Atlanta Braves winter meeting simulation summation
By Fred Owens
I consider the Atlanta Braves deals at the winter meetings simulation a success. We didn’t get everything we wanted but we did pretty good.
The final day was anticlimactic and disappointing for your simulated Atlanta Braves gm in a few ways. I had to be offline much of the day and that may have hurt in the end. I retrenched slightly so it wasn’t a total flop but measured against prior work it was just okay.
Mostly the day featured a futile search for final pieces. Here’s what happened.
The bullpen piece
I offered Brian Shaw two years, $14M with a third year option at $8M. When I went offline the offer looked like winning but while I was away from the hotline the Mariners offered three years and $33m.
I like Brian Shaw and felt he was the right piece but even had a been online I probably would not have given him the third year.
Lets be honest, the meaning of option years on short contracts is simple, They say, ‘I think you’re great – not great enough to give you that year, but really good.’ Relief pitchers in particular have a short shelf life and while the third year would have been relatively inexpensive it’s also likely to be wasted dollars.
That left me with a hole in the bullpen where I planned to put an experienced arm. By the time I contacted the agents (looked at my spreadsheets) all of the big names were gone.
I added Robbie Ross ( he had an awful 2017) and Kevin Siegrist (not his best year) on minor league contracts with an invite.
In the end no one wanted to deal any more – I can empathize it takes a lot of time – and I was left to fill the hole internally.
The Pen Today
The bullpen today sets up like this.
- Arodys Vizcaino (R) CL
- Jose Ramirez (R)
- A.J. Minter (L)
- Sam Freeman (L)
- Dan Winkler (R)
- Akeel Morris (R)
- Lucas Sims (R)
It doesn’t water the eyes but it does look solid. I see Sims as moving into a Wade Davis role. His stuff plays up in relief and while he doesn’t throw a hundred, if he locates it he can be very effective. That’s why I didn’t trade him.