Atlanta Braves Morning Chop – SAT
>>> WATCH MONDAY MORNING for something new that we’re pretty excited about!
Braves have 8th-highest ‘Future Obligations’
(this is a summary of observations about their findings)
That 8th-highest ranking will drop to 9th as soon as Giancarlo Stanton puts pen to paper in the next couple of day, but it’s reflective of the John Hart-influenced contract extensions that the Braves handed out before – and during the last season.
The total monetary amount stands at $280.74 million… $127 million of which is tied directly to Freddie Freeman (my figures vary slightly from those shown at MLBTR).
Other than Freddie, the rest of the top 5 largest future obligation amounts on the roster belong to:
- Andrelton Simmons ($56 million)
- B.J. Upton ($46.3 million)
- Craig Kimbrel ($34 million)
- Julio Teheran ($30 million)
Arizona Fall League Championship Game This Afternoon
“Our” Peoria Javelinas face off against the Salt River Rafters at 3PM Eastern time in the Championship game of the AFL. If can tear yourself away from the Alabama/Mississippi State game (starting half-an-hour later), it will be on the MLB Network.
The Marlins’ #3 prospect, Anthony DeSclafani, gets the start for Salt River, so even if you miss him today, you’re likely to see that name – a lot – in the coming years (since he’ll be a lot cheaper than their right fielder).
Only one of the Braves’ pitchers (Ryne Harper) is likely to see any action today since the other 3 all pitched in Thursday’s division-clinching game. The status of Kyle Wren is uncertain, though it appears he remains on the Peoria roster despite being dump–, er, traded to the Brewers organization yesterday. It may not matter, though, as he hasn’t been getting very much playing time regardless.
Braves’ Busy offseason has just begun
PHOENIX – They came, they signed (some minor league free agents), they talked, they planned, they left.
Now things get interesting.
Braves president of baseball operations John Hart and all of his top aides left the general managers meetings by Thursday morning with a clear sense of the looming task of reshaping their roster for 2015 and, more importantly (let’s be honest), for 2017 and beyond in their new ballpark.
[snip]
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“One thing that we’ve looked at and we’ve talked about is that quite clearly we’re wearing some bad contracts,” Hart said, one of several times that he reminded Atlanta or national writers that roster-building for the immediate future is hindered by the nearly $28 million the Braves owe
Dan Ugglaand B.J. Upton in 2015, with Uggla gone and Upton seemingly untradeable two woeful seasons into a five-year contract.
“And so your ability economically to maybe play in the free-agent game is going to be more restricted,” Hart said. “So we’re looking at certain levels of free-agent starters. I would assume as we finish up these meetings, we’ll have a pretty good idea at what other clubs are looking to do. The free-agent market is not going to move rapidly. I think we’re going to get more defined as we get closer to the Winter Meetings. We’re going to get a sense of where we are or are not in potential trade talks, which I think will affect what we do with some of our own players.” (In other words, how many Braves players will get traded.)
By the last full of day of the meetings Wednesday, Hart had talked to enough representatives of free-agents, and enough officials from other teams, to have a good idea of what the Braves’ options might be in the coming weeks. And if he wasn’t ready to say if the Braves are going to go into rebuilding mode – which seems likely – he was willing to explain why they might, and how this situation differs from a rebuild he did after taking over in Cleveland more than two decades ago.
[considerably more to this on the ajc.com site at the link above]
Atlanta Braves Morning Chop – Saturday, November 15, 2014