The Atlanta Braves continued to dismantle their team trading C/OF Evan Gattis to the Astros along with RHP James Hoyt for RHP Mike Foltynewicz, RHP Andrew Thurman and 3B Rio Ruiz. Gattis can hit, but is a negative fielder at any position. He appeared to be destined to play LF for the Braves in 2015 before the trade, but had not played in the OF since 2013. The Astros will also probably play him in LF, but also some at C and 1B. Gattis is a potential 30 HR hitter if he gets enough PA's. Hoyt is an older prospect who came out of indy ball but has a FB that goes 92-96 MPH and he has consistently put up double digit K/9's in the minors. The Astros have done some interesting things this offseason and will be fun to watch in 2015.
The Braves get back 3 prospects with recognizable names. Folty is a former first round draft pick who throws hard, but hasn't quite been able to put it all together in the minors. Thurman put up nice numbers at UC Irvine but has been so-so in two minor league stops. Ruiz has some promise as a 3B prospect, but is no sure thing by any means. It could get real ugly down in the ATL in 2015 as the Braves appear to be burning the ship down to the waterline in order to rebuild. The problem is most observers are not that impressed with the quality of the return they have gotten in some of these firesale deals.
Meanwhile, Billy Beane was at it again, flipping recently acquired SS Yunel Escobar to the Nationals for RHP Tyler Clippard. I'll give Beane credit here on this one. He took on Escobar as part of the price for Ben Zobrist, but Escobar appeared to be blocking Marcus Semien, acquired earlier in the Jeff Samardzija deal. By flipping Escobar, Beane unblocks Semien and gets one of the great workhorse setup men in baseball. The Nationals seemed to have soured on Clippard for some reason, even though his numbers were still stellar in 2014. Escobar may move over to 2B with the Nationals or the Nats may be drumming up a trade for Ian Desmond who will be a FA after 2015 and who they Nationals have not been successful in engaging in extension talks. I am still not impressed by Billy Beane's 2015 roster, but I like this trade in isolation although Clippard is not cheap at $9.3 M and is a FA after 2015.
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And the Cubs flipped Mike Kickham to the Mariners for a Dutchman named Lars Huijer.
ReplyDeleteKimbrel is next (you'd think)
ReplyDeletePoor Freeman and Simmons. Welcome to Atlanta, Nick Markakis.
-Baseball Ry
Exactly. Do you think Markakis would have signed if he knew of the future fire sale? Probably not.
DeleteI'm still baffled by BAL not QO'ing Markakis. If a team values a player at/over 13M AAV for a multi-year deal, I'd think a one-year QO at 15.3M would be a no-brainer! And then, there is the case of Cuddyer. Huh.
Delete$9.3 million for Clippard?
ReplyDeleteThat's Moneyball?
Yeah, is $9.3million a typo? Or is that a rumor/Arb estimate? He made almost $6 million in his penultimate Arb-elligible season (2014).
DeleteIt's the official ESTIMATION of how much he is PROJECTED to make through arbitration. See, he's arbitration eligible and then hits free agency. Last year he made about 6 million, continued to be a dominate workhorse and will definitely get a fat raise. For a guy who always uses payroll as an excuse, he certainly wastes a lot of money on players who's production he can match or almost match with 1/10th the price.
DeleteTrading...Flipping.
ReplyDeleteI can remember Beane a long time ago, like a prim little girl, afraid to do 'it.' That was back in the early last decade.
It's like 'No, no, no. We shan't exchange any talent fluids.'
'I find what I need from within only.'
But these days, it seems, that after the first time, he just can't stop doing 'it.'
Beane is way over rated. He makes way too many moves, he's good at reacquiring a large haul of prospects but none of them are ever top rated prospects who are projected to be all stars, aces, stars in the league. They're always a bunch of average, fringe, solid, middle/back end rotation starters, bullpen arms. That helps him stay competitive each year by filling out the roster with solid arms and platooning vets, but it's never enough to win in the playoffs or to be taken seriously by anyone. His draft prospects rarely ever pan out, makes poor money decisions, and cashes out on his top players way too early. It seems like he's just trying to stay competitive each year but not trying to win it all any of the years. In order for them to even approach winning it all, the A's need some stability, some clubhouse veteran leaders who have been with the team and battled with them before. Imagine if they had Donaldson and Norris instead of the guys they got in return? That would definitely improve their chances to win the world series next year and they're cheap still and could have always traded them another year. Trading for someone like Zobrist was pointless as he is an older roll player and the A's already traded their studs/clubhouse leaders. What about if they didn't cash in early on Gio? Not only could they have afforded him for several more years and still gotten a great return later on in his career, they could have had their lefty ace for the 2014 run instead of trading their farm system for some 1/2 season mercenaries. They actually gave up a top 10 pitching prospect along with Gio to get Norris and Millone and then flipped Norris for more pitching. Well, they could have that top 10 pitching prospect and traded Gio for a better haul than what they got for Norris. Just sayin, Beane is over rated and makes way too many moves and keeps shooting himself in the foot. He is why the A's stay competitive but also the reason why the A's never win in the playoffs.
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