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AL West Notes: Street, Simmons, De Fratus, Romero, Rangers

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If you’re wondering how Angels closer Huston Street has managed to continue befuddling major league hitters despite a lack of an overwhelming fastball, the answer may lie in his incredibly strict routine. As MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez explains in an interesting piece, Street’s daily regimen is shaped by lessons learned from his late father.

Here’s more from the AL West:

  • Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons, the organization’s key offseason addition, has now missed four straight days to rest his arm, as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports. Manager Mike Scioscia reiterated that the team isn’t concerned with Simmons’s health and is merely “err[ing] on the side of caution.”
  • Mariners skipper Scott Servais says the club has interest in bringing back just-released righty Justin De Fratus on a minor league arrangement, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports on Twitter. That continued interest and the move’s timing could suggest there was a financial motivation for setting De Fratus back on the open market, since there was no corresponding 40-man addition. Also, stashing him in the minors might be the organization’s preferred outcome, and he is out of options. Whether or not De Fratus returns to the fold, Seattle is said to be on the lookout for additional bullpen candidates.
  • The Mariners have several options for right-handed power bats in the first base/DH mix, and MLB.com’s Greg Johns notes that it would be unwise to count out Stefen Romero. He has impressed at the plate and in the field thus far, though he’ll likely still need to beat out both Jesus Montero and Dae-ho Lee to earn a roster spot.
  • Derek Norris may be a more sensible target for the Rangers than Jonathan Lucroy, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News opines. Salary and length of control are the two main factors, but Grant notes that there are some reasons to prefer Norris over Lucroy from an on-field perspective, too.

AL East Notes: Sabathia, Heyward, Saunders, Bautista, Kopech, Panda

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CC Sabathia’s announcement that he would enter rehabilitation for alcohol abuse on the eve of the Yankees’ Wild Card playoff game last October stunned fans and those throughout the industry, and now, the left-hander offers an honest account of the factors that led to his decision over at the Players’ Tribune. Sabathia explains the reasons that he first turned to alcohol and the way in which his addiction evolved in an extremely candid, personal chronicle of his battle with the disease. Sabathia details his time spent in rehab and thanks his family as well as friends in the game such as David Ortiz, Torii Hunter and David Price for their support throughout the process. The big lefty writes that he feels mentally stronger than he ever has heading into a season and offers a message of hope to those that are going through their own battles with addiction.

Some notes from the AL East…

  • Prior to Jason Heyward’s trade to the Cardinals last offseason, the Yankees and Braves discussed a blockbuster framework that would’ve sent Heyward, Andrelton Simmons, David Carpenter, Melvin Upton and Chris Johnson to New York in exchange for Luis Severino, Aaron Judge, Manny Banuelos, Gary Sanchez and Ian Clarkin, according to a report from Jon Heyman (links to Twitter). Per Heyman, New York ultimately wouldn’t pull the trigger on the deal. A later, much smaller trade would see Carpenter and lefty Chasen Shreve sent to the Yankees in exchange for Banuelos. Heyward, meanwhile, was dealt to the Cardinals in a trade that sent Shelby Miller to the Braves. Atlanta, of course, flipped Miller to the D-backs this winter in a potentially franchise-altering deal.
  • Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins joined Buster Olney on today’s Baseball Tonight Podcast (audio link, with Atkins appearing at about the 29-minute mark) to discuss his background in baseball and a few Jays topics. Olney asked Atkins about the reported near-trade to acquire Jay Bruce which would’ve sent Michael Saunders to the Angels as part of a three-team deal. “[Saunders] has been unbelievable,” said Atkins when asked about the rumored swap. “With the rumors, spending time with him about that, he was as humble, as professional and as committed as possible to make sure that this will be the best trade that never happened.” Atkins went on to praise Saunders’ mobility and a pair of homers against inside fastballs — one from an opposing lefty. The inability to turn on inside pitches is often a concern with players coming off knee surgery, Atkins said, but Saunders to this point has shown no such ill effects.
  • Olney also asked about reports of Jose Bautista’s lofty asking price in extension talks with the Blue Jays. Atkins called Bautista “one of the smartest guys” he’s been around and said interactions with his right fielder have been nothing but positive. “My interactions with him, contrary to what people may think based on what’s been read, have been incredible,” Atkins said. “They’ve been amicable, they’ve been warm, they’ve been open, full of laughter and really, full of positivity. … I think, unfairly, some things have been portrayed that aren’t necessarily true. It’s unfortunate that there’s been somewhat of a negative light cast on his potential demands, and the focus has gone away from what a talented player he is and what a great person he is.”
  • Red Sox prospect Michael Kopech, a right-hander that received a 50-game suspension during last year’s minor league season for use of the banned stimulant Oxilofrine, has run into some trouble once again, writes Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. Kopech suffered a fractured right hand in an altercation with a teammate, per Bradford. “It was stupid,” GM Mike Hazen told Bradford of Kopech’s incident. “He’s going to have to grow up, obviously, with the things that have happened so far. He’s got a long road to go to get to the big leagues. He obviously has a ton of potential. He’s got a long way to go. These types of things, you don’t want to put more barriers in front of you than playing professional baseball already presents you.” Kopech was selected with the 33rd overall pick of the 2014 draft as compensation for the Red Sox’ loss of Jacoby Ellsbury in free agency. When he was able to take the field last year, the 19-year-old logged a 2.63 ERA with 9.7 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9 in 65 innings (15 starts, one relief appearance).
  • Pablo Sandoval has been working with Red Sox infield instructor Brian Butterfield to alter the positioning of his glove on certain plays as well as his general first-step quickness, manager John Farrell tells reporters, including Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. Mastrodonato notes that while Farrell has raved about the preparation of Hanley Ramirez, he’s been more cautious in his descriptions of Sandoval, telling the media today that there’s still “work to be done” in terms of his defense and finding his timing at the plate. Sandoval, per Mastrodonato, says he’s been focusing quite a bit on his first step and spent the entire offseason hitting right-handed in an effort to get his right-handed swing back to its peak levels. (Sandoval, for those who weren’t aware, abandoned switch-hitting about a third of the way through the 2015 season.)

NL East Notes: Zobrist, Allard, Simmons

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Let’s take a quick look in at a few notes from the NL East:

  • Free agent utilityman extraordinaire Ben Zobrist has already been tied to just about every team in baseball, including the Nationals and Mets. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports and MLB Network’s Tom Verducci see those NL East rivals as strong fits and real threats to add the veteran. (Links to Rosenthal’s Twitter account.) All indications are that Zobrist remains in very high demand with the open-market season in full swing.
  • Young Braves lefty Kolby Allard tweets that he’s only had one back surgery, contrary to reports suggesting he’d had two separate procedures. Regardless, what’s important here is the fact that Allard says he’s “recovering quickly” and expects to be ready for spring camp. The 18-year-old remains an intriguing player to watch as he enters his first full season of professional ball.
  • Some Braves fans have been left frustrated with the team’s front office. After all, one line of thinking goes, why trade a quality young shortstop in Andrelton Simmons if you are aiming for near-term competitiveness? While this has obviously been reported and commented on quite a bit, it’s well worth considering the comments of GM John Coppolella in full, and David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution provides a complete transcript of his recent media session. Most interesting, perhaps, were Coppolella’s statements on the timing of the deal. With the Angels having many needs, he said, that club might have used its top pitching prospects in other deals had the Braves waited to act. He went on to reflect on some recent experiences in that regard: “We had a shot to trade a player this past season for a guy who’s now ranked as a top-50 prospect in the game, and that player [whom the Braves were going to trade] ended up getting hurt,” Coppolella explained. “And by the time we tried to make the trade, that prospect had shot up the charts and they wouldn’t even talk about the player.” The newly-minted GM also said that the Braves “made a strong run” to acquire Luis Severino from the Yankees, noting that he’s now “off-limits this year.”

Reactions To And Effects Of The Andrelton Simmons Trade

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Here are a few notes on the Braves’ trade of Andrelton Simmons and Jose Briceno to the Angels for Erick Aybar, Sean Newcomb and Chris Ellis.

  • Simmons’ departure is a tough pill for Braves fans, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution writes. Simmons was a regular and was signed for several more seasons, and there was a good possibility he would make a brilliant defensive play in any given game. Simmons is the best defensive shortstop since Ozzie Smith, O’Brien says, and there’s a parallel between the Simmons deal and the Padres’ regrettable decision to trade Smith in December 1981 after four years in San Diego as a light-hitting infielder. O’Brien also notes that the Simmons deal is likely to make the Braves less competitive as they open their new ballpark in 2017.
  • The Braves’ rebuild will likely be painful in the short term, but is more likely to reap rewards in the long term than a more cautious approach, ESPN’s Buster Olney writes (Insider only). The Braves’ series of trades leaves them not only with a big collection of prospects, but also with the third overall draft choice next year and likely another top pick in 2017. The Braves are now at a low point in their rebuilding efforts (although perhaps not the lowest point, as Olney notes). The Cubs’ and Astros’ 2015 seasons, though, demonstrate the potential rewards of completing the task ahead.
  • Braves GM John Coppolella says the team made the deal reluctantly, writes MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. “We didn’t want to trade Andrelton Simmons,” Coppolella says. “But we felt this was too good for us to pass up. We felt like we were getting so much talent back in this deal, that if we didn’t make this trade, it would be very tough for us to keep going forward with our plans.” Interestingly, Bowman implies that the Yankees pursued Simmons last offseason and offered a package that included top prospect Luis Severino.
  • The Braves’ return for Simmons was merely a decent one, ESPN’s Keith Law writes (also for subscribers). The Angels did give up their top two prospects in Newcomb and Ellis, but they got a player in return who’s so good defensively that he’s valuable even if he doesn’t hit much. Simmons can also help the Angels win now, which is good, because their remaining farm system isn’t much to speak of.
  • With the departures of Simmons and Jason Heyward, the Braves seem to be betting against their elite defenders aging well, FanGraphs’ Dave Cameron writes. Cameron finds, however, that great young defenders do tend to lose some defensive value from ages 26 to 30 (the age through which the Braves would have controlled Simmons), but that they compensate for that with stronger offensive performances (much as Smith did after moving from San Diego to St. Louis).

Angels Acquire Andrelton Simmons

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The Angels have officially agreed to acquire shortstop Andrelton Simmons from the Braves, along with catcher Jose Briceno. Lefty Sean Newcomb and righty Chris Ellis are going to Atlanta in return, along with long-time Halos shortstop Erick Aybar. The Braves will pick up $2.5MM in the swap to offset some of Aybar’s salary.

Sep 26, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons (19) laughs while taking infield practice before a game against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Simmons, 26, is arguably the single best defensive player in the game today. Though he hasn’t been consistent offensively, he has a tremendous floor because of his glove, which is as pleasing to the eye as it is to defensive metrics.

Simmons has shown promise at the plate at times. In 2013, his first full season in the majors, he slashed .248/.296/.416 and hit 17 home runs. But Simmons’s isolated slugging has fallen off precipitously since, with his groundball rate rising and frequency of hard contact tailing off. While the high-contact hitter managed a .321 OBP last year, his overall batting contribution was valued at just an 82 wRC+.

Los Angeles will take over the extension that Simmons signed last winter with his now-former club, pursuant to which he is owed $53MM over the next five seasons. Notably, not much cash has run off of that contract since it was signed, as Simmons was paid just $5MM total from signing through 2015.

The 23-year-old Briceno is not a major part of the swap. He spent all of last year at the High-A level, his highest placement yet, and slashed a meager .183/.215/.267 over 327 plate appearances.

The Braves, meanwhile, receive two hurlers who were widely considered the best prospects in an already-depleted (and now largely barren) Los Angeles system. When combined with last winter’s trade haul, Atlanta now has a loaded store room of young arms to deploy at the major league level or utilize in future trades.

Newcomb, in particular, is a major asset, as he landed inside the top twenty on MLB.com’s latest league-wide prospects list. The 22-year-old southpaw climbed from Class A to Double-A over the 2015 season, producing excellent run prevention numbers along the way. He averaged double-digit strikeout-per-nine tallies as well, though his composite 5.0 BB/9 walk rate shows that he’s still in need of polishing.

The 23-year-old Ellis, meanwhile, isn’t viewed in the same tier as Newcomb. The University of Mississippi product did have a solid 2015, though, logging 140 2/3 frames of 3.90 ERA ball, split between High-A and Double-A. He struck out 8.4 and walked 4.0 batters per nine along the way, but that K:BB rate took a beating after his promotion.

Aybar will likely serve as a placeholder for the Braves, who have a highly-regarded young shortstop in Ozhaino Albies who is a few years off but moving quickly through the system. Depending upon how the offseason and season progress, Aybar could also end up a trade piece.

The 31-year-old had a down year in 2015, slashing just .270/.301/.338 in 638 trips to the plate. But he had posted slightly above-average numbers over the four preceding years. Aybar has drawn more or less average career ratings in the field, though both DRS and UZR saw him as sub-par last season.

All told, Aybar still profiles as an average or better regular heading into 2016. After all, he’s fifth in all of baseball in fWAR accumulated over the past five campaigns. His $8.5MM salary will be reduced to a $6MM total for Atlanta, which makes him plenty valuable despite his pending free agency after the coming season.

MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reported the swap on Twitter. The package going to the Braves was reported by MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez (Twitter links) and Joel Sherman of the New York Post (also on Twitter). Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links) and Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter) reported Briceno’s involvement. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweeted the monetary amount involved.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Braves Listening On Andrelton Simmons

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4:31pm: The Rockies are not engaged in trade talks regarding Simmons, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports on Twitter.

8:58am: The Mets checked in on Simmons this morning and were met with the asking price of Jacob deGrom or Matt Harvey, tweets Sherman, which is steeper than New York would care to pay.

NOV. 12, 7:09am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post hears that the Braves are indeed listening to offers for Simmons, and they’ve been in recent contact with the Padres, Dodgers and Angels (three Twitter links). The Braves recognize the weak free-agent market at shortstop and want to at least see what the return would be for Simmons considering how valuable he is. Sherman adds that the Mets haven’t checked in on Simmons yet, perhaps assuming that the Braves wouldn’t deal him within the NL East.

NOV. 11, 10:42pm: The Braves have discussed Simmons, but no deal is close at the moment, per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (links to Twitter). They’re willing to listen, and as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution adds (also via Twitter), Atlanta is determined to add multiple young, impact pieces without raising payroll much. Moving Simmons could achieve that goal, but the cost would assuredly be astounding for a player with as much surplus value on his contract as Simmons presently has.

10:31pm: The Padres have checked in on Simmons but nothing is close in terms of trade talks between the two sides, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union Tribune (Twitter link).

9:58pm: Keri now tweets that the Braves’ talks revolve around Andrelton Simmons. That doesn’t necessarily rule out any of the four remaining teams, as the Rockies and Padres could certainly use a long-term answer at shortstop and either the Dodgers or D-Backs could shuffle their current infield alignment to add a defender of Simmons’ caliber.

Simmons’ offensive output was down in 2015, but he remains arguably the game’s most elite defensive player and is under contract for another five seasons at a total of $53MM.

9:33pm: The Giants aren’t in talks with the Braves, both SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo and the San Francisco Chronicle’s Henry Schulman hear (links to Twitter).

9:11pm: The Braves are “deep” in trade talks with a yet-unnamed NL West club, reports Jonah Keri of ESPN (via Twitter). Clearly, there’s a lot left to the imagination with this report, but there’s enough to at least envision a few possibilities.

The Braves are known to be shopping expensive veterans Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn, though neither player is a desirable asset considering the $15MM each is owed in 2016. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported today that Cameron Maybin is available in trades, and Maybin could be a more appealing piece on the heels of the first fully healthy season he’s enjoyed since 2012. There’s also been speculation over the past several months that Atlanta could move on from formerly presumed catcher-of-the-future Christian Bethancourt, and the team did just reportedly agree to terms on a new one-year deal with A.J. Pierzynski earlier tonight. Other possibilities include Julio Teheran, whose name has been kicked around in trade rumors since the summer, and Mike Minor, whom the team is reportedly uncertain about tendering after he experienced a setback in his rehab from shoulder surgery.

A quick rundown of the NL West’s team needs: the Rockies could be looking for catching or pitching help, the Giants are reportedly interested in outfielders and rotation arms, the Diamondbacks are hunting for general pitching help (rotation or bullpen), the Dodgers are in much the same boat as the D-Backs, and the Padres could conceivably be looking to add in the outfield, infield or rotation. That creates a wide-ranging slate of possibilities, of course, though if a trade is indeed nearing fruition, further details are likely to be reported sooner rather than later.

Hart, Coppolella On Offseason, Olivera, Bethancourt, Pierzynski, Minor

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Braves president of baseball operations John Hart and general manager John Coppolella addressed the media today in the wake of the regular season’s completion and discussed a number of roster-related topics heading into the winter. Here’s a rundown of some highlights, courtesy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s David O’Brien and MLB.com’s Mark Bowman …

  • Fixing the bullpen will be the team’s top priority this offseason, according to Hart, who adds that his secondary and tertiary priorities will be supplementing the offense and determining if there’s a need to make an addition that would upgrade the team’s starting pitching. The third goal listed will depend specifically on the health of presently injured starters Mike Minor, Manny Banuelos and Mike Foltynewicz, he added.
  • In the team’s initial talks with the Dodgers regarding Hector Olivera, Los Angeles initially asked for Andrelton Simmons to be included in the deal — a notion which the Braves quickly shot down.
  • Right-handed reliever Chris Withrow, who also came to the Braves in a recent trade, is expected to be ready for Spring Training 2016, per Hart. Another Tommy John victim, Shae Simmons, likely won’t be ready to join the Braves’ bullpen until sometime in May. Speaking generally, Coppolella noted the potential for significant improvement in 2016 simply by way of getting injured players back to full health. While the duo admitted that a 100-win team isn’t going to materialize next season, the expectation is a better record than the 67-95 mark with which they finished the season.
  • Though many reports have linked the Braves to acquiring young catching help this season, the team still “loves” Christian Bethancourt’s skills behind the dish and consider him a part of the future plans. That said, the Braves still hope to re-sign A.J. Pierzynski, though they fear that an American League club that could offer some additional at-bats at designated hitter might swoop in and sign the veteran backstop.
  • The Braves will head into 2016 planning on Minor being healthy enough to return to the rotation. That seemingly rules out any possibility that the club would look to non-tender Minor following a lost season due to shoulder surgery. Minor won an arbitration hearing against the Braves last offseason and was awarded a $5.6MM salary. His pay can’t be cut any more than 20 percent via the arb process, and the more likely scenario would be that he simply agrees to an identical salary for the 2016 season.

Mets Asked Braves About Simmons; Asking Price “Unreachable”

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The Mets’ pursuit of a long-term answer at shortstop has been well-documented, and one of their latest endeavors was to explore the possibility of an intra-division swap that would bring Andrelton Simmons from Atlanta to Queens, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney (via Twitter). However, Olney hears that talks went nowhere, as the Braves placed such a high asking price on Simmons that it was “basically unreachable.”

That Simmons would come with an exorbitant asking price should be expected, as he is the game’s premier defender at shortstop (if not the game’s premier defender, period) and brings a competent bat to the table as well as a highly affordable contract. Over the past three seasons, Simmons leads not only all shortstops, but all qualified position players in both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating. It’s not even close when it comes to DRS, as his +86 mark dwarfs the 61 runs credited to the also-excellent Nolan Arenado.

That elite glove is paired with a bat that has produced a .254/.303/.366 line. That’s hardly elite production, but it’s also weighed down by what looks to be a somewhat fluky down season in 2014. Simmons doesn’t walk much (6.1 percent in his career), but he also rarely strikes out (9.1 percent) and has a bit of pop in his bat, as evidenced by a 17-homer campaign back in 2013.

On top of that, Simmons is controlled through the 2020 season for a very reasonable total of about $54.1MM. He’s still owed roughly $1.1MM in 2015 in addition to annual salaries of $6MM, $8MM, $11MM, $13MM and $15MM over the life of the deal, which will conclude after his age-30 season. Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron recently placed Simmons 30th when ranking the Top 50 players in the game in terms of trade value. As he notes, Simmons hasn’t been much of a hitter yet, but plenty of teams would be happy to make the bet that his bat will improve before his glove declines, adding that his elite defense creates a very high floor.

The Mets have been oft-connected to shortstops over the past 18 months, with names such as Troy Tulowitzki, Starlin Castro and Javier Baez representing just a few of the players to be connected to GM Sandy Alderson’s club. They’re known to be on the hunt for some offensive improvements as well, though the acquisition of Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson and the recent promotion of Michael Conforto have lessened those needs, to some extent.

East Notes: Henry, Pineda, Phils, Simmons, Harang

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In an outstanding profile of Red Sox principal owner John Henry, Joshua Green of Bloomberg Businessweek writes that Henry “captures baseball’s current era” with his financial savvy and mathematical orientation. The full piece comes highly recommended, but a few particularly salient points are worth mention here. According to Henry, Boston’s disastrous 2012 season taught the organization “a lesson in ever-growing, long-term contracts with free agents.” An important element of the team’s turnaround, says Green, was Henry’s “ability to ignore sentiment” in making personnel decisions. Though Henry says “it’s gotten harder to spend money intelligently,” Green paints a picture of a man determined to do just that, precisely because of the challenge. In the immediate term, of course, the question is at what price the Sox deem staff ace Jon Lester a worthwhile investment. (The team has reportedly offered four years and $70MM.)

  • Of course, the major topic of conversation last night (and this morning) was the ejection of Yankees starter Michael Pineda for taking the hill with a generous application of pine tar on his neck. Pineda will almost certainly earn a suspension and miss at least one start; last year, Rays reliever Joel Peralta lost 8 games after he was caught with the substance. Of course, virtually every player, manager, front office official, and journalist to have commented on the incident has noted that it is widely accepted that pitchers utilize various kinds of grip-enhancing agents. As ESPN.com’s Buster Olney writes (Insider link), it is increasingly ridiculous to maintain a rule that is so rarely enforced and widely disregarded. His recommendation of a pre-approved substance (or, presumably, substances) that pitchers can utilize seems like a good starting point for considering a rule change; it makes little sense, in my view, to implicitly permit “cheating” so long as the pitcher is not “too obvious.”
  • The Phillies bullpen — particularly,  its grouping of right-handed set-up men — have been an unmitigated disaster thus far. Indeed, Philadelphia relievers currently sport a league-worst 5.64 ERA. As Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes, the club has already demoted three of its righties — B.J. Rosenberg, Brad Lincoln, and Justin De Fratus — and will now rely on a series of questionable arms (for different reasons) in Mike Adams, Jeff Manship, and Shawn Camp. Last August, GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said that the pen would be an area of focus in the coming offseason, but the team did not spend there in free agency.
  • Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons has already established himself as a nearly incomparable defensive shortstop, writes Howard Megdal of Sports On Earth. Club manager Fredi Gonzalez said that it was premature to put his young, newly-extended whiz alongside The Wizard: the legendary Ozzie Smith maintained his defensive prowess for 19 seasons. But, as Megdal explains, Simmons’ early success puts him on that kind of trajectory, and better. With a seemingly greater offensive (and, possibly, defensive) ceiling than the Hall-of-Famer Smith, Simmons has both legitimate upside and a high floor.
  • While Atlanta obviously did well to identify starter Aaron Harang, who is off to an incredible start to the season for the Braves after being squeezed out of the Indians’ rotation mix, Ben Lindbergh of Baseball Prospectus explains that there are no analytical or scouting reasons to believe that Harang has re-invented himself at this late stage of his career. Ultimately, Harang has benefited from a low BABIP, high strand rate, and unsustainable level of success with runners in scoring position. Though his contributions to date should not be underestimated, says Lindbergh, there remains a good chance that the Braves will end up replacing Harang in the rotation before the season is out.

Reactions To The Andrelton Simmons Extension

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Back in September, MLBTR's Jeff Todd wondered whether or not the Braves would look to extend their young core, and the last three weeks have revealed the answer: a resounding yes. Earlier today, the Braves announced that they had agreed to a seven-year, $58MM contract extension with defensive wizard Andrelton Simmons. The extension marks the fourth extension of at least four years for the Braves in the past three weeks and the sixth multi-year deal they've signed. Counting the new contracts for Simmons, Freddie Freeman, Craig Kimbrel, Julio Teheran and Jason Heyward (two-year deal), the Braves have committed just over $280MM in salary to their young core. Here are some reactions to their latest long-term pact…

  • Dave Cameron of Fangraphs compares Simmons' extension in comparison to the arbitration paydays of several defensive-oriented players such as Elvis Andrus, Brett Gardner and Michael Bourn. Cameron notes that Simmons received roughly double what can be expected for a glove-first player based on their salaries. However, he also looks at Simmons' chances of becoming a Super Two player and the potential for offensive growth, noting that he's one season of strong numbers at the dish away from rocketing himself into another stratosphere alongside the likes of Troy Tulowitzki and Buster Posey.
  • In a highly recommended subscription-only piece, Sam Miller of Baseball Prospectus looks at the floor for Simmons over the life of his extension, noting that it's probably similar Adam Everett's late 20s, when he averaged better than two WAR per season. He also looks at Simmons' ceiling, noting that his BABIP indicates he was robbed of 19 hits last season. Simmons' walk rate and ISO compare favorably to a strong group of hitters, leading Miller to conclude that if Simmons hits, the extension is beyond a bargain for Atlanta.
  • General manager Frank Wren tells David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the extensions haven't altered 2014 payroll much, and the team still has flexibility to make in-season additions. He also notes that more young players will be extended, though not necessarily this year (Twitter links).
  • It's time to reassess the Braves' ownership, writes Dayn Perry of CBS Sports. Perry looks at the downward trend in payroll that took place after Liberty Media took control of the team in 2007, noting that since that time the team has had a below-average payroll. Perry points out the enormous benefit provided by the team's upcoming Cobb County stadium and adds: "The prevailing reality is that the Braves, coming off 96 wins and a division title, are well-poised for the future, and that's in part because the maligned Liberty Media is willing to underwrite all these high-ceiling young players and keep them in Atlanta."
  • ESPN's Jim Bowden calls the contract a "steal" for the Braves (ESPN Insider required), noting that they're paying Simmons for his excellent glovework before his bat has fully developed. Bowden feels that Simmons will blossom into a plus hitter as well, and that the offense will be pure surplus value, as his glove alone is worth the money.
  • Bowden's colleague Keith Law kicked off his weekly chat by praising the Simmons deal, noting that the price is justified even if Simmons never hits much. Law agrees that Simmons' low BABIP leaves room for some offensive improvement, though he's surprised that the Braves simply guaranteed Simmons' salary for his third pre-arb year as if he were a surefire Super Two player. (Other deals, such as Ryan Braun's, for example, have included escalator clauses that provide a larger salary if the player reaches Super Two status.)
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