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Chapter 1: What positive developments are surrounding the Atlanta Braves?
appearances from you that we can actually talk about some positive things surrounding the Atlanta Braves, which is a Christmas miracle come early. So we'll start right there. Robert Suarez, Ha Sung Kim, Double A's been in his bag a little bit here. How do you grade out what the Braves have done so far?
I like it. First of all, it's good hearing from you. And I can get back on the optimistic train, right? And feel good about it. I square peg round hole for about the last nine months for the Braves and optimism. But I'm back. I'm back, baby. And I think in large part because of what Alex has done. I don't really like these moves.
You know, they're not going to blow anybody out of the water in terms of money, which isn't a terrible thing. But I think they're smart moves. Suarez, Yastrzemski, you know, Kim. You have these guys who fill what they need, and we've said this all along with the Braves. You need the guys who you're already paying to step up and produce.
Chapter 2: How do the Braves' recent moves impact their World Series chances?
That's a big part of this equation. So if you get that, if you get a little bit better, I think you've added some really smart coaches. I think Walt Weiss has probably learned a lot over the last eight years as bench coach. And then to top things off, now we wait to see if you get that last starter, which is
Alex talked about, I believe today, you know, where that started that they hope could pitch in a playoff game, which is, you know, I love when GMs or president of baseball operations say that. Like, I don't want to hear about that. We're going to get a guy and he's going to be a depth guy.
No, like I tell me you're going to get the guy who you think is going to pitch in the postseason because ultimately that's what he might have to do.
So when it comes to the guys that are out there, I think they're going to be out on the Frambois Valdez's and Ranger Suarez's of the world for exactly the reason that you just listed there. But there are a couple of guys out there like a Chris Bassett. Maybe if you want to take a shot on a guy like, I don't know, Zach Eflin, a guy that's had success in the major leagues.
I know Miles Michaelis is 37. He was good a few years ago. I really think, Rob, that's sort of the pool that they're going to be shopping in.
Yeah, you know, I was kind of intrigued by if they would dip their toes into the qualifying offer guys. And the response I got was that they wouldn't be adverse to it. Now, do I think they will? Probably not. I think that everybody, if you can avoid the qualifying offer guys, then you do that. And that, of course, Zach Gallin would be a good guy. Michael King would be a good guy.
And obviously, like you said, Ranger Suarez and Tramper Valdez, obviously good guys.
um but you know the qualifying offer is a tricky thing but if you're willing to do it and i think if they i think what the braves you know the answer that i got back the braves like a guy they're not going to be they're not going to be scared off by it uh it's just how much a difference is it for them to say well we're going to go give a qualifying offer to a zach gallon or michael king instead of
going to the root of what you talked about, you know, with the Chris Bassett. I like Chris Bassett a lot. I really do. I mean, I think Chris Bassett, to me, screams of sort of the good version of Charlie Morton, you know, when he was going through that run of the Braves. So, you know, there's still options out there, and I find it very, very fascinating.
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Chapter 3: What smart moves has Alex Anthopoulos made for the Braves?
So that gives you some hope. that maybe they might be a little bit more aggressive than people anticipate.
With the addition of Yaz and Baldwin and Murphy splitting time at catcher, how much DH time would you give Acuna this year?
Well, I mean, I don't know. I like – I think Walt Weiss said this at the winter meetings. He likes to rotate guys in. He likes the flexibility of everything. So, you know, that's – and, you know, I –
I kind of cringe when I hear that to be perfectly honest with you with some managers, because as a manager, you like doing it, but there is something to be said for a guy had, Hey, you know what? I can't play the field very much anymore, but I'm just going to hit the crap out of the ball.
You know, we kind of seen that with these guys who are being signed the value of a guy who you just say, there's your guy, there's your potential DH, Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonzo, go get them. We're not counting on your glove. I kind of like that, but from a manager's point of view, when you hear or read those quotes from Walt Weiss back at the winter meetings, you're like, okay.
Managers like flexibility, and that's where that is going to come into play.
Yeah, it's interesting because Ozuna is 35, will be 36, and we had that. We had that guy here for the last couple of years, and there were times where Ozuna carried the lineup, and there were other times where he was a black hole. So it's interesting to see if the approach is going to change. Okay, a guy that's definitely going to get paid.
Does Kyle Tucker's contract start with a 2, a 3, or maybe even a 4?
I'm going to go with a 4. I'm going to go with a four. And, you know, I'm also going to go with him landing in one of the two World Series team spots. Those are the teams with the most money. Of course, I'm talking about the Dodgers and the Blue Jays. Those are the teams that are the most aggressive. They're not going to shy away from something like that. Who knows?
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Chapter 4: Who are the potential starting pitchers the Braves might target?
And if I'm an organization and I say, Hey, you go pay for Kyle Tucker. I'll take Cody Bellinger. You know what? I would do that. He might not be the high upside of Kyle Tucker, but still, he's a pretty good player.
I was just about to say, it's really funny you just brought up Bellinger. Did the Yankees kind of screw themselves out of Bellinger by paying Trent Grisham the qualifying offer as high as it was? Because if Hal Steinbrenner is right about these rumors that they want to stay under $300 million, Cody Bellinger might not be on the table for them and the guys in Queens might just scoop him up.
Yeah, you know, it's... That's going to be really interesting because we're sitting here. It's kind of crazy, right? You have this American League East, and forget about the Rays. The Rays are going to do whatever the Rays are going to do. But you have the Blue Jays and the Orioles who are throwing around money, being super aggressive, all up and down the offseason.
And you have the Red Sox still not having signed a free agent. You have the Yankees sort of saying, well, Trent Grissom is – is the guy that you're going to have to trust.
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Grissom is a worthwhile, I guess, acquisition or guy that we're going to hold on to that's going to eat up a good chunk of our payroll. So that's not what we're used to, right? But I do think that while they'll tie themselves and they're not saying, hey, look at Grissom's numbers. Look at the player that he is. He's a good player. That's why we're willing to pay him that. At the same time,
Could you get a little bit of an upgrade? Probably. It's not the way that we're used to seeing things done, certainly, in the Bronx.
Alex Bregman, has he earned himself a five-, six-year deal like he would probably want?
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