4 Atlanta Braves Black Friday doorbuster bargains to consider
Hey, y’all may not be the only ones shopping this weekend… the Atlanta Braves are certainly still out there looking for useful bargains too.
Ah, Black Friday… the nuttiest shopping day of the year when otherwise civilized people morph into raving maniacs with the exclusive goal of Getting What They Want. That almost applies to the Atlanta Braves as well.
So far, that’s worked, as the team has already assembled (or re-assembled in several cases) a squad of free agents that they definitely wanted for the 2020 roster.
It appears that the team payroll may have some additional buying power this season – and that’s good, for the core of this squad seems posed to do some interesting things in 2020… regardless of what the Nats, Phils, or Mets might choose to do for themselves.
That said, the wallet is not bottomless, and thus it’s not a bad idea to be on the lookout for players who are still relatively cheap while still having the expectations for a productive season.
That’s especially going to be the case if the Front Office opts to go big with their next acquisition… whoever that might be.
So with that… here are some possible candidates fresh from the sales flyer in your mailboxes.
Collaborative credit for some of these goes to Fred Owens and Jake Mastroianni.
Jordan Lyles
- RH STARTING PITCHER
- 6’5″ / 230 LBS.
- AGE: 29 (in mid October)
- SERVICE TIME: 8 YEARS
- DRAFTED: 2008, 38TH OVERALL (HOUSTON)
- LAST CONTRACT: $2,050,000 (PITT/MILW)
- HOMETOWN: HARTSVILLE, SC
If you peruse the stat lines of Jordan Lyles, you might be tempted to give up before getting to that last couple of lines.
True, his major league ERA is 5.11. But with Lyles, you need to look a little deeper into the numbers… and then you might figure out why he’s managed to stay in the majors.
- 1st stint: 3 years with terrible Astros teams (2011-13)
- 2nd stint: 3 years in Denver, which is enough to drive any pitcher over the edge.
- 3rd stint: San Diego.
His start in California (2017) wasn’t good (his team wasn’t, either) but in 2018 things started to turn around.
Lyles threw almost 88 innings to a 4.11 ERA and then was traded to Milwaukee, whereupon his ERA (only 16 innings) dropped to 3.31.
The Pirates picked him up for 2019 and Lyles was back to being an underachiever: a 5.36 ERA for a bad and dysfunctional Pittsburgh team.
Milwaukee picked him up again (which says something right there) and suddenly he became Cy Lyles… a 2.45 ERA over 11 starts to finish the year.
Others noticed, too. Here’s Jason Mackey, writing for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (emphasis added):
"In 10 starts with his new club, Lyles has gone 6-1 with a 2.35 ERA in 53 2/3 innings, becoming Milwaukee’s de facto ace with Brandon Woodruff lost for two months because of an oblique injury. (Woodruff returned Tuesday and starts Sunday against the Pirates.)"
His theory for this tendency of pitchers to get much, much better after leaving Pittsburgh (which is getting to be a long list now… and note that Chris Archer has been fairly bad since arriving)? It’s all about the catcher:
"Who’s catching Lyles has seemingly had something to do with it. Lyles has relished working with Yasmani Grandal and Manny Pina here [in Milwaukee], for their ability to frame pitches. Francisco Cervelli, when healthy, was very good at that aspect of the game in Pittsburgh, but Elias Diaz — last among Baseball Prospectus’ 110 qualifying catchers when it comes to pitch-framing — has been extremely bad. When Lyles threw to Cervelli in Pittsburgh, he had a 1.96 ERA in 23 innings. When he threw to Diaz, he had a 6.58 ERA in 53 2/3 innings."
Lyles isn’t going to be an ace. He probably isn’t going to be better than a number 4 or 5 starter, in fact. But at this price (less than $2 million annually right now), he would certainly be a bargain to fill out a rotation… and could be a nice surprise.