71 Comments

Anybody notice most of the Braves super-aggressive promotions turn out to kinda suck?

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They have always been one of my favorite to look back at their Top 30's, and see where they're at.

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Pitching prospect graveyard.

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Promoted and still in the minors? Or struggling at the MLB level?

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all of the above?

Mike Harris finally got himself back up to league-average, but Vaughn Grissom stinks, Smith-Shawver stinks, Dylan Dodd stinks, Jared Shuster stinks.

Maybe just being a bitter Pirate fan but I swear at one point they've been lauded for their aggression with each of these dudes.

Why would such a thing possibly matter if they all stink.

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Ha! I read this as the Brewers first rather than the Braves...which still holds true a bit (although Sally-Boy Frelick may be a keeper).

I wonder how much of this is a side effect of promoting guys like Harris and Strider quickly and seeing them have instant success and thinking it will work with others. As a non Braves fan, I don’t know if they’re putting these young guys in to give them a taste, if they had injuries to the rotation (Fried has missed most of the year) and the plan was to give them all a handful of starts, or what. It’s strange, but I think some of those guys (especially Smith-Shawyer) could end up being more than big players.

They probably should have cashed in Grissom for a big arm.

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Mostly just my pettiness on display, lol.

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Probably operating similar to how Angels are now, "The good players will be good".

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No argument here, brother. Petty is one of my favorite flavors.

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Welp, there it is...

Hill and G Man to the Padres

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Really sounds like Hill and Hedges are likely to go. Hill still serves a short term purpose, but far from a vital one. Hedges is strictly a roadblock, has been from day one.

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I just wish Cherington would consider more trades for multiple players. All but two of his trades for the Pirates have been one player leaving. One of those was two minor league players (Gustave and Stokes Jr) so that hardly counts. He keeps piling depth instead of upside. You put out Quintana and Stratton last year and get Oviedo and Nunez. That's the well he should be going to more often. None of the players he appears to be selling will get a strong return solo. I'd rather take on one upside guy than three depth guys

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I liked the santana trade in this way, couldve gotten a middling relief prospect at AAA or a guy thats 4-5 years away but could actually be something

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I agree, if that's the type of return you can get for a two-month rental, you do it. Much better than getting two guys with AAAA upside. Those types can easily be replaced in multiple ways. When you stockpile depth, you end up like the Rule 5 draft we just saw. You need a place to put that depth. It's really a little bit different this year unless you're dealing controllable players, but I'd rather see them throw in depth prospects to get better prospects back if that's necessary. No team has ever won anything with 40 mediocre players on your 40-man roster. You need upside, which is one of the reasons why I hated their draft approach this year

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Blue jays just had bichette have a knee injury, im sure they will grab someone better but we can also deal from our massive AAAA shortstop pretenders that would benefit them with depth and we could grab more upside in an 18yo. Would also help with upcoming R5 crunch

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Is the 40 man crunch really gonna be that bad? Appreciably worse than other teams? I know 2020 kinda caused all this havoc, but if 1/3 of the league is in the same boat, how bad is it? Who is really in danger of being lost who could have even a small impact? Genuine question here, because I see a lot of kvetching about this and don’t see the impact.

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I haven't really looked, and my initial inclination would be to say no, but this is also the same organization that kept a bunch of mediocre bats/pitchers and left a guy who at least had some bat upside in Sabol.

(Yes, I'm still sour)

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We just need him to be the next Chourio and Quero. No pressure.

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time to buy a ringer for four prospects on the 40 man

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The Mackey tweet about "two top 50 prospects plus more" for Bednar seems really farfetched, and really setting the bar so no one bothers. I'd say that could be the ask for Bednar AND Keller. Hell, I probably would've accepted Manzardo for either or. Moreso Bednar, and then Manzardo plus probably for Keller.

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I guess I can’t edit the original comment, but that’s two of Chicagos top 5, and another at 12. The Braves deal is a bit different and I think I’d want an arm rather than Alvarez. But both of those combos seem like the...right kind of overpay it should take.

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You click the 3 dots beside reply? It's still letting me edit older posts than yours, unless that's cause I'm an author on the page. But I digress.

Yeah, I wouldn't hate either of those trades. Looking into the bats especially, I'm intrigued.

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This is fansided so take it for what it’s worth and spitballing. They posted two trades, both trades sending Hill and Bednar together.

The first was to Chicago for Horton/Wicks/Caissie. The second was to Atlanta for Grissom, Smith-Shawster/Alvarez.

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Just a random thought, but any chance we get occasional roundtable-esque articles here? Always a fan of those, but generally just a fan of any content in general

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I really enjoyed those as well, judging by the comments, so did most. I'm torn on it because part of me doesn't want to become a carbon copy of P2, and I want to leave things open to try and do something new BUT at the same time I'm a firm believer in if it ain't broke, don't fix it lol. If we all enjoyed it, and the readers did too, then I'm willing to explore it. I'll discuss it with Nola and WTM and try to come up with something we can roll out.

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Just copy the good parts. :) :)

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You and I could do one. :) :)

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The lee and adminsky post-IC light binge round table discussion based on on pure speculation with no background info and a guest appearance by bmcferren's confidential sources?!? We could be onto something

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i knew the guy who wore the parrot suit in 84

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he´ll come to the round table with rod scurry and berra jr

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I don’t trust McFerrin’s sources and I don’t drink beer, what else ya got?

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Whiskey? Bourbon? On Bourbon St.?

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I love bourbon, but I had to give all liquor up years ago,

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I'll put my vote in. I thought that was a very good feature that got dropped for no discernable reason.

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I'll agree only if the feature includes "BoD Squad" somehow

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And they all did well with views too

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Agree. You, Nola and Anthony. Maybe we could twist JD’s arm?

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As long as it's not his writing arm.

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Kinda feel like we need four.

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Isn’t that a square table? Or a rectable?

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Depending on the subject, maybe NMR? If you’re really desperate, I could participate, not unlike a JVM appearance on the mound.

But, JD is the clear #1 choice IF available. Are you good at sweet talking?

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4+ seems like a good number, could always go for a guest appearance format if needed. Might be kinda fun

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I was just in the Asheville area doing what TLC told us all not to do. Guess I just missed the Grasshoppers. Unless it wasn't a road game for them. Could have scouted the concession stand and bathroom situation. Wife, chaps, and sis always like a good minor league game. Oh well.

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There’s any number of folks I could see asking to appear as a guest from time to time.

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That was the intention after the one with NMR, but, ya know

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I've been up for 1 hour and the Pirates haven't made a trade yet. What's up with that Ben? Don't keep an old long time suffering Pirate fan waiting!

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I always sensed this was Neil Huntington's favorite day of the year, even more than Christmas.

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certainly my favorite day of the year, even more than opening day

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Opening day offers some hope. This day always reminds me that the hope was wasted and we go again next year.

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I know he is probably at most a quad A guy, but doesnt andujar deserve either a callup or trade to a team that will play him at this point?

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What about Leyba who is a year younger and is hitting .330?

Btw, remember Palacios was hitting around .370? How did that work out? They were all in their upper 20s and in AAA for a reason.

Altho, if they DID trade Choi, I wouldn’t mind seeing Andujar at 1b for the last two months.

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Youre not wrong lol, maybe we could convince a poorly managed team that these guys are all in for late career breakouts. I know the rockies just lost their 1B...

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Another Bill Robinson or Mike Easler?

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Jon Heyman of the NY Post reports that the Pirates are weighing multiple offers on starting pitcher Rich Hill and catcher Austin Hedges.

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BC should see what Milwaukee will give him to trade Hedges to the Reds.

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I don’t even know who Cincy’s regular catcher is. Stephenson?

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Mahle

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You’re my idol (Eric Von Zipper reference).

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Both both both!

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We want trades!!!

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And going against an awful Houston affiliate pitching staff. I'm hoping for 10 HRs this week

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He certainly has deserved it! Will be good for him to get exposure to the next level and can hopefully look at a taste of altoona next year if all goes well

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His K rate, once over 40% has dropped down to 27%. I think he has his rhythm back.

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Just noticed he's walked *12* more times than he's struck out this month. Holy smokes.

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This is good info, glad to hear it is not injury related and honestly I feel like sending him to the FCL where he probably has much more available to him in terms of technology and resources is the perfect place to get this iron out rather than getting shelled at indy for a few weeks

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I hate off days in the minors.

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