The Braves have released veteran infielder/designated hitter Matt Carpenter, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Atlanta acquired Carpenter a few days ago, taking on $4MM of this year’s $5.5MM salary (and the associated luxury tax hit) as a means of effectively purchasing left-handed reliever Ray Kerr from the Padres.
While the Braves had hoped to trade Carpenter in similar fashion to Marco Gonzales, Evan White and Max Stassi (all of whom they acquired and quickly dealt away in salary-driven swaps), it seems they weren’t able to find a taker for Carpenter even at that rate. He’ll now be a free agent who’ll cost a new team only the league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster — the Braves and Padres will remain on the hook for the rest of his salary.
Carpenter, 38, had a brilliant bounceback season with the Yankees in 2022 when he slashed .305/.412/.727 with 15 home runs in just 154 trips to the plate. A broken foot ended his season, but that eye-popping resurgence was still enough to land him a two-year, $12MM deal with the Padres last offseason.
Unfortunately for the Padres and Carpenter alike, his 2023 campaign looked more like the 2020-21 version of Carpenter who’d looked to be on the decline. In 237 plate appearances with the Friars last year, Carpenter hit just .176/.322/.319. He still walked at a massive 17.3% clip, but Carpenter’s strikeout rate spiked as his exit velocity and hard-hit rate trended in the other direction. The former Cardinals star’s newfound focus on elevating the ball at career-high levels served him well in 2022, but he perhaps took that too far in ’23, lifting 10 harmless pop-ups in his tiny sample of plate appearances. Given his huge walk and strikeout rates, Carpenter only put 125 balls in play last year — 10 of which were effectively automatic outs.
Now that he’s a free agent and can be signed on a league-minimum MLB deal or even on a minor league deal and spring training invite, Carpenter should draw interest from teams seeking left-handed bats. A return to that Herculean production from the summer of 2022 might not be plausible, but there’d be little to no risk for a new club trying to catch lightning in a bottle in the same manner as the 2022 Yankees did.
This is why he didn’t opt out.
Is Kerr that good of a prospect that the Braves took on that salary? How many other teams do you think would have been interested in doing that?
Very few could afford to.
Or want to.
Hard to question the Braves. They’re doing something right.
The giants did it a couple years ago to pick up will Wilson from the angels, they picked up cozart and his 12 million, then released him
He’s not a prospect. He’s 29 and not an established major leaguer. There are guys like him scattered all around the majors.
He has an option
The ability to send someone up & down for a year and be able to work with the pitching coaches of a pitching successful franchise has a cost
Yeah I know nothing of Kerr but at 29 not sure prospect is the right term anymore…seems like a lot of money to take on a project? Some Pads fans say he’s a flame thrower however I believe
There might be “guys like [Kerr] scattered all around the majors,” but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a valuable asset.
Are there really countless LHP that are controllable for 5-6 years that average 12Ks/9 available for 4mil?
Not to mention one with an option still remaining.
They might be around, but you aren’t going to be able to basically buy one for 4mil.
I look at Kerr and the fact that he’s not an established ML pitcher at 29 and think…does it really matter how controllable he is? It only matters if you think he can stay on a major league roster.. He has the look of a guy who might stay on a roster until he gets arbitration eligible. There are lots of guys around like that.I may be proven wrong. $4 million for a guy like that is pretty crazy.
He’s not really a prospect, been in the bigs off and on. Has great stuff but can’t locate it consistently, also dealt with injuries. He had a very good 2nd half of season in minors last year so perhaps he’s turning the corner. The Pads could have used him as they have just one LH RP on the 40 man.
Yeah if the team has the financial means, then it could be a way of acquiring a desired player. In addition to the Cozart situation someone mentioned below, I recall the Padres themselves also have done some things like this – picking up the last year of Chase Headley from the Yankees to get an awful Brian Mitchell (they ended up releasing Headley in like April) or the last year of Phil Hughes from the Twins in order to get a competitive balance draft pick.
Toussaint was a fairly major trade/purchase at one point, having been the overall #16 at one point.
Not Christopher Illiches’ Tigers, that’s for sure.
Too much cost and effort to try to put up a winner…..
Why bother, when you can count money hand over fist and none of the fans object….. a DECADE LATER….
So….
Why even bother…..
Probably not? But the braves are good at fixing guys up and they’ll also get 6 years of control with him. Good move for them since they need more upper minors depth
Kerr is a lefty with strikeout stuff. He’s 29 so not really a prospect, but the thing about relievers is that any one of them could break out and become dominant. The Mariners once signed some guy named Paul Sewald to a minor league contract before 2021 after a disastrous start to his career with the Mets. You may have heard of him.
Remember Andrew Miller? Absolute disaster until he moved to the pen. Clay Holmes was looking like a steal for the Yankees until he finally remembered he sucked. Relievers are always going to be relievers. Like someone mentioned above a lefty that throws gas but has command issues is a no brainer at $4m. Watch how many washed up relievers sign for more than that this off-season.
In Alex I trust. One of the most legendary seasons and people still question this man?
Amen brother. In AA we trust! I don’t get it. And I’m not gonna pretend like this is something wild and crazy good but I got a bill that says the Braves win their division again this year….
One of the most legendary seasons followed by 2 season where you could argue they were the favorite only to go down in the NLDS in both of them.
If you guys are going to constantly celebrate his success you need to be unbiased enough to point out the failures of 2022 and 2023. And no, winning the NL East is not a success. Not when their prospects have all arrived and controlled relatively cheaply.
You have all that going for you there should have been a championship, or at the very least WS birth, one of these past two seasons. Complete and total failure by AA in back to back seasons. The fan boys on this site need to stop burying their head in the sand these last two years.
The playoffs are a literal coin flip. Sometimes that 85 win wildcard gets hot and takes down the 100 win juggernaut. The best a team can do is build a roster that repeatedly and consistently makes the playoffs.
Ever heard the saying “buy the ticket take the ride” you can’t get into the playoffs without winning the division unless you are betting on other people missing out. Winning the division is the most sure way to get to the playoffs. If you ever watch an interview with Snitker or AA preseason their goals are to win the division. They all know the playoffs are about who showed up the healthiest and the hottest.
Also AA doesn’t hit for them. The Braves had more everything than any team in 2023 and hit like 4 extra base hits in the NLDS. He doesn’t control that. The week off literally hurt most division winners. That a Manfred problem.
Right on cue the “playoffs are a crapshoot” excuse. Well how about this, Braves rank 23rd among MLB teams playoff series records. They consistently lose in the first round. If it’s such a crapshoot, how come it always ends with such a poor result? Surely a crapshoot would mean they would be winning some of these playoff appearances too.
Ever stop to think maybe that’s the Braves problem and it’s contributing to one of the worst playoff series records among all clubs though? Instead of focusing so much on winning the division, maybe they should focus on building teams designed to win the playoffs.
I know it’s a crazy thought isn’t it. Why would we want to focus on creating a team to win in the playoffs when you have to win the division first? Because the whole lets build a team that consistently gets there is very much a failed experiment. You can’t tell me differently.
And no it’s not really a crapshoot if they are repeatedly on the losing end of said crapshoot.
The irony here is clearly AA put together a legendary run the time it did work….. wonder why that year wasn’t a crapshoot to all of you. It either is or isn’t. So either AA did nothing at all but won the crapshoot lottery or he did something great to get them that legendary win. I don’t care which one of those you want to pick, just be consistent. You can’t give him credit the year they won and turn around and call them a crapshoot the year he fails. Doesn’t work like that sorry to tell you.
So stop with the mental gymnastics, you only look foolish deflecting with the whole “it’s a crapshoot” argument to explain away the losses while using the 2021 win to boost his greatness.
Ok so he doesn’t hit for them. Then he deserves absolutely no credit for the 2021 win either. Once again, you want to credit him for guys playing way above their head (Solar and Rosario) and call it genius, then when guys don’t perform the response is “Oh no wait he doesn’t hit for them”
So actually he set them up to fail in 2021 by putting mediocre players like Rosario and Solar on the field and got bailed out that those guys showed up and over performed. Cause remember… they did the hitting.
It is a crapshoot! 2021 kinda proves it for the Braves. That team wasn’t as good as the current team, but the bullpen got hot, and the 3 outfielders we got at the deadline provided the extra offense needed to win a series, one at a time. Joc in the Division series, Eddie in the NLCS and Soler in the World Series.
We always give credit to AA for making those moves, but 99/100 times not all 3 would do what they did.
Don’t blame AA .. One of the best hitting teams in MLB history didn’t hit a lick against Philly !
That’s what I really don’t get. The Braves have a young core, financial resources…and they are squandering their resources getting bad contracts and marginal players that really don’t move the needle for them. It’s perplexing.
Why would we want to focus on creating a team to win in the playoffs when you have to win the division first?
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Is that really a thing? That you can build a team that wins in the playoffs? How do you do that?
I prefer they get short term bad contracts that will provide flexibility next year, than signing overpriced free agents to long term bad contracts.
You may be correct, but I enjoy hundred win summers.
@sebeast Absolutely agree with most everything you said. When I go back and forth with guys on here they gloss over I keep mentioning the “playoffs” not the regular season. We have an historic Offense that will bash their way to the playoffs. But AA is once again ignoring starting pitching built to last in the playoffs. Offenses tail off in the playoffs when you’re typically facing top tier pitching every game, can’t bet on out homering everyone. As a life long Braves fan it gets old watching them get bounced in 1st round over and over, especially with the best young core I’ve ever seen.
Braves front office is weird…
“Front office is weird”..The Braves are leveraging their recent on-field success and financial prowess to acquire players. It’s better and smarter than paying free agents 9 figures. It’s not that much different than what the Mets did at the most recent trade deadline, include extra money to increase the trade returns on transactions.
So…if the Braves really, really wanted Kerr, how hard would he be to get on his own? He’s not Sandy Koufax. The Braves have resources to use and they seem to be using them questionably at this point. But it ain’t my money.
AA is like a chess master. He gets the players he wants, even if he has to take a player he doesn’t want. Then he trades the unwanted player to another team and again gets the player he wants. Saves money and at the very least, gets prospects for the farm system.
He hasn’t saved money this offseason. With the associated CBT penalties he has taken on $31 million to essentially get a few mediocre players like Kelenic and Kerr.
I guess you didn’t read this article. They released Carpenter and did not trade him. I think you are blowing unwarranted smoke up your GM’s butt for no reason.
I’ll play that chess any day. I’ll get a player I want and a player I don’t want. Then I’ll release/trade/eat the contract of the player I don’t want, and if I trade him I have to swallow most of the contract to get back something I may or may not want. So it’s roughly $30 million for Kelenic and Kerr, correct?
I don’t understand exactly where the $31 million comes from I believe your calculations are off. At the end of the day you still need depth in the system. We all know the sanctions put on the Braves hurt their depth.
Why add guys to the 40 man that don’t need to be added or buy minor league free agents and risk losing them to opt outs and be put in similar situations.
He has to pay Fletcher so why not put him through waivers and see if you can get someone to take in the salary if not then you can just add him back no harm no foul.
It’s all to do about nothing it’s just another way of adding minor league depth without adding guys to the 40 man roster that doesn’t need to be yet
What I do take away from it is that he is not going to be in on any big name FA pitchers and Wil roll with Lopez as a Starter until Anderson is deemed ready to come back.
If a 5th SP is needed around the deadline they will make a move then.
I’ve never been particularly good at chess. But now I can master the game. Just need to start taking the players I don’t want so I can get the players I do want.
Such a good point!
Kelenic is a high ceiling super prospect, who is also highly controllable. If he hits his 85th percentile, this particular deal will age like fine wine.
He is not a high ceiling super prospect. He was an over hyped prospect because he was included in a huge trade that has shown to be way over hyped. Head cases will never be super stars and he is definitely a head case.
Yeah machado and Harper never were headcases….
Fletcher and Bummer as well, but the vast majority leaves the books after thus season.
Kelenic was one of the best prospects in all of baseball showed his promise last year. Had to be issue with Kelenic and Seattle just wait till he is in Atlanta and no pressure he will take off and be a star
I’ll get a player I want and a player I don’t want.
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I use to do that back when I collected BB cards. Buy a case of updates, auction or sell off everything you don’t want, and wind up with a couple of stacks of cards you really do want, for little out-of-pocket cost.
@JC Penny: Closer to $19M for Kelenic, Kerr, and David Fletcher. Not sure why baseball is life is throwing in CBT calculations/penalties when that number can’t be determined until the end of the season.
@Mets 6986: John Smoltz was called a “head case” by a lot of Braves fans before he was helped by a sports psychologist when he was about Kelenic’s age. Kelenic sounds pretty contrite about the water cooler incident and other issues in his early career. The Braves brass seems to be confident that Kelenic has big upside. Maybe part of their confidence in that is a belief that Kelenic will mature. Certainly isn’t going to hurt him any being a part of the Braves positive clubhouse.
Chess master? Give me a break. Some of you guys ride AA’s nuts way too hard.
You just asking about some random pitcher the other team is going to reassess what they think about said pitcher.
I think he’s also counting the money the Braves paid to get rid of Gonzales and White.
Closer to $19M for Kelenic, Kerr, and David Fletcher.
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Not exactly correct. it is more like $4M/year for the rights to Kelenic & Kerr. Kind of small potatoes.
Machado and Harper were not head cases. They didn’t not hit for months because it got into their head.
As of today and if the Braves do not exceed the next level of the CBT, the contracts they have taken on will amount to $31 million including CBT penalties
There. That better? You understand now?
At Kelenic’s age Smoltz had 111 starts and was coming off a 3 season stretch of 99 starts and a 3.55 ERA.
He’d better learn how to hit a curve.
Often has no prayer against a slider.
Yes all these moves for Kerr is way better then signing Hader for the money spent.
@Mets69 — How much time would AA get for holding Hader at gunpoint to sign a 1-year deal…??? Let’s get back to reality.
Never said anything about a one year contract. The players you got aren’t on one year contracts either. The post compared to a 100 mil contract. That’s what I compared it too. The cost of Kelenic and Kerr and all your add ones will be about what it will cost for Hader over the next four years. Maybe you need to come to reality.
well, no. they are paying this amount of money once. you’re saying it’s akin to what hader will make, but that’s per year. i’d rather have hader i’m just saying it doesn’t match up.
Pretty sure Hader will take more than $4.5M to sign
Considering Hader and Kerr are about the same age, I think I’d rather get the better player in a straightforward manner rather than make these deals, which may or may not mean anything.
Hader is going cost over 100 milliion, Kerr is costing less than a half a season than Hader so the gamble is smarter
Your out of your mind lol
You just can’t reason with stupid people
Mets6986??
Yes all these moves for Kerr is way better then signing Hader for the money spent.
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Since you’re a Mets fan, I will spell it out for you.
Kerr cost $4M
Hader will cost $100M+.
Can you see how these numbers are not really similar?
Well…true. But Kerr is…well,…maybe the 60th-best lefty reliever in baseball right now. And that might be too high.. That you’d have to give up anything to get him is perplexing, Hader and Kerr is a terrible comparison. Angel Perdomo is a good comp, who the Braves already have…and who was claimed off waivers.
This is where people that aren’t a part of acquisition calls can’t assume it’s that simple to acquire a talent. Others on this post have stated this is the kind of talent you find on the wire, but you have to claim him and hope no other team above you does, which would be rare for ATL. Sure, comparing Hader to Kerr is bad, but now you’re comparing a position player to a RP — and it’s common knowledge that a southpaw is always needed, and if that southpaw can strike guys out….very valuable. It’s not coincidence that Chapman and Hader have gotten paid what they are or did.
And he might even cost more than Diaz did (112 million), but even if he doesn’t he will still get over 100 million.
Kerr – 4.33 ERA in 22 appearances
Hader – 1.28 ERA in 61 appearances
Kerr will cost $4.75 million next season ONLY. He will not be free after that.
Hader will cost about $20 million next season. He will cost $100 million over the next 5 seasons.
You get what you pay for. Kerr is a low leverage reliever. A guy you bring in for garbage time. Hader is arguably the best relief pitcher in baseball that shines when the game is on the line.
But they aren’t acquiring great players?
Seems like a page from
John hart. Send minor leaguers to take on a large unmovable contract in exchange for more prospects then release said contract without the playing time.
The Mark Texeria was a genius move by Hart – just like the Waino/ Jd Drew trade
@Clofreesz How is it possible to misunderstand this? The Braves picked up Carpenter and his silly 1/5.5m salary for 2024 in order to acquire 6 years of Kerr rather than pay some filler reliever 2m a year. Kerr has real upside. This is what the Mets should be doing inside of scraping the bottom of the bottom of the barrel for relief help.
It was a salary dump, writ small, by a Padres team desperate to cut salary.
Yankees.
Mariners. There you go Ms fans! Bargain bin shopping for Carp just like last off-season of Wong, Pollock, and LaStella. Perfect, cheap pickup for that 2B hole in our lineup!
I’d honestly be shocked if carpenter isn’t in the lineup on opening day
Who’s line up? Did you read Atlanta released him
Mariners. I was replying to C Us Sink’s comment
Not sure who the Ms may have in the way of middle infielders in Tacoma, but hopefully they find someone that can hit a little. We all know Carpenter isn’t the answer unfortunately.
Carp is too expensive.
C Us Sink: (you must be part White Sox fan with that name.) Attention Reds, Brewers, Pirates and Cardinals’ front offices: Carpenter is a cubs killer. Of his 15 HR in ’22, 14 were probably against the cubs. Grab him now!
Lol, nope, Disgruntled Ms fan. Instead of Sea Us Rise, it’s C Us Sink…
Played for Yankees in 22.
Should have just kept it Sea Us Sink
C might be name initial, C instead of Sea…
Matt the Bat
I hope so.
You read my mind.
I’m a big fan of what the Braves have been doing, but this off-season has been very odd. It seems like they’ve wasted tons of money.
But they got studs like Kelenic, Kerr and David Fletcher!! Lol
They released Fletcher too. That said, as a few others have noted, if Kerr or Kelenic turn into serviceable contributors, these deals will be good for Atlanta. I respect what AA is doing, given the restraints that have been placed on him by ownership.
Fletcher got sent to AAA for depth.
Kelenic……. Serviceable? Ha! The only smart thing Jerry has done this off-season!!!
Kelenic still seems to have tremendous upside, assuming he can keep his cool, and not kick things; coolers included.
We’ll assign him to Huscar Ynoa as a clubhouse anger management buddy, while reinforcing the drywall and benches in additional padding.
Just give JK his own rage room. The dude has talent. Just needs to grow up. I never disliked him, he just needed a scenery change.
Norcal, Fletcher was not released, he was outrighted to AAA to provide 40 man roster flexibility. However, reports are that the Braves intend to put him back on the 40 man roster before the start of the season and have him on the major league roster on opening day as a utility infielder.
Got it. Thanks
Not that he had the upside of Kelenic or Kerr, but a potential asset
Spend money, make money.
They had by far the highest projected WAR of any team at the start of free agency. How do you upgrade over Acuna, Olson, Riley, Albies, etc? All they can do is upgrade around the edges & build depth.
Who said they need to upgrade from those guys? You realize Arcia is still their starting shortstop? He stinks. They could also use a starting pitcher. No idea why you’re bringing up their 4 best players?
Yea I mean All Star SS who hits 17hr out of the 9 hole and only makes $2.3 mill yr.. god he stinks soooo much ..
Arcia was literally an All-Star.
“He stinks”..Yeah, you probably think 200M for a 1 win player like Carlos Correa is the way to go, right?
Lol who cares if he was an all star, embarrassing you even brought that up. He stinks. Can’t hit whatsoever
I certainly think that Arcia shouldn’t be the starting shortstop for a contending team…. No idea what that has to do with Correa lol
Just admit you have no idea what you’re talking about and move on.
What was his numbers after the all star break
I have no idea what I’m talking about because I know that Arcia stinks? Lol good one man. You’ll see soon enough. Braves fans will want an upgrade by May and will wonder why they ever thought he was a starting caliber player. He had a few ok months in his career lol he can’t hit whatsoever
Career wRC+ is 79. But sure, I have no idea what I’m talking about. Take a lap clown
90 wRC+ in the second half. Not good. 79 career wRC+. Awful. Anyone defending him as a good player just doesn’t know baseball lol
So was Brock Holt lol
Josh Harrison was an all star twice. Omar infante was an all star. These people are clueless, using all star to try to make arcia sound good LOL comical
No team has a star at every position. With a lineup like the Braves have, they can easily carry a weak hitter, which I’m not so sure Arcia is.
79 wRC+ he’s about the weakest starting hitter in the entire league. No joke. And that’s my exact point, why are they wasting money to acquire below average players when they could use that money to get a real shortstop?
Arcia was a 1.6 WAR player. A 98 OPS+ hitter. Overall a below league average. That he won a fan popularity contest doesn’t mean he was a good player.
90 wRC+ in the second half.
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All BABIP driven .348 in the first half and .254 in the second half. He should be roughly a league-average SS for $2M.
rols1026
79 wRC+ he’s about the weakest starting hitter in the entire league.
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Are you expecting a 79 this year? Because if you are, I’d like to discuss a wager.
Arcia was a 1.6 WAR player. A 98 OPS+ hitter.
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But you need to include salary. Bogaerts is better, but his marginal cost/benefit is worse. For the difference in salary, you are close to getting a Montgomery.
Maybe not a great player but definitely a great clubhouse guy so maybe in the modern analytic world of building a team it doesn’t mean anything
In the Braves way of building a team it does & I sm glad for that
Maybe not 79 but certainly not above average…. He’s objectively a bad hitter lol I’m not sure why anyone would expect anything more?
And what type of SS could they have gotten if they didn’t waste money on a bunch of other below average players?
Great clubhouse guy? Were you in the clubhouse? Even if that’s true there’s no reason he can’t stick around as a backup…. He’d still be in the clubhouse. He’s just not a starting caliber player
1.6 WAR is below average. 98 OPS+ is below average. He will be a below average player for $2 million.
Why do I need to include salary? I was talking only about his performance on the field last season.
He’s objectively a bad hitter
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That’s a meaningless statement without context.
Over his career, he is a bad hitter.
Over the past two years, he is almost exactly league-average. FG projects him as 96 RC+. With a decent+ glove at $2M, that’s a very good contract.
Or put another way, if you give me a team with 8 roughly league-average regulars at $2M each, so I would then have $200M to spend on the other 8 regulars, I think I will do pretty good.
As was Cesar Izturis lmao
If he was a decent glove that would mean something. -6 DRS is far below average.
It should be noted that while he’s a 1.6 bWAR player – Fangraphs had him at 2.3 fWAR. Arcia had positive def value with about an average bat that contributed to a historic lineup. Considering Swanson’s batting line (and pay), not all that much difference lower in the lineup. I’d imagine if Grissom had Arcia 2023 line, they’d see it as a successful year. Considering Arcia’s pay, I don’t think they’re expecting much more than average defense and sporadic offense, for now.
fWAR average was 2.6 WAR last season. He was still below average.
They really haven’t upgraded much of anything at this point.
They won the division by 14 games.
Big fan of Kelenic and hoping he breaks out. Saying that will have a good chuckle if he ends up with a WAR below that of Marco, which isn’t completely beyond the realms of possibility.
Total cost for Kelenic in dead dollars–15 milllion. So 5 years of Kelenic for that.
Flecher is 6 and 6.5 (Lopez who was in the same role would have made 4 and 6 so additional 2.5—this is of the dead money or White which was 17 million)
Kerr is dead money of 4 million. If the Braves signed Kerr as a free agent for 4 with 5 more years of control, yeah.
Add two PTBNL as possible lotto tickets.
Pushing the dead salary to 24 so more space in 25 to sign Fried and get under the CBT.
The Braves coaches have had success with the Kelenic and Kerr profile.
Ummmm it’s not $15 mil for 5 years for Kelenic. That’s not how it works, at all. You’re just ignoring his arbitration raises every year? Why are you only counting the cost to acquire these players?
And do you know what the raises are? Or are you just looking to bust the guy’s balls?
Huh? The raises are based on performance so how would anybody know? I certainly know that he’ll make a lot more than $0 in salary over 5 years…. What are you even talking about??
I think the best way to phrase it is that they paid $15 million for any value Kelenic provides beyond his pre-arbitration and arbitration salaries. Or perhaps, what would Kelenic get on the open market today compared to what he will actually be paid?
Yeah your first sentence is correct
Especially not if you expect him to become a star. You want him making $10mil+ three years from now in arbitration salary.
Ok well how it really works is they will have to pay someone regardless to play LF so JK would still be cheaper than a guy they sign. So yes it does come out to $15 million for 5 yrs of JK.
No it does not come out to $15 mil for 5 years of Jk. Not in any universe. Not even close to accurate
The cost to acquire Kelenic is 15–he will make what he will as he goes through those 5 years of control.. I hope he crushes and get paid a lot in arb.
You’re just ignoring his arbitration raises every year?
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The fact that you are assuming larges raises undermines your case that he lacks value. If Kelenic plays well enough to warrant $6M, $10M, and $14M, the Braves are going to be pretty happy.
Braves had had success with Kelenic profile? Who?
MHII, Acuna, Olson, Albies, Arcia, and esp Riley. If you look into it Kelenic and Riley bat paths are pretty similar. Riley has been able to get the most out of his swing. I believe Riley well really have a break out year this year..
With the CBT hit the Braves have taken on $31 million.
What is so odd about seeing the potential in Kelenic and gambling on him? He’s not a FA until 2029 and a 2-WAR player in ’23 despite an injury and some struggles. If they change is scene and put him in that clubhouse with that supporting cast and take some pressure off of him — it’ll be interesting to see if he can piece things together. Even if he doesn’t, he should still be better than Rosario – who was maddeningly inconsistent, even in that clubhouse, and due like 8-9x what Jarred should be paid (despite the purchase price for him).
Kerr has a high K-rate they like to see if they can adjust and see if they can get a pen piece for a fraction of the inflated RP market price. They all won’t work out, but even if you hit on 1, it’s worth it. $5.5M doesn’t get you much on the RP market for even 1 year, and that’s usually a has-been with little left in the tank.
Luis Garcia just signed for less than that. He’s shown way more ability than Kerr…. You can easily find Kerr types on the wire
As a SD fan, I’m good with giving up Kerr to save $4 mil and there was a player that came back for a possible 4th OFer that is needed.
You get a 36 y/o Garcia for 1 year, while they get 5 years of a 29-y/o Kerr. Garcia, more than likely, has reached his ceiling. He may have a higher floor than Kerr, which is what LAA needs right now in a southpaw, but ATL has the luxury of being able to take chances on guys that have a higher ceiling, not unlike Kelenic. No one would be trading him if he didn’t have any flaws, but I can appreciate a club that believes in their development system to put it to good use.
I guess we just disagree on the upside of both Kelenic and Kerr. I think both have a ceiling of slightly above average, nothing more. Too many flaws in their game that are too hard to overcome
23 y/o and you’re ready to give up on a former #6 overall prospect? Baffling that some people are so quick to give up on the kind of talent that produces above-average speed/defense and elite exit velos with a high K-rate. Teoscar Hernandez – who is about to get paid $50M+ contract, had a 31.1% K-rate in ’23 in almost 50 more games in that same SEA lineup that Kelenic at 23 y/o had a 31.7% K-rate in 105 games. And Kelenic had better defense. And Kelenic had a higher OPS+ (109) in almost 50 less games than Hernandez did (106). Hernandez would be the alternative for a LF upgrade had AA not traded for Kelenic.
Kelenic is a FA as soon as Atlanta DFAs him. No options. If he does what he’s been doing, Kelenic won’t last long.
Kelenic was pretty solid last year (especially in the first half), both playing in the dungeon that is Seattle, and in a lineup without many weapons so he was thrust into a spot of having to carry a decent amount of the load.
If his skills stay completely stagnant, I think just playing most of his games at Truist and hitting like 7th btwn Murphy and Arcia is enough to naturally create an uptick in his numbers.
He might not be better than Rosario. Kelenic doesn’t like to make contact often not even close.
In 3 seasons Kelenic has exactly a 0.0 WAR. I hope he can be a 4th OF for the Braves.
Yes, a 0-WAR LF that was a 2-WAR LF in 105 games in 2023 at 23 y/o. Guy was 21 playing in the The Bigs, when most of us were retiring fake IDs. While I don’t know if he’s the LF of the future that many peg him to be, there should be a long leash for this kid considering the year’s of control, how much he’s being paid (not much), and how much he was acquired for (much).
There are enough red flags that there is no reason to believe he will ever be more than a decent fielding 4th OF. The 30.7% SO rate. The .204 BA. The 85 OPS+. The .373 SLG%.
Like I said, I hope he can be a 4th OF for the Braves.
But again, you need context for that. The 85+ is for a career. His OPS+ for 2023 was 109. He is also only 24. He theoretically should get a lot better.
Can you name anyone that got better after their 24th birthday that had a 35.5% SO rate in the previous season??
Stathead says there was only one.
Maybe Kelenic is the 2nd one in the history of baseball.
Fangraphs has him listed at 31.7% in 2023. What are you looking at that has him at 35.5%?
Going from 2000, at age 23, with a minimum of 100 PAs, and 31.7%:
Gallo
Happ
Sano
Chris Davis
Marsh
Morel
Baseball Reference
I said after they turned 24. Kelenic turned 24 in July.
Every team’s fans, other than the Dodgers and Royals, are getting impatient for roster moves, but it’s not even the winter solstice yet. Things typically get active after Santa’s job is done.
This may be a harder one to figure one, but the other trade was for Kelenic. The Braves took between 25-30 million in bad contracts to get him, he has 5 years of control left. 2 years at under a million dollars of control. We saw that Gurriel got 15 million a season from the diamondbacks. So if Kelenic preforms at or better than Gurriel he saves huge money. 2 years of Gurriel is more expensive than 5 years of Kelenic. It is a very good gamble. A few years ago Kelenic was one of the best prospects in baseball. Sure Atlanta will get him into star status
@Benjamin101677 And they don’t need to do even that. If Kelenic is never more than a good 4th OFer PH, he’s more than worth it.
If Kerr at 5.5m+ is never more than your 8th reliever, he’s more than more worth it.
Still, the money all adds up and the Braves don”t need these guys. They need a postseason ace or a top-notch late inning reliever.
The bizarre Braves offseason continues.
I knew they couldn’t trade him. I hope he retires and enjoys his life.
Braves have a massive rotation hole that cost them two years in a row against the Phillies. And Arcia is more of a tandem on a good team than the everyday SS. Its comical they would rather take on all this dead money and build an ok expensive bullpen than fill their actual needs
According to Fangraphs projected WAR for 2024, the Braves have the second best projected rotation in MLB. Just behind the Phillies.
“Massive red flag”
Ok. Do nothing and try to run Morton, Elder or more rookies at the Phillies again. See what happens.
Well it seemed to work out just fine until you throw out 162 game results in favor of 7 games and act as if that determines who’s better.
You mean in the playoffs? Strider, Fried, and Morton is as good of a playoff rotation (or better) as Wheeler, Nola, and Suarez.
Morton is 40 years old. Relying on him is foolish at this point
Are they? Seems that the Phillies rotation beats them every year.
Yes, at some point you’re just buying his retirement party. Particularly at 20m a year it’s foolish.
Yeah, they should probably bolster the back-end of their rotation, but their SP is far from a weakness. The 1-2 punch of Strider and Fried is as good as any in baseball.
Arcia is the best deal in baseball. His contract is an example of how we can build up our bullpen/rotation/Kelenic. You can’t have the GREATEST players on Earth at each position.
A career 79 wRC+ is the best deal in baseball??? Geez y’all are some clueless fools lol
“It’s comical they would rather take on”…AA’s strategies and tactics have won a recent WS and a couple of 100+ win seasons. How many WS and regular season games have your strategies and opinions won?
Lol AA didn’t acquire like any of those players
What age are you 12?
Are you actually a teenage swifty that you have to LOL your way through every post?
“Massive rotation hole” lol aka “oh no! There’s going to be multiple guys competing for the #5 spot in spring training”.
Elder is a fine #4. The bullpen is so deep that Reynaldo Lopez is a viable option for the number 5 spot. Winans/Vines have shown they can be serviceable. There’s the chance that AJ Smith-Shawver or Hurston Waldrep break out and claim the spot. Then they’ve got Huascar Ynoa (arguably our 3rd best starter the first half of ’21) and Ian “no hit world series start” Anderson both coming back from TJ.
Oh no! We should probably listen to Chris Getz and trade Michael Harris + Ozzie Albies to Chicago for nearly 5 ERA Cease!! Lol such a black hole, hell we should just tear it down and rebuild tbh..
Lol
@Jagsmanohman Wait!!! You mean David Stearns was lying to me when he said having lots of open spots in the bullpen is GOOD thing?
No wonder Cohen likes the guy.
It was the Braves lineup that went quiet vs the Phillies not as much the pitching. Atlanta is still solid 1-3. Had atlanta had a healthy charlie morton series could have been different
“If only our 39 year old stayed healthy!” is the cri de couer of less than superb planners.
The Atlanta day traders are at it again.
More like day drinkers if they thought they could trade him.
Evan White being traded not enough to know there’s one born every min?
AA was overrated as hell when he was with the Jays and everyone thought he was some genius. And here we are.
Consider that last year the Orioles got lefty Danny Coloumbe for cash, and Atlanta is paying $4 million for a mid lefty reliever.
Yeah I’m not even sure Kerr is a major league caliber arm. Padres didn’t trust him whatsoever. These are the types of guys you find on the wire (as you mentioned)
Find them on the wire…and not get them because someone else has claimed him.
Lol “overrated as hell with the Blue Jays”?
So much so that he voluntarily left when Shapiro came over to run things, then he was hired to work in the Dodgers front office, then when the Braves hired him in ’18 he’s literally never not had the Braves finish first in the NL East…the longest active division winning streak in MLB, world series championship included.
If anything he was underrated bc the Jays brought in Shapiro…
Please tell me which of the current Braves players were acquired by AA. I’ll give you a hint. Not many
Matt Olson, Sean Murphy for peanuts isn’t too bad. Neither is essentially locking up the entire core for a decade nor making them mistake of trading away any of those players…
You’re cherry-picking
Travis d’Arnoud was also signed by AA
Michael Harris II was drafted by AA
Braves 40-man roster: (acquired by AA) 28 of current 35 (80%)
Pierce Johnson (traded for, re-signed by AA)
Penn Murfee
Raisel Iglesias (traded for)
Ray Kerr
Reynaldo Lopez (signed by)
Spencer Strider (also extended by AA)
Joe Jimenez (traded for, re-signed by)
Jarred Kelenic
Michael Harris II
Matt Olson
Sean Murphy
Marcell Ozuna
Travis d’Arnaud
Vaughn Grissom
Aaron Bummer
Dylan Dodd
AJ Smith-Shawver
Angel Perdomo
Bryce Elder
Allan Winans
Darius Vines
Orlando Arcia
Charlie Morton
Tyler Matzek
Dylan Dodd
Dylan Lee
Forrest Wall
**Austin Riley (AA didn’t draft, but extended) — not factored in
Please tell me which ones AA signed to team friendly, long term deals? I’ll give you a hint..all of them..
Murphy, Olson, Harris, Strider is one heck of a start to that list.
Also Coloumbe tops out at 91…for comparison, 91 is Kerr’s changeup. Paying for the upside.
And what do minor league signees Felix Bautista and Julian Merryweather top out at? You can find high velo arms on the waiver wire too….
Did they have option years when claimed just curious
Yeah when you’re losing 100 games lol. You know there’s an order to the waiver wire right?
Paying for the roster flexibility of not having to add a guy to the 40 man roster that he doesn’t have to or
having to sign a guy to a minor league deal with an opt out if he isn’t on the major league roster by a certain date or
Claiming a guy who would have to stay on the 26 man roster or risk losing them for nothing by trying to sneak them through waivers.
Umm Kerr is on the 40 man?
Idk if they had option years but they both have significantly better arms than Kerr and were cheaper. There’s a reason the Padres never used Kerr in high leverage spots. They didn’t trust him whatsoever
I’ll admit that AA’s moves this off-season have left me scratching my head, but if you can’t admire his genius in the construction of this roster and the way he has been able to lock up their core then you don’t know what qualifies as a good GM.
Most of the extensions look good, yeah, but please tell me which players on the Braves roster he actually acquired? Much easier to extend good players on a good team with a high payroll…. Most players want to get paid, that’s not hard. Acquiring talent is hard
Re players AA “actually” acquired: off the top of my head..the 2023 NL All Star Starting 1B, Catcher, and Shortstop.
Next point?
Lol Arcia is trash. So 2 good players on the roster. And he swapped out Freeman for Olson. No upgrade. So that leaves Murphy. Congrats on him making one good trade lol
Most of the team he’s acquired in one form or another, whether drafted, traded, or signed.
Spencer Strider
Michaell Harris II
Sean Murphy
Matt Olson
Orlando Arcia
Marcelll Ozuna
Travis D’Arnuad
Bryce Elder
Rasiel Iglesias
AJ Smith Shawver
Charlier Morton etc…
Yes, he inherited Acuna, Albies and Riley, but was also smart enough to lock them up early. Think of how many millions he’s saved the franchise just from those three contracts alone.
You have trash for brains it seems
Look at the prices Atlanta has players star players locked in for many years and think again. He is smart guy.
Also had Atlanta signed a left fielder like Guirrel he went for 15 million a season. All this moves Atlanta has done they have a player who should perform as well for 5 years of what 2 years of Guirrel would cost the diamodbacks.
Someone will still defend these moves. Spent around 30M for some marginal relievers and a young strikeout prone and streaky OF.
I defend the moves Gurriel last season was .261 24 home runs and 82 runs batted in.with 551 at bats, 3.0 WAR Gurriel is going receive 14 million a season for 3 years from the diamondbacks.
Kelenic is .253 11 home runs and 49 runs batted in with 372 at bats. 2.0 WAR with a 179 less at bats
3 years od Gurriel would have cost atlanta 42 million at Gurriel is at his ceiling of production. If Kelenic performs at or above Gurriel for the next 2 seasons the Braves will have paid Kelenic $729,000 for 2024, and $729,000 for 2025. While the Diamdondbacks will have paid Gurriel 28 million.
Kelenic is going be a star
Thanks for making the mute easy, I guess.
So basically AA has taken on around $25M in dead money for an average RP and LF when he could have just paid Gurriel $14M a year for LF. Yikes.
Yeah. Not good. Kerr and Fletcher are the type of player you can find on the waiver wire or in your farm system. No reason to EVER acquire these types on purpose if you have to pay such high prices…
Ppl are going too alien brain on the Fletcher acquisition…its this simple..
Braves love Kelenic, part of acquiring him was taking on Evan White’s bad contract. Evan White is a 1B only, the Braves have Matt Olson who plays everyday. AA saw an opportunity to swap the bad contract of a 1B only player for the bad contract of a versatile utility player. The Angels price for making that swap was unloading Max Stassi, whom AA was then able to get a little cash back from the whitesox + a lottery ticket PTBNL.
Similar situation w/ Kerr, instead of giving up a prospect w/ upside for a hard throwing controllable lefty reliever (w/ the roster flexibility of an option), they decided to just take on most of the Matt Carpenter money, since the Braves are cash flush. “But why not just grab a guy off the waiver wire etc??” 1. Bc they’re very far down on the waiver wire. 2. Consider that the Braves actually had to send prospects to the Yankees and Rockies last season for Lucas Luetge/Brad Hand who I think both top out at 91 and weren’t effective. For comparison, Ray Kerr’s changeup is 91.
Fletcher isn’t even worth a roster spot, much less paying any amount of money for him. He’s horrific at baseball. Unless their plan is to just not allow him to hit?
You obviously never seen Fletcher play. He’s not “horrific at baseball”, he has excellent bat to ball contact skills and he is a gold glove caliber 2b and 3b, has a good arm and is an above average ss. He’s just not a power hitter and became a little too pull happy with the Angels. There is a reason why they decided to sign him long term. Injuries and off the field problems really hurt his career. He can become a good utility player and insurance in case of any prolonged injuries. Not sure if his salary is justified right now, but he’s only signed for 2 years, so not a long commitment.
Kelenic is poised to have a bigger year than Gurriel. In fact, Kelenic will be the MLB Comeback Player of the Year.
No he won’t. He swings and misses way too much to ever be a great hitter. Big hole in his swing
Gurriel is few % of declining plate discipline into literally being Eddie Rosario, the guy who’s option was declined. Id rather take a chance on the cheap, controllable younger player with massive upside/prospect pedigree in Kelenic (that you took on dead money upfront for) vs. guaranteeing 42 million for the older player that’s not significantly more productive than the guy you just let go.
Or, you know, they could get someone else? Pretty sure there are more options than Kelenic and Gurriel
Kelenic does not have massive upside. Maybe like 5 years ago he did lol
Lol who else? 200 million Bellinger or overpaying platoon/DH guys on the free agent market? Or giving up legit prospects on a LF who’ll be hitting 7th?
Kelenic is the perfect fit since it wasa blend of taking on some cash and not giving up any of their better prospects. He’s still quite young too, has a few years before he even hits his prime years.
Plenty of cheap options who are as good as Kelenic on the market. None of which would require them to take on Evan white and Marco gonzalez
You don’t understand upside/tools. Clearly
Will y’all quit responding to the Rols LOL idiot? Can’t you see he’s obviously a troll? His lack of basic baseball knowledge is the dead giveaway.
No he’s not. Kelenic is a strike or machine and a head case.
JK can’t hit breaking pitches from LHP. He can hit the heater, but anything off speed is swing hard in case he hits it.
Kelenic may be a bust. No one knows the future. He had an short season last year and still was equal to Rosie in war (or close to it). He is better in the field than Rosie. A cheap bet to place on upside of 15 for 5 years of Kelenic. The Dodgers just made a bet on Glasnow for 140 or so and in 5 years he has over 9 war and Kelenic has over 2 in a little over a year of service time. It might blow up in their face or Kelenic could easily be a solid 3 war player for 5 years and this is a great trade. The Braves do well with high slug–struggle with the curve/off speed guys. Kelenic fits the type hitter they like to work with. Acuna is the old man in the outfield now, at 25.
DFA Carp instead of going into the spring with him is, well strange.
It’s not $15 mil for 5 years of Kelenic. That’s not accurate at all. It’ll be WAY more than that even if he’s bad (although then they’ll just non tender him)
No it’s not cause they are going to have to pay someone regardless. Now if he flames out & is a bust than yes it was a gamble AA lost.
But if he doesn’t and he lives up to his earlier hype than he got a financial blessing.
It’s risk/reward & the fact of what he makes in future years is irrelevant because he has to pay someone to play the position regardless. But if JK doesn’t pan out he can be nontendered and it’s no loss other than the money he ate to get him. Which would be a lot less than any money that a bad free agent signing woulda costed.
It was 15 to acquire him. okay?
You realize is Kelenic pays off and matches of beats Gurriel WAR that the Braves saved a lot of money. Kelenic is controlled for the next 5 seasons, for Atlanta to have filled left field with Gurriel for the next 5 seasons it would have cost 70 million dollars. Kelenic is league min. salary next 2 seasons. So if Kelenic matches or beats Gurriel number which there is a high likelyhood he will Atlanta will have paid about 1.5 million for Kelenic when if they had signed Gurriel they would have paid $28 million. So if Kelenic performs like people think he should / could he is millions cheaper than Gurriel even with the dead money involved.
Protential amazing deal for Atlanta
You’re just not counting the $15 mil or so they took on to acquire him? Basically the same amount Gurriel will make this year?
Wow someone who actually knows a thing or 2 about a thing or 2
So refreshing when you can see someone else actually gets the bigger picture
Kelenic will cost $729,000 /2024 and $729,000 / 2025 while Gurriel who has already hit his ceiling will cost $14,000 a season totaling $28 million. So if Kelenic performs at or better than .261 24 home runs and 82 runs batted in a season. Atlanta will have saved $26,992,000 in money, still have Kelenic for 3 more arbitration years.
In addition, based on prospect status, what Kelenic showed in a brief mlb not even full season he is projected to be a 30 / 30 type guy. That if he works with Chipper Jones could be talking about this guy for years.
It was a very smart gamble
Hahahah another guy paid not to play, that’s what the braves and padres think of his ability…
Next headline “Cubs interested in Matt Carpenter”
Terrible offseason. Just get Cease already!
What’s with your user name?
Because we are willing to listen to offers.
Signed,
The rest of baseball
@geg42: His user name a couple of seasons ago was NoMadBum No NLCS. As you might guess, he spent most of his time here ranting that the Braves should trade any of their young stars it would take to get MadBum from the DBacks. Yikes. He dropped that name when Acuna blew out his knee 2 years ago. No understanding his long standing distaste for Acuna. He also believes that regular seasons don’t matter because every team is a failure unless they win in Manfred’s short sample post season bingo game.
Actually he wanted the Braves to sign Bumgarner to a long term contract when he was a free agent before the DBack signed him. I believe he was throwing numbers like 6/140
Braves ownership must be giving AA a blank checkbook at this point. Don’t understand this strategy as opposed to just outbidding for what’s out there on the market
I guess they were unable to find a trade.
Man! Where did you come up with that conclusion?
I wouldn’t mind if the Cardinals sign him for depth on the bench. Then he can retire as a Cardinal.
There’s much better depth already on the Cardinals bench.
They have Donovan to fill in at 1st, 3rd and DH. No room in STL
Assuming the Cards move one of Carlson or Burleson another left-handed bat could be valuable. Palacios should be the #1 choice off the bench, but Carp could be the 26th man. He doesn’t need to hit like he did in NY, will cost nothing, plus he can play multiple Infield positions. Maybe he would block Sagesse, but he may need more development.
Donovan should never DH if Gorman is the other option!
Donovan or Gorman one at 2nd one at DH, 6 of one.
Where oh where have you gone thumbs down?
Cards should commit to a Carp retirement day in June. Tis the season to finalize merch and special ballpark days.
Return to the Red Birds. If the Cards do move one of Burleson or Carlson (his left-handed bat is still a question), Carp might help. He can play a number of positions, could spell Goldy, DH, or in a pinch other Infield positions. This is assuming they sign him for the minimum and let the Padres and Yanks pay him.
Should be Pads and Braves pay.
The Bravos took on his contract, sign Carp on their dime! (League Min not included)
@Gwynning: Braves took on his contract less the $1.5M the Pads sent along w/him in the deal, so yes the “Pads and Braves pay” as spudchukar said and (League Min not included) as you referenced (in a signing by another team.)
True, my bad
Why do I have a feeling he will come back to the Cardinals and retire at the end of the year….
I can see him as a hitting coach possibly down the line. I mean if John Mabry can do it MC surely can. maybe. possibly. LOL
The Matt Carpenter tax.
Please go back to St. Louis- signed other NL Central teams
Perfect cleanup hitter for the Giants!
With the Carpenter release, could Chaim Breslow make a move from the shadows…..RSOX need a 2nd baseman. Seems like the price is right…for CB
Can we pause to reflect on how bad the Padres signing of Carpenter was? Carpenter’s numbers screamed outlier, and would have done so for a younger, healthier player as well.
A 2 year bet that he would repeat that is just dumb money.
What part of the Padres and Yanks are paying Carp is confusing? Cards could sign him for the league minimum!
Padres and Braves.
He was my pick for worst deal of the offseason last year
Why would we not bring him to camp and see if Seitzer can get something out of him for a bench bat? Maybe even trade him for a lottery ticket at the end of Spring Training if he shows something? We’re paying him either way and have open roster spots. Weird.
If they couldn’t trade him now, they won’t be able to trade him then. Might as well let him be a FA and let him chose where he goes
Odd move but I think Carpenter could still be a valuable lefty bench bat. I could honestly see him being a Dodger since they buy everyone they can and can turn anything into gold for no good reason.
I wake up on a rainy Monday to the devastating news of Matt Carpenter being released. Let’s hope my week gets better.
Now that we have dealt with PV and discounted cash flow, it is time to move on to deferred acquisition cost.
From an accounting perspective, when you acquire a player like Kerr, in exchange for $4M, it is better to consider as a l/t cost, spread out over the remaining years of control. In this case, they paid $4M for the rights to a player for 6 years. Same with Kelenic. The amount of dead money they picked up should be spread out of 5 years.
If it $15M, and the comp being used is Gurriel, then the comparison should be that AZ is paying $45M/3 for Gurriel while Atl might be paying $7-8M for Kelenic over the next three years.
I can see the rays taking a flyer on carpenter with him bouncing back and putting up a 12p ops+
Padres could now resign him now for much much less since they can’t afford anyone else
Wow! Big news indeed …
It seems that the Braves have acquired a couple of prospects and JK for like $35 million in absorbed contracts… either this guy is clown-bro 101 or he is fleecing the league with smart calculated moves.
Anyone have a clue what AA is trying to accomplish? Cause these acquisition of mediocre players and their salarys makes no sense.!
He must not like his family life and needs to find ways to be at the office 20 hours a day completing all these pointless moves.
If you haven’t already done so, go to the newest comments & read JoeBrady’s take. It makes a complete relevant breakdown on what AA’s thinking might’ve been.
When I read that the Braves planned to trade Carpenter, I thought, yeah, and I plan to win Powerball.
Does anyone really think there is a market for Carpenter, 38 years old pinch hits once a game, very very seldom plays in the field. For God’s sake the guy hit .176 for a average. Look at the rest of his batting stats. There is not much there to say hey he will really help us.
The question any GM taking on his contract that calls for him making 6 mil this season has to nuts!! The guy is way past his prime!! The padres and the Braves really need to look at their GM’s wasting payroll dollars especially for a hangar on.
Here’s the bit I don’t have clarity on: are the padres able to resign him? And would that mean they’d have to pay an additional league minimum, or would they still just owe him the 1.5 million they already do? Or is that 1.5 million going to the Braves, and Atlanta is currently on the hook for his full salary?
I mean, if it costs the padres nothing, could they bring him back on a minor league deal with spring training invite?
Trash player, thrown in the trash
Tidy whidey keyboard warrior, in his tidy whideys
Trash comment, throw you in the trash
Matt Carpenter will join the Adam Wainwright Band and go on tour in Japan after opening in Toronto! There is a private jet at Charlie Brown airport in Fulton County, Ga. with a flight plan to Toronto!
You’re trying too hard, stop
4 million was a lot for the mediocre numbers Carpenter put up last year. At best, he’s a Spring Training invite kind of player.
Kerr came into padres games and sometimes I was like wow this guy could be good. Then other times he would come into games and I’d be like this guys sucks.
Maybe the braves can get the good part and this trade will look really good.
If not then it cost 4m bucks to find out. Kerr does have a big arm, no denying the velo is there but it’s more hittable than 98 usually is.
There you go, Jed.
Let’s Go Bucs. Sign Carpenter!
Nice player at one time.
But it’s time to call it a career.
Because Carpenter is being paid by both the Braves and Padres, does the league minimum salary another team pays him should he make their team get deducted from the Braves, Padres, or both?
Gets deducted from the $4M the Braves will be paying him.
If it wasn’t for testing in place, I’d suggest he juiced to get a big deal. Sure seems like it.
Go get him Padres
6 years $54MM should do it
nah
Once, in NHL 2K19, I acquired a player via trade, immediately regretted it, traded him back for the player I traded for and a 2nd rd pick. I feel like on a small level, this is what AA is trying to do
Not surprising AA couldn’t find a taker willing to give up a bag of sunflower seeds to acquire Carpenter. I guess if they were going to eat the money it doesn’t really matter if you get a lotto ticket or nothing at all in this case
That was inevitable. Braves just paid $4.75 million plus the CBT penalties for Kerr next season.
Not a bad price for a reliever if he can lower his BB rate, be kept in just low leverage situations, and stick in the majors.
Braves just paid $4.75 million plus the CBT penalties for Kerr next season.
===============================
A better way of looking at it is that it is $4M (as per Cots) and there is a reasonable chance that some team will look him up for minimum wage. That makes the hit only about $3.2M.
And the cost should be viewed as a 6-year investment, so it is ~ $500k per year.
Which means that the break-even on this is a lefty RP of the same caliber as Kerr, costing ~ $1.2-1.3M a year. I’d be betting against finding anyone like that either internally or via free agency.
102 million, not 112 million, as I posted
Matt Carpenter would make a good minor league signing with a spring invite candidate for the Minnesota Twins. They did much worse signing Joey Gallo to a $10 million contract, and Gallo played no better for the Twins than Carpenter for the Padres.
.
For team control i love the Acquistion of kerr and kelenic. we won over 100 games last year. We dont need much offense so nothing hurt if kelnic struggles. Maybe ole shitker will figure out how to manage a post season bullpen. AA gave him all the pieces, just need to put it together.. AA is best in the business. i could only imagine if he had the dodgers, mets or other high end unlimited funds.. dude has turned trash into a dynasty. im surprised some team hasnt offered him a ton of money
And the Braves bailing Preller out is complete.
Curious why the Braves just wouldn’t keep him on the roster until they absolutely had to make a roster move. Unless I am missing something and the roster was already full
My pure guess is that, since it is early, some small-payroll team with an opening will take a chance on him via trade.
For teams like Oakland, that have to pay almost $800k for anyone on the roster, paying say $1M for Carp probably makes more sense.
The Mets could use another .176 hitter.
Now. He can start the career he’s been wanting to for years, Umpiring! Calling balls and strikes!