See you in October, Ozuna or later, 2023 Atlanta Braves season thread

[VegetasHairline]

 

[hashmander]

How the Braves were built: Inside the extensions that turned Atlanta into a perennial contender

The Braves are singularly positioned to dominate MLB for years to come, thanks to a core of players signed to early-career, long-term deals.

sports.yahoo.com

Spending the kind of money involved in long-term contracts, even if they’re done early in players’ careers, takes ownership support. And it takes a head of baseball operations who trusts his team’s self-scouting enough to gamble many millions of dollars on small-sample-size results.

“It's just a personality trait with this guy. He's a bit of a cowboy when it comes to certain things, and he believes in his players,” Braunecker said of Anthopoulos. “His conviction is as strong as any general manager in the game, and with that, he has a real desire and a willingness to act on it and keep those guys in the fold as long as he can.”

As a matter of fact, not every team wants to sign rookies to long-term deals.

“I’d rather be safe than sorry,” said Dombrowski, who has a well-earned reputation for building winning teams out of established (and expensive) talent. “That’s the way I’d describe it.”

Thus far, the Braves have been right or lucky or both. And they’re able to employ this strategy now because it has worked so well thus far; it’s a self-sustaining machine. The Albies and Acuña deals secured almost a decade of dual-All-Star (if not MVP) production for below-market value. Even years later, that frees up payroll for the organization to play with elsewhere. And with each subsequent extension — even if the dollar value is only slightly less than what a team might pay on the open market for a player of that caliber — the Braves buy themselves more success and more wiggle room in the budget. And that translates to a welcoming environment.

 

[daemonova]

 

[daemonova]

 

[daemonova]

 

[daemonova]

 

[daemonova]

 

[daemonova]

 

[daemonova]

 

[daemonova]

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

Ozuna's big comeback year is the most surprising thing of all considering where he was when the season started. I was one of the people who gave up on him and wanted him benched.

Snit stuck with him and wow... that's why I'm not the manager.

 

[VegetasHairline]

 

[VegetasHairline]

Ozuna's big comeback year is the most surprising thing of all considering where he was when the season started. I was one of the people who gave up on him and wanted him benched.

Snit stuck with him and wow... that's why I'm not the manager.

We all did. Gotta keep in mind everything Ozuna was personally going thru. We never heard his teammates speak badly about him.

I remember Money Mike crediting Ozuna with turning it around when he was slumping.

 

[VegetasHairline]

I'm gonna make the playoff thread if y'all don't mind. Or shall we keep it here brehs?

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

We all did. Gotta keep in mind everything Ozuna was personally going thru. We never heard his teammates speak badly about him.

I remember Money Mike crediting Ozuna with turning it around when he was slumping.

I remember how close he's been to Albies and Acuna too when they were both coming up. He seems to be a good locker room guy for them.

Contrary to belief, I admit when I am wrong. I'm just rarely wrong in TSC because I'm arguing with marks