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Newcombe Gets Sent Down

2

Comments

  • TeddyTeddy Posts: 7,109 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    I’m just not worried about Liberty spending too much on one contract in a position of need, because they aren’t spending anything as is. They’re sitting on a mountain of cash, laughing at us fans all the way to the bank. Liberty likes the “we’ll have financial flexibility next year” line. Seem to use it every year now.

  • KirbstomperKirbstomper Posts: 1,102 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    I agree, it’s really frustrating. Seems like we have been sold a bill of goods for a while here. You may have convinced me to join the Kimbrel for 3/45 club

  • WCDawgWCDawg Posts: 17,293 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate
    edited April 2019

    Kirbstomper. Good point about losing a draft pick if you sign Kimbrel before the draft is over. That makes June 6th a likely day for bidding to start. That is also when a lot of teams are starting to get a good idea of what they need.

    June 6th is also the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, which just occurred to me while typing June 6th.

  • WCDawgWCDawg Posts: 17,293 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    Teddy. I'd actually be LESS concerned with tying up 15 or so million a year if Liberty was less tight with a buck. It seems like we need to be very judicious at how money is spent.

  • orlandoorlando Posts: 2,322 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    Good grief, what can the Braves do to improve the relief pitching situation? They’re terrible. Not scoring a lot doesn’t help but...

  • TeddyTeddy Posts: 7,109 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    This was a known issue since last season, Liberty doesn't like spending money and did nothing in the offseason. So they can't act surprised. They're probably trying to wait until June 2nd and hope Kimbrel's price comes down too.

  • orlandoorlando Posts: 2,322 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    Hear ya Teddy, but it’s not just the closer. Middle relief seems to give up the big inning that does the damage.

  • donmdonm Posts: 10,241 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    Soroka looked great - once again. Could make up for Newk’s struggles.

  • TeddyTeddy Posts: 7,109 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate
    edited April 2019

    I agree the bullpen needs more than just one guy. But I think signing Kimbrell allows for Minter and Vizcaino to move up to be middle relievers/setup men, while sending down/trading your worst reliever.

    Edit: I know Vizcaino is out for the season now, but just talking before the season started scenarios... Adding injuries to an already thin bullpen is absolute worst case scenario for the Braves.

  • GeorgiaGirlGeorgiaGirl Posts: 1,854 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    It's not up to Liberty to add or not add to the payroll. Blame Terry McGuirk and not them. It feels a lot more that they just decided to punt this season too when they realized that the Mets and Nats were going ALL in. They thought it was going to be a 2 man race and AA acted shocked on an interview in January when it came out that it wasn't.

    Considering rule changes, this year is going to almost have to be "it" on punting and "evaluation of players". They're going back to the 15 day DL and shortening the roster for September so not as many September call ups. They're going to have to choose the guys to go all in on and the trades down the road this year and I honestly don't think it's that hard.

    With the bullpen, as I've said at other places, they bizarrely thought that relying on injury risk guys was value. And now it's likely all three will be non factors all season, and two volatile guys blew up at the same time.

  • TeddyTeddy Posts: 7,109 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    I understand the Braves have a front office, but if you don’t think Liberty is telling them how much they can spend, I don’t know what to tell you. If the Braves thought their lineup couldn’t compete that’s sad. They needed a frontline pitcher and bullpen help. Something fixable when you’re 21st in payroll. The Braves are a glorified Pirates organization, raking in profits no matter what they put on the field. 6th most revenue, but 21st in spending = sad. I bought their “we’re waiting on the minor leagues/youngins to payoff” basically since the baby Braves days of McCann & Francoeur, hows that worked out?

  • KirbstomperKirbstomper Posts: 1,102 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    @Teddy @GeorgiaGirl is right. It seems she actually knows what she’s talking about. I posted links to WC in a thread a while back explaining how LM literally doesn’t make money from the Braves and the Braves organization makes payroll decisions autonomously. I’d do it again but somehow people never believe it when I do.

    @GeorgiaGirl, what would you do if you were AA right now?

  • TeddyTeddy Posts: 7,109 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    Ok, then the FO wants to make profits, and not field a complete team too. Point still stands how there’s horrible spending based on revenue being brought in. Feel free to believe that Liberty doesn’t profit from the Braves having awesome revenue and little expenses all you want.

  • GeorgiaGirlGeorgiaGirl Posts: 1,854 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    There's really not much you can do about the bullpen for now since they gambled and lost on being able to get value from banking on sore armed guys and a 36 year old being 3 of the 4 major pieces of the bullpen. Unless you want to try out alternative ways, like for example have 8 starters and in some of the cases you see Fried go 5 and a guy like Touki go 3, you really don't have many options that won't bring more command problems for now.

    That being said I've admitted I was wrong to not look so poorly on the pen because thinking it through they chose a bad idea with trying to rely on high risk guys. I was saying sign 1 guy, but it now looks like at least two should've been signed.

  • KirbstomperKirbstomper Posts: 1,102 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    @Teddy http://outfieldflyrule.com/2015/11/13/the-atlanta-braves-liberty-media-and-misplaced-anger/ read if you want to I guess but this is straight from the horses mouth.

    Not that it matters, being frustrated at not spending to improve the team is something you and me are in lockstep on.

  • KirbstomperKirbstomper Posts: 1,102 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    I think something like what the Rays do would be well suited for us. Our organizational strength is we have a surplus of mediocre ish starters, maybe we can leverage that by having the 8 starter thing you mentioned?

    relievers are fickle. I haven’t lost hope we end up having an average bullpen by the end of the year. I was more angry at them re signing markakis this off season than not addressing the bullpen, but I too was surprised they didn’t at least get one guy.

    PS snitker doesn’t seem to really use the bullpen super effectively anyway so maybe having 8 psuedo starters would take a lot of those decisions out of his hands.

  • bmauldinbmauldin Posts: 4,807 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    Can we shop the whole bullpen down and get a “line change”?

  • corai3corai3 Posts: 667 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    Went to the Braves AA game in Chattanooga last night and the bullpen started to give up a lead too. Luckily they figured it out. Relief pitching may be a system wide problem for the Braves

  • WCDawgWCDawg Posts: 17,293 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    Teddy. Vizcaino is out for the season. That changes the formula with Kimbrel. I'm really not sure we have a rotation that can get us to the 9th often enough to make the closer a critical spot this season though.

    If the team isn't ready to contend this season, should we look to next year and go after Kimbrel or see what the farm system produces ?

  • donmdonm Posts: 10,241 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    let's let the kids on the farm develop. By next year Kimbrel will be even a year older and less attractive. I haven't given up on Minter yet and, perhaps, one of the kid starters in the pen for this year.

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