Braves News - Andrelton Simmons

[FISHDAWG]

signed to a 7 yr deal ....... braves are wrapping up their young stars for long term .... F Freeman & Jason Heyward also tied up for 7 yrs .... I think Kimbrell was at least a 5 yr deal (if not 7) .... I think the Uptons have another 4 yrs at least on their deals ... AND THIS IS THE LAST YR ON UGGLA's contract... bullpen is back and healthy ..... times are gonna be good !

[smootness]

Yeah, the Simmons deal came out a while back.

But Heyward is only signed for 2 years, Freeman for 8, Kimbrel for 4. I doubt they'll be able to work out a long-term deal with Heyward before he hits FA, especially if he has the kind of year I think he will this year.

BJ is signed for 4 more years I believe, but Justin only 2.

But yes, things are looking up; I'm really glad we started locking some of these guys up. It shows we're committed to winning.

[dawgs]

if you aren't locking up young players through about age 30 before they hit free agency, you are doing it wrong

[FISHDAWG]

bad info from the radio I guess ... reported here in ATL that Heyward signed to 7 yrs a week or two ago or maybe a deal was reached and what I heard was mistaken speculation from disc jocks ... at any rate the Braves are spending some cash

[bully99]

Dan Uggla has 2 years left on his contract. 13 million each year.

[The Croom Diaries]

Heyward has two more years, so does Uggla. Here are all the contracts: http://tomahawktake.com/2014/02/20/heres-contracts-extensions-important/

[Political Hack]

Heyward will be dealt with after this season. He needs to stay healthy and productive this year to get that franchise type deal done. If they can, they're going to open that new stadium some studs in the prime of their careers. Should be an exciting time to be a Braves fan.

[smootness]

Heyward will be dealt with after this season. He needs to stay healthy and productive this year to get that franchise type deal done. If they can, they're going to open that new stadium some studs in the prime of their careers. Should be an exciting time to be a Braves fan.

I really, really hope we can keep Heyward. I love Freeman, love Kimbrel, LOVE Simmons...but Heyward is the one who I think could be a transcendent player if he puts it all together. I think this year we see a .280+/.400/.450+ kind of year from him that propels him forward. That would make it very tough to get a deal done with our payroll, but I'm still holding out hope.

[War Machine Dawg]

Welcome to 2ish weeks ago. It's nice to lock up Simmons's glove, but I'm concerned about his bat. That said, he's more than playable if he's hitting .250 with 15+ bombs every season, because his glove is elite. Hopefully we'll see the average improve a little this year, but overall, it's a great move to lock him up.

I'm not sold on J-Hey. He wanted wayyyy more than we were willing to give him, thus the 2-year deal. It's essentially a compromise giving him a chance to play his way into a long term deal. But other than plate discipline, which admittedly is a big difference, J-Hey's career these first 5 years has pretty much mirrored Francouer's first 5 years in the ATL before we dealt him. I think J-Hey is a better player, but he's not a guy you build the franchise around, either.

F Dan Uggla. I'd trade his ass for a box of balls and consider it a win. Anything to free up 2B for Pastornicky, who was good there when given the chance last season. Plus, he'd provide us a legit leadoff bat for the first time in ages. I'm not sure BJ Upton will ever regain his form, either. The way he struggled last year was epic career breakdown stuff, not one year pressing stuff. I do think Justin Upton bounces back, though.

[BoomBoom]

Welcome to 2ish weeks ago. It's nice to lock up Simmons's glove, but I'm concerned about his bat. That said, he's more than playable if he's hitting .250 with 15+ bombs every season, because his glove is elite. Hopefully we'll see the average improve a little this year, but overall, it's a great move to lock him up.

I'm not sold on J-Hey. He wanted wayyyy more than we were willing to give him, thus the 2-year deal. It's essentially a compromise giving him a chance to play his way into a long term deal. But other than plate discipline, which admittedly is a big difference, J-Hey's career these first 5 years has pretty much mirrored Francouer's first 5 years in the ATL before we dealt him. I think J-Hey is a better player, but he's not a guy you build the franchise around, either.

F Dan Uggla. I'd trade his ass for a box of balls and consider it a win. Anything to free up 2B for Pastornicky, who was good there when given the chance last season. Plus, he'd provide us a legit leadoff bat for the first time in ages. I'm not sure BJ Upton will ever regain his form, either. The way he struggled last year was epic career breakdown stuff, not one year pressing stuff. I do think Justin Upton bounces back, though.

Agree on Simmons. J-Hey's 5 years are NOTHING like Francouer's, numbers or approach. Francouer maxed out even with his crappy numbers, with the holes in his swing he was never going to be better. Heyward has already been tons better, and has the potential to take the next step, he just has to cover a little bit more of the plate, but he has no true holes in his swing.

Pastornicky still isn't playing yet. He'll be around, but La Stella will be platooning at 2B come June. Pastornicky will only ever be bench depth.

BJ has never been a good hitter. He had a .298 career OBP BEFORE last year. they overpaid, period, and are now stuck with him.

[The Croom Diaries]

Welcome to 2ish weeks ago. It's nice to lock up Simmons's glove, but I'm concerned about his bat. That said, he's more than playable if he's hitting .250 with 15+ bombs every season, because his glove is elite. Hopefully we'll see the average improve a little this year, but overall, it's a great move to lock him up.

I'm not sold on J-Hey. He wanted wayyyy more than we were willing to give him, thus the 2-year deal. It's essentially a compromise giving him a chance to play his way into a long term deal. But other than plate discipline, which admittedly is a big difference, J-Hey's career these first 5 years has pretty much mirrored Francouer's first 5 years in the ATL before we dealt him. I think J-Hey is a better player, but he's not a guy you build the franchise around, either.

F Dan Uggla. I'd trade his ass for a box of balls and consider it a win. Anything to free up 2B for Pastornicky, who was good there when given the chance last season. Plus, he'd provide us a legit leadoff bat for the first time in ages. I'm not sure BJ Upton will ever regain his form, either. The way he struggled last year was epic career breakdown stuff, not one year pressing stuff. I do think Justin Upton bounces back, though.

I'm just a casual SABR observer, but FWIW, Heyward is far better than Frenchy when it comes to advanced stats, and roughly the same using traditional stats. Also many have said Simmons had the best defensive year in history last year using SABR....considering he only signed for about $8 mil a year that's a great deal for the Braves.

[smootness]

Simmons is pretty much 100% worth that deal on his defense alone. And his hitting will continue to get better. He is a pure contact hitter, rarely strikes out...and he makes good enough contact that his BABIP should be fine, leading to at least a solid average. I actually hope his HR #s come down in order to hopefully avoid hitting to many fly balls. I don't want him hitting high in the lineup, but he should be able to easily be at least a league-average SS offensively, which will make him arguably the best overall SS in baseball.

And I disagree with you on Heyward, WMD. Considering plate discipline was the major weakness of Francouer's game, it's hard to say that they are similar given the difference in that area. And while Francouer had as good an arm as anyone, Heyward is a better defensive RF overall. The only thing holding Heyward back right now is his BA. If he can get that up to at least .280ish, he's a star.

[msstate7]

I'm just a casual SABR observer, but FWIW, Heyward is far better than Frenchy when it comes to advanced stats, and roughly the same using traditional stats. Also many have said Simmons had the best defensive year in history last year using SABR....considering he only signed for about $8 mil a year that's a great deal for the Braves.

Just think how much it would hurt our pitching staff if you didnt have Simmons at ss. If pitchers command the big bucks, then Simmons' defense should too.

[trob115]

Speaking of pitching, we desperately need a dominant ace. I hope we are able to sign one next year via free agency and not give up any prospects for a short term deal.

[Political Hack]

Heyward completes the outfield and gives you an everyday 1-5 hitter. There's a lot of value in that, but had the Braves signed him to a large contract last year to see him have the season he did it would've been questioned and possibly hurt them with their contract negotiations this year. it's lined up damn near perfectly IMO.

Now go gets Paps to sign a 6 figure deal to be the set up man and I'll be happy.

[FISHDAWG]

Ofhlerety should be back and healthy ..... (right ?)

[msstate7]

Ofhlerety should be back and healthy ..... (right ?)

EOF is an A. Hate it too

[FISHDAWG]

OK ... heading back under my rock now

[smootness]

I wish O'Flaherty was back, but I'm not too worried about it. If there's anything the organization has been phenomenal at recently, it's finding random pitchers who become studs out of the pen...including O'Flaherty, who we got off the scrap heap from Seattle. David Carpenter is another example (playoffs notwithstanding).

So I'm confident we'll always find guys to fill the pen - this year, it should be Kimbrel, Walden, Carpenter, Avilan, hopefully Venters (not getting my hopes up), and then a bunch of guys who are strong candidates (Varvaro, Jaime, Schlosser, Graham, etc.) and Wood may start the year there. We'll be fine.