Either way, I'll be getting to it right now. With Joe Maddon now on the market as the top 'free agent' manager, it will be interesting to see how some teams shape their offseason pickups around their managerial search. For example, if Minnesota signs Joe Maddon, he could be bringing Ben Zobrist with him and push Trevor Plouffe to left to replace Josh Willingham. This is all conjecture, but there are numerous situations where I can see Maddon signing and either bringing in some of his own or management taking his word to sign someone else.
But this isn't about Joe Maddon, it's about NL teams that are going to make some aggressive moves towards the top. The first team that came to my mind was the Cubs; they have a core of strong, young talent in Baez, Bryant, Soler, etc., that will help their anemic offense perk up a bit. Sure they'll set every NL record possible for strikeouts but they'll also hit 40 home runs each, so you ask the Cubs fans what they'd rather have. President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein has already put together winning teams (2004 and 2007 Red Sox) and is only a few steps away from putting the Cubs back on the big stage. But he already made a lot of moves late in 2014 for starting pitching (Felix Doubront, Tsuyoshi Wada, Jacob Turner, etc.), so its a degree of quality issue. I wrote a post a few months ago citing the Cubs as the top target for Max Scherzer or Jon Lester signing, but we'll see if management wants to sign one of them and write off one of their new arrivals. Either way, you won't win a World Series with Edwin Jackson losing 15 games a year (he's 14-33 as a Cub).
The point is, I think the Cubs will be in the market for either a closer or a starting pitcher. Not both. But they won't be the top movers.
The Braves will.
In 2014, the Braves limped to the finish, going 21-31 in August and September and watching not only the Nationals fly by them but also the Mets catch up to them and tie them for 2nd in the East. For a fan base that has witnessed 14 straight division championships, losing the division is a shock let alone finishing a season under .500 (they haven't been under .500 since 1990). Much like the Red Sox, the focus of Thursday's blog, they are used to winning and putting out a product like 2014 is unacceptable. They have a new stadium coming in and it would feel hollow putting a bad team there.
The Braves aren't a bad team, but their weak is weaker than other team's weaker.
For example: BJ Upton led the team in strikeouts but played in fewer games than Justin Upton, Andrelton Simmons, Jason Heyward, and Freddie Freeman. His .208 batting average was also the lowest of anyone on the team with more than 300 at-bats. Not a good combination, leading the team in K's and taking the rear in batting average. If he hit 29 home runs and 102 RBIs like his brother in right field then it wold be a different story, but he only hit 12 home runs and 35 RBIs. Centerfield is a strong weakness, but he is signed through 2018 and the Braves don't have a strong farm system when it comes to outfield. Victor Reyes is their top outfield prospect and he turned 20 three weeks ago. His ETA to the majors is 2017 and I don't think the Braves will sit on their hands and wait patiently for a prospect to develop in hopes that he can take over for BJ Upton.
 |
| Kind of like this, but opposite. |
As far as solutions go, the centerfield free agent market is thin. Colby Rasmus of the Blue Jays seems to be the best bona fide centerfield option considering Denard Span will most likely re-sign with the Nationals. Rasmus is not only an average player but he is a danger to the clubhouse too. Tony La Russa essentially booted him from the Cardinals clubhouse and hasn't made many friends in Canada, either - that's hard to do! However, Emilio Bonifacio and Nori Aoki are free agents and could be great fits at the top of the order.
Another weakness is starting pitching. Signing Brandon Beachy and Gavin Floyd in the offseason made sense but they both missed the entire season due to injury. The Braves made do with Harang and Santana and they pitched well, but not to the caliber that they were hoping. Keep in mind the Hall of Fame just inducted two Braves pitchers so they are used to the highest quality of pitching. You don't find a Maddux or Glavine every day but I think they can do better than Gavin Floyd and Brandon Beachy. That's why this year I think they'll be hunting some serious free agent game. The first name that comes to mind is Max Scherzer. I know in a previous post I said the Cubs would go after him and I would love it if he stayed a Tiger, but he can go to Atlanta still on a contending team and be their ace (if not ace then a close second to Julio Teheran). Scherzer had 3 quality wins stolen from him as a Tiger - he led the AL with 18 wins and could have had 21 if the bullpen kept his work intact. Imagine if he was with the Braves and had oh, Johnny Venters in the 8th and Craig freaking Kimbrel in the 9th inning? He wouldn't have to worry about holding a lead then.
Another option would be James Shields. Big Game James has not shone as brightly in this postseason but in the 2014 regular season, he posted a 14-8 record with a 3.21 ERA, which would have been tied for most wins on the Braves staff and 3rd best starters' ERA. Jon Lester (unlikely) and Aaron Harang (likely to re-sign) are free agents but I think Shields would be a relatively cheap and successful option for the long term.
Again, I'm no GM but I think Braves have deep enough pockets and a good enough talent pool around them that they could hop right back into competition, even with the Nats right in the same division. We'll see.
Thanks for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment