re: The ATL Thread: Offseason Edition

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I would trade Minor for Cain right now

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No way. Minor is gonna be a good one.

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I'd also want to ship out KK if you consider him a pitcher

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I thought we sent him back to Japan. But theyre not gonna pay all of his contract?

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No moves have been made yet with KK

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He has no trade rights relative to Japan. He turned down the chance to go home to prove he belongs in the bigs.

Several Japanese teams were willing to take him and pay about 50% of his contract. Now we are reduced to finding a ML team to take him and we'll get stuck with about $5-$6MM. I would think many teams could use a 5th starter for about $1.5MM.

There aren't going to trade Minor, the only lefty with starting possibility.

I would love to have Ellsbury but I don't think they can work it into the lineup and budget. What do you do with McLouth - he's too expensive to trade. What we've got to hope for is a resurgent Schafer creates competition with McLouth in spring training. Maybe the added competition at the position will force McLouth to improve and one of the two emerges as a solid CF starter.

My biggest concern is with moving Prado to LF. I think he'll do great there. But, my fear is that either or both of Chipper struggles to return or is re-injured and/or Freeman struggles in his first real big league action. Now you have to move Prado to 3B or 1B. There is no real way to plan for that in the budget via offseason moves. At that point, you'd have to trade away some young arms (JJ, Beachy NOT Teheran or Delgado) for a solid LF. But you can't go out and buy that in the offseason and have an expensive piece sitting behind Prado in case Chip or Freeman struggle.

Braves lost Scott Diamond to the Rule V draft.

Braves top 10 prospects from baseball america.
LINK


1. Julio Teheran, rhp
2. Freddie Freeman, 1b
3. Randall Delgado, rhp
4. Mike Minor, lhp
5. Craig Kimbrel, rhp
6. Matt Lipka, ss
7. Arodys Vizcaino, rhp
8. Brandon Beachy, rhp
9. Brett Oberholtzer, lhp
10. J.J. Hoover, rhp

Teheran:

Scouting Report: Teheran has an electric arm, the ability to throw all of his pitches for strikes and the knowledge of how to exploit batters’ weaknesses. His fastball clocks consistently in the 94-96 mph range, and he maintains his velocity throughout the course of a game. He has a pair of above-average secondary pitches, with his changeup grading slightly better than his curveball. His changeup shows nice fade and he’s willing to throw it in any count. His curve resides in the low 80s with hard downward movement, as well as good bite and depth. Teheran’s command is impressive, though he struggled a little with his precision shortly after being promoted to Double-A. He works both sides of the plate, usually keeping all of his offerings at the knees and below. Perhaps the most impressive part of his game is his mound presence. He has great makeup and bountiful confidence, backing down from no hitter. Teheran needs to get stronger, but that will come naturally as his body matures. Some scouts say his delivery has a little bit of violence and worry about the long-term wear and tear on the elbow and shoulder, while others believe he throws easy gas and aren’t worried about his mechanics. Comparisons to a young Pedro Martinez are commonplace, and Teheran’s biggest backers think he’s more advanced at the same stage of his career.

The Future: The Braves thought Teheran was capable of jumping on the fast track, and he exceeded their expectations in 2010, advancing to Double-A as a teenager with little difficulty. He may split this year between Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett, with a late-season cup of coffee in Atlanta a possibility. Chances are his first opportunity for a job in the big league rotation won’t come until 2012. He has front-of-the-rotation talent and will challenge Tommy Hanson for the role as the Braves’ No. 1 starter well by the middle of the decade.

Braves, Uggla Closing In On Extension

Well, they just changed the name of the article to Braves remain optimistic about extending Uggla which I guess is a bit more qualified but still it sounds likely. Really the same money per year that he turned down from the Marlins, just an extra year.

They don't have a choice really.

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Stop all the spending..it's futile..surrender

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Well I hope the Phillies keep spending. The more the Yankees and the Phillies spend, the harder I laugh when they lose.

He does stuff like women's basketball and the MLB in Puerto Rico when not doing the Globetrotters.

Should've stayed on. Instead we get Chip “Line drive base hit! … caught out there!” Caray.