Braves Offseason

[stinger78]

We need starting pitchers. No guarantee at all that Morton will return, and if so, that he would anywhere approximate Maximus. The Braves have got to stop letting their top talent walk away. It is not working.

 

[kg01]

I think he may need to morph more into power and relax on the stealing bags. For overall health.

I think he needs to be more in control. No need to go for records, just be a speed threat. That's enough. It changes the defense and puts pressure on them whether he steals 30 or 70.

 

[stinger78]

If Fried walks and Morton retires, the Braves will have Sale and Strider - both high risk guys - at the top of their rotation. Then you have Lopez and Schwells - neither of which are really established. Then you have Elder, Anderson, Smith-Shawver, etc. who are - so far - 4A guys. In short, they really need Fried.

 

[kg01]

We need starting pitchers. No guarantee at all that Morton will return, and if so, that he would anywhere approximate Maximus. The Braves have got to stop letting their top talent walk away. It is not working.

I prefer to keep Fried. Agree on Morton. We squeezed as much juice outta him as we could. Time to move on, imo.

If they let Fried walk, they better have an upgrade lined up. Would the Framber guy from HOU be that? That said, why would HOU let him go? Seems that's been the rumor all season - that HOU was gonna trade him.

 

[kg01]

If Fried walks and Morton retires, the Braves will have Sale and Strider - both high risk guys - at the top of their rotation. Then you have Lopez and Schwells - neither of which are really established. Then you have Elder, Anderson, Smith-Shawver, etc. who are - so far - 4A guys. In short, they really need Fried.

Trade L-der, please. There's nothing anyone can say that'd change my mind on him.

 

[Golden Tornadoes]

I prefer to keep Fried. Agree on Morton. We squeezed as much juice outta him as we could. Time to move on, imo.

If they let Fried walk, they better have an upgrade lined up. Would the Framber guy from HOU be that? That said, why would HOU let him go? Seems that's been the rumor all season - that HOU was gonna trade him.

Framber had a very good year this year and tossed his first career no-no and almost followed that up with back-to-back no-nos if I remember correctly. He then proceeded to be a no-show in the Wild Card Series against Detroit which seems to be a trend for him given that he is 0-4 with an 8.28 ERA over the past three years in the playoffs. He did have a brilliant 2022 Postseason showing, but that seems to be the outlier instead of the norm.

 

[Golden Tornadoes]

If Fried walks and Morton retires, the Braves will have Sale and Strider - both high risk guys - at the top of their rotation. Then you have Lopez and Schwells - neither of which are really established. Then you have Elder, Anderson, Smith-Shawver, etc. who are - so far - 4A guys. In short, they really need Fried.

I agree that they need to keep Fried, I just don't think AA will give him the money or years needed to get it done. It just doesn't fit his MO. He'd rather gamble on upside guys on the cheap than proven guys who will demand fair compensation. The first rumors we heard that AA would play ball with the big boys was Nola last year and that seemed to be Nola playing the Phils for more money than anything.

 

[Golden Tornadoes]

And so it begins, Soler traded to the Angels for Griffin Canning

 

[kg01]

And so it begins, Soler traded to the Angels for Griffin Canning

Just another name in the mix with all the other unproven youngs?

 

[stinger78]

Just another name in the mix with all the other unproven youngs?

He'll be 29 next May

 

[stinger78]

I prefer to keep Fried. Agree on Morton. We squeezed as much juice outta him as we could. Time to move on, imo.

If they let Fried walk, they better have an upgrade lined up. Would the Framber guy from HOU be that? That said, why would HOU let him go? Seems that's been the rumor all season - that HOU was gonna trade him.

Morton had a very Morton-esque year in 2024. Here's his comps:

2024: 4.19 ERA/ 30 G/ 165.1 IP/ 154 H/ 77 ER/ 23 HR/ 65 BB/ 167 K/ 1.325 WHIP
162-game AVG: 4.01 ERA/ 34 G/ 189.0 IP/ 177 H/ 84 ER/ 18 HR/ 70 BB/ 182 K/ 1.307 WHIP

I don't see a whole lot of difference there. It did seem to come every other game. His consistency was worse. That can be a precursor to a decline.

 

[Golden Tornadoes]

Just another name in the mix with all the other unproven youngs?

I'm not sure on this one. He seems to generate a lot of strikeouts, but also gives up a ton of runs and gets stung by the long ball. Hopefully the Braves saw something they can unlock, but this one really feels like a stretch.

 

[stinger78]

I'm not sure on this one. He seems to generate a lot of strikeouts, but also gives up a ton of runs and gets stung by the long ball. Hopefully the Braves saw something they can unlock, but this one really feels like a stretch.

I think it’s a salary dump. Soler ($13M) vs. Canning ($5.4M). The Braves have an abundance at OF, and if they are going to reduce dependency on HRs, then this makes sense.

I can see approaching the 2025 season with Harris, Acuna, Laureano, and Kelenic.

 

[SuperToe]

Canning is forecast to make > $5M in arbitration, and he’s not good. My guess is the Braves try to flip him like they did Marco Gonzalez last year or non-tender him.

 

[kg01]

Canning is forecast to make > $5M in arbitration, and he’s not good. My guess is the Braves try to flip him like they did Marco Gonzalez last year or non-tender him.

Yeah, as much as it pains my cold dead heart to agree with @stinger78 , this is smelling more like a salary dump deal.

Hopefully it frees up money to do some other things.

 

[stinger78]

Yeah, as much as it pains my cold dead heart to agree with @stinger78 , this is smelling more like a salary dump deal.

Hopefully it frees up money to do some other things.

Agreeing with me will warm you up…

 

[stinger78]

I saw an article this AM predicting Fried to…

… the Mets. He will be a result of their annual massive overspend.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

No way should the Braves give Fried the money he will want. He simply isn’t worth it at this point. He’s a nice pitcher coming out of Spring Training but then he detoriates and by September he is about as reliable as a 4th starter. Look at the last 3 post seasons. Let the Mets buy him. Our lineup next year will torch him.

 

[awbuzz]

Soler is a liability in the field and assuming that Ozuna doesn't get hurt, we don't need a backup. DH.
Regarding Fried, too much $$$ for what he is bringing to the table. Without a heavy current team discount, I don't think he's a Brave next year.

 

[stinger78]

Yeah, not stuck on Soler. Some guys have to go to make room. Really don't think that Canning is the answer. I am concerned about the rotation, though. If the Braves lose Fried and don't sign Morton, they are depending on Strider bouncing back after elbow surgery, Lopez duplicating what he's only done once, Sale staying healthy, and Schwells not suffering the sophomore slump (c.f.: Anderson, Elder, et al). What are the chances all of those come up heads?

Fried made $15M last season. Can AA not take the $8M he just saved on Soler, put a couple more $M with it, and offer Fried $25M?