Home of the Brave

[DOUGHBOYS]

A friend of mine told me how smart the Braves GM is.
He told me that he graduated from a smart College. Is a smart baseball man. And that the Braves would be in great hands.
Actually, I assume every GM is a smart man. It'd be hard for a stupid man to get such a demanding job (no Trump jokes).
Alex Anthopoulas impressed my friend very much.

To me, Anthopoulas has a tough job. He inherited a Braves team with already one of the best systems in baseball.
The Braves have two rotations of Starters.
Their current major league rotation.
And a staff full of future Minor League studs.
Anthopoulas inherits a damned strong collection of arms.

On top of that, he has arguably two of the best young players in baseball in Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies.
Along with Freddy Freeman and Ender inciarte, Anthopoulas also inherits half of one of the strongest, youngest offenses in baseball.
His contenders, however, are not sitting on their hands.
The Mets seem to be making as many deals as the Mariners and some of them have even strengthened the Metropolitans.
The Nationals now boast Patrick Corbin, Brian Dozier, Yan Gomes, and quietly stole one of Atlanta's best pitchers last year, Anibal Sanchez.
They are also looking at re-signing Bryce Harper.
The Phillies say they'll spend stupid money and did with Andrew McCutchen the beneficiary of too much money.
The Phils also have David Robertson at the back of their bullpen and now, Jean Segura playing shortstop.
The Phils are not done. They could still sign Manny Machado, Harper, Keuchel, or/and Craig Kimbrel.

In the meantime, Anthopoulas first signed Josh Donaldson, then Nick Markakis.
Splash, clearly not being part of Anthopoulas game.
Donaldson played for Anthopoulas when with the Blue Jays.
In fact, Anthopoulas has only dealt with what he 'knows' .
Besides the signing of Donaldson and re-signing of Markakis, he also brought in another old Blue Jay crony Jose Bautista to play with the Braves last year.

I expected more from the Braves.
Especially when having such a smart man running their team.
Their bullpen could use help.
Maybe the plan is to use those young arms in the bullpen.
We don't know.
But, it needs help.
The jury is out on Anthopoulas.
He has won 'Executive of the Year' and the Braves won their division last year.
It's hard to second guess a smart guy like that, BUT, I know my friend is even disappointed at the lack of movement on the Braves roster this off season.

.........

One other thing pertaining to the Braves....
I've heard several people tell me that Johan Camargo is the Braves Marwin Gonzalez this coming year.
How?
The Astros always had an opening for Gonzalez last year.
Their outfield was that of Springer/Reddick/Kemp/Marisnick
Along with filling in on the infield, Gonzalez was secure in that he could always start in the outfield over the likes of Kemp or Marisnick.
Camargo has no such place.
The Inn is full in Atlanta.
It would take an injury or under performance for Camargo to start almost every day as Gonzalez did for Houston.
With Dansby Swanson and Donaldson's injury history, Camargo could see full time duties easily.
But there is no way it comes as easy for him as it has with Gonzalez the last few years in Houston.

[Thurman15]

Regarding the Braves starting pitching, you are bang on. Their AAA rotation would be better than SEVERAL MLB teams. Seriously. What are they doing. Trade a couple and you could get Realmuto, or a star outfielder instead of Markasis. Mike Soroka, Max Fried, Luiz Gohara, Bryce Wilson and Kyle Wright. Imagine if Baltimore had that rotation, or Detroit or the White Sox etc And then (we have 10 starters already for MLB and their AAA team) they still have Kolby Allard and Ian Anderson. That makes 12 starters who COULD pitch in the majors this year. I don't know what Alex is doing with his pitching, but I do like him. He seems pretty smart.....mostly. The Braves are for real. And they will only get better, but you sure have a good point on WTF regarding starting pitching. And to top it ALL off, various reports say they are looking for another starter !! Hey Alex...I can tell you where to find one !!

[DOUGHBOYS]

When a window is open in baseball, GO FOR IT!
The Braves have not had that philosophy this off season.
Almost as if a division title is good enough.
As of now, they do not have a number one pitcher.
And it seems like they have a dozen 2/3 Starters or future 2/3 Starters.
Weaknesses at Catching, Shortstop, and the Bullpen...but more than that, they have no pitcher that is scary.
It is tough to win in the playoffs without a scary pitcher.
Sale, Kershaw and now Buehler, Hader, Scherzer, Verlander et all...
The Braves don't have one.
The only way to get one is to trade or promote.
Trading doesn't seem to be a thought for Alex.
Promoting pitchers and having them eating innings doesn't seem to interest the Braves brain trust either.
The Braves have used Toussaint, Gohara, Fried, etc on limited basis.
Following a little bit of what the Mets used to do in letting fans talk about upcoming greatness instead of experiencing it.
I hope Anthopoulas does not make that same mistake.
The window may never be open wider than now.