A Perfect Offseason for the Braves

[ATLHawks3]

1. The Atlanta Braves trade Evan Gattis and Mike Minor to the Colorado Rockies for Carlos Gonzalez, Michael McKenry and Cash Considerations

 

2. The Atlanta Braves trade B.J. Upton and Justin Upton to the Chicago Cubs for Jorge Soler, Justin Ruggiano, Arodys Vizcaino, and Edwin Jackson.

 

3. The Atlanta Braves extend Jason Heyward to a 7 Year $110 million contract.

 

4. The Atlanta Braves re-sign Emilio Bonifacio.

 

5. The Atlanta Braves sign Raul Ibanez to a 1 year deal.

 

ATLANTA BRAVES PROJECTED ROSTER OPENING DAY (MY PREDICTION)

 

Starters:

1.2B: Jose Peraza (He should get called up soon, if he doesn't make the opening day roster)

2.SS: Andrelton Simmons

3.LF: Carlos Gonzalez

4.1B: Freddie Freeman

5. RF: Jorge Soler

6. CF: Jason Heyward

7. 3B: Chris Johnson

8. C:   Christian Bethancourt

9. STARTING PITCHER

 

Bench:

OF: Justin Ruggiano

OF: Raul Ibanez

C: Michael McKenry

UTILITY: Emilio Bonifacio

 

Starting Pitchers:

1. Julio Teheran

2. Alex Wood

3. Kris Medlen

4. Brandon Beachy

5. Edwin Jackson

 

Bullpen

Craig Kimbrel

Shae Simmons

Anthony Varvaro

Luis Avilan

Arodyz Vizcaino

Jordan Walden

David Carpenter

James Russell 

 

How in the hell does this work out for each team:

 

TRADE #1: The Colorado Rockies need a consistent offensive threat that can stay healthy relatively throughout the season. That's where Gattis comes in. Evan Gattis easily becomes a 35 HR - 40 HR hitter in Colorado, and Mike Minor only adds to their pitching depth. Carlos Gonzalez comes to a team in need of a dynamic superstar. When healthy, he's one of the best players in our league, and I believe playing outside of that thin air in Colorado will help him to stay healthier here in Atlanta. Michael McKenry is also a servicable backup Catcher that provides some pop off the bench as well.

 

TRADE #2: It's time for the Braves to start looking towards the future and I honestly don't see them having both Uptons included. The Cubs are trying to push for the playoffs this year, and adding a Justin Upton to a team like theirs gives them a star player to pair up with Starling Castro and Anthony Rizzo. Also the reunion of both Joe Maddon and BJ Upton could be a potentially great thing to revitalize BJ's career, as he technically played better baseball under Maddon than under Fredi Gonzalez. The Atlanta Braves in return get a 5 tool elite prospect in Jorge Soler, who has the potential to be the next Vladimir Guerrero! Ruggiano helps to stregthen our bench, Vizcaino gives us another arm to bring out of the bullpen, and of course we had to bring back a bad contract. Optimistically, I'm hoping Roger McDowell will notice the flaws in Edwin Jackson's mechanics, so that he could have a solid 2015 season for the Braves.

 

Extend Heyward, is it worth it?:

The Braves are going to have to pay either way. Do you let the home town kid walk in free agency, or do you extend him as he soon begins to enter his prime? I'd choose the latter. Jason is going to give you defense; there's no question about it. His offensive skills should soon begin to come together as well. Is it a huge gameble? Probably, but it'd be all worth it as keeping Heyward keeps intact our team's chemistry, and we are potentially building something great heading into 2017 (The year we move into Suntrust Park)

 

Possible Braves MVP Canidates:

 

Freddie Freeman - .315 BA 27 HR 115 RBI .402 OBP .519 SL%

Jason Heyward -  .282 BA 18 HR 75 RBI 30 SB .391 OBP  .490 SL% (Defense will help with MVP)

Carlos Gonzalez (if he plays over 140 games) - .320 BA 33 HR 92 RBI 40 SB .384 OBP .530 SL%

 

Rookie of the Year:

 

Jorge Soler - .276 BA 21 HR 67 RBI 12 SB .351 OBP .440 SL %

 

Cy Young Award Canidate:

 

Julio Teheran- 19 wins 9 losses 2.36 ERA 210 SO 40 walks 1.076 WHIP

 

Season Final Predictions:

 

• Atlanta Braves go 96-66 for the season winning the NL East Division Title.
• The Atlanta Braves put on a show during the first 2 rounds of the post-season heading towards their first World Series since 1999
• The Atlanta Braves battle a tough 7 game series against the Detroit Tigers, and eventually win the whole World Series.

 

IS THIS THE MOST PERFECT OFFSEASON OR WHAT?

[macdaddy]

You had me at Braves trade BJ.   I don't know enough about the rest of the league but it all sounds good to me.   Seems like it would take less money to extend Heyward but again, I don't really know the economics of baseball anymore.

 

But you are forgetting that the Braves are now cursed so it doesn't really matter.   They should try to save as much money as possible.

[ATLHawks3]

That's why trading both Uptons makes sense. We'd easily clear approximately $14 Million in capspace. I'm not saying both deals are extremely likely, but those are moves I'd make to help improve this team.

[AHF]

That Cubs trade seems too good to be true for us.  BJ is negative value along with Justin's very positive value.  All the guys Chicago would trade are positive value and Soler could be a stud.

[Guest]

GET LESTER DONE!!!

[Gray Mule]

Congratulations!  You at least got parts of it correct.  Both Upton brothers are gone

to the west coast and not Chicago.  Had to give our closer to get rid of BJ but it

seems to have worked out so far.