The following are some left fielders the Braves might look to target in the upcoming free agency period. No players with WARPs under 0.5 were considered because, hey, even the Braves have standards.
Player (2009 WARP)
Jason Bay (6.3)
Carl Crawford (4.7) $10MM club option with a $1.25MM buyout
Matt Holliday (4.6)
Manny Ramirez (3.9) $20 MM player option
Johnny Damon (3.0)
Marlon Byrd (2.2)
Fernando Tatis (2.1)
Randy Winn (1.9)
Gary Sheffield (1.5)
Gabe Kapler (1.1)
You may be noticing that the Braves' 2009 left fielder, Garret Anderson, was excluded from this list. Yeah, that's because his WARP was a 'professional-hitting' 0.1.
Jason Bay will be the cream of the left field free agent crop, 1.6 wins ahead of Carl Crawford, who likely won't repeat his 2009 output during any other season in his career.
You have to imagine the Red Sox & Yankees will be furiously competing for Jason Bay and Matt Holliday.
There might be some decent value to be had from Johnny Damon, but he's represented by Scott Boras and is projected to be a Type A free agent. I could see it getting very close to spring training without Damon having signed a contract.
If the Braves want to go the safe, cheap route, Randy Winn is probably the way to go. Otherwise, they'll likely have to overspend to bring home any of the big names on this list.
Don't forget that our 2010 Free Agent Targets page will be continuously updated throughout the offseason, where you can link to our analysis of the Braves' other vacancies heading into 2010.
This article also appears at the Braves Baseball Blog.
Showing posts with label Garret Anderson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Garret Anderson. Show all posts
Monday, October 12, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Troubleshooting the infield corners
Most of the Braves' struggles on offense in 2009 stemmed from their inability to obtain offensive production from the positions on the field where you typically expect the most production: the infield and outfield corners.
In right field, Jeff Francoeur was, well, Jeff Francoeur. Ryan Church didn't provide the relief from Frenchy's awfulness for which the Braves had hoped. Matt Diaz provided some late-season spark, but thinking of him as anything more than the short end of a platoon would be a mistake on par with, say, signing Garret Anderson to be your every day left fielder.
Oops.
The failures of the corner infield positions were a little more unexpected. Not even those dimmest on Casey Kotchman's prospects expected him to be as bad as he was during his brief tenure with the Braves. But the Atlanta finally found their guy at first base in Adam LaRoche only to see him become a free agent at the season's close. While it would be nice to be able to re-sign LaRoche, doing so will be costly and will likely keep Adam in Atlanta a good bit beyond Freddie Freeman's ETA in the big leagues.
On the other side of the diamond, Chipper Jones' inability to remain healthy presents problems of its own. Enduring Chipper's frailty in order to enjoy his effective-when-healthy schtick is now a deeply ingrained part of Braves tradition. But the novelty has begun to wear thin, especially when he's not delivering a 1.000+ OPS as he did in 2008 and 2007 and Martin Prado is the guy filling in for him a couple times a week. Don't get me wrong, Prado is a serviceable second baseman with room yet to improve, but his bat doesn't play at third base.
There's a potential solution here that might allow Frank Wren to solve two problems at once: move Chipper to first base. Jones wouldn't be the first player to move across the diamond to keep his body healthy and his bat in play. Third base is one of the most physically demanding positions on the field, and moving him to first might prove to be less strain on his body. Furthermore, Chipper's defense at third these days is either average or awful, depending on which metric you use.
As I've mentioned, this solution could potentially solve two problems: 1) the void at first base 2) Chipper Jones' health.
It does, however, create another problem: the void at third base. Fortunately, I have an answer which, I think, solves that problem quite well: sign Adrian Beltre.
But more on that tomorrow.
This article also appears at the Braves Baseball Blog.
In right field, Jeff Francoeur was, well, Jeff Francoeur. Ryan Church didn't provide the relief from Frenchy's awfulness for which the Braves had hoped. Matt Diaz provided some late-season spark, but thinking of him as anything more than the short end of a platoon would be a mistake on par with, say, signing Garret Anderson to be your every day left fielder.
Oops.
The failures of the corner infield positions were a little more unexpected. Not even those dimmest on Casey Kotchman's prospects expected him to be as bad as he was during his brief tenure with the Braves. But the Atlanta finally found their guy at first base in Adam LaRoche only to see him become a free agent at the season's close. While it would be nice to be able to re-sign LaRoche, doing so will be costly and will likely keep Adam in Atlanta a good bit beyond Freddie Freeman's ETA in the big leagues.
On the other side of the diamond, Chipper Jones' inability to remain healthy presents problems of its own. Enduring Chipper's frailty in order to enjoy his effective-when-healthy schtick is now a deeply ingrained part of Braves tradition. But the novelty has begun to wear thin, especially when he's not delivering a 1.000+ OPS as he did in 2008 and 2007 and Martin Prado is the guy filling in for him a couple times a week. Don't get me wrong, Prado is a serviceable second baseman with room yet to improve, but his bat doesn't play at third base.
There's a potential solution here that might allow Frank Wren to solve two problems at once: move Chipper to first base. Jones wouldn't be the first player to move across the diamond to keep his body healthy and his bat in play. Third base is one of the most physically demanding positions on the field, and moving him to first might prove to be less strain on his body. Furthermore, Chipper's defense at third these days is either average or awful, depending on which metric you use.
As I've mentioned, this solution could potentially solve two problems: 1) the void at first base 2) Chipper Jones' health.
It does, however, create another problem: the void at third base. Fortunately, I have an answer which, I think, solves that problem quite well: sign Adrian Beltre.
But more on that tomorrow.
This article also appears at the Braves Baseball Blog.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Braves Becoming Free Agents
Tim Hudson ($12 million club option) - All indications seem to be that the Braves will pick up Hudson's option. And with the way he pitched so well so soon after Tommy John surgery, why not?
Adam LaRoche - This will be a tough call for Frank Wren. LaRoche is decent enough, and is certainly an improvement over the sad sack we were employing before he returned. However, I'm expecting LaRoche will want a long-term contract. As such, it might not make a whole lot of sense to pay to bring him back. For what it's worth, LaRoche is projected to be a Type B free agent.
Rafael Soriano - Right-handed relievers are a dime a dozen. He's going to be a Type A free agent. Let him walk. Take the compensatory picks.
Mike Gonzalez - Left-handed relievers that can also retire right-handed batters are a slightly rarer bird. I'd bring him back. His lack of a "closer" tag should make him slightly cheaper than Soriano. Should the Braves decide to let him go, Gonzalez would also be a Type A free agent.
Garret Anderson - If Wren re-signs Anderson and his .723 OPS, I might become a Mets fan.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean that.
Greg Norton - Meh. Why bother?
This article can also be viewed at the Braves Baseball Blog.
Adam LaRoche - This will be a tough call for Frank Wren. LaRoche is decent enough, and is certainly an improvement over the sad sack we were employing before he returned. However, I'm expecting LaRoche will want a long-term contract. As such, it might not make a whole lot of sense to pay to bring him back. For what it's worth, LaRoche is projected to be a Type B free agent.
Rafael Soriano - Right-handed relievers are a dime a dozen. He's going to be a Type A free agent. Let him walk. Take the compensatory picks.
Mike Gonzalez - Left-handed relievers that can also retire right-handed batters are a slightly rarer bird. I'd bring him back. His lack of a "closer" tag should make him slightly cheaper than Soriano. Should the Braves decide to let him go, Gonzalez would also be a Type A free agent.
Garret Anderson - If Wren re-signs Anderson and his .723 OPS, I might become a Mets fan.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean that.
Greg Norton - Meh. Why bother?
This article can also be viewed at the Braves Baseball Blog.
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