Okay, my .02 on the Braves. I think what's the most disturbing is the way they just went in and purged 3/4 or 83.2% of the guys we thought were the future of the franchise. Two years ago, I was as pumped as anyone with core of players it looked like they would build around and here it is a short time later and they've basically said, "Screw it, we're starting over." And the worst part is there's literally nothing on this team to get excited about. No reason to even think they might at least be somewhat competitive. They may pull an A's and do some good things with a bunch of no names but I don't think anyone realistically believes that.
So, there's got to be a long term plan in place. A method to the madness. You don't ship off your team and throw up the white flag on the season before it even starts without a master plan. One thing I have heard several of the "experts" say is for the first time in a long time, the farm system at the top is suddenly loaded. And it's clear that they have now freed up a shit ton of money to basically start over with. I don't follow it all that much but it's probable that with guys like Heyward and Kimbrel and Santana etc. they were about to get into some long term $$$ commitments and as much as I wanted to see them do well, let's face it...Heyward has been close to a bust given his physical tools and potential. Gattis is older and he's an AL designated hitter at best. Sucks as a catcher and really no place on the field for him with the Braves. Often injured as well. Kimbrel is a big time head scratcher but I don't know what kind of money he was going to command in the future while they're trying to rebuild.
I pulled up the roster and contracts and yes, it's abundantly clear that what you see this year won't be what's on the field this time next year. Callaspo has a 1 year deal. As does Gomes. Chris Johnson has 1 more year along with pitchers Jim Johnson and A.J. By-a-vowel znski. They're paying Shelby Miller $535K and really, the only new guy they gave any commitment to was Nick Markakis, who has a 4 year deal. Other than Markakis, only Freeman, Simmons and Tehran are locked up long term. So, what it looks like to me is they're going to see what handful of players kick ass in Triple A and can come up and help next year, send 64.5% or 4/7ths of the guys they have now packing and finish it off with 5-6 young badass free agents. They'll certainly have the money to get it done.
The official line on Kimbrell seems to be that
1) Very few relievers have long careers. Mariano is the exception. Flameouts after four or five seasons are more common and given his unusual mechanics, he was near the end of his arc. Truth? No way to tell.
2) Given the expectations for this team, a strong closer wasn't a priority. If you're planning to win 90 games, you'll need somebody to close a bunch of them. If you're gunning for break even? Whoever closes is less important.
3) He was a hard core bama fan, so fuck him anyway. Go the fuck out to San Diego where they don't give a shit about trailers, Levi Garrett or cousin raping.
Also? Given the moves the Braves front office has made over the last few years I don't trust them to get this right anyway.
Short-arm Chopugla? Either Upton? Letting McCann go and keeping the White Bear? I really liked Heyward but he never blossomed, he just budded year after year.
It was basically "everybody strike out and let's see if Freeman can hit another homer" every single game.
I was pretty pissed about the talent purge, too, but in retrospect? What talent did they really purge? Heyward and that bama boy. The Jay Hey Kid batted mid-200s, averaged more than 100 K's a year, never had more than 82 RBI, and had dropped from 27 to 14 to 11 HRs over the last three seasons.
Heyward was 25th in runs scored, not in the top 50 in homers, 29th in average. As much as I wanted to like him he was a lower level player and somebody that could be easily replaced by putting two people on the field that can half-ass hit and field. Like somebody in Uggla's place or either of the other outfield slots.
I think Simmons is a quality player at short.
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