Official Offseason Thread #2

[EB1525]

I view Delgado as a reliever, Long relief, spot starter. Parra as proved he can be a viable everyday player. Just my opinion though. I know pitchers are like gold in baseball, but sometimes you just gotta make a move. Im not content of a platoon with Prado going back n forth. While Im yapping, I wish we would have left Prado at 2nd and went after an outfielder back then instead of Uggla....Major power, but good lord so up and down.

[rtgthree]

Well, Graham had a SO 8.1/9 in rookie league, and a SO 8.3/9 after being promote to AA so the strikeouts numbers are find, we should wait this year to see if he is for real. Size is not something i put too much weight in, there are plenty of undersized pitchers with success in the league. But as you said, if we're talking about a young outfielder with potential like Marte i think i'll do it.

You're conveniently ignoring his Lynchburg K rate of 6.0 per nine, though. And frankly, I prefer his High-A peripherals (6 K/9, 1.5 BB/9) to his Double-A numbers (8.3 K/9, 3.4 BB/9). And as a guy that's been on this "Kris Medlen is a starter" bandwagon for a long time, size doesn't always necessarily spell bullpen doom. I think he's a fine prospect, and I'm excited for his future in a Braves uniform. I just believe there are enough mitigating risks to say he's not untouchable.

EDIT: Also, Pittsburgh's acquisition of Jerry Sands might just make Starling Marte the tiniest bit more available. The Pirates will now juggle Garrett Jones, Travis Snider, Gaby Sanchez, Jose Tabata, Sands and Marte through three lineup slots, and you have to think that an ML-ready arm would interest them.

A couple of people suggested Gerardo Parra to DOB. He did hit .307 with a .374 obp from leadoff, and he has a GG in LF. Only thing is he is terrible vs LHP. He can be had for cheap since the DBacks signed Cody Ross

Batting order position splits just aren't meaningful, in my opinion. He had a .727 OPS last season overall, and as good as his defense is, I don't think that makes up for a home/road split that saw him post a .630 OPS away from hitter-friendly Chase Field. I don't view Parra as a substantial upgrade (if any upgrade at all) from the .786 OPS and average defense that we can expect from The Platoon.

I view Delgado as a reliever, Long relief, spot starter. Parra as proved he can be a viable everyday player. Just my opinion though. I know pitchers are like gold in baseball, but sometimes you just gotta make a move. Im not content of a platoon with Prado going back n forth. While Im yapping, I wish we would have left Prado at 2nd and went after an outfielder back then instead of Uggla....Major power, but good lord so up and down.

Well, you're in the minority viewing Delgado that way. Even if he never improves from his performance last season, he's a solid #4 starter with an ERA in the low fours. And given his age and projection, there's plenty of reason to believe he will improve from his 2012 numbers. Saying "sometimes you just gotta make a move" is a recipe for disaster. You NEVER have to make a move, unless it's a good move. And trading a #4 starter for a guy that isn't guaranteed to do anything but play defense doesn't sound like a good move to me. Especially when the platoon you're not content with projects to produce a lot more offense than Parra.

[Braves_Fan_RSD]

I view Delgado as a reliever, Long relief, spot starter. Parra as proved he can be a viable everyday player. Just my opinion though. I know pitchers are like gold in baseball, but sometimes you just gotta make a move. Im not content of a platoon with Prado going back n forth. While Im yapping, I wish we would have left Prado at 2nd and went after an outfielder back then instead of Uggla....Major power, but good lord so up and down.

Welcome to the board

Have to disagree a little with what is being said here. Lets compare the two (platoon vs parra)

Platoon projected over 650 AB based on last 3 seasons

.272/.315/.473/.788 47 2B 3 3B 26 HR 100 RBI

Parra over the last three seasons

.276/.335/.399/.734 32 2B 9 3B 10 HR 60 RBI

So just looking at the numbers in a vacuum, shows that adding Parra in place of our platoon actually makes us worse. Then take into account that hes in a very hitter friendly park in Arizona and look at his road splits

Home

.298 .360 .446 .806

Away

.257 .313 .356 .669

So we can bank on his numbers being lower than the ones presented above, and then you want to give them Delgado to do this?

I know that some are afraid of the "Platoon" and want an everyday guy in there and thats fine, but only if the everyday guy brings us more value. Giving up Delgado for Parra would be a horrible move IMHO.

[EB1525]

Well, you guys make very good points. Guess I needed to look at the whole instead of just "wanting" somthing lol. I guess I was basing on what Ive seen from Parra. I know when hes played againts us we cant seem to get him out.

[EB1525]

Wish I would have started posting when we signed Upton....I was alot closer with things. I had thought if we signed him, which we did, we would match up great with the Twins in a trade...I never was high on Span, but really wanted Revere. Thought def. we could have had him. I had thought of Hanson to them for Revere and a prospect. Ive read where some have thought Philly paid too much for him. On one hand good deal cause it gets rid of Worley lol. Alright Im back tracking now, sorry. I like the way things are going. Prado is def capable of playing LF, but would love to either get a speed guy or another big bat to go out there.

[westside]

I was not in anyway suggesting that we go after Parra. Just stating that he can be had for cheap and has good leadoff numbers. I could care less about where he ends up.

[NBA_Starter]

You would have been welcomed here Cody Ross.

[chipurmunki]

i'm fine without him. i'm really glad that despite wren 'making aggressive offers,' he hasn't over-valued anyone yet. choo might be fun to have, but wren didn't push and push and push until we sold half our future for him. i like aggressive as long as it's not stupid, and he hasn't been stupid yet this off-season.

[GoBraves]

While you guys are all discussing who we should trade for to be our LF to start the year, Evan Gattis is destroying winterball. He just hit his 15th HR last night, setting the franchise record for both HR and RBIs for the team he's playing for. DOB stated that winterball is on par with AA or AAA, talent wise.

I think we should give this guy a chance. He wont cost you millions nor prospects. Trading Delgado may not seem such a good idea when we're looking to trade for another 4th starter at the deadline due to injuries.

I'm on team Gattis, who is with me?

[iamaj]

The platoon is essentially replacing Chipper. While the OBP will suffer, it will get more PAs than Chip and wind up having greater power numbers overall (if Chipper could have gotten 650 PAs, it would have been more competitive). FWIW, a .788 OPS would have been good for 14th in MLB last season among qualified LFers. Among 3Bs that OPS would have been good for 8th place in MLB among player who qualified. The platoon is likely to produce middle of the pack results (maybe better), so unless a trade nets a bonafide star or prospect with a ton of upside, I see no point in making a move.

Given that Prado is used to spelling Chipper on a regular basis, he probably won't mind alternating between LF and 3B. Granted he did it less with Francisco's arrival, but he's a competent defender at both positions (inexplicably good in LF) and it doesn't appear to take a toll on his hitting.

[GoBraves]

Here is Gattis's numbers so far in winterball:

.295/.360/.574/.933 with 15HR and 41RBI in only 190 at bats 16BB/29SO. Striking out 15% while walking 8% of the time. His Strike out % in his short minor league career is also at 15%. To get this much power while strikingout only 15% of the time is amazing.

To give you a benchmark just to show how good Gattis is, super prospect Will Myers who has comparable power has struck out 24% of his at bats in his minor league career. Will Myers is 3RD best prospect in baseball.

Gattis has been heating up also as he's getting more comfortable. His number from last 10 games:
.375/.462/.938 OPS 1.399 with 6HR and 12RBIs. 4SO/4BB

For the season:
With bases empty: .260/.324/.510
With runners on: .330/.394/.638 8HR 34RBI
Runners in scoring position: .296/.359/.704

[Fly]

Starting to warm up to the idea of Gattis getting the job in LF from opening day.

[Braves_Fan_RSD]

Yeah, I'd almost rather platoon Gattis and Francisco instead of Johnson. Then letting Gattis catch a couple of games a week as well to assure regular at bats, until Mac returns. So that would give him 16 to 18 games (only 8 at catcher) and about 60-75 AB as a test.

[rtgthree]

Wish I would have started posting when we signed Upton....I was alot closer with things. I had thought if we signed him, which we did, we would match up great with the Twins in a trade...I never was high on Span, but really wanted Revere.

We wish you had, too. Always glad to have new voices on the board. It's a good group we have here. I will say that I'm not sure Revere would have been any better than Parra. Revere can't hit either.

I was not in anyway suggesting that we go after Parra. Just stating that he can be had for cheap and has good leadoff numbers. I could care less about where he ends up.

Ah, my mistake.

You would have been welcomed here Cody Ross.

Not by me. The Diamondbacks paid almost $9 million per year for a guy who has a .758 OPS over the last three years. That's colossally bad, and were it not for his home park, I would absolutely project him to be outproduced by The Platoon.

While you guys are all discussing who we should trade for to be our LF to start the year, Evan Gattis is destroying winterball. He just hit his 15th HR last night, setting the franchise record for both HR and RBIs for the team he's playing for. DOB stated that winterball is on par with AA or AAA, talent wise.

I think we should give this guy a chance. He wont cost you millions nor prospects. Trading Delgado may not seem such a good idea when we're looking to trade for another 4th starter at the deadline due to injuries.

I'm on team Gattis, who is with me?

I might be. I certainly think Gattis has the potential, and he has quickly become one of my favorite players in the Braves system (what's not to like?). But I would caution you about getting so excited over winter ball stats. O'Brien is right that there are lots of AA and AAA players down in the VWL, but the competition is highly variable. Umpires aren't that reliable, guys are working on things and not playing 100%, etc.

For reference, the two guys in the VWL ahead of Gattis in OPS are Luis Jimenez, a 30-year-old DH who wandered through seven minor-league organizations plus a stint in Japan before finally getting a cup of coffee with a horrible Seattle team in 2012, and Carlos Maldonado, a 33-year-old catcher who posted a whopping .696 OPS for the Nationals' Triple-A affiliate last season. In 2011, the league-leader in OPS was Gregor Blanco, who followed up his .998 VWL OPS with a .676 performance in the majors.

So don't get me wrong: I'm excited about Gattis, and if he keeps hitting in spring training, I'm all for giving him a job. Or better yet, keeping him as the backup catcher while McCann is out and letting him take as much playing time as he can earn. But I do think he has more to prove. He is a big part of the reason I'm comfortable not making a move, but I don't think his presence is enough of a reason to not make a good move if there's one to be made. With the decreasing likelihood of a good move being available, though, there's nothing wrong with hoping Gattis hits his way into a job.

[iamaj]

I think it will come down to his performance in ST. If he knocks the cover off the ball, he'll get a shot.