World Series Champs Off-season 2021-2022

[For the A]

The Braves have reached an agreement to sign infielder Pat Valaika to a one-year, $775K deal if he makes the Major League team, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter).

[Unknøwn]

More much needed IF depth. 

[Unknøwn]

CC: Freddie Freeman

 

[Ransack]

2 hours ago, Unknøwn said:

CC: Freddie Freeman

 

Take notes kids. This is how it's done if you want something.

[Jimsmusic™]

soler to the marlins

 

rip that dream

 

 

[CrimsonFalcon]

9 minutes ago, Jimsmusic™ said:

soler to the marlins

 

rip that dream

 

 

So we get him back for half a pack of gum and some batting practice balls...

[Unknøwn]

$12M a year isn't bad. The 3 year deal is probably what put us out. Doubt we were willing to commit that. For as good as he was last year, he's had some pretty bad years too

[dmite]

33 minutes ago, Unknøwn said:

$12M a year isn't bad. The 3 year deal is probably what put us out. Doubt we were willing to commit that. For as good as he was last year, he's had some pretty bad years too

I also think he benefited from a loaded lineup around him.  It gave him more pitches to hit but his patience was also very good when he was here. 

[jidady]

Y'all should be happy about it. We'll just take him back at the trade deadline now. The Marlins are basically our 5A affiliate.

[ATL Fan in the DMV]

Man, I wanted him back. Oh well. 

[Redjack]

This is the most bummed I’ve felt as a Braves fan in awhile. He was the one guy I wanted above everyone else. ****.

[dmite]

16 minutes ago, Redjack said:

This is the most bummed I’ve felt as a Braves fan in awhile. He was the one guy I wanted above everyone else. ****.

Honestly don’t know that we had the room for him to be an every day player with Ozuna and Acuña back this year. 

[ATLBrave]

On 3/18/2022 at 10:17 PM, ATLBrave said:

Knowing where he’s from, bet your *** that Kenley will say he grew up a Braves fan. 

🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

 

[Ghosts of Glanville]

12 hours ago, Unknøwn said:

$12M a year isn't bad. The 3 year deal is probably what put us out. Doubt we were willing to commit that. For as good as he was last year, he's had some pretty bad years too

Soler would have been nice to have but there’s a reason we got him for nothing at the deadline.  Most of those deadline guys were playing for new contracts last fall.  If the Braves assume they could repeat that performance they could end up making the same mistakes the Falcons did after 2016

[Unknøwn]

Ken Rosenthal said the Braves were in on Correa and Boras offered the same 3 year, $105M deal with 3 opt outs. AA said no but Rosenthal added if he opts out next winter the Braves will likely be more serious. One issue would be that AA doesnt give opt outs in any of his deals. Boras and Correa would have to agree to be locked in with Atlanta. He confirmed the Braves were also in talks for Kimbrel before signing Jansen and more focused on that instead of adding a SS. 

[dmite]

1 hour ago, Unknøwn said:

Ken Rosenthal said the Braves were in on Correa and Boras offered the same 3 year, $105M deal with 3 opt outs. AA said no but Rosenthal added if he opts out next winter the Braves will likely be more serious. One issue would be that AA doesnt give opt outs in any of his deals. Boras and Correa would have to agree to be locked in with Atlanta. He confirmed the Braves were also in talks for Kimbrel before signing Jansen and more focused on that instead of adding a SS. 

Will Correa bring his camera and trash can system so he hits over .300 again?

[Unknøwn]

40 minutes ago, dmite said:

Will Correa bring his camera and trash can system so he hits over .300 again?

That is obviously the baggage he comes with. Not sure of his fit in the clubhouse either. I'd prefer Tim Anderson over Correa as a FA but Anderson has shown some defensive limitations but I have no doubt Washington would have him a GG in no time. 

[dmite]

3 minutes ago, Unknøwn said:

That is obviously the baggage he comes with. Not sure of his fit in the clubhouse either. I'd prefer Tim Anderson over Correa as a FA but Anderson has shown some defensive limitations but I have no doubt Washington would have him a GG in no time. 

Yeah, not a fan of Correa for that reason. Is it a given we are moving on from Dansby after this year?  Dansby is serviceable and probably very affordable compared.

[Unknøwn]

3 minutes ago, dmite said:

Yeah, not a fan of Correa for that reason. Is it a given we are moving on from Dansby after this year?  Dansby is serviceable and probably very affordable compared.

It isn't a given but his agent is the same as Freeman's. He's already said he wont negotiate during the season. I'd think something like 5 years $75M or so could probably keep him if you want him. We also have Shewmake in the minors that's a SS. 

[Unknøwn]

Jansen said the Dodgers definitely made an effort to keep him but he picked the Braves. 

 

[jidady]

Oh wow. This has blown my mind. I was this many days old when I learned Ardley Jensen is his older brother. My wife and I watched him play at Myrtle Beach when we were on our honeymoon.

[Unknøwn]

 

[Unknøwn]

DOB mentioned Olson had gotten married to his girlfriend, who is from Atlanta too, in November. They had just bought a house in Atlanta before the end of the baseball season too. So, AA likely knowing all of this because of Chipper, he had an ace in the hole during the FF talks. Chipper knew Olson wanted to be in Atlanta and had even more reason now. 

[K26dp]

Listened to Alex Anthopolous on Jayson Stark's podcast this morning. 

• Was very stressed out by the compressed schedule. Hates to feel rushed. He "didn't enjoy any of it" and never wants to do something like that again.
• After the lockout was lifted his wife told him "Well, see you in six months."
• Is happy to be in Florida now so he can just watch some baseball. Wasn't able to watch any of the workouts like he does in typical springs.
• His staff is empowered to negotiate and make the minor league free agent deals. That frees him up to concentrate on major league deals and trades.
• Payroll will be up "good amount", but won't get to the CBT threshold.
• First base was #1 priority -- that had to be resolved before they could move anywhere else so they knew how much left they had to spend.
• As attractive options were coming "off the board", they resolved to go ahead and make the Olson trade (speculation: they missed out on Nelson Cruz, didn't want to miss out on others because first base uncertainty was freezing them out).
• Anthopoulos first felt like Freeman "wasn't going to happen" Saturday night (12th). Started talking to Billy Beane Sunday night, asked for a firm offer. They had previously "checked in" before the lockout, but no names were discussed. Late Monday morning Beane responded with the Pache/Langeliers/Cusick/Estes package. Says on all major deals like this he brings to his staff to talk through -- "it's a committee". It was painful to give up that much talent, but it was agreed that it was OK. Terry McQuirk then signed off on it. Deal was announced early Monday afternoon. 
• Regarding choking up at the press conference -- it was culmination of the shock of the previous 48 hours. Recognition that "our clubhouse is in shock, our fanbase is in shock. I'm in shock". Reality crashing in. 
• Freddie "was good to me. Really good to me. I've had the greatest run of my GM career with him, and largely because of him... four divisions in a row, an NLCS, a World Series, with this guy playing every day, with a bad elbow in 2019, being an advocate for the front office, being my assistant GM when we were trying to sign Craig Kimbrel... being supportive when we had different trade deadlines. I remember 2018, 2019, I relied on him... there's a relationship there. I'm not going to apologize for... it's a sad day. Freddie Freeman is no longer a Brave -- and that's not taking anything away from Matt Olson, a fantastic player and we're excited to have him -- but Freddie Freeman is no longer a Brave and anyone who knows him loves the guy. You can't help to. You should get emotional no matter who you are, if you are a fan, or a friend, because you get to know him. And you aren't human if you don't. I wish I had been a little more collected, but I'm human."
• On the challenges of re-signing great legacy players. "It's not supposed to be easy when you have great players. Because those are the best-of-the-best players and they're going to be in high demand. And that's the way it's supposed to be. The player has put himself in that position, and he's earned that position."
• Freddie was "one of the greatest Braves of all time. And he will always be one of the greatest Braves of all time. This doesn't change a thing, no matter where he is. Twenty, thirty, forty years from now he's still be one of the greatest Braves of all time."
• On why it was important to him to be able to announce Olson's extension at his introductory press conference: "Obviously the circumstances of him coming here were challenging for everybody. That's not fair to Matt, that's not his issue. But it's similar to last summer when we got Charlie Morton done. We could have given him a qualifying offer at the end of the year. We gave him $20 million instead because I thought it was important to make a statement to the clubhouse, and if that meant we spent an extra $1.6 million, to me that's money well-spent... at the All-Star break I thought it was vitally important to have Joc Pederson show up the next day after the All-Star break, even if we had to pay a little bit more, to send a message to the clubhouse. Maybe I overweigh this stuff... because I'm very big on clubhouse chemistry and mix and putting that team together. Then following up getting Stephen Vogt, trying to keep that momentum going... Matt Olson comes in, everyone knows he's not just going to be here two years, he's going to be 'one of us', and he's part of the core. and there's no ambiguity. I believe -- and the players may agree or not agree -- there's something to that. We need these guys to gel, we need these guys to come together, and when he knows he's here to stay and he doesn't have to worry about 'I have to have a good season because I'm playing year-to-year'... if that meant we had to give up a little more in the trade or give up a little more in the extension, I don't know how to quantify it, but I do believe having it in place at that moment in time, with how emotional it was with the signaling that Freddie wasn't coming back, and the clubhouse was rattled -- I think that's fair to say -- I thought that was important because we have a short period of time to get ready. I think the NL East will be exceptionally challenging with all five teams getting better and trying to win. I think every single win will count, I think it will come down to a game or two, and we need to be as ready as we can, we need to be together, we need to gel, and the sooner we can do that the better."

[K26dp]

Continuing...

• They agreed on Collin McHugh seven minutes before the start of the Matt Olson press conference.
• Very concerned about the compressed spring schedule... "I don't know what this is going to look like". Braves strategy is not to try to hurry players, just get ready like they normally would. "Last thing we need is a bunch of guys getting hurt." It may mean more days off early in the season for position players, shorter outings for starters.
• Asked when the Rosario deal came together "I don't even know, everything just blurred together."
• On why Rosario as the one of the outfielders to bring back: "We wanted a left-handed bat, we were very right-handed -- we're still very right-handed -- but because Eddie puts the ball in play, he's a bat-to-ball, contact... especially against premium quality stuff... he's not a big on-base guy, he's going to be a free-swinger, great arm in the outfield... just diversity in the line-up, left-handed which we needed, contact which we needed. We have a lot of slugging, we have a lot of power, and we have a lot of swing-and-miss. So try to balance that out with a left-handed bat with some contact. And obviously he did an exceptional job with us... if he gives us something similar as he gave the Twins, we'll be very happy."
• On leadership in the clubhouse: Freddie was a rock, reliable and dependable. They don't have that one guy anymore, ultimately it will be a committee. Mentioned that the infield collectively has played a long time together. Also mentioned Travis d'Arnaud, Adam Duvall, and Ronald Acuna.
• On why Kenley Jensen: "You can never have enough bullpen." Need more than 4 guys to win a division. Recalled having to trade for 3 relievers in at the 2019 deadline, "I don't want to have to live through that again. It was very painful. Had to trade a ton of young talent and take on a ton of salary, because at the trade deadline every contending team can add a reliever." Said for 2021, "It feels so good not having to chase relievers" at the deadline.
• Spoke with Will Smith at the beginning of the offseason about adding relievers, Smith told him to do whatever he needed to do to "get another parade". Checked in with him again Friday morning before finalizing Jensen to make sure he was still OK, told him "you were a 6-for-6, zero ERA World Series championship closer", said the signing was about making the bullpen as deep as it could be for the regular season. Smith said the same thing, get whoever you can get. Says Will Smith is one of the best teammates he's ever seen, and other players tell him the same thing. He's the leader of the bullpen.
• Recalls after Luke Jackson gave up the game winning HR to Bellinger in Game 3 of the NLCS, Luke was dejected. Smith and d'Arnaud stayed with Jackson long after the rest of the team left to console him and build him back up. "I don't know what it means in terms of wins, but I think it matters." Stark mentioned that most GMs wouldn't check with players before making moves like that "Will has earned the respect, for us to give him the respect back, and to be a part of this thing."
• Regarding the playoffs: "The games are a blur." Watched highlight packages over the break and went "I don't remember that, I don't remember that... but it's really cool." Remarked how incredible it was that they never had an elimination game.
• There was a lot of woe-is-us in the Atlanta market, and the "we can't have nice things" talk. Talked about Georgia and the Falcons blowing leads in championship games and "we added to it" by having a 3-1 lead in the 2020 NLCS before losing to the Dodgers. Understood why fans were jaded and skeptical, and is proud to bringing all of that to an end. Rewarding the fanbase of Atlanta is "his most proud accomplishment". Got a little choked up talking about how the community rallied around the team, and talked about the tokens of gratitude from fans that he'd gotten this offseason. "You gave the community a sense of pride. And if they could walk taller that day and be proud because the Atlanta Braves were world champions, and they could just have that... you can take pride in that, and that's really rewarding."