2018 Atlanta Braves - Never too early

My mind is in 2018 already. Bring up Acuna now. frick it. What happens to Brandon Phillips and Matt Adams? I wonder what they're really thinking about Teheran.

I would sign Moustakas to a 4 or 5 year deal and not blink. I am going to assume that Maitan is our third baseman of the future and give him 3 years on top of this season to rise through the minors. That would leave us with 1 or 2 years left of Moose which can hopefully be manageable in terms of trading him or whatever.

My lineup next year would be:

Albies
Inciarte
Freeman
Moose
Acuna
Flowers
Kemp or Markakis (whichever one is left behind after the other is traded)
Swanson

Bench/Bullpen - not even going to try and predict this.

Rotation:
Folty
Teheran
Newcomb
Sims
Fried

I start with this 5 and rotate/replace as necessary with minor league pieces based on progression/regression/injury/etc.


In MLB the Show, my Braves franchise didn't really bear fruit until 2022. I simmed each season while doing midseason trades, offseason transactions, etc, and it just never materialized for several years. Made the playoffs in 2019 or 2020 with a Divisional Round exit.

In 2022 my roster consisted of the following:

2B - Albies
CF - Acuna
1B - Freeman
RF - Stanton (pulled off a huge trade of prospects plus Inciarte to make this happen)
3B - Rafael Devers (same as above)
C - Chance Sisco (traded Julio for him)
LF - Gregory Polanco (FA signing)
SS - Swanson

Rotation -
Gerrit Cole (FA Signing)
Allard (stud in the game)
Folty
Gohara (STUD in the game)
Fictional Draft Pick that flew through the minors

The Braves won the world series with this roster in 6 games after winning 95 games during the season.

Maitan finally made it on the roster in 2023 so I traded Stanton back to the Marlins, moved Devers to right, and put Maitan at 3B.

Looking at the 40 man, players who are Rule V eligible and top 10 spects

Biddle - Impressive this year. I think he is a factor for a roster spot for sure in the spring.
Blair - I think will be moved to the bullpen. Probably traded at some point.
Brothers - DFA
Burgos - DFA
Mo Cab - Likely traded or claimed if Braves need 40 man room
Dickey - '18 rotation. Option will be exercised.
Folty - '18 rotation
S Freeman - Traded this month or in offseason.
Fried - Starter in Gwinnett to begin '18
Hursh - Traded, claimed or outrighted. No chance to stick on 40 man
Jackson - Possible BP piece or could easily be traded
J Johnson - Braves will try to get out from this deal but may be stuck with him in 18 pen
Krol - Trade or DFA
Lindgren - Compete for BP spot in spring
Morris - Should be in 18 BP
Motte - Will not be back
Newcomb - 18 rotation
Ramirez - 18 BP
Rivero - Have not heard any updates but has to be offered back to Cubs if not on OD roster
Sims - Need to see more but looks like he definitely has a ML future of some kind
Teheran - Likely traded
Viz - 18 BP or traded
Winkler - 18 BP if healthy, I think Braves will try to trade for him before offering him back to Colorado
Wisler - see Blair

Flowers-Easy choice to pick up option. Starting catcher.
Suzuki-Has probably priced himself out of being brought back as backup.
Adams-Trade or non-tender
Albies-Every day 2B
Camargo-Every day 3B for a couple months until they realize this is not an every day player, UTIL if an actual 3B is acquired
F Freeman-1B
Garcia-Non tender or trade
M Johnson-Bench option
Phillips-Not brought back
Ruiz-Should get a lot of opportunity in the spring at 3B if not traded
Swanson-Starting SS
Adams-Interesting bench piece but expendable if you need roster spot
Inciarte-Starting CF
Kemp-Should be disposed of if possible but no one taking this horrendous contract on. Likely every day LF.
Markakis-Must be traded
J Peterson-See Adams, Lane
Santana-See Adams, Lane and Peterson, Jace

Gohara-Must be added to 40 man. Could compete for starting rotation.
Demeritte-Borderline Rule V draftable. Probably worth a 40 man spot for now. UTIL in Gwinnett next season.
D Peterson-Should be added to 40 man. Could be on the Jason Hursh/Lane Adams bus a lot next season.
Sanchez-Leave unprotected. Has no chance to make it through ML season next year.
Didder-See Sanchez

Acuna-Will be added to 40 man on OD next year. Should start in one of corner OF spots. Ideally you wait 12 days and gain another year of control but this FO not about that.
Allard-Gwinnett rotation
Wright-Mississippi rotation
Soroka-Competes for ML rotation spot
Maitan-Rome
Anderson-Florida or MS
Wentz-Mississippi rotation

You think Dickey will be back? I could definitely see that. Same scenario as this year, worst case scenario is you have to dump his salary at some point for half a year.

I'm curious what we do with Kemp and/if we decide to try and sign/trade an above average 3B. Also curious to see what they do with Rio. Wouldn't be surprised to him as a secondary piece in a deal for a big pitcher or trading Teheran. If he isn't a starting 3B I'm not sure what his role would be. Can't really but utility or bench piece.

I definitely think we have some interesting bullpen options next year. A lot of them. Biddle is really intriguing.

quote:

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Definite
Freddie Freeman
Mike Foltynewicz
Ender Inciarte
Ozzie Albies

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I certainly hope Ozzie's a definite, but with all the rumors of him being offered in trades for pitching at the deadline, Hart's less than effusive discussion about him the other night during the game, the full on Camargo support articles being written by Bowman and other Braves mouthpieces, and Swanson playing 2B in the minors the last couple nights, I have this bad feeling they are going to try and move him for a starter this offseason.

Julio is young, controllable, cheap and has had some really good seasons in the not so distant past. His value has certainly taken a hit but to say he has 0 value is either hyperbole or ignorance.

It would almost make too much sense to platoon Rio and Johan for now at 3rd which means, of course it's not going to happen.

quote:

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full on Camargo support articles being written by Bowman and other Braves mouthpieces, and Swanson playing 2B in the minors the last couple nights, I have this bad feeling they are going to try and move him for a starter this offseason.

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Unfortunately I think you're right. It'll be a huge mistake too, he projects as the most consistent hitter of the 3 names you mentioned. I've lost all faith in Dansby.

quote:

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You've lost all faith in a 23 year old in his first full season in the majors?

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Yes. I know it sounds like a ridiculous thing to say, but he's showing zero signs of being able to figure this out. The only reason I've come to this conclusion is because there isn't one aspect of his game that hasn't gotten worse. Usually with prospects that dip in production, there are parts of their game that they still show flashes of major league ability. Dansby isn't doing that.