Although Bruce, Tom and Lindsay have made several valid points I say that the decision was made in Spring Training and we have what we have. If the Braves are to be post-season winners they need "Stars": defined as those who shine the hottest when the lights are the brightest. Post-season stars. MAYBE you can pick up one of those by giving away the farm (literally) and give us the chance for this year. But we won't be able to resign them. Why? Look at the signings of Kim and Bo Bichette. We gave $60MM for a shortstop who has not come CLOSE to expectations. Bichette got over $300MM. The big money teams will get - and keep - the "Stars" of the game. Therefore, we must create our team on the Farm. And, this year, I think AA made the decision in Spring Training: stand pat this year cuz this is the best we can afford.
The Phillies are slowly making their move. They have two stud SP's - Wheeler and Sanchez. We have one stud SP - Sale - and he's 37 y/o. Waldrep may be of some help come mid July but he probably will be inconsistent due to his recent injury status and his limited big-league time. I will predict that Strider is toast for this year - he hasn't been anything special even when "healthy" and with four weeks of not touching a baseball and the subsequent minimum six week ramp-up means it's essentially September before he would be available under the best case scenario. Schwellenbach seems to be on a very cautious throwing program and I will bet if he does get 'ready' it won't be until mid August. And there is no guarantee that Strider and/or Schwellenbach won't have a 'set back' and have to be shut down. I think AA needs to make a serious move for a seriously good SP. A Wacha or a Grey or a Perralta are not good enough. We need a Skubal or a Degrom or a Webb. Then, if Sale stays healthy, we could compete with the Phillies and anybody else in the post season and not risk wasting the terrific start to this season.
Braves need a good week on the west coast. Will be at the games in SF and we can not have a repeat of last year’s series at Oracle Park. That was the most pain I’ve endured as a Braves fan in a long time.
There can only be one explanation: Bryce has a twin brother that’s a Phillies’ fan and sneaks onto the mound every so often. Seriously, hopefully he takes this as a figure out how to get better outing. Elder has to figure out how to have an inning with base-runners and even some damage without a complete implosion. Jake may be onto something; tipping his pitches to base runners is a very plausible explanation. Looking forward to your trade discussions. I have some observations about the current Braves chatter: 1. As you mentioned, it is likely to be very hard to land an SP this year. 2. Just because Braves acquire an SP in a trade, does NOT mean they can’t get injured. 3. Every team in MLB has SP issues. I’m going to do some additional analysis, but using today as an example, 3 games had both teams with SP ERAs under 4.00.
Although Bruce, Tom and Lindsay have made several valid points I say that the decision was made in Spring Training and we have what we have. If the Braves are to be post-season winners they need "Stars": defined as those who shine the hottest when the lights are the brightest. Post-season stars. MAYBE you can pick up one of those by giving away the farm (literally) and give us the chance for this year. But we won't be able to resign them. Why? Look at the signings of Kim and Bo Bichette. We gave $60MM for a shortstop who has not come CLOSE to expectations. Bichette got over $300MM. The big money teams will get - and keep - the "Stars" of the game. Therefore, we must create our team on the Farm. And, this year, I think AA made the decision in Spring Training: stand pat this year cuz this is the best we can afford.
The Phillies are slowly making their move. They have two stud SP's - Wheeler and Sanchez. We have one stud SP - Sale - and he's 37 y/o. Waldrep may be of some help come mid July but he probably will be inconsistent due to his recent injury status and his limited big-league time. I will predict that Strider is toast for this year - he hasn't been anything special even when "healthy" and with four weeks of not touching a baseball and the subsequent minimum six week ramp-up means it's essentially September before he would be available under the best case scenario. Schwellenbach seems to be on a very cautious throwing program and I will bet if he does get 'ready' it won't be until mid August. And there is no guarantee that Strider and/or Schwellenbach won't have a 'set back' and have to be shut down. I think AA needs to make a serious move for a seriously good SP. A Wacha or a Grey or a Perralta are not good enough. We need a Skubal or a Degrom or a Webb. Then, if Sale stays healthy, we could compete with the Phillies and anybody else in the post season and not risk wasting the terrific start to this season.
Braves need a good week on the west coast. Will be at the games in SF and we can not have a repeat of last year’s series at Oracle Park. That was the most pain I’ve endured as a Braves fan in a long time.
There can only be one explanation: Bryce has a twin brother that’s a Phillies’ fan and sneaks onto the mound every so often. Seriously, hopefully he takes this as a figure out how to get better outing. Elder has to figure out how to have an inning with base-runners and even some damage without a complete implosion. Jake may be onto something; tipping his pitches to base runners is a very plausible explanation. Looking forward to your trade discussions. I have some observations about the current Braves chatter: 1. As you mentioned, it is likely to be very hard to land an SP this year. 2. Just because Braves acquire an SP in a trade, does NOT mean they can’t get injured. 3. Every team in MLB has SP issues. I’m going to do some additional analysis, but using today as an example, 3 games had both teams with SP ERAs under 4.00.
That's his cousin, Bruce Elder