2025 ATL Thread - Burnes to have TJ surgery

[coolhandluke121]

I think it's okay to wish the Brewers had been able to acquire Naylor while simultaneously acknowledging that the price was too high. In other words, it's okay to wish that Seattle hadn't overpaid. All it takes is one impulsive team.

And while he's pretty underwhelming, it's not just about his value in the vacuum - it's about the fact that their LHB 1B's are probably negative WAR players, even in a platoon, and their RHB 1B's are not to be relied on IMO. It's potentially a pretty big lineup hole, and Naylor has pretty consistently been solid enough to be a clear upgrade. Impact is not measured in a vacuum; it's about the difference between what you have now and what you would be changing to.

On to the O'hearn watch. Can't imagine that the price will be right, but it's okay to hope so. Incidentally, he accumulated negative WAR at nearly twice the rate of Bauers through the same age, so it's not like he's a proven commodity. If he can turn his career around like this, maybe Bauers can too - but that's not something I'd bet on.

[Big Dog Yank]

And while he's pretty underwhelming, it's not just about his value in the vacuum - it's about the fact that their LHB 1B's are probably negative WAR players, even in a platoon, and their RHB 1B's are not to be relied on IMO. It's potentially a pretty big lineup hole, and Naylor has pretty consistently been solid enough to be a clear upgrade. Impact is not measured in a vacuum; it's about the difference between what you have now and what you would be changing to.

Bingo!

[ReasonablySober]

The way I look at it is Vaughn's already provided WAY more than any trade deadline 1B acquisition would be expected or even hope to. Unless someone comes extremely cheap, just go with him.

[coolhandluke121]

The way I look at it is Vaughn's already provided WAY more than any trade deadline 1B acquisition would be expected or even hope to. Unless someone comes extremely cheap, just go with him.

That's a weird way to look at it unless you have good reason to believe it's sustainable. Vaughn's first really good week in literally over 3 seasons (June of 2022) can't possibly be Plan A, and I'm sure that it's not. If given regular PA's, he'll probably negate all of that extra value within a month. I'm totally in favor of standing pat and rotating through the guys they have, but they won't base their decisions on his one great week before the break (~.500 OPS since).

[ReasonablySober]

The way I look at it is Vaughn's already provided WAY more than any trade deadline 1B acquisition would be expected or even hope to. Unless someone comes extremely cheap, just go with him.

That's a weird way to look at it unless you have good reason to believe it's sustainable. Vaughn's first really good week in literally over 3 seasons (June of 2022) can't possibly be Plan A, and I'm sure that it's not. If given regular PA's, he'll probably negate all of that extra value within a month. I'm totally in favor of standing pat and rotating through the guys they have, but they won't base their decisions on his one great week before the break (~.500 OPS since).

I think average 1B play is sustainable. It wouldn’t have been worth giving up 10-12 years of pitching for a few more hits.

[humanrefutation]

Eugenio Suarez would be a nice rental.

[Kerb Hohl]

McMahon to the Yankees...I don't think there was any sort of desire to net him at this deadline, but the name was out there. The emergence of Durbin made it so we have no use for "a slightly above replacement level guy" there and the only option would be a major-ish Suarez sort of upgrade at 3B or similar SS option.

[ReasonablySober]

#8 and #21 prospects for a guy who can't hit outside of Coors. Nicely done, Yankees.

[MickeyDavis]

$32 million over the next 2 years is nothing for the Yanks but I wouldn't want that on our limited books.

[Kerb Hohl]

#8 and #21 prospects for a guy who can't hit outside of Coors. Nicely done, Yankees.

I love the Coors->Yankee Stadium Pipeline that prolongs bad/average hitters' careers.

DJ Lemahieu is a better hitter but that short porch turned an very solid "professional hitter" into a superstar for 2 years when he was hitting a bunch of oppo homers in a good lineup.

McMahon is a good defender and that porch will make his bat look OK to the untrained eye.

[coolhandluke121]

Jeffrey Hammonds says hi. He also lived on for decades via many fans' inability to call John Hammond, John Hammond.

I remember when Matt Holliday had terrible splits away from Coors, but then he was an MVP candidate for the Cardinals. I think they were doing tons of PEDs in that late La Russa era though. Berkman, Molina, Pujols, and Holliday had really bloated skulls for a while there.

[ReasonablySober]

Read on Twitter

He's also 6-6 and has eight RBI. Insane night.

[MikeIsGood]

6-6, 4 HR, 8 RBI is absolutely bananas.

[Matches Malone]

That was impressive!

Reminds me of the Brewer game I went to as a kid and Shawn Green hit 4 bombs against us. Everyone was in awe.

[ReasonablySober]

Quiet for the majority of the meeting, Harper, sitting in a chair and holding a bat, eventually grew frustrated and said if MLB were to propose a cap and hold firm to it, players "are not scared to lose 162 games," sources in the meeting told ESPN. Harper stood up, walked toward the middle of the room, faced up to Manfred and said: "If you want to speak about that, you can get the f--- out of our clubhouse."

Manfred, sources said, responded that he was "not going to get the f--- out of here," saying it was important to talk about threats to MLB's business and ways to grow the game.

Before the situation further intensified, veteran outfielder Nick Castellanos tried to defuse the tension, saying: "I have more questions." The meeting continued, and Harper and Manfred eventually shook hands, sources said, though Harper declined to answer phone calls from Manfred the next day.

"It was pretty intense, definitely passionate," Castellanos told ESPN. "Both of 'em, the commissioner giving it back to Bryce and Bryce giving it back to the commissioner. That's Harp. He's been doing this since he was 15 years old. It's just another day. I wasn't surprised."

When reached by ESPN, Harper declined comment. Manfred declined comment through a league spokesman.

Though he has not been outspoken on labor issues in previous years, the 32-year-old Harper, who is represented by agent Scott Boras, personified the union's perspective on the prospect of a capped system. At the All-Star Game in Atlanta earlier this month, MLBPA executive director Tony Clark called salary caps "institutionalized collusion" and in a February interview with ESPN said: "We always have been and continue to be ready to talk about ways to improve the industry, and we do a lot of things with the league to do exactly that. You don't need a salary cap to grow the industry."

[MickeyDavis]

Caps will never happen. Players are against it. Big market teams are against it and don't mind paying tax. That's enough to torpedo it. And then owners like Mark are happy making a profit and getting some cash kicked back to him by the larger markets. A cap may mean he'd have to spend more.

[ReasonablySober]

Caps will never happen. Players are against it. Big market teams are against it and don't mind paying tax. That's enough to torpedo it. And then owners like Mark are happy making a profit and getting some cash kicked back to him by the larger markets. A cap may mean he'd have to spend more.

It sounds like there's support in some of the bigger markets, with the Red Sox and Yankees being in support of a cap. Both of those teams have had high price mistakes and losses recently.

[ReasonablySober]

Read on Twitter

Ooof that's a big one.

[jakecronus8]

The players agreeing to any kind of cap in contingent on them worrying about the long term viability of MLB as a product and it's likelihood of losing more and more market share to NFL, NBA, NHL etc. Some will claim soccer but I'll believe it when I see it.

I like Manfred and I think he has done far more to nurture the future of the game than people want to admit.

ETA: I wish I couldve been a fly on the wall for the Harper confrontation. Dude is as big of a knobshine as it gets.

[ReasonablySober]

I think a cap is in the best interest of the sport. As a fan of a small revenue team I'm obviously going to be in favor of any system that makes the sport more fair. A cap and nationalizing local TV revenue would go a long way.

But I also think in exchange for a cap the players could earn some real victories for the rank and file, namely getting players to free agency earlier. As the system sits right now, most players don't reach free agency until their primes are ending. It should be the goal of the union to make starting salaries much higher, arbitration shorter, and the path to get there quicker.

Because the Brewers are essentially non-factors in free agency most of those measures would hurt the team. But if you shared national revenue more equitably and instituted a hard cap, players would be more spread out. The Brewers could actually see themselves bringing in outside talent.