Being 29, and being a Braves fan, it all just seems so weird and out of the blue. RIP. I very much enjoyed getting to watch him pitch when he came up. He had electric stuff.

Has to be some sort of virus, strange either way.... guy was a decent AAA hand, one of hundreds that were only a hot streak away from re-establishing themselves in the majors.....

Yankees send 2B of the future Jose Pirela to Padres for some minor league pitcher.

Yeah, okay.

***BREAKING NEWS***

John Ryan Murphy traded to Twins for AARON HICKS

really loved JR Murphy,,,,,but I'm totally amped that I am the one breaking the news #tweitter #plugged in

<font color=goldenrod>Yankees get: OF Aaron Hicks
Twins get: C John Ryan Murphy</font>

<font color=goldenrod>god dammit PFWD</font>

Log jam in the outfield now. SOMEBODY'S GOTTA GO!

So Cashman wakes up this morning and decides to wheel and deal. Where was he at the trade deadline?

Reports are saying Tommy Hanson overdosed. No word on what exactly.

Jays talking long term with Marco Estrada.

Speculations around the net about the same time the news of him being in a coma were about it possibly being cocaine. Something about him having past problems with it and a shady guy with a documented history being close to him. Supposedly the Braves were aware of this guy and banned him from the clubhouse out of concerns.

Pure speculations though until the autopsy report comes out stating what exactly caused his death.

No bueno. Estrada had a career year at age 31 that's unlikely to be repeated. His rate has declined and his batting average against on balls in play was 217. Extremely unlikely he is able to replicate that number and not regress back to the mediocre pitcher he was before.

They should let him walk and seek an upgrade.

Babip is against him but they need to sign who they can sign. He's definitely not a surefire guy, but a money playoff performance this year gives me a little more faith in him. In saying that I have my doubts in him without Navarro but see him posting an era close to 4 which isn't that bad.

And yeah as much as he could just flame out this year sometimes you just have to reward a guy for some great work.

No you don't. That's where you start digging yourself into a hole. Using playoff performance, where you're looking at a limited sample and giving credit to that instead of looking at the entire body of work is setting your team up for failure. Guys don't just all of sudden find something once October hits. You reward a guy with playoff bonuses that teams give out. Giving a guy a contract just because he threw well in a handful of games despite being mediocre his entire career would be a mistake.

Would be risky to sign him to anything more than a two year deal. I wouldn't go higher than 2/15, but I'm sure someone will go 3/30.

If we gave contracts out based on playoff performances, Marco Scutaro would be the highest paid player in baseball. I think GMs are smarter than that though. Yeah, a guy could probably make a few more bucks or maybe get another team desperate enough to throw enough chips in to reach the other high bidders, but he's not going to break the bank most likely. A good case to follow will be Daniel Murphy. If he gets more than 3/30 someone is overpaying.

They definitely shouldn't break bank on him, but he had a very good year, not just in the playoffs. 3 years for 30 is overpaying but not wholly unreasonable. And yeah gis flyball rate in the dome is a tad concerning. Maybe it's too sentimental of a signing? But who else is going to make themselves available to Toronto? Honestly, this is not historically a place where players want to sign. Yeah, money talks, but money costs when you have to drastically over pay more than any other team for any half decent signing.

But your point is valid and I do have similar feelings myself, just trying to be optimistic about him because I like him :'-(

However one argument that can be made towards Babip is that if you have a great defence which the jays have, it'll keep that number fairly low, particularly as a pitcher who pitches to contact, with the type of command needed to be effective as a pitch to contact guy.

That only works if you're a groundball pitcher, which Estrada is not. He's an arguably extreme fly ball pitcher with a declining strikeout rate and mediocre track record.

Yes, he had a nice year, but it's a outlier. Prior to this season he was barely a replacement level player. That's far more telling than a fluke year on the wrong side of 30.

He'd absolutely be a sentimental signing. Drebin is right, more than two years would be ludicrous. If he's available in January or February, the leverage falls into the team's lap. I'm hard pressed to think of a team that'd give up a pick to sign him when the current market is so deep.

In terms of signing players via postseason heroics, the Giants are a prime example of why it doesn't work. They've handed out contracts to Angel Pagan, Aubrey Huff, Freddie Sanchez and Marco Scutaro after postseason heroics.

Pagan is in steady decline going into his final guaranteed year, and had missed significant time over the last 3 years. They paid Freddie Sanchez $12 mil to play 60 games in 2011 and none in 2012.

They then sunk 20 mil into Aubrey Huff in 2011 and 2012 and he returned the favor by being dramatically less productive in that two year span.

Marco Scutaro was paid 20 million through this past season to play 132 games, 127 of which came in 2013.

The Jays would be wise to steer clear from Estrada unless it becomes clear nobody's gonna sign him and they can lowball him on a deal closer to his actual value per production instead of paying for a career year.

<font color=goldenrod>Braves are shopping Andrelton Simmons once again. Mets inquired and were told it would cost Harvey or deGrom.

I needed a good laugh this morning. Thanks, Braves!</font>

One more shitty year for the Braves. Then the new stadium opens and the are going to spend all the money they have been saving for the last 3-4 years and the NL East will just go back to the old race for second place for everyone else.

Simmons is like the greatest defensive shortstop in ages. He could be a mediocre hitter the rest of his career and produce a hall of fame level career. That good.

The Padres kicked the tires but I doubt they'd have the prospects unless a second team gets involved.

Now that would be a laugh. Send the Padres some more players and they are just going to end up being the 2012 Braves.

I'd take Simmons I heartbeat. He's signed thru 5years for $53 million. That's a bargain for what he gives you. The Padres would likely need to trade Ross and package him with another player, maybe Kimbrel and/or Norris, and take some of the prospects they get back and flip them to Atlanta.

Addison Russell is Simmons to the tenth power.

Phillies reportedly taking calls for Ken Giles if it leads to a rotation upgrade.

I get the thought, but I'd rather they go for a guy like Happ or Fister (maybe even Chris Young?) before dealing the best guy in the bullpen.

I can't really argue with that logic. But deep inside I still will

Tho as far as the conventional logic on ground ball contact pitchers vs flyball.... With pilllar and potentially revere in the outfield that's a lot of ground covered defensively with flyballs. Even his epically bad 2014 was said to be a bit of an anomally. He was never that bad. But 2 years is reasonable. Plus he's added a couple of pitches to his arsenal. I am more speaking on his potential for the coming years more than what he deservesto make in hos body of work. He's not a hard thrower mixed with evolving his game and havinng a beauty change up. There is an upside and there's possibility for longevity.

The Jays are retarded if they sign Estrada to a long term deal. Don't sign players just because.

Well he's gonna be 32, so I'd reckon he's peaked from a potential standpoint. And while outfield defense does benefit fly ball pitchers, you can't defend a homerun and the potential damage output against a fly ball pitcher is always going to be more risky. Especially when that pitcher is 32 and doesn't have great stuff.

They should try and cash in on him. Teams might be willing to give them a guy like Happ or better who's going to cost less and have team control. Bullpen guys are expendable if the return is a mid rotation starter or everyday player.

<font color=goldenrod>Okay then.

Braves get:
RHP Chris Ellis
LHP Sean Newcomb
SS Erick Aybar
$3 million

Angels get:
SS Andrelton Simmons

Angels give up their top 2 ranked prospects.</font>

Braves dealSimmons to the Angels for their two top pitching prospects and Eric Aybar. What a steal for L.A.. Their farm system isn't strong at all but they still were able to acquire a huge upgrade for them.

I'd imagine Aybar will get flipped. Can'thelp but the Braves got fleeced.

<font color=goldenrod>In other news...Colby Rasmus just became the first player to ever accept the qualifying offer. He'll get a 1 year, $15.8 million contract from the Astros and then head back onto the market next year. Outfield was the deepest position in free agency this year, so it's a sensible decision from him.

Brett Anderson and Ian Kennedy are widely expected to accept their qualifying offers too, as the SP market is looking weak for next winter.</font>

<font color=goldenrod>Good fucking riddance to Simmons. He absolutely killed the Mets pretty much every time the teams met up. Despite his offensive struggles he hit at like a .400 clip vs. the Mets in his career on top of the normal wizardry with the glove (Travis d'Arnaud in particular got victimized by Simmons' arm a lot).

Are they trying to get rid of every player under a long term contract? Because I'd cum buckets if they traded Freeman too.</font>

Ugh I'd be furious if Kennedy accepted.

Reds expected to be trading Aroldis Chapman within the next couple of days. A bunch of teams are interested with Red Sox rumored to be the possible favorite to get him.


Former Nationals manager Matt Williams got hired as the new 3rd Base coach for the D'Backs.

Colby Rasmus can suck my dick

I imagine that's their reasoning, which is good because the rotation is pretty terrible. But I'm such a fan of Giles because he was pretty much the only solid hand outta the pen all year.

But to rebuild you have to give up some good talent so I guess I could live with it for a good starter coming back.

Now who wants Howard as a DH? I'll throw in a cheesesteak and some soft pretzels.

Would love if the Braves traded Freeman also.