Official Offseason Thread #2

[HowFit]

How we suppose to fill LF if we signed Greinke?

[Joe Smoe]

Just thinking out loud more then anything here...

But, with the potential of Hudson and or McCann coming off the books next year, and we have around 14 million this year. If Grienke is willing to take a pay-cut and back-load some of his contract, then I could see it having more potential then this scenario should. However JS wouldn't say it, if it was not possible. Just to to throw some fuel on this, ...out of all Aces on the market, I could actually see Grienke doing this personality wise and he has further stated that he really wants to be a Brave as a second clue. Sooo the potential is real.

Theoretically, LF could be played in platoon by Gattis and Prado, Francisco covering 3rd when Prado is not. A few smaller trades for bench and done. However Malholm, Minor, Delgado or Tehran could all be used to in trade for a LF or 3rd base.

[dbroncs-abraves]

Just thinking out loud more then anything here...

But, with the potential of Hudson and or McCann coming off the books next year, and we have around 14 million this year. If Grienke is willing to take a pay-cut and back-load some of his contract, then I could see it having more potential then this scenario should. However JS wouldn't say it, if it was not possible. Just to to throw some fuel on this, ...out of all Aces on the market, I could actually see Grienke doing this personality wise and he has further stated that he really wants to be a Brave as a second clue. Sooo the potential is real.

Theoretically, LF could be played in platoon by Gattis and Prado, Francisco covering 3rd when Prado is not. A few smaller trades for bench and done. However Malholm, Minor, Delgado or Tehran could all be used to in trade for a LF or 3rd base.

I agree and it really would not surprise me if we were to sign Greinke, deal Maholm and we are looking at a hell of a rotation and Gattis in LF or Francisco at 3rd who has mashed the ball in winterball, it just doesn't seem out of the ordinary for the Braves to go after a pitcher who wants to be a Brave

[rtgthree]

So Stanton have more value for you than JHeyward?

Yes. Career OPS over 100 points higher than Heyward. The Marlins would not trade Giancarlo Stanton for Jason Heyward. Plus you'd be robbing Peter to pay Paul. The Braves need to add an outfielder without subtracting other key players. Upgrading to Stanton helps, but still ultimately doesn't solve the problem.

What about Alfonso Soriano? Well he strikes out a lot too but if Chicago is willing to eat about 80% of his salary why not?

Soriano, as we've said in various threads, would be a decent Plan C when it comes to finding an outfielder. He's getting old, but he can still hit a bit, play good D in left field, and the Cubs are seemingly willing to give him away for a song while eating his contract. But that's not an option I'd consider until the end of the winter.

https://twitter.com/JonHeymanCBS/sta...91165157736448

First off, you have to take anything Jon Heyman writes with a massive brick of salt. He is a mouthpiece for Scott Boras, who of course has a vested interest in Greinke getting a record-setting contract. And Jim Bowden added the following:

Schuerholz said it was "UNLIKELY" that the Braves would sign Zack Greinke...but said don't eliminate them either

Nonetheless, this apparently is the rumor that won't die even though it should've been dead since August. Every report I've seen recently says that Greinke is very comfortable in Los Angeles, and that he wants a historically massive contract. In theory, the Braves could sign him by backloading his deal and then dealing from an extreme surplus of pitching (say, both Teheran AND Delgado) to get a minimum-salary young left fielder. Who that might be is pretty tough to imagine, but I suppose in the abstract it could happen. Suffice to say, it'd be almost impossible and highly unlikely. It'd sure be exciting, though, to see the Braves be that aggressive.

[Bravo95]

https://twitter.com/mlbbowman/status/275487212701880320

If Braves do something this week, it will most likely will be via trade. They do not currently seem too interested in the FA outfield crop

[westside]

Why wouldnt it surprise you if we signed grienke? That means we would still have to bump our payroll up by about 16 mil. He wants 20-25 mil, plus we have to fill our bench. We cant just pencil in Francisco at 3rd because no one knows how he'll perform throughout the season, so Prado is the best write in at this point. So that means we still would need a LF. No matter what trades we make(realistic ones), we still a lot more cash, just for a pitcher.

[westside]

Its a fine line between aggressive and smart. We dont want to trade away our future just to get a couple big names. Gotta think about now anf beyond '13.

[styxlover]

If I remember rightly, didn't Maddux come to the Braves even though he had a higher offer from another team?

[mattnsrq]

If the Braves can pick up Justin, I can see the Braves trying to trade Uggla to free up some money, so they can lock up some of their younger players along with looking for a 2nd or 3rd baseman and whatever position they fill first and putting Prado at the other position along with a multiyear contract extension.

[HowFit]

If the Braves can pick up Justin, I can see the Braves trying to trade Uggla to free up some money, so they can lock up some of their younger players along with looking for a 2nd or 3rd baseman and whatever position they fill first and putting Prado at the other position along with a multiyear contract extension.

Then you're freeing up another hole...

[CaseyRyback]

How we suppose to fill LF if we signed Greinke?

Get a lower quality LF like Fowler. I'd rather move for a bigtime LF (Gordon or Upton) than spend a ton of money on Greinke. I think the pitching is fine, with the right OFer, we can have an exteremly potent offense.

[westside]

If I remember rightly, didn't Maddux come to the Braves even though he had a higher offer from another team?

Yeah, bt he also had an offer from the braves. He didnt just walk in. We dont need Grienke. He's just a big name on the market, we have a good rotation already. Top 5 to be exact. If we sign Grienke, we would be chasing one player and not thinking about the Team, long and short term.

[SB75]

If I remember rightly, didn't Maddux come to the Braves even though he had a higher offer from another team?

Yep, he chose us over the Yankee's.

[beldugo]

Then you're freeing up another hole...

Yeah, but it won't be a big one, if you can save money to extend our young players or get a better LF, you can sign Scutaro to be a stop gap at second base.

[HowFit]

Get a lower quality LF like Fowler. I'd rather move for a bigtime LF (Gordon or Upton) than spend a ton of money on Greinke. I think the pitching is fine, with the right OFer, we can have an exteremly potent offense.

My point exactly!