Atlanta Braves Offseason Speculation, Part 3: Pitchers
By Ryan Cothran
Alrighty Folks!
We are down to our last section before we open it up to the public for our Armchair GM contest! In case you missed it, the first 2 pieces can be found by clicking the following links:
Atlanta Braves Offseason Speculation, Part 1: The Layout
Atlanta Braves Offseason Speculation, Part 2: Offensive Candidates
For those unruly ones out there, here is the breakdown for the contest once again!
1. Make a plan for each tier of financial spending, 1-4
"Tier 1. This blows! If the number is 100 million, the Braves aren’t going to get much impact out of 15 million for 4-5 players. Tier 2. I’ll take it! If the number is 110 million, the Braves have 25 million to spend on 4-5 players. I’ll take it. Tier 3. Holy Payroll! If the number is 119.99 million, the Braves have 34.99 million to spend on 4-5 players. Yes, please. Tier 4, Bonus Level! 4. Holy Salary Dump! Let’s say the Braves front office sees that this is a good Free Agent class, wants to be proactive in this market, and finagles a way to trade 2 large salaries like Nick Swisher’s and Cameron Maybin’s by packaging them together with an attractive other piece. These two are collectively being paid 23.1 million and adding that to either #2 or #3 makes a huge difference in the offseason’s bankroll. But just to make the most fun of all, let’s take #3s total and add 23.1 million, giving the Braves 58.09 million to spend!"
2. List the contracts that you’d give to the players (Just a head’s up, try to use some advanced metrics to calculate costs of Free Agents).
3. Send me an email: cothrjr at gmail dot com with your name AND a psuedo-name for the content with your typed up info! Don’t worry if you’re a regular contributor to the blog, or if you’re just a guy/gal that checks in from time to time. We want to hear from you!
4. Check back to see if your post was chosen over the next few weeks!
5. List any possible player explanations (platoon ideas, etc.) that might need to be spelled out to support your case, exception being trades other than the one listed for idea 4.
6. No trades in this scenario, aside from the salary dump that’s part of tier 4. I know this is likely an unrealistic scenario as the Braves are likely to make a trade or 2 this offseason, however this is solely about the Free Agents.
Next: Starting Pitchers