State of the Braves After Flurry of Offseason Activity

00:00:24
Speaker 1: Welcome one and all to the Humor Territory Podcast. My name is Sean Coleman. I hope wherever you are and wherever you are listening, and hey, it's good to talk with you once again. The holidays. We're right in the midst of the holiday season. And I'll tell you this, while many of us I'm sure, I'm sure have finished our Christmas shopping on my end, and some of us have not started, stevens In I can tell you one entity that has certainly been doing plenty of holiday shopping. That would be the Atlanta Braves. But we know it's still a work in progress. We know it's been a successful offseason so far. But were does that leave the Braves roster right now? That's what we're going to get into in this episode, the State of the Braves Roster. We know that this likely is not the final version of it for this offseason, but at the very least, where does it stand, Where does it stack up? Where are there's still some question marks. We're gonna look at it from a line up, a bullpen, and the rotation. But before we do that, as always my podcast partner, one of the best when it comes to breaking down the Braves. Steven Tobert Stephen could talk with you, sir. Happy holidays again to.

00:01:30
Speaker 2: You, so buddy. Yeah, man, very close Christmas rider on the corner of Christmases next week. I have done my holiday shopping, by the way, I don't know. I don't know why we're throwing shade. Shout out to the internet for shout out to the Internet for helping out with holiday show. I don't think I ever left my couch. So yeah, Alex has been a busy man, There's no doubt. I mean, you just I think maybe the Braves have been the busiest team in baseball so far. I'm trying to think of a team that's had a busier off season so far. I think the Braves are number one in terms of just number of impact moves. Now, have they all been massive moves? No, they've been you know, a collection of you know, I don't know if there's any been one any home run move, but kind of a collection of singles and doubles is how I would probably frame it. But still very busy, and the roster is kind of coming into form, right like we kind of see the you start to kind of see the idea that they're going for here, and I do think there's you know, we've heard behind the scenes that there's still some smoke for this off season. They might not quite be done yet. They might even still have another big move in them is something we've heard kind of privately. And we'll see if they get to the finish line on that. But you know, as you look, and we're gonna go through the whole roster tonight, you know, lineup, rotation, bullpen, and we're gonna kind of see where they stand. But if you know, you can really start to kind of see this team coming together for twenty twenty six, and it's because Alex has been a very busy man over the last few weeks.

00:03:08
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and that was the thing, you know again coming off last offseason, you know, made those moves at the start of the off season where we did not you know, agree to you know, keep Tyler Kinley as well as Pierce Johnson. And so you're thinking, oh, no, you know, are we seeing this again where we're trying to cut costs. But you know, that's one question that no longer is there. Thankfully. The Braves said they were looking to go to be a top five spinning our top five team in terms of payroll this year, and that's exactly where they are. But to Steven's point, with that being said, let's talk about kind of where things are from a lineup perspective. And you know, Stephen and I, you know, we both gave our opinions on social media over the past few days, especially after the signing of Hasan Kim, and I definitely agree with Steven and that the home run has not been hit so far this season. And if you've listened to our episodes here recently, you know that Stephen and I both felt that the place where a home run needed to be hit was a true offensive difference maker. But it is extremely hard to be able to find that level of player, and the Braves, I'm sure did their due diligence in trying to find that just didn't work out more than likely, But I do applaud the Braves for pivoting to not only feeling the shortstop need, but in general feeling multiple needs in which they've added depth, they gained versatility, and they more than likely have also put themselves in a position to more consistently be closer to the ceiling that we're all that we all know they're capable of. So I think that they've certainly raised the floor of how good this of how consistent this lineup can be, and naturally that will raise the ceiling to where Steven I certainly think we can have a top ten offense once again.

00:04:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, so listen, we're about to go through the whole line up here. But when they added yeah, as kind of their left field DH option instead of like a really big bopper, then you know, we had talked about if they go out and add a really big bat, then maybe you can live with Dubon at shortstop, right and one they didn't do that when they signed Yazz. Then we kind of all pivot and said, all right, if Yaz is gonna be the kind of big bat, then you need to go up great shortstop, because you didn't get a big enough bat in that signing to justify Dubon being the shortstop. And so, you know, very quickly, very quickly, the you know, the entire fan base kind of pivoted to shortstop, like what are they gonna do? What are they gonna do? And then bam, like forty eight to seventy two hours later or something like that, on Monday night, you know, we got the we got the alert that Hassan Kim was signing the one year deal for twenty million. It came out later that Hassan Kim turned down a four year deal from from Oakland or not Oakland, Sacramento or whatever the hell they play from the A's. I saw that they they were gonna ask him to play second base mostly, but it still was a four year deal. I think it was like forty eight to fifty million bucks somebody. It was not a small amount of money. I think. I think he wanted to play short I think the Braves met his one year dollar number. You know, obviously it's a one year deal, so the number is gonna be higher than a four year deal in terms of aav and he gets to play shortstop and then get back on the market next year. So you know, Scott Boris has done that a lot with guys, try to get him back onto the market as fast as possible. So you know, the Braves have their guy. And again, if you're not gonna go sign in the big bopper for your left field DH rotation, then you had to address shortstop as well. And that's why our applaud them. Did they go hit a home run with either one of these moves, probably not, but again, these are just solid upgrades that help. When you add in, you know, getting Acuonu back, eating Profar hopefully for a full year, maybe getting Riley for the full year. You know, we'll see what we get from Ozzie and Harris. You can start to see the vision. It's not crystal clear, but it is clearer. It's not as murky as it was when the offseason started.

00:07:06
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And I think the other thing that stands out is that when it comes to this team right now is you have to be excited to get about that versatility protecting against injuries. You can match up, you know, platoon wise against left handers and right handers. I definitely think that helps the Braves. And the big thing to me, Stephen that stands out is for a lineup that we saw have such huge variants from being really hot to really cold, I think one big thing that's come from the type of players that they that they've acquired for the team, guys who could put together really good at bats. That the thing that stands out to me is the ability to stay consistent. I feel that we're going to see a more consistent offense, which can make all the difference in the world.

00:07:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, so let's go through the lineup real quick. So you know, obviously a catcher, you're gonna have Drake Baldwin, and you're gonna have Sean Murphy at some point. Now, I remember Sean Murphy had major hip surgery and Alice came out, I think yesterday or the day of and said, it's unlikely that Sean's gonna be ready for opening day. Don't be surprised if they add a veteran. They did add Martin Maltonado to the organization the other day. They said he was mainly gonna be in a an assistant advisory role. Technically, they could throw a uniform on him and have him be the backup catcher for a few months or a few weeks until Sean Murphy comes back. But it's gonna be Baldwin and a second catcher for some period of time, and then Sean Murphy at first base obviously is Matt Olson's. Second base is gonna be Auzzie. Shortstop, is gonna be Hasan Kim, third based, Austin Riley, right field, Acunya, centerfield, Harris, and then left field so Alex did mention this, I think today when he did a radio spot. Leftfield is probably gonna be a lot of Yeazz Mike Yustriumsky against right handed pitching, and then a right handed platoon partner against left handed pitching. That could be Mauricio Debon, that could be Eli White, that could be a player to be named later. We'll see, But it sounds like pro is going to be the DH most of the time. I'm sure Ronnie will get spells at DH. I'm sure Baldwin and Murphy will do their kind of back and forth thing at DH. But what the way Alex was talking today, it sounded like Profar is gonna be DH in quite a bit. And that's probably about right. I mean, Yeas is a much better defender and left than Profar is. Pretty much everybody is a better defender than Profar is, So Profar is probably a DH at this point. And so those are your lineup regulars. And then on the bench, obviously you're gonna have the second catcher, whoever that is, either Murphy or whoever it is until Murphy gets back. Then you're gonna have Martin Mauriso Dubond. Who's your super utility, just an absolute perfect role for him. He can literally play the entire field. Then you have Eli White, who's gonna be your main center field option if Mike goes down, or if they need a right handed bat in the lineup somewhere, and then you have kind of that fourth bench spot that's kind of a it's kind of a black hole in a DH lineup. You don't use it a lot. Right now, the Braves could go with somebody like Nacho Alvarez if they wanted to, or Brett Wisely if they wanted to. I was tweeting about this the other day. I think the Braves could take that fourth bench spot and go sign a right handed kind of bopper, kind of like a Rob Riivesdorf or something like that, or Rob Schnyder, Rob Rethschneider. I don't want to screw up his name, and not specifically him. It's just somebody like him. Somebody could be a right handed power bat off the bench, which I do think is a little bit. I mean, Sean Murphy's gonna be that at some point, but you know, managers are worried about using their catchers in those spots. I think another right handed power bat. And also if you're gonna platoon Yeas and left field and you want to get him like a legit platoon partner, that's a really good way to do it. So I think that fourth bench spot is could be interesting. I think they could add something there. But listen, that's thirteen. That's pretty much. I mean, other than that last bench spot, everybody I mentioned is pretty much I would say guaranteed a spot at this point. You know, Eli White played so well I can't see anybody taking that spot from him. Marisa Demon makes too much money to not be on the roster. Plus he's very good, So you know, I think it comes down to that last bench spot. But the everyday lineup, the every day kind of thirteen man position players are pretty set.

00:11:30
Speaker 1: That's the thing that I'll say that that sticks out to me is that you know, there's a lot of good right now when it comes to this roster. Right, you've got versatility that you've got a bit more insurance to allow for you to protect yourself against injury. You've also got the ability for you to be able to match up against pitching right, and you've got a deeper bitch where it's not just about platoon. You know, you putting the other lineup based off platoons to start the game, You're probably going to have more options later in the game to really take advantage of matchups. That's what you're hoping. Walt Weiss maybe a step up above Brian snicker In. However, however, you know I mentioned on social media, you know, I again, I feel like our floor is certainly raised, and I think, you know, I'm becoming a bit more convinced that we can play closer to our ceiling more consistently, which obviously raises our ceiling. The one thing that stands out to me, though, and is still a bit lacking, is power. I think that power is still something on this roster that we could potentially have plenty of it, but I don't know if it's to a difference making level. I'm not talking about two thousand and three level. I'm talking near the top of the league level, to where if we were to stay healthy and we were to make playoffs, could you clearly see us in matchups having the advantage against most teams in those type of playoff matchups. I don't know if I can confidently say that that this team certainly could be capable of that. But when you talk about adding Kim, when you talk about adding Yas, when you talk about adding to Dubon, it's more about how they are either in the field, their versatility, or how they have a good approach at the plate than it is their pure power. And so maybe adding another power source in that last bench spot could make sense. But I still do think that the power upside is consistently being there the top of the league power wise. That was something I was hoping that would come out of this offseason, and I'm not quite convinced that this lineup will be there. It can be, I'm just not fully convinced it will be.

00:13:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's fair. I do want to see them add another right handed power option at the end of the bench to really kind of put the final touches on the roster. But listen, a lot of it's gonna come down to Austin Riley, Like what Austin Riley do we get? I mean, if it's the guy from twenty twenty two, who is one of the best hitters on the planet, then you know it's really not a concern, especially if you get a healthy season from Acunya you should get a whole season for Profar. You know, I do want to see what Balden looks like in year two. I'm not ready to just say this is who he is. Like sophomore slumps happened, but if he get a consistent, you know, at least something similar to what he did last year from Baldwin, and then you add in having a full year of Hastan Kim, we'll see how he does a four year removed from the injury. I think Yaz is really gonna help against right handed pitching, but listen, against left handed pitching, you could still see some issues. And two guys that could solve that is Austin Riley being Austin Riley and then Ozzi Albi's being Ozzie Alby's at the very least against left handed pitching. Because against righty's, you've got a Kunya, you got Profar, you got Olsen, you got Baldwin, you got yazz like you got you got a decent amount of pop against righty's. But against lefties, you know, you get the worst version of Michael Harris, you get the probably the worst version of Ozzi Albi's. You get the worst you know, you need somebody to step up against left handed pitching. And the two guys who you're gonna step up are Ozzie and Riley. That's who you need to step up against. Because again, you know, matt Olsen is great, but you know matt Olsen's human too. He's not gonna just you know, he can't crush lefty's to the same he crushes righty's. You need somebody else to step up in those spots. Acuna is gonna hit everybody, but you need Riley. That is the most critical name Austin Riley's slugging percentage. If you want to boil down the Braves like twenty twenty six to one name and one number, Austin Riley's slugging percentage or ISO or however you want to measure power might be the most important stat for the Braves entire team next.

00:15:38
Speaker 1: Year needs to be five hundred, absolutely needs to be five hundred.

00:15:41
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:15:41
Speaker 1: And here's the thing though, that the questions that I have about the power, obviously the core that we already had in place is going to be the main source of our power. If this added depth, if this added versatility, if the matchups being easier to put to our advantage. If all that comes from the pieces that we added, and it allows for our core players to have a better chance of being closer to their normal sales or their expected sales, that's where we get the power from. So I will say I feel better at least about that aspect of things. It'll just take time. But in general from a lineup perspective, very happy with the off season, very happy that we were able to take care of so many obvious plus underlying needs with just a few signings. But of course, the one area of the team where we've not seen any major moves occur but that could still be addressed is the starting rotation. Wills us that more in just a moment. So, Stephen, at the first of the off season, you know, we heard about shortstop, We obviously heard about the bullpen. Those were parts of the team where we knew stuff needed to be at it because those were clear weaknesses. But from the start of the off season, just like it's been nearly every off season, Alex and Thoplss also talked about the starting rotation even with being a clear strength of this team, the ability to see it consistently be a strength. It's just such a question mark with all the injuries and Alex and Thopless has made it clear he wants to to add to the starting rotation. He hasn't done it yet, but he's made it clear that certainly remains a focus and it could wind up being potentially the biggest movie we've seen all off season.

00:17:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, so obviously we haven't seen anything yet. We did get updates on Grant Holmes and Ronaldo Lopez about midway through December, where both guys look good. Both You know, the team feels good about both guys, but you do have just lingering questions over everybody. Right. You've got Sale who missed most of last year. You know it was a freak injury, but you know Sales always got freak injuries popping up. You got Stryder who has had two major elbow surgeries now in his career. What are you going to get from Spencer Strider, even if he's healthy. What are you going to get from Spencer Strider? We don't know the answer to that quite honestly. You know, Spencer Swallenbach had a broken elbow last year. You know, who the hell knows how he's gonna bounce back from that. Is the velocity still the same that you need to dial it back to keep the elbow healthy. Well, see Ronaldo Lopez missed all of last year basically with a shoulder, and then Grant Holmes has this like Tommy John not Tommy John kind of rehab not rehab thing just like a cloud over him. And so you just have these questions. And that's that is the entire you know, that is the entire reason why this in this podcast has been saying from day one, go get a starter, even though you got enough names, right, go get a starter because you've got so many questions. You got enough versatility and Ronaldo Lopez and Grant Holmes that could be in the bullpen. Go at a starter. You're probably gonna lose one at some point, you might lose multiple. A. J. Smith Schalver is probably not due back till middle of the year. You do have hersl waldrip waiting in the wings, but go get one more. And that's been kind of what we've we've been preaching. And I'll say this, I'm not gonna go into detail, but things we've heard on the private side over the last forty eight hours and Sean knows what I'm talking about I do think they're big game hunting. I think they're big game hunting. I think Alex has said I'm only gonna do this if it's somebody that impacts the top of the rotation and impacts a playoff series. I think he's okay with the depth, but I do think he wants a big name, kind of front line starter if he can make it work. Listen, it's extremely expensive. I mean you can go on MLB trade rumors or fangrafts and look at what these projections are for all these big starters. It's not cheap. And we've never seen Alex swim in those waters. So you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna wait to I'm gonna wait to believe it until I see it. But there has been some smoke around the Braves and a couple of these kind of big name starters that are still out there, and we'll see. I wouldn't do not be surprised at all if they do it. They'll be surprised if they don't do it. Getting these deals to the finish line is incredibly hard, but we have it on good enough authorities. I can confidently say the Braves are still the Braves are not done, I'll say that, and it makes.

00:20:17
Speaker 1: Sense for them not to be done and to go big game hunting, right Like they again said, they've wanted to be a top five payroll. They made some major contributions, but it's been more feeling holes and things like that. You may not get that just absolute home run move in the minds of everyone, but one move that would qualify for that, I feel is getting one of the top arms left in free agency. That then would make your pitching staff clearly one of the best in baseball, one of the deepest in baseball. The Braves. That that's one thing that I will say. As much as we talk about the offense, we were hoping the offense would be the focus. We were hoping that the offense would get that true difference maker that we really fel could help it get back to maintaining being a top ten offense. Instead, the Braves have positioned themselves were with one more significant addition, they clearly are a top five staff in baseball. I will debate that all day long with anyone. If they add this another significant arm, especially to the rotation, so they have plenty incentive of and do it to do it could the possibility still be out there. Will they give up the draft pick or do they feel that there's an arm out there that maybe hasn't performed that well elsewhere that they could turn into a two or three level starter. That remains to be seen. But when we talk about them going big game hunting, when we talk about them adding another significant arm, it's not just hopes and dreams, it's not just speculation. Everything adds up. All that Alexanthopolis has said, how he's spent his money, and how much money they've revealed that they feel they have to spend. All of it lines up. And the last thing that I'll say, the one other thing that lines up. We know in the past, as you mentioned, he's not been willing to spend this level to add an on. Well, we talked all off season. You're gonna have to start doing things that you haven't done before. This would be this would define that move. This would be something you haven't done before, but that could be the right move to really put you over the top to be the true contender you want to be.

00:22:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, and listen, the core, I mean, the core of this team is not getting any younger. Like this is like if you're gonna have an off season like this. And you know, something else that we've heard on the private side is that the Braves still have money to spend, Like, you know, one thing we're not sure of is where's the bottom of this war chest? Like at what point do we get to the bottom. And we thought after maybe the ha Hassan Kim deal where you got twenty million bucks, like all right, that might be the bottom, Like we might be at the bottom now, But what we've heard is they're not. They're not at the day, still have money to spend, so and the core is not getting any younger. This is kind of your window. Yeah, and listen, we talked about the short term questions of the rotation, there's also long term questions on the rotation. Like Chris Sale is this is his last year of team control now. I wouldn't be surprised if at some point between now it's print training. We got a blue box that said he signed an extension. But as we sit here today, he's coming, He's going into his walk ear is Spencer Streider and Ace for you going forward? I don't know, is Spencer swallowback in Ace? Can he stay healthy? You know? This this year will tell us a lot coming back from the elbow. Ronaldo is certainly not a long term piece. He's thirty five years old. You know what is great, Like you have short term questions in the rotation, but you also have some long term questions in the rotation. If you do want to go sign it like a guy for like four or five years to help answer some of those questions, it does make some sense, like I can if we get the news that the Braves will sign one of these guys, I will certainly be able to justify it looking at both short term and long term answers or short term long term questions in the rotation right now, and again, this is what they should be doing with this cores at this point in their careers, not getting any younger. This is their window. You know, they don't have a great farm system right now, Like you got to try to win with this group, like that's what you should be doing. And seeing them spend the way they've spent so far and hearing what we've heard about how they could still spend more, this is what I wanted to see. This is why last off season was so frustrating, because they literally signed pro forar and did nothing else. They actually cut payroll last year and it was just it was so infuriating because this is your window. This is what you went through the rebuild for to have the window to see if you can see how much you can win. And we you know, we had to wait a whole off season, but we finally got at this off season where they've spent and do not be surprised if they if they keep spending, and.

00:24:57
Speaker 1: The last point did I'll make that kind of adds to the reasoning to go out and add that significant arm. Is that even think with the way that they've spent this offseason, Okay, they're locked in with their fifteen to twenty main guys between the rotation and the lineup, you know, moving forward for three or four years, that's not necessarily the case. They'll still have the majority of those guys. But while they've spent a lot this offseason, and if they go get a top arm, they'll be locked into that toped arm long term. They also have a lot of money coming off the books next year, and that matters because when you make the investments that you have this year, being able to say, well, next year, I'm making the investments this year, knowing I'm going to have some flexibility next year as well, I can always pivot. I know some may not want to hear that, but that's a good position to be in. You have not given up any prospects to improve the team as you have. You won't give up you know, may give up a pick, you know, if you go sign a good enough arm. But not only are you spending money, you're not giving up prospects, and you're going to have a lot of money coming off the books next year where you can always retool once again if for some reason this doesn't work out. It's a good position to be in, and it's a much better one than I think many would have anticipated a few months ago. However, we're not done, and it's the focus now comes on probably the aspect of the roster that Alexantopolis seems to love the most. That is a bullpen. And if there's one part of this team that has gone from a weakness to maybe be in a real good strength, it's that bullpen. After some strong, strong signing so far this off season. More on that in just a moment. So Stephen, when we you know, talked earlier this offseason about you know, kind of what the first move would be, the first you know, major moves would be when it came to this Braves roster and how they were going to look to improve the roster. We probably mean you both felt that closer could make sense, but Lo and Behold it was two closers, right, Soel Iglesias, you know what Robert swore is. We've broke down on emergency pod cast how both of those guys fit. But when you look at the rest of this roster, you've got Iglesias, You've got Suarez in the back end of your bullpen, but then you've also got Dylan Lee, You've got Aaron You've got Aaron Bummer as your left handers, and you got some intriguing right handed depth options as well. Another notable piece probably needs to be added. But in house, I think that this breaks bullpen may be a bit deeper and better than some may anticipate, especially if adding another starter means that you utilize Ronaldo Lopez and Grant Holmes out of that bullpen.

00:27:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's that. I mean the bullpen, it obviously starts with a Glesias and Robert Suarez, right, the two big signings gonna be your eighth and ninth inning guys. They said that Iglesias is gonna be the closer, that Suarez is gonna be the eighth any guy. I would not be surprised at all if at some point in the season that those flipped. You know, we'll see how age effects both of these guys. Quite honestly, the gle this is thirty six and Soarez is thirty four. I think maybe thirty five.

00:28:05
Speaker 1: So thirty five, but a young thirty five in terms of our mileage.

00:28:10
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, it doesn't have the mileage that Iglesias does. So so that's where it starts, right So the question is going to be what comes next. And you know Dylan Lee is going to be in there somewhere. We know that Aaron Bummer is currently slotted to be there. Another thing that we have heard kind of through the grapevine is that they might be shopping Aaron Bummer, especially if they're going to sign one of these big name starters. They might want that ten million bucks that Bummer is owed next year to reallocate somewhere else on the team, which I would highly recommend. I think the Praves are at the kind of upper level of the amount of or percentage of payroll that they spend on their bullpen. So you know, that would be great if they could do that and then and move the money to the rotation if possible. But yeah, you know, I still wouldn't be surprised if they went out and signed you know, some smaller guys. I wouldn't be surprised if they signed Pierce Johnson back or Tyler Kinley quite honestly, depending on what they get, or somebody you know in that like one year, four or five million dollar range. You know, there's a bunch of believers that sign late. But the Braves also have some internal options. You know, what is Joejmanaz going to give you next year? That is you know, that is the massive question over this bullpen is what is Joejamanaz going to give you next year? If you go get a starter. If some of these rumors do turn out to be true that they are and they do go get a starter, where does that put Ronaldo Lopez? I think it should put him back in the bullpen, because I think Ronaldo Lopez, Robert Suarez and rosseill Iglesias would be the nastiest seventh eight, that ninth inning trio in baseball.

00:29:50
Speaker 1: And if you got Joe Jamanez to be your sixth inning guy, I'll stack him all day.

00:29:54
Speaker 2: You got Dylan Lee and then you know, you just got a you got a monster bullpen. Then you got these young guys you know that are in Triple A. You got the auto option guys which are like Joy Winz and Dylan Dodd and Bryce Elder. What's gonna happen with those three guys because they can't go to Triple A They either got to go to the rotation, they got to go to the bullpen, or they get DFAD. So what's gonna happen with them? Right? And then you got the guy that they signed that's been hurt, that was.

00:30:24
Speaker 1: In Cleveland, James Rincheck.

00:30:27
Speaker 2: Krincheck, Yeah, who is was one of the nastiest pitchers in baseball, like three or four years ago, has been dealing with injuries. They brought him in I think on an nri I deal, but he got a spring training invite, so we'll see what he does. And then again you got these like you got these young prospects that are starters, slash relievers, you know who all could come up at some point and contribute. So there's a bunch of names and you got the back end solidified, so you can do a lot. I really want them to go sign a starter one because I think they need to start too, because I want them to put Ronaldo in the bullpen and just have the nastiest, you know, trio relievers at the end of game in baseball. But we'll see what they do. There is upside. There is a certain amount of you know, floor protection. Suarez has been very durable, Iglacia's has been very durable. You know, relievers are relievers. Anything could happen. But as we say here today, I feel pretty good about the bullpen. I'm curious to see how they fill it out, if they go with internal guys, if they add any more external guys, and I'm curious to see what happens with the Ronaldo and Grant Holmes if they add any more to the rotation.

00:31:37
Speaker 1: See, we could save this for another conversation. I for personally, I definitely would at least put rinaldo. If you if you go out and you sign a significant starter, that means that you definitely have that significant starter. Sales strider at Swellow bok As you're four of your five starters, I would go into spring trading giving Rinaldo Lopez, stretching him out at having to him kind of be the favorite for the fifth spot because you'd always put Hirston Waldrop in the buyers. You know, at the start of the season, if Ronald Lopez is healthy and he's effective, he's more valuable as a starter than a reliever. But to your point, to your point, it's all about that versatility, right you go out inside that other starter, you could always put Renald Lopez back in the bullpen. And one other thing to remember, with the back end solidified, with some intriguing depth that they have and with the swing options and homes as well as Renald Lopez, even if Alexidopolis doesn't go make another you know, notable move for the bullpen, that is the one area where he consistently has found difference makers, where he consistently has gotten positive returns in in season moves. That means something to remember. And when we talk about these potential additions that they're going to make to the roster, it also has been discussed and we know how important this is to Alex and topless to have financial resources available to pivot or or you know, retool during the season if he needs to. So that's gonna be there as well. So while we're talking about the bullpen, it's the main thing is they got the back end solidified. If they need to retool the path from the starter to that back end in the season, they not only have the financial resources, but they got one the best in the game, maybe the best in the game when it comes to a general manager being able to extract value from acquired relievers in the season.

00:33:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, And the other thing I would say about Ronaldo is I'm a little worried about the shoulder. I think the shoulder. I think the shoulder started barking in a response to the number of innings he threw in twenty twenty four, because people remember when the Braves signed him, he'd been a reliever for three years, four years, whatever it was, and then he threw like one hundred and fifty innings in twenty twenty fours first year with the Braves, and then boom, twenty twenty five comes around, and his shoulder, you know, he basically misses the whole year. So I'm a little worried about the workload with the Ronaldo. That's another reason I might stick him in the bullpen. But obviously, if if he's healthy, they're gonna give him a chance to start first. And Grant Holmes is the wild card at all this because if they're both healthy and Waldroup looks good in spring training, you know, you can put one in the rotation. You can put one of the miners, you put one in the bullpen. We'll see what they do. Odds are somebody's gonna get hurt between now and then. Anyways, the odds of the Braves getting through a whole season with Chris Sales, spit Strider, s Pitcher, Schwalloback, Ornaldo, Lopez, and Grant Holmes all healthy is very low. I would say almost damn near impossible when you look at each of their individual histories. You know Sales age, Strider's shoulder, I'm sorry, his elbow. Plus you know what is Strider gonna be even if he is healthy. That's why I want another starter. But any of those guys get hurt, it changes the equation now for the rotation, but it changes it for the bullpen as well. So it's all connected and we'll see what other external options they add, because that will affect everything as well. But at the very least they have high quality, high level talent names that are available in some fashion however they want to arrange it. They have the talent. We'll see if they add more talent, but the bullpen and the rotation and from a talent perspective, aren't a pretty good spot. Right. See.

00:35:21
Speaker 1: This is why I like doing the podcast, specifically with you, Steven, is because when I have these when I try to say a bit reserved with not getting too excited about what I've seen, the Braves do beat all these podcasts having these conversations, which is basically just two friends talking ball. That's what makes this so fun. It kind of makes you feel better, right, And what I mean with that is this is that even with all these signings, even after the Hasung Kim signing, I still felt that the two big questions entering this offseason, how do you address quality depth to the starting rotation with all the injuries that you've experienced over the past two years, and how do you get an offensive difference maker to really put you offense over the top. I felt those questions still had not been addressed. But what I am saying is I'm becoming more convinced that with the depth now that we have offensively, that gives your best players more of a chance to be at their best, which is difference making capability, and not only that, them being available when it matters much most, which is the playoffs. And if we go out and sign another starter, you can say the same thing about the starting rotation. I agree with you, Swelly Lopez Strider sell All staying healthy through the season probably not going to happen. But if you had another starter and you give the ability for them to be healthy, most of them healthy at the right time, which is the playoffs, then it's worth it. So from that perspective, that makes me feel better. I was already feeling pretty good about the breaks off season. That makes me feel better.

00:36:48
Speaker 2: Well, that's what the Dodgers did last year. They signed they had like twelve starters at one point. Play really like, what the hell are they going to put all these pitchers? Well, half of them got hurt, you know, and missed most of the season, but they had many they weathered it and they were all healthy when the postseasons came around, and so they put you know, half of them in the bullpen. Sasaki and Glass now both pitched out of the bullpen. A Tani pitch sparingly, but when he did pitch, he was awesome. Like, yeah, just having depth allows you to be able to get through the season without having to have all of these guys be healthy all six months. And that's what I want. I want the ability for Chris Sale to miss a month of the season and not be like, all right, well, the season's over, like it felt like last year. You know where Schwellenbach can or Strider can miss a month and you know the season is not over. But you got to have depth. And the fact that you have Ronaldo Lopez and Grant Holmes who can both pitch out the bullpen, you have Herston Walder who can pitch in the miners, gives you a level of versatility that you need to take advantage of by adding another starter and potentially adding another reliever because you can't have too much pitching. So you know, that's that's the thesis of why we've said for the last three months that we want the Braves out another starter. We have definitely heard that they are exploring that. I do understand the logic of going big game hunting and maybe big game hunting only you know, I do think there's a world where they still maybe sign a mid rotation guy like a Bassett. But I would not be surprised if they are like, all right, we feel good with our depth. We do want another top guy. But if we don't get the top guy, we're just gonna roll with what we have. We'll see what they do.

00:38:31
Speaker 1: Heck, if you don't sit there and you're not able to get the top guy that you want, go out and get a basket and sign Pete Fairbanks. Just go ahead and put three co hoosers back into.

00:38:39
Speaker 2: So sign everybody.

00:38:40
Speaker 1: Hey, you know what, it's good to speculate when you have Monday.

00:38:44
Speaker 2: Monday and again, Sean and I Sean knows what I'm talking about. We've heard they have money. We've we've definitely heard that. So we'll see. I mean, clearly they have more. The Braves already, we were gonna do a payroll show, but because there is a likelihood or at least a possibility, they're going to make another move, we're gonna hold off on the payroll shoulder so we don't have to do another one after that. But the Braves already have the basically the I think I have to go back a double check. I think the Braves already have the highest payroll in franchise history. Yeah, so, like right now, I think it's at like two fifty five or something like that, which is the highest payroll the Braves have ever carried in their entire history. So they clearly have money. We know they have money because they have to send out a financial report every three months because they're a publica trading company, and they're finally spending it on the team at a level that I think is appropriate for the size franchise that the Atlanta Braves are, which is one of the biggest franchises in the sport, and their payroll reflects that, and that's exactly where it should be, and apparently it could go even higher, so we'll see.

00:39:49
Speaker 1: Absolutely. The fun thing he is is that if you feel that the off season's over, I'm here to tell you an honor early corso when the college football playoffs starting, not so fast, my friend, you.

00:40:01
Speaker 2: Like that, Steven, don't know, beautiful, beautiful, you like that.

00:40:05
Speaker 1: The point that I'm getting at is is not only could more moves be made, but perhaps the most impactful move. Yes, possibly, we shall wait and see. For Steven Talbert, you can find him a be Undersquare Outliers on Twitter, slash x, my Names, Sean Cominett, stats sec in the same place. Hammer Territory across all forms of social media, part of the foul Territory family of podcasts. You know what, Hey, until next time. There will be next time and maybe in between now and then you'll get that other notification on an emergency podcast. Until next time, go braves. We'll talk to you again soon here on the Hammer Territory podcast