Quote:
Originally Posted by
JP3700
-Hanson's value has significantly dropped with his drop in velocity and poor 2012. Sure the Braves would be selling low, but they may be wary of investing $4 million on a guy who could fall off the map like Jurrjens did.. Obviously I could be wrong on them selling low, but if you read the article I linked above there are opinions that Hanson could only get a "promising bullpen arm" now.
-Ahmed is blocked by Simmons and isn't that highly regarded anyway. Similar to Brian Dozier: no tools that stand out but does a lot of things right.
Those were the two that made it a no-go in my book actually. Like I said earlier, consider the source on the article you posted. The Braves have actually refused him media credentials in the past, despite having one of the 2-3 longest running Braves blogs/forums on the internet. Multiple blogs that have started up in the last two years have received those same credentials. The Braves still value Hanson fairly high, and all reports from inside and outside the organization is that there is a lot of high-level interest in him.
Ahmed is probably not going to achieve MLB status until he's 25ish, but he's someone that the organization regards very highly. According to rumors, he was part of the reason for backing out of one deadline deal this year. He's what would seem like a perfect future utility guy, and it's highly doubtful that the Braves will consider moving him until he fails a level. He made a big jump (2 levels) this year and held his own. I'd wager he'll go up step by step from here, but he's very highly regarded by the organization, so he's going to be tough to get involved in a deal.
I guess from the upside/downside for both players, I've thought Hanson/Span makes way too much sense for both teams for it not to get done.
