Official Offseason Thread #2

[BRAVE KID]

I'm okay with victorino if it comes to it but lately in seems I'm in the minority on that. The beauty of the WM hasn't even started yet..there are options. No worries with that.

[Braves302]

Ken Rosenthal said The pitching prospect the Twins got for Span was one of the Nationals top pitching prospects.

[Bravo95]

Don't know about you guys but I would of been upset if we gave up any of JT, delgado, gilmartin, minor, or graham for span. Span is very meh to me. And anyway with bj in CF that would leave span in LF. Which is kinda a waste of what he does best...defend. Sorry but I am not that desperate for a decent leadoff hitter. Not something I would give up one of my best pitching prospects for.

That's one thing I don't quite understand about these recent reports from Bowman and DOB. Wren said himself (on multiple occasions) that Prado and Simba are realistic leadoff options who he believes can get the job done... yet every time I look up, those two are pushing a story about the Braves dying to get a leadoff hitter.

[flea]

DOB is just bad and baseball and bad at his job. He would be better served writing a music column that only 5 hipsters read.

[BRAVE KID]

Ken Rosenthal said The pitching prospect the Twins got for Span was one of the Nationals top pitching prospects.

And that's how talks stopped with us. The twins wanted a top pitching prospect. I don't think span was worthy of any of ours and it seems the braves felt the same.

[westside]

Damn those Gnats

[westside]

DOB is just bad and baseball and bad at his job. He would be better served writing a music column that only 5 hipsters read.

lol..I kinda enjoy him. Although i could do without the restaurant reviews and band albums.

[westside]

The one thing about Span that i liked was his defense. He has a pretty decent bat, of course hits lead off, and has speed but ironically isn't that much of a base stealer. The fact that he batted lead off was a plus to me. But now I'm warming up to the idea of Andrelton batting lead off if we don't get a LF who can do it.

[Getting UGGLA]

At least Bourne won't be in the NL East.

? Phillies are shopping....

[Getting UGGLA]

No to Victorino, glad we didn't pursue Span, not good enough. Really want Upton2. Wouldn't mind Ludwick Van Beethoven. He's got good numbers! http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/5036/ryan-ludwick

[Braves302]

? Phillies are shopping....

They offered Upton 5-55 there's no way they'd give up more years and a lot more money for Bourn. Hopefully I'm right.

[Braves302]

I wouldn't mind Ludwick, just depends on the contract.

[vtgriff09]

I would rank swisher as my top free agent choice. Would be an ideal 5 or 6 hitter that gets on base a ton. As for trade choice, would love myers or gordon...then upton, then fowler, willingham, cuddyer.

I dont think royals not doing gordon or myers for dickey is wisening up...dickey is freakin 39. No one gives up young talent for a 39 pitcher. Now hanson and jt may get talks going. Would love gordon leading off. Would be sweet to go gordon, prado, j-hey, freeman, upton, mccann,

[rtgthree]

He wasn't eligible for the Rule 5 yet, still had one more year since he signed early. I think we can read pretty clearly into this that he's going to get the first shot to start the season as a backup/split timer with Laird.

He definitely was eligible for the Rule 5, and that's the only reason he was added to the roster. If you sign at 18 years old or younger (which Bethancourt did), you play for five years before you're eligible. Bethancourt signed in 2008, five years ago. If you need more evidence, consider that Aaron Northcraft and David Hale, who both signed over 18 (meaning they get one less year before eligibility), were drafted and signed in 2009.

Once again, there's no connection between Bethancourt's addition to the roster and his chance to make the team.

I wonder if it's time to bring up Mr. Paul Bunyan to play C???

That's what I'd like to see. Gattis is 26, so the future is now. Let's get him up to the bigs and see what he can do. Perfect opportunity where he can stay up if he plays well but if he doesn't, you've got McCann well on his way back.

The Youkilis deal would not be a bad idea if for the right money.

There haven't been rumors yet linking Youkilis and the Braves, but it could certainly work. Of course it depends on the cost, and I wouldn't want to sign him unless all top-tier trade possibilities had been exhausted, but bringing him on board for a couple of years wouldn't be the worst move in the world.

Myers was a pipe dream anyway. I never entertained that idea.

This.

Span just went to the Nats... Bah he would of worked out great.

I'm with BRAVE KID. I don't see why Span would have been such a good fit. His strong defensive ability is wasted in left field, and his bat goes from being decent for his position to being absolutely terrible. The Braves need to get some thunder in left field, and thunder ain't in Span's repertoire. I'm sort of pleased the Nationals went ahead and took him off the table.

So who's left now to target for LF?

The top tier of trade targets should be the top priority, in my opinion. Justin Upton should be #1, #2 and #3 on the Braves' list, especially after B.J. expressed such enthusiasm today about them playing together someday. Josh Willingham, Shin-Soo Choo and Alex Gordon are other options that come to mind. Dexter Fowler is also available, though his splits outside of Coors are downright frightening. After that, it's free agency. Depending on the breakdown of Upton's deal and potential trades of players like Hanson and Eric O'Flaherty, Nick Swisher might be an option, but Angel Pagan, Shane Victorino, and Cody Ross are more affordable.

The Braves need to go for it, and the likes of Fowler and Victorino just aren't enough to get the job done, in my opinion. If their second addition isn't bigger than their first one, I'll be disappointed.

DOB is just bad and baseball and bad at his job. He would be better served writing a music column that only 5 hipsters read.

Really? I agree that I wish he'd just tweet about the Braves, and he's definitely not always the friendliest guy on Twitter, but I don't have any complaints about his coverage. Why do you hate him so much?

No to Victorino, glad we didn't pursue Span, not good enough. Really want Upton2. Wouldn't mind Ludwick Van Beethoven. He's got good numbers! http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/5036/ryan-ludwick

Aside from last year, where he only hit in the friendly confines of Great American Ball Park, Ludwick hadn't been good since 2008. No thanks.

[Fly]

At least Bourne won't be in the NL East.

I think he'll almost certainly end up with the Phillies.