2015 Atlanta Braves

[DonkeyJote]

Re: 2015 Atlanta Braves

Unless we just get bowled over, I hope we keep Inciarte. He's basically a faster Heyward with a bit less power.

We still need to add some pop, but I like Inciarte in center. Wish we could dump Bourn on somebody.

I'd say it's more than a little less power, and he's not as good at getting on base. He's not going to cost $20 million a year though. I like him, and short of getting a close to major league impact bat, I don't see him going anywhere.

Soler had a negative WAR though while Inciarte had a 5.3.

It's true. With Soler, you're banking on his defense improving. Inciarte has 1000 professional games, Soler only 312. Soler has the power we need longterm. Inciarte fits a lot more short term.

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[decga]

Re: 2015 Atlanta Braves

Forget the negativity...just enjoy the highlights of our future SS:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ewgsa3sA37E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

He won be here long. The Braves are to business like. He looks little brash, but those are from college. So we will see. Can either him or Freddie be this generation Chipper Jones. SMH.... I dont know!

[Speedy]

Re: 2015 Atlanta Braves

So what the over/under on 100 losses for y'awl?

Also, being we'll likely finish last in MLB, if the best player is a college player will we take him? I read from Hart that they want to draft HS players that they can develop on their own vs. "quick hitters" like college guys.

[Sportsforever]

Re: 2015 Atlanta Braves

So what the over/under on 100 losses for y'awl?

Also, being we'll likely finish last in MLB, if the best player is a college player will we take him? I read from Hart that they want to draft HS players that they can develop on their own vs. "quick hitters" like college guys.

I'm going to be in the minority I guess, but this team today is better than last year's team already. I expect 75-80 wins, barring injury of course.

First off, a healthy Freeman/Markakis plus Enciarte/Aybar/Flowers is a better offense than we had last year. A line up of this:

Enciarte, CF
Aybar, SS
Markakis, RF
Freeman, 1B
Olivera, 3B
Swisher, LF
Flowers/AJ, C
Peterson, 2B

Is so much better than we had last year, plus the bench of Garcia/Bourn/Bonifacio/AJ/Flowers is better.

Secondly, people forget that a large part of our suck last year was the bullpen. Our bullpen will/should be MUCH better this year. No more will we have to watch Sugar Ray or Marksbury throw meatballs with Paco Rodriguez, Chris Withrow, Shea Simmons, Sean Ellis, Vizcaino, Folty, Grilli, Jim Johnson, etc, in the pen.

Finally, even with Miller gone we have a solid rotation:

Teheran
Wisler
Buenelos
Blair
Jenkins

That is a young, young rotation, but there is talent that can compete. I haven't even mentioned the prospects like Smith or Swanson who might end up contributing.

Bottom line, unless there are catastrophic injuries, this team IS better RIGHT NOW than last year's squad. I don't expect them to win the NL East, but they will be a 75-80 team win and won't even come close to 100 losses...I don't see where all the negativity and talk of how "bad" we'll be in 2016 is coming from.

[DonkeyJote]

Re: 2015 Atlanta Braves

I'm going to be in the minority I guess, but this team today is better than last year's team already. I expect 75-80 wins, barring injury of course.

First off, a healthy Freeman/Markakis plus Enciarte/Aybar/Flowers is a better offense than we had last year. A line up of this:

Enciarte, CF
Aybar, SS
Markakis, RF
Freeman, 1B
Olivera, 3B
Swisher, LF
Flowers/AJ, C
Peterson, 2B

Is so much better than we had last year, plus the bench of Garcia/Bourn/Bonifacio/AJ/Flowers is better.

Secondly, people forget that a large part of our suck last year was the bullpen. Our bullpen will/should be MUCH better this year. No more will we have to watch Sugar Ray or Marksbury throw meatballs with Paco Rodriguez, Chris Withrow, Shea Simmons, Sean Ellis, Vizcaino, Folty, Grilli, Jim Johnson, etc, in the pen.

Finally, even with Miller gone we have a solid rotation:

Teheran
Wisler
Buenelos
Blair
Jenkins

That is a young, young rotation, but there is talent that can compete. I haven't even mentioned the prospects like Smith or Swanson who might end up contributing.

Bottom line, unless there are catastrophic injuries, this team IS better RIGHT NOW than last year's squad. I don't expect them to win the NL East, but they will be a 75-80 team win and won't even come close to 100 losses...I don't see where all the negativity and talk of how "bad" we'll be in 2016 is coming from.

People see that we lost Andrelton Simmons, and seem to have the idea that Aybar is garbage. While he is a dowgrade, I don't think it's a steep as some are making it out to be. He was an All Star in 2014 after all. I don't expect that kind of production, but average defense and probably slightly better than Simmons offense is reasonable. And with Miller, I think people are thinking more of the 1.48 era he had the first 2 months, and less about the 3.77 he had after that. And Inciarte isn't a sexy name, even though he's a great defender who hit .319/.358/.443 in the second half last year.

There are problems with this team, though. In the rotation, I feel good about Teheran, who was actually better than Miller in the second half, and dominated in September. Good sign for a young player. Wisler was very up and down, we'll see how it goes. Banuelos has shown to be injury prone, and struggled last year in the majors. I believe him and Folty are both destined for the bullpen longterm, though I think Folty especially can do great there, and maybe even close. Jenkins only has 45 innings of Triple A, and Blair only 77, and neither lit it up. I think we'll see one or both this season, but neither will break camp in the majors. Honestly, we're probably looking at Bud Norris being in the rotation, and that's scary. Guy had a 6.72 era last year, and while he was okay in 2014, he's got a career 4.44.

I like our offense, but it's still not good. Our 3 projected outfielders hit a combined 11 hr last year. Granted Olivera (who will likely be in LF, not 3B) will more likely be between 15 and 20 this year, but that's still not much power overall. If Garcia can hit anywhere near like he did last year, it'll help, but that's unlikely given his track record. Platooning Beckham with Peterson will help too. The offense is better, but it's still far from good.

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[Sportsforever]

Re: 2015 Atlanta Braves

People see that we lost Andrelton Simmons, and seem to have the idea that Aybar is garbage. While he is a dowgrade, I don't think it's a steep as some are making it out to be. He was an All Star in 2014 after all. I don't expect that kind of production, but average defense and probably slightly better than Simmons offense is reasonable. And with Miller, I think people are thinking more of the 1.48 era he had the first 2 months, and less about the 3.77 he had after that. And Inciarte isn't a sexy name, even though he's a great defender who hit .319/.358/.443 in the second half last year.

There are problems with this team, though. In the rotation, I feel good about Teheran, who was actually better than Miller in the second half, and dominated in September. Good sign for a young player. Wisler was very up and down, we'll see how it goes. Banuelos has shown to be injury prone, and struggled last year in the majors. I believe him and Folty are both destined for the bullpen longterm, though I think Folty especially can do great there, and maybe even close. Jenkins only has 45 innings of Triple A, and Blair only 77, and neither lit it up. I think we'll see one or both this season, but neither will break camp in the majors. Honestly, we're probably looking at Bud Norris being in the rotation, and that's scary. Guy had a 6.72 era last year, and while he was okay in 2014, he's got a career 4.44.

I like our offense, but it's still not good. Our 3 projected outfielders hit a combined 11 hr last year. Granted Olivera (who will likely be in LF, not 3B) will more likely be between 15 and 20 this year, but that's still not much power overall. If Garcia can hit anywhere near like he did last year, it'll help, but that's unlikely given his track record. Platooning Beckham with Peterson will help too. The offense is better, but it's still far from good.

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I'm really high on Banuelos...he didn't struggle until the injuries slowed him down, and it takes time to get over TJS. I think he can be a solid #3 for a long time if healthy.

I also wish they'd stick with Folty as a starter and let him "get" it as I think he has such great stuff, but I get moving him to the 'pen.

I think you will see Jenkins sooner rather than later...and while I think Norris will break camp in the rotation, I just don't see him making it (think Trevor Cahill). Again...I'm not saying we need to print playoff tickets or t-shirts yet, but I find it laughable that everyone thinks this team is worse than last year's or will lose over 100 games.

[Sportsforever]

Re: 2015 Atlanta Braves

BTW...I didn't realize this, but in 2014 our offense scored 573 runs (3.54/game). In 2015 our offense scored...573 runs. So our offense in 2015 produced the same number of runs/game that our offense with Heyward, Upton, Gattis, Johnson, etc, did AND we didn't have Freeman for a whole year last year.

[KSUowls]

Re: 2015 Atlanta Braves

If the team stays healthy then they shouldn't have to worry about 100 losses. Still not a good team, but there is some talent. I don't expect Pierzynski to hit .300 again, but as long as he is around his career mark of .280 then the team should be fine. Keeping Freddie healthy will be huge, and that alone could contribute to some wins.

We lose a lot of defense up the middle without Simmons, but with Aybar and Enciarte added to Markakis and a healthy Freeman then this is an ok lineup that should be ++ compared to 2015.

To me the big question is pitching. I feel good about Julio, but after that it's all guess work. Wisler showed flashes so maybe he can be more consistent in year 2, and the rest of the rotation is likely going to be patchwork unless one of these young guys wins the job outright early. Bullpen should be better though with it being healthy again.

[DonkeyJote]

Re: 2015 Atlanta Braves

It's a very young rotation, and I do believe it will be good, I'm just not sure if that's 2016 or 2017. 2017, pitching staff wise, looks pretty good. Teheran, Wisler (who I think is a 3/4 type starter), and by that time the best of Banuelos, Folty, Jenkins, and Blair, and I think Newcomb will be up by then. Problem is, I think pretty much all of our starters aside from Teheran are a year away from being genuinely good.

Offensively, if Olivera is good, that's a huge boost. And when Swanson comes up, that'll be big. I still think we're a power bat away in 2017, whether that be by trade, free agency, or Freeman taking a leap in that department to 30-35 hr.

Rumors are that if the Royals lose Gordon and/or the Orioles lose Davis, there's a good possibility of us trading Markakis to one of those two teams.

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