny Banuelos - trade with NYY last offseason (has been top 100 prospect in past)
9.  LHP Max Fried - trade with SD last offseason for JUpton (has been top 100 prospect in past)
10.  RHP Lucas Sims - 1st round pick in 2012 (has been top 100 prospect in past)
11.  RHP Chris Ellis - trade with LAA for Andrelton Simmons this offseason
12.  3B Rio Ruiz - trade with HOU for Evan Gattis last offseason
13.  OF Braxton Davidson - 1st round pick in 2014
14.  LHP Ricardo Sanchez - trade with LAA last offseason
15.  RHP Mike Soroka - 1st round pick in 2015
16.  RHP Zachary Bird - trade with LAD last year around trade deadline
17.  CF Mallex Smith - trade with SD last offseason for JUpton
18.  C Lucas Herbert - 2nd round pick in 2015
19.  OF Dustin Peterson - trade with SD last offseason for JUpton
20.  3B Austin Riley - CBA pick in 2015
21.  RHP Jason Hursh - 1st round pick in 2013
22.  RHP Andrew Thurman - trade with HOU for Evan Gattis last offseason
23.  RHP Alec Grosser - 11th round pick in 2013
24.  SS Johan Camajo - 2010 international signee out of Panama
25.  RHP Mauricio Cabrera - 2010 international signee
26.  RHP Rob Whalen - trade with NYM last year near trade deadline
27.  RHP John Gant - trade with NYM last year near trade deadline
28.  RHP Wes Parsons - signed as an undrafted FA in 2012
29.  RHP Daniel Winkler - Rule 5 draft selection last December
30.  RHP Chad Sobotka - 4th round selection in 2014

So 17 of our top 20 prospects have entered our system either by trade or by draft since Hart took over last year and the 3 who were already in the system (Albies, Sims, and Davidson) were all early in their career.  I would say Hart has done about as good of a job as we could have hoped for when re-building what was a terrible system when he took over.  Sure, our team was one of the younger ones in the game, but the players were closing in on free agency and get very expensive so tearing down the roster last year was the perfect time to do so.

[bulldog04]

We have very good depth but I feel like we only have a few prospects that have the potential to be sure enough stars.  I heard Callis comparing Swanson to Jeter but he said he was better defensively.

[pigture perfect]

I'm ready for the Braves to be relevant again.

[ucahogfan]

Jerry Crasnick ‏@jcrasnick  · 11h11 hours ago 
#Braves have received a steady stream of inquiries on Ender Inciarte since acquiring him from #Dbacks at winter meetings, source says.

Jerry Crasnick ‏@jcrasnick  · 11h11 hours ago 
#Braves prefer to keep Inciarte as CF and leadoff man. But they're open to listening on any player not named Freddie Freeman.

I would prefer to keep Inciarte as well, but if someone like the Cubs who are looking for a CF offer a package headlined by either Jorge Soler or Billy McKinney, can you really turn them down?  I don't want a straight Soler or McKinney for Inciarte deal because Inciarte was a solid 3+ WAR player last year based on being an elite defender.

[bulldog04]

Chipper Jones is back with the Braves.  He took a job as special assistant of baseball operations.  I figure he will be mainly working with these young guys

[bulldog04]

Chipper Jones is back with the Braves.  He took a job as special assistant of baseball operations.  I figure he will be mainly working with these young guys

The weird thing is that he would be one of the better hitters on this team

[ucahogfan]

From Fangraphs (http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/sunday-notes-fife-guerrieri-swanson-braves-brewers-twins-more/):

The acquisition of Dansby Swanson, along with two other players, from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Shelby Miller is being championed as a coup for the Atlanta Braves. The first-overall pick in this year's draft, Swanson is close to big-league ready, and he has a chance to be a star.

According to John Coppolella, there was "great synergy" between Atlanta's scouting and analytics groups when Swanson was assessed and subsequently acquired. They were so bullish on the 21-year old shortstop that he was targeted before Andrelton Simmons was swapped to Anaheim.

"We've been in talks with Arizona since the end of the 2015 season," explained the Braves' GM. "We hoped to get Swanson, but we didn't know if, or how, the deal would materialize. We saw him as a fit for us, whether we made the Simmons trade or not. We just want really good players and he's a really good player."

Per industry chatter, the Diamondbacks had earlier come close to making trades with the Indians and Marlins. According to Coppolella, either deal would have squelched their chances of landing the Vanderbilt product.

"I don't know if Swanson would have been involved had the Diamondbacks made a deal with one of those teams," Coppolella told me. "But if they had gotten a starting pitcher from one of them, they probably wouldn't have made the trade with us. We wouldn't have ended up with Swanson."

The part where we had targeted him even with Simmons on a long term deal is really interesting to know.  It shows just how much we valued him as a player in our system.  It also doesn't hurt that he is someone who grew up in Marietta so he is a Georgia native who probably grew up a Braves fan.  I sure hope he is a long time star for us beginning in about 2017/2018.

Also, for another point, I think we have played this offseason very well by trading Simmons for an elite pitching prospect in Sean Newcomb (plus Chris Ellis, but Newcomb is the prize) as well as trading Miller for a huge haul headlined by Dansby Swanson.  We have used a new the all important team control as a driving factor to get huge returns.  I think we also need to move Markakis although the return won't be very good for him.

[gutshot]

I think Markakis will make a good July trade piece.  Some contender somewhere will be looking for a little extra offense, and with a good first half under his belt, Markakis could draw some interest.  Right now, there are still better options available for teams to chase after in Cespedes, Upton, and Gordon so I would hang on to him right now and let that market clear out.  Come July, he's on the block.   

[ucahogfan]

I think Markakis will make a good July trade piece.  Some contender somewhere will be looking for a little extra offense, and with a good first half under his belt, Markakis could draw some interest.  Right now, there are still better options available for teams to chase after in Cespedes, Upton, and Gordon so I would hang on to him right now and let that market clear out.  Come July, he's on the block.

Markakis has 3/33 left on his contract which could be appealing to a team looking for a solid corner OF who will provide good value on his contract.  With 1.0 WAR going for about 8M on the open market this year, a guy who averages about 2 WAR like Markakis coming in at 11M would cost less money, but would also cost a prospect or two depending on how much money the Braves pay.