Thread: Braves interested in Josh Willingham

Originally Posted by JP3700

Originally Posted by biggentleben

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.

Fair enough, appreciate the response. That's why I specifically asked you. You obviously follow the Braves, so you'd have a better grasp of what they'd be willing to do. I just didn't appreciate the posts that made it seem like a completely unreasonable trade without thought. Especially from people I didn't ask, nor have a grasp of Atlanta's needs as a team.

This is a public thread that you didn't start so what did you expect? Everyone has a right to say something. There is a direct message option available with the site if you want to talk privately to a user. But, now I know never to reply to your posts/blogs because you probably won't 'appreciate' criticism from someone as you implied being stupid. It's pretty snooty of you to think people that don't follow the Braves don't understand what they need and how trade value works. The Twins and Braves have been linked for the past year in many trade talks and most of the users here are familiar with their needs, the Rangers needs, and the Rays team needs.

Originally Posted by biggentleben

Um, no, Simmons is the starter and nearly the most untouchable player on the Braves.

Pastornicky?

Originally Posted by Willihammer

Originally Posted by biggentleben

Um, no, Simmons is the starter and nearly the most untouchable player on the Braves.

Pastornicky?

What about him? He's been a bench player since May. The only reason Simmons didn't make more starts at short was an injury after he came up. He would have beat out Brendan Ryan for the Fielding Bible Awards had that injury not happened. Heck, Pastornicky didn't even lead the team in starts at shortstop in 2012, he was third behind Paul Janish and Andrelton Simmons.

Originally Posted by YourHouseIsMyHouse

This is a public thread that you didn't start so what did you expect?.

This. Plus....that ridiculous trade that was posted had research behind it? Holy gods, I'm not sure which is worse: being made that you were responded to publicly on a public forum or that god-awful proposal was thought-out.