Kimbrel hits the highway

[JohnU]

The bottom-feeding Braves obviously don't see an upside to having a shutdown closer if they don't expect to win many games, so ... why not trade him for some talent?

I am not saying the Reds will move Chapman.

You need to have pieces in place before you can build a bullpen.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Huge salary dump by the Braves. Hard to believe they wanted Kimbrel enough to take BJ Upton's contract.

There used to be the old remodeling commercial that showed the other guy as a inept handyman, "There'll be no Melvin's on your job" was their slogan. I guess SD has never been forewarned about hiring Melvin..

 

[JohnU]

SD appears to have an overall plan, regardless of how they accomplish it.
Get some hitters, score 4 runs, build a consistent rotation, and turn a lead over to the back end of the bullpen.
In most circumstances, I'd like their chances. The idea that the NL-W is up for grabs has occurred to me.

Seems to me that the Braves are acting like a paranoid space alien. They were not ""that"" bad and are planning to move into Cobb County ballpark with a team that is hovering around 90 losses -- if the experts are right about them.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Justin has been keeping BJ a job so long he should get a tax deduction for him...in fact, so should any team that has to pay him.

The Braves are pretty good at finding pitchers, and they might have actually improved their D. The Braves are clearly rebuilding, but I don't think it will take as long to rebuild an offense with hitters no one has heard of, when they can rid themselves of as many whiffs by guys you had heard of, as they had last year. (Our Reds are going to challenge the NL strikeout by hitters lead this year , IMO). The Braves still aren't as bad as the Phillies, and they aren't that far behind the Mets, folks. If Stanton gets injured, the Marlins aren't going anywhere either. The Nats should be able to start coasting before the trade deadline, at least on paper.

I think it's a 3 team race in the NLW- if the Rockies and D-Backs could pitch, they might be in it too, but IMO, don't have a MLB pitching staff either place.

The Cardinals still look good, but to be honest, any team that has a rotation with Liriano and Burnett in it, and has Neil Walker hitting 4th, looks shaky to me- so I'm not that impressed with the Pirates. I think the Brewers and Cubs are the worst teams in the NLC, and if our Reds win 83-84 games, it will be better than either of them.