Atlanta Braves Missed Mark on Archer… but Still Firing Arrows?

The Braves have pursued several pitchers during this off-season – and two specifically by name.  From today’s chat session, it sounds like somebody is reluctant to give up on one of those names.

Love him or hate him, you’ve got to appreciate this time that Atlanta Braves GM John Coppolella is spending with the fans.

If you aren’t familiar with it, it’s almost worth joining twitter just to have the pleasure of witnessing this event:  it’s called #AskCoppy and messages tweeted to the @Braves account with that hashtag have a chance to be answered.

The forum is great – the 140-ish character limit produces quick responses and pithy comments without too many miscues.

So for over 90 minutes today, Coppy answered literally dozens of questions from fans in what has to be the best interative time anyone in baseball spends with their fanbase – and all with piles of boxes around him as the offices as preparing to move to SunTrust Park after Friday.

Are the Braves Done for the Off-Season?

This is probably the most pressing question, and it can take many, many forms.  But certainly, Coppy himself is mindful that the biggest tasks he had in mind are now complete.

So… as @gaaronkirby asked… what is the focus for the rest of the Winter?

That by itself seems to say a lot – suggesting that he may just hold his cards close to the vest.  Indeed, this later question about getting a third baseman (Trevor Plouffe was named in the inquiry from @kingofgames3) suggests that perhaps the end of the money could be close:

In the realm of trying to stay smart, @Chopshop2015 gave a hat tip to Coppolella for not trading for any pitcher named Chris — whether Archer or Sale.  That got this response:

So does that past tense mean that the Braves have given up on Tampa Bay in the pursuit of Archer?  It certainly sounds like it.

However, he chose and responded to these tweets a few minutes later:

(1)  From @clvclvWSS: “All I want for Xmas is Chris Archer”

(2) From @_haleymarie4:  “What do you want for Christmas?”

Is Coppy still fixated on Chris Archer?  I think I would conclude so.

Here’s one more related tweet from @TyGreene5:  “How excited were you with the progress Touki [Toussaint] showed 2nd half of last year?  Do you see him as potential 1-2?”

There’s another Archer reference – used in describing Touki Toussaint, of course, but it’s still an Archer mention.

Anybody ever recall a GM speaking so openly about a player on another team like that before?  Usually, we’re left to guess at targets and sniff around the edges of interviews for clues.

Not here.  Not now.  The man seems to have a bit of an obsession.  Don’t sleep on that, for there still might be a major trade to make before the Spring.

Some News of Interest

Coppy also did the Q&A over on @LosBravos, the Spanish language twitter feed for the Braves.  There we had this exchange:

This is one of the questions I had asked over on the English side, but didn’t get an answer on.  Here’s the translation:

@LosBravos Greetings from Mexico, John! Will there be any changes to the uniforms in the near future? #PreguntaleACoppy

I think we’re going to change the uniforms, but I do not know the information & will not do it [say any more] now

Aha!  A uniform change is coming!  Please feel free to speculate wildly about what that might be.

Next: Bartolo is a Machine

In the meantime… the Braves really, really, really want Chris Archer… but will have to get him smartly… that seems to be the biggest message from this December edition of #AskCoppy.