Here’s the latest from around the NL East…
- The Nationals granted the Braves permission to speak to Nats assistant GM Doug Harris and special assistant Dan Jennings about Atlanta’s general manager vacancy, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (Twitter link). Earlier this week, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reported that Nats GM Mike Rizzo contacted Braves upper management to give Harris a recommendation. Harris was originally hired as Washington’s farm director in 2010 and has since risen to the AGM and VP of player personnel roles, as well as overseeing the Nationals’ minor league system. He has also worked with John Hart before, as Harris was a Rangers scout when Hart was Texas’ general manager. Jennings, of course, is best known for his long stint with the Marlins, most notably as their general manager and then on-field manager. In another tweet, O’Brien hears from the Braves that their GM search “will likely be slow developing,” which isn’t surprising given the abrupt nature of the team’s front office shakeup earlier this week.
- The Marlins’ top trade chips are analyzed by former GMs Dan O’Dowd and Jim Bowden in a piece by the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson. Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna have the most trade value, though the two ex-GMs disagree on Dee Gordon’s value. Both would move Dan Straily if the Fish can get a good young arm in return, essentially reversing the deal that saw Miami acquire Straily from the Reds last winter for Luis Castillo. Giancarlo Stanton is obviously a major asset, though his no-trade clause and huge contract greatly limits his list of possible suitors, and limits what the Marlins can reasonably expect back in return. In general,
- A trade of Jose Urena or Kyle Barraclough would be “highly unlikely,” Jackson reports, and J.T. Realmuto or Justin Bour would only be dealt if the Marlins could get multiple good prospects back in return. In Bowden’s opinion, the Marlins “have to listen on anyone. If you are challenged economically like they are, you are looking for controllable, inexpensive players that are not eligible for arbitration yet.”
WalkersDayOff
Marlins gave up way too much for Dee Gordon. Might as well keep him and play out the contract
Rwm102600
All-Star appearance, Golden Glove, Silver Slugger, and league leader in SBs in first year with the Marlins alone. One of the best defensive second basemen in the league, .300 Avg, 60 SBs this year; most in MLB. Oh, and he’s only 29 years old. Yeah, getting him and having to “play out the contract” must really hurt.
adshadbolt
What did they give up for him Barnes and Kiki really both of whom are good bench guys but not starters or all star level players.
WalkersDayOff
Barnes is a better hitter than Dee alone and he plays 2B and C. If you think barnes is not stating caliber you must not be paying attention. As for Dees accomplishments yes 2015 he was a really good player. But he was busted for PED’s and had a massive decline since.
Mrssl20
No way Walker, did you take the whole season off? Gordon hit 308, 201 hits, and led mlb with 60 stolen bases. All that PED’s free.
tsolid 2
Have you been SMOKING??? He has 4 less hits then 2015, 2 more SB’s. Sure OPS+ drop about 20 points, BUT massive decline??? C’mon dude
WalkersDayOff
Look at his ops. Dee’s only skill is speed thats it. His ops was below 700 last year and barley over this year. A PED suspension right after his best seasons is suspicious and unacceptable. He was absolutely mediocre last year when he came back. Dodgers destroyed the marlins on that deal. Why do you think the marlins cant find a trade partner and former GMs say his deal is unmovable.
Mrssl20
You definitely took the whole season off, only two players Jose Altuve and Charlie Blackmon had more hits than him, shh
WalkersDayOff
Yeah and he is not even in the top 100 in OPS. We know he is fast. Thats why he gets so many hits which are mostly singles and that is reflected in his poor OPS. You have been ignoring the point this whole time. His contract is bad. I never said he was a bad player. Marlins would have moved him to anyone that was willing to take on the deal. But no one was
Mrssl20
you keep referring to ops,, I keep showing you stats, 5th in runs scored in Mlb, doesnt matter how often, when he gets on base he scores.
AidanVega123
You are way too biased towards the Dodgers, buddy. LA didn’t even come close to “destroying” Miami in that deal.
tsolid 2
I’m starting to think that dude is a Russian Bot….
WalkersDayOff
If the dodgers offered barnes for dee straight up the marlins take it in a second
NotCanon
Runs scored, like RBI, is not a very good measure of individual player ability because without context it provides no insight into how the player scored. Does he score primarily when the guy hitting behind him smashes a HR (the fact that he hits right in front of Stanton ensures that’s a major factor), or is it because he hits doubles, then scores on singles or makes it to third on an out and gets in on a sac fly?
It would be foolish to discount Gordon’s contributions, but his OPS is below average, his K/BB ratio is pretty poor for a guy who can’t hit for power (.067 ISO), and his defense is good but not great. That’s why he’s sitting on a 3.3 fWAR, despite excellent base-running ability. Among qualifying 2B, that puts him at 7th-best, (2nd in the NL), tied with Cesar Hernandez, but with 30 more games played.
Blue_Painted_Dreams_LA
They received Heaney, Hatcher, Barnes, and Kikè. Hatcher was bad. The Dodgers did pretty well on the initial trade beyond Hatcher. Sure Kikè is a platoon util guy and Heaney was churned, ultimately was injured. I think Heaney is a get for the Angels once healthy, but the gem was Barnes. Barnes is a starting C on a lot of teams. That said I can see the Dodgers featuring Barnes in a huge role next year and beyond. I don’t think he’s a star, but he’s a versatile player that can hit and hit with some pop. He’s the type of guy that the new FO has has a knack for finding/developing.
Gordon is a good player, I just don’t believe he really fit the Dodgers and the direction they want to build. With wanting Seager entrenched in the 2 hole that’s a tough relationship to envision, because you’re deviating from at least one of their strengths. All in all the Dodgers did extremely well in the trade and definitely was more of a win for both. That will probably be more evident next year. On my the backend you can say the Dodgers didn’t do the greatest job in churning him to the Angels.
southi
To me one of the biggest negative side effects from the Braves front office fall out is the resulting slow process in getting new people in place for the front office. I do want the investigation to get over and the actual depth of the infractions and resulting punishments revealed.
This was expected to be a busy off season with the potential for many changes. There were several decisions needing to be made quickly from basic roster decisions (I think rule 5 draft protection decisions must be made by Nov. 18th?) to bigger ones like do they pursue any costly free agents.
I know Hart will still be making decisions for now (or until he isn’t) but it still feels like the Braves are in limbo.
Smoltzy16
I’m with you, I anticipated a positive off-season. We’d trade for a key piece, and possibly sign a key piece. Who knows what the new GM will want to do with the rotation & the outfield. Those two areas need the most creativity. I’ll at least say that Coppy would probably have addressed these areas asap.
I still think Hart will be shown the door, but it will look like he decided to retire. Hart should’ve known what was happening, and if he didn’t then he wasn’t involved enough to merit his position with the club.
So long as we don’t lose Maitan I’m ok.
chippahawk
If im the nationals I’m focused on winning playoff games and nothing else. This is off-season shenanigan stuff.
aff10
I mean, I doubt Rizzo spent much time on this. It was probably a ten minute phone call to John Hart as a favor for a person he respects. Don’t see why he couldn’t focus on the playoffs and look out for his people, and obviously Harris himself cares more about his own job than the team’s success, as basically anybody would
formerlyz
As a Marlins fan, I’ve been saying a lot of this stuff for a long time. The 3 guys I’d keep are Yelich, Realmuto, and Stanton, but the writing is probably on the wall for Stanton at this point. The Marlins waited way too long to move, and now they have more dead money on their books thanks to Volquez TJ surgery. Only way I’d move Yelich or Realmuto is for something crazy. Everyone else should be gone, especially relievers; And bad relievers like Carlos Marmol…Kyle Barraclough.
Probably have to eat $3-4 million per on Prado, and $2-4 million per on Gordon, as well as half of Ziegler, but those guys are movable in that scenario. Obviously not for much, but still…maybe package them with someone like Bour and/or Straily…shouldnt take much to get Dee, and it would be even less if someone takes the whole contract. Really, really good person, but that trade still makes me sick, the contract is bad, especially for the Marlins, and he is easily replaceable, as he was at the time of the deal, which made it even worse…I still dont believe it’s sustainable for him to hit the way he has 2 of the last 3 years. He hasn’t seen a pitch he didn’t want to swing at. Despite his stolen bases, and his amazing speed, he is the worst baserunner I’ve ever seen in my entire life. He stole 60 bases, but he got caught 20 times, plus he gets picked off another 7-11 times every year. If his OBP actually reaches .340, what is it really if he is constantly getting thrown out on the bases? I do think he will continue to show the defensive improvements he made with Perry Hill, while he’s been here, but he would be a lot easier to be ok woth if there was at least a little less on the contract
chippahawk
I’m just saying out of respect for the team afield and organization as a whole your focus should be right now/in this moment, nothing more.. While in contention there should be no distractions no matter the case, but I run a tight ship and nothing goes until the season is complete. Talk of Dusty baker’s future or contract can wait another week or month as well for that matter. As the Billy Madison movie goes, instead of going out and finding that effing dog, go out and win that world series, nothing more nothing less. Signed off as a Braves fan for decades..
Solaris601
I know Stanton has a no-trade clause in his contract, but based on his recent comments I seriously doubt he’ll even think about standing in the way of a trade. He’s intelligent enough to see the writing on the wall even if new ownership hasn’t come right out and said they’re embarking on a full scale rebuild.
garrog1949
Braves should try to get Machado. Trade Pache,I.Anderson,Ruiz,Demeritte,B.Wilson,F.Tarnok,H.Ynoa, and R.Sanchez FOR Machado and Harvey.