BRAVES NEWS
SI: Braves Get C+ Grade For Offseason So Far
The Braves have been one of the most active teams in all of baseball this offseason, but it hasn't been one of those offseasons where they were trying to win the Hot Stove season. Instead, John Hart and Friends have decided to rebuild the whole thing here in Atlanta. While that might leave a lot of people scratching their heads and wondering just what in the world is going on down here, some people understand, and Sports Illustrated understood what was going on enough to where they at least gave the Braves a passing grade for their offseason.
If this grade were solely for the Braves' 2015 outlook, it would be difficult not to flunk them outright. Coming off a season in which they scored the second-fewest runs in baseball, they traded three of their only four regulars who posted an OPS+ above league average in 2014, and the best hitter they added is [Nick] Markakis, whose 107 OPS+ would have ranked fifth on the 2014 team.
However, the grade above reflects not how well Atlanta has prepared itself for the coming season but rather our perception of the quality of the team's multi-year plan and the success with which it has executed the first part of it. Still not a rave review, to be sure, but better than some might have expected given appearances.
Braves Sign John Buck To Minor League Deal
Meanwhile, the Braves continued to make moves yesterday by bringing John Buck into the fold as presumably the backup to the backup catcher. He'll be coming to the Braves on a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite.
Simmons: "Hey, You Might Fall In Love With One Of These New Players"
The Braves Caravan rolled into Birmingham yesterday, and defensive maestro Andrelton Simmons was by far the most recognizable Brave to show up at the elementary school the Braves went to. He addressed the fact that a lot of fan favorites will be wearing different uniforms next season (I'm still in a period of mourning for Jason Heyward having to wear Cardinals gear next season), but he also expressed optimism for the new crop of players that Atlanta has brought in.
Simmons said he grew up as an Atlanta Braves fan, and looked up to many of the players who just left the team.
"I always loved watching Jason running after balls in the outfield and making great plays," Simmons said. "We'll definitely miss him."
Simmons said he understands, then, the feelings of fans who are sad to see certain players leave. Perhaps, though, it provides new opportunities.
"You never know," he said, "you may fall in love with a brand new player."
MLB NEWS
Reds Sign Devin Mesoraco To 4-Year Extension
Devin Mesoraco will be catching for the Cincinnati Reds for the foreseeable future after inking a 4-year, $28 MM extension with the Reds. Considering the season that Mesoraco had in 2014 (.273/.359/.534, 25 HRs, 147 wRC+, 4.4 fWAR), if his production continues and the breakout season he had is actually a sign of things to come then the Reds actually did extremely well for themselves with this deal.
Commissioner Manfred Comes Up With Dumb Idea To Help Offense
Rob Manfred has officially been MLB Commissioner since Sunday and he's already come under fire for coming up with something dumb. It hasn't even been a week! Anyways, Commissioner Manfred seemingly believes that the way to help make the game more accessible to new generations is to A) speed up the game (which I don't mind) and B) eliminate defensive shifts (which is dumb and many people agree that it's dumb.). From the article:
Eliminating defensive shifts is one way Manfred would like to achieve rebooting offense. Typically in the shift teams move a player from the left side of the infield into shallow right field to help defend against left-handed batters. The shift has always been used, but it became more prominent in 2014 and proved to be an effective tactic for most teams. Steve Moyer of Inside Edge, writing for Wall Street Journal, noted last September the shift prevented 390 hits.
"If we were to add those 390 hits back into the grand total, the overall MLB batting average would rise to .254 from .252-a significant increase considering we're talking about 146,785 at-bats," he wrote.
The game of baseball isn't exactly broken, so we don't need to go fix it.