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Been able to watch several games this past week and this bethancourt is a studd defensive catcher. I have also been pleasantly surprised with his offense. However, gattis is starting baseball activities and may be back in a couple weeks. With catcher being a premium defensive position it may get interesting, especially with all 3 everyday outfielders swinging fairly well rite now.
Fredi has already said gattis will catch when healthy. Most likely Christian will be sent down to keep catching everyday
I love bethancourt though. Gattis better be glad he's a premier hitting catcher bc bethancourt is outstanding defensively
Wouldn't be shocked by this but ded gum he is an elite defensive guy. If BJ had kept sucking then I could see doing some shuffling out there and put gattis in left.Quote:
Originally Posted by msstate7
With bethancourt behind the plate they may very well have the best; at least top 2-3, defensive catcher, right fielder, first baseman, and short stop. That is amazing really...and a huge reason for expected success.
And rite on cue***
If gattis could play lf at a decent level, I'd love to have him there. He's terrible though. Jup is already bad in lf. Moving jup to rf and gattis in lf will make us very, very weak defensively on the corners.Quote:
Originally Posted by shoeless joe
Haha yepQuote:
Originally Posted by shoeless joe
EliteDawgs...For all things Atlanta braves, and a splash of MSU athletics.***
Can we please get an "a" on the banner?*Quote:
Originally Posted by CadaverDawg
HahaQuote:
Originally Posted by msstate7
Perfect. Nice workQuote:
Originally Posted by CadaverDawg
Bethancourt will probably go back down. But I've been pleasantly surprised with his bat. He definitely looks ready to play. Don't get the hate for Gattis. He isn't bad at all defensively. The pitching staff loves the guy. Bethancourt being a defensive freak doesn't mean Gattis sucks. I'd say Gattis is probably better right now than Mac was at any point of his career, and I personally thought Mac was underrated defensively. It's almost like unless you're Yadi Molina, you get pegged as either an "offensive" or "defensive" catcher now and can't get credit for being good at both. I'm excited as hell to get Gattis back, but I'd love to find a way to keep Bethancourt on the 25 man, too. Unfortunately, we're stuck with Laird and a waste of roster space in Uggla. Have I mentioned how much I hate Wren?
I referred to gattis being terrible in lf, not catcher. Gattis is nowhere near bethancourt defensively, but bethancourt is no where near gattis offensively. I'd go gattis this year...Quote:
Originally Posted by War Machine Dawg
Bethencourt is going to be trade bait. He's a stud defensively and has a bat to boot. Get gattis back and go grab a role player to make a push into the post season. A middle reliever/4th SP would be nice. A team will give that up for a young #2 catcher who is still developing.
Gattis getting hurt could be a lifesaver for the Braves if this plays out correctly.
If this happened then I'd have to agree with some others that wren is an idiot...I just don't see itQuote:
Originally Posted by Political Hack
the talking heads are already suggesting it.
I don't think you trade either one this year esp considering gattis' back is questionable. I do think the braves should make a decision which one after the season though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Political Hack
They have to take into account that Evan is also 28 years old. While he doesn't have the wear and tear on his bones that a Brian McCann had at that age, catchers still do not age well. Evan is an elite offensive catcher, but he's probably middle of the pack defensively. Christian Bethancourt has a chance to be the defensive equals of Yadier Molina and Salvador Perez, and neither one of them were exceptionally strong offensive catchers coming out of the minors.
Bethancourt still needs some seasoning. He had the pass ball today, and a few other young mistakes lately if you've been paying attention. plus his bat is ok but IMO he's been lucky. his minor league stats do not suggest his bat should be performing at this level, and he's often looked overmatched at the plate.
Braves have a decision to make. His stock will never be higher. trade now or keep long-term.
If you trade Bethancourt now, the next best guy in the system is Tyler Tewell at Lynchburg, and Tewell profiles more as a AAAA player than a major league every day player. After Tewell, you have a cluster of guys at Danville in Bryan De La Rosa, Tanner Murphy, and Wigberto Nevarez. Bryan De La Rosa has a ridiculous pop time (1.72 coming out of high school), but he hasn't hit. Tanner Murphy is a big, raw catcher who has yet to hit but has projection. Wigberto Nevarez is a 20th round pick who was compared some to Evan Gattis, but has looked like a 20th round pick in the early goings.Quote:
Originally Posted by BoomBoom
I just saw where the Braves signed a catcher from Cuba for whatever it's worth. He might end up here in Mississippi.
yeah, but solid backups are a dime a dozen, and they have Gattis for 4 more years.Quote:
Originally Posted by KB21
Depending on how the resigning of a few guys go and how the offense evolves next year (we currently have the 2nd least runs scored in all of baseball only ahead of the Padres), I would consider trading Gattis to an AL team in the offseason or next year's trading deadline for a starting pitcher.
If Gattis still continues to have health problems, he could be a kick ass DH for a decent time. That amount of offense is worth quite and bit and we might be able to get a #2 or #3 for him and we NEED that. Teheran is about the only proven commodity we have at SP right now that I can count on to consistently win games for next year.
Harang is 36 and will turn 37 in May and is on a 1 year contract. Not sure what you will get out of him even if we do resign him. Santana has a 1 year deal. Possibility he doesn't come back next year. I think Alex Wood will be good but he's not a 2 or 3 yet. But he can get there. Minor scares the hell out of me. He's now got a 4.86 ERA and only got a win yesterday because we scored more than the 6 runs he gave up. Hale isn't ready yet and Floyd can't be counted on. Then you add in Beachy and Medlen and you can't be sure how they will come back from injury.
So you've got Teheran, Minor, Wood, and Hale who are guaranteed as of right now to be on the team. That's scary as shit. We need another starter and we need one badly. If the organization thinks Bethancourt is ready, I say try and get a starter for next year by trading Gattis.
If you want to piss off 95% of Braves fans and get yourself on the hot seat as GM, trade El Oso Blanco.
Betchencourt may by a splash in the frying pan. I wouldn't bet my future on that. I'd go get another pitcher as soon as Gattis is back and healthy.
A whole lot of folks are under estimating the value of defense behind the plate. Now, in no way do I agree that gattis should be traded but I wouldn't dream of shipping bethancourt off either rite now.
Yenier Bello. They actually signed him this winter, but he has had visa issues or something like that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd4State
If Bryan De La Rosa were showing anything in the minors right now, I'd consider it.Quote:
Originally Posted by shoeless joe
Which one?Quote:
Originally Posted by KB21
If De La Rosa were showing anything, I'd consider moving Bethancourt.Quote:
Originally Posted by msstate7
Yeah, it takes awhile to get those Cuban players through customs typically. Usually they have to defect to the Dominican or Mexico and then after they get citizenship there THEN they can come on over to MLB.Quote:
Originally Posted by KB21
Really hope he keeps hitting in the minors when gattis gets back. Christian having a nice offensive year would make him very marketableQuote:
Originally Posted by KB21
If peraza keeps tearing it up, lastella could be a nice trade piece too.
so, do you consider Bethancourt as the starting catcher by say 2016, or just the backup to Gattis?Quote:
Originally Posted by KB21
I'm not sure. One of them will likely be traded. Evan is a fan favorite right now, but he's fast approaching 30 and is starting to have some injuries that may flare up from time to time (knees and back). In a perfect world, Evan would be a DH to save his back and knees. 30 is the typical age where catchers start to have a rather drastic decline.Quote:
Originally Posted by BoomBoom
On the flip side, Evan helps the team more now. If they can package Bethancourt and get someone like David Price in return, it would not be a bad deal. You just have to make sure you develop a catcher in the system, because Evan likely will not be getting an extension at his age, and I don't see the DH coming to the NL anytime soon.
5-10 years and the NL will have the DH too. I used to be against it, but the more I think about it, the more I want it to happen. It'll level the playing field with the AL and make the game better.Quote:
Originally Posted by KB21