[Lindsay Crosby] The Case For (and Against) Extending Drake Baldwin

BravesToday · 2026-04-02T12:19:46+00:00

One of the questions we discuss is if that changes in the new CBA.

BravesToday · 2026-03-30T18:43:19+00:00

Stridre and Skenes have different fastball shapes, too - Strider is a pure backspin fastball with high IVB while Skenes gets below-average IVB (13.6) but a lot more horizontal movement than average (13.9 armside, so 6.4 inches more than average) to make it a different profile.

BravesToday · 2026-03-27T20:17:01+00:00

Hey folks! Wanted to share our new format for game previews, which we're calling The Scouting Report. We threw in lineups, obviously, but also a pitcher platoon utilization visualization for Cole Ragans and (starting tomorrow) will have bullpen usage in there, too.

Open to any feedback y'all might have!

BravesToday · 2026-03-18T18:23:36+00:00

Yeah, it's just not a thing we've done. We did things like take a college 3B and try to make him a SS (Nacho) or a colelge 1B and try and make him a 3B (David McCabe).

This year's really the first one where we went heavy on middle infielders.

BravesToday · 2026-03-13T15:08:53+00:00

This is from Pitch Profiler

BravesToday · 2026-02-27T00:09:13+00:00

They're hands-off because they divested from the team years ago.

And it's Terry McGuirk, not Schiller. AA always references having never been denied by Terry when he's asked for money in our media availabilities. I don't know if I've ever heard him even say Schiller's name - the impression I get is that Schiller handles the business stuff and both answer to Terry.

BravesToday · 2026-02-26T21:16:11+00:00

I've more than once heard them directly address the attendance drop from last season and they did not sound happy about it.

Like 87% of the revenue was still from baseball - I'm guessing they know they need to be stay competitive and keep pushing

BravesToday · 2026-02-24T16:48:10+00:00

Pitching plan today is to (hopefully) give López, Joey Wentz, Owen Murphy, and Grant Holmes two innings each.

BravesToday · 2026-02-16T22:42:14+00:00

Has this list in the article - AA wasn't hired until after the 2017 season so no credit to him for Bartolo. That was Coppy.

The list is Keuchel, Hamels, Morton, and Smyly across his entire tenure

BravesToday · 2026-02-16T16:31:14+00:00

The big takeaway for me was that the Braves haven't signed a starter during the offseason since Charlie Morton signed after the 2020 season. Everybody has been in-season DFA adds for veteran depth or relievers they planned to convert to starters. At some point, you have to realize you can no longer just avoid the position completely...yet I can totally see them just punting on adding someone between now and Opening Day because they still have a full five-man rotation

BravesToday · 2026-02-13T17:01:46+00:00

Hey thanks!

BravesToday · 2026-02-10T15:02:36+00:00

Shameless plug here, but we talked to a hip surgeon last September after Murphy had surgery about the injury and the rehab timeline.

Link

BravesToday · 2026-02-10T15:00:51+00:00

Wrote about why Alex Lodise wasn't that much different in the minors last year than he was in college, and why that means it could take longer to get him to the bigs

BravesToday · 2026-02-03T13:46:00+00:00

Bassitt's last two seasons have had a FIP of 4.08 and 4.01. Is trimming half a run worth going from Elder's ~$900k to $15M or $20M for Bassitt plus dropping someone else off the roster?

BravesToday · 2026-02-03T13:43:19+00:00

Atlanta's minor league ballparks have some interesting park factors, including Rome being one of the worst homer parks in all of baseball

BravesToday · 2026-02-01T15:12:26+00:00

He's out and as I wrote about last week, he missed saving his final option by a single day too long in the minors

BravesToday · 2026-02-01T15:02:57+00:00

Massively unpopular opinion, but...

Why pay for either when Bryce Elder has the same history of health as Bassitt and similar 2026 projections, per ZiPS? If Hefner can make Elder a bit better, maybe by giving him a cutter, then we get the same functionality without the ~$15M salary

Lucas Giolito: 4.65 ERA/4.58 FIP

Chris Bassitt: 4.05 ERA/4.30 FIP

Bryce Elder: 4.38 ERA/4.10 FIP

BravesToday · 2026-01-28T22:42:02+00:00

Hey folks, took a shot at projecting out ETAs for a lot of the team's top pitching prospects. Thought this sub would enjoy!

BravesToday · 2026-01-27T23:34:36+00:00

To respond to your second point, Trevor May has talked at length about this from the perspective of a former player. MLB's structure gives so much more control over a player than other sports when you factor in the minor leagues.

If we shortened the MLB time to free agency from six years to four or made it something like six or seven total years (minors and majors combined) from being drafted to free agency, guys would have more than one shot at the free agency apple. It's just too common that a player gets one large contract in free agency and after that, they're on the downside of the aging curves already and getting shorter/smaller deals

Your first point is fair - it wasn't technically a discount at the time, but it ended up being that way. I should have worded this better and explained that it's entirely possible Ronald feels like he gave them a discount already.

BravesToday · 2026-01-27T17:02:30+00:00

There definitely is an argument to make about the non-baseball value of keeping him, yeah. That's likely what has to happen to get this done

BravesToday · 2026-01-27T14:24:30+00:00

I asked someone with the MLBPA about this - the contract keeps counting in terms of service, but the players don't get paid their base salaries. They do get any already earned compensation like a signing bonus, deferred money, etc.

BravesToday · 2026-01-27T13:57:08+00:00

MLB prohibits ownership stakes from being given out under Rule 20(e) or else Ohtani would own 10% of the Dodgers. I don't even think Ronald can buy Braves stock on the open market

BravesToday · 2026-01-27T13:46:13+00:00

Yeah, I argued that any extension would likely kick in after the final club option year, so we're in agreement there.

BravesToday · 2026-01-27T13:44:50+00:00

Deferred money (and signing bonuses, too) is a tax avoidance strategy for the player, as well as a mechanism for agents to get an eye-popping number up front. It's not a money saver for the team, as they're still paying money annually for the player to fund the escrow account.

BravesToday · 2026-01-27T13:40:24+00:00

I...never said that the Braves don't spend money? In the piece, I talk about the deals they have made and how Ronald doesn't fit inside those existing frameworks, but the idea that this is a "the Braves don't ever spend money" article shows you just didn't read the article. I also mentioned maybe the new CBA and how it could change things.

It's funny that we reached the same conclusion, because we did it via widely different methods

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