BRAVES NEWS
Snitker is still bullish about Braves chances in 2017
Remember when the Braves became the Braves during the 1990s? It all started with the team turning a last place finish in 1990 into a first place finish and a trip to the World Series in that magical 1991 season. While the 2017 Braves are certainly longshots to repeat that particular feat, Brian Snitker is upbeat when it comes to his team’s chances — as you’d expect the manager of a team to be. We’ve seen these exact comments from Snitker earlier this month, but as you can tell from Fanrag covering it, it’s starting to catch on from a national standpoint.
Dansby Swanson: Still “off the table” for trades
In further “we already knew this but it’s nice to know” news, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that one Braves player in particular who won’t be traded any time soon is Dansby Swanson. The Braves are extremely high on their shortstop of the future and think that they have an extremely dependable player on their hands.
Even with prized talent on the market, any suitors for Swanson quickly realized the Braves hold their promising superstar with an iron grip. The Braves understand his true value, and it’s not necessarily that he will become the next Mike Trout or Bryce Harper. Rather, he is a young ballplayer that sticks to the fundamentals. He does not try to do too much, but does everything he can to win ballgames.
Where are the 2016 Braves starting pitchers now?
Earlier this week, we passed on the news that the Braves have moved on a bunch of the starting pitchers that they used in 2016. The AJC decided to take the time and post up a slideshow detailing exactly where those players are at now. Again, 10 of them are outside of the organization now, so if you’re curious as to where those guys are at, this is the link for you.
MLB NEWS
Clay Buchholz gets traded to Philadelphia
Our “friends” in Pennsylvania are busy again, as the Phillies have traded one of their prospects in exchange for Clay Buchholz. Buchholz had a bounce-back season in 2015 but followed it up with a disappointing performance in 2016, so this could be considered a salary dump from Boston’s point of view. Here’s part of what the crew over at The Good Phight thought about the trade:
Clay Buchholz is not a player that anyone particularly likes to watch pitch. He was not good last year and at $13.5 million was a piece the Red Sox did not need. For the Phillies he is yet another arm in their rotation (or bullpen) and for now takes the slot of Zach Eflin or Jake Thompson. In 2015 Buchholz started 18 games with a 3.26 ERA for the Red Sox and he seemed to recapture some of that in August and September with a 3.02 ERA over 50.2 innings that included a stop in the bullpen. The big problem with Buchholz over his career has been staying healthy and he has topped 170 innings just 3 time in 10 seasons. Given that he is currently the Phillies #5 starter and they have the depth to withstand injuries this should not be a problem.
Mets have been talking to Pirates about Andrew McCutchen
It seems less and less likely that the Pirates are going to trade Andrew McCutchen this offseason, but that hasn’t stopped teams from trying to pry him from Pittsburgh. Apparently the Mets are the latest team who’s tried to pick up McCutchen, and the talks are reportedly “off-and-on.”