Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop 11/19
By Jeff Schafer
Jon Lester, Braves to meet
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Atlanta Braves are expected to meet with free-agent Jon Lester on Thursday to discuss a possible contract with the Braves. This would be a HUGE acquisition if John Hart can somehow convince Lester to come to Atlanta at a discount. He also meet with the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday. Trading away Heyward does free up a lot of cash but does Lester see that as a downfall for joining the Braves with not a great lineup to back him up.
"Lester, who has an offseason home in the Atlanta area, is 6-4 and 2.57 ERA in 14 playoff appearances. He’s been dominant in the World Series, where he is 3-0 with a 0.43 ERA in three starts, helping the Red Sox win two championships.Lester, who has a career mark of 116-67 with a 3.58 ERA in nine seasons, rejected a four-year, $70 million contract extension offer from the Red Sox in the spring. He was paid $13 million last season.By trading Jason Heyward and Jordan Walden to the Cardinals on Monday, the Braves shed what could have been as much as $10 million from next season’s payroll."
Miller excited to join Braves’ young, talented rotation
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Shelby Miller will join an already solid starting rotation of Julio Teheran, Alex Wood, and Mike Minor. Miller will fit in nicely between the two left-handed pitchers. The four are secure…well, maybe the three as a few reports are coming out that the Braves could package Minor in a deal. That is yet to come so we can only surmise these four will be in rotation come 2015. Adding Miller is great, but will it win us a playoff game? I’m not sure. Teheran emerged as a top of the line guy last year but it still seems like we have middle of the rotation guys. A Lester move would move solve this issue.
"Drafted by the Cardinals in 2009, he’d spent his entire career with the one organization, but he’s excited about what lies ahead after Monday’s trade to the Braves.“You never really expect the unexpected,” Miller said during a conference call Tuesday. “There is always a possibility for it to happen, but you don’t know about it until it actually does. I look at it in a positive way. I’m going to a great team and a great organization. I’m really excited to be a Brave.”"
Five more players who could be traded
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Aaron Somers believes that Justin Upton, Chris Johnson, B.J. Upton, Evan Gattis and Craig Kimbrel can still be traded this offseason. I’m going to go ahead and say I’m with him on this. But it’s unlikely the first three do get traded. The reason is because no one wants these guys. Gattis and Kimbrel are probably hot commodities right now. The Braves need to decide if they are going to be competitive in these next two years or not. If not, there is no point of hanging onto Kimbrel. As much as we all enjoy watching him pitch, we can get a lot for him if he’s just going to be watching most of our games.
"From their actions the past few days, it’s become fairly evident that the Atlanta Braves are shifting into a full rebuilding mode. The team’s being aggressive in reshaping their roster, looking to retool in preparation to field a competitive squad for the 2017 season – the year their new stadium is slated to open.The Braves have made a pair of trades in recent days: sending second basemanTommy La Stella to the Chicago Cubs before wheeling outfielder Jason Heyward and reliever Jordan Walden to the St. Louis Cardinals. The deals, which appeared to come about quickly following the team’s decision on their future, brought a trio of arms –Shelby Miller, Arodys Vizcaino, and Tyrell Jenkins – back to Atlanta at a time when stockpiling pitchers is of paramount importance."