Braves president of baseball operations John Hart has heard plenty of criticism and skepticism from outside observers of the team’s offseason moves, as well as team officials’ refusal to call it a full-on rebuilding project.
But Hart and his staff don’t view it as a strip-it-down rebuild, and they insist the Braves aren’t sacrificing a season or two despite many of the offseason moves being aimed more toward building for the long-term rather than immediate future.
It’s a rather unique course, but one the Braves believed was right one for their organization as they sought to rebuild the farm system and prepare to have the team at full strength when it moves into a new ballpark in 2017.
“What we’ve tried to do is obviously sort of walk down a parallel path,” Hart said before Monday morning’s spring-training workout, “where absolutely we have made some moves we think are going to shore up our system, are going to give us some players with some upside, and a lot of these (prospects gained in offseason trades) are at various levels. Maybe a couple of these guys are ready now, maybe some of them are ready in the middle of the year, maybe some of them are ready in a year or two, or even further down the line.
“But at the same time we’re obviously not running up any white flags. I think when we traded some guys we brought back bullpen guys. We traded corner outfielders and we were able to bring back corner outfielders. And I think combined, with that combination, it is a little bit of a different mix. And quite frankly, I haven’t had anything other that positive (feedback) from our core guys.”
He was referring to four young players signed to long-term extensions last spring — Andrelton Simmons, Julio Teheran, Craig Kimbrel, and Freddie Freeman. “Especially (Freeman), because Freddie is the guy that if you look at it, probably doesn’t have the perfect protection there in the lineup,” Hart said.
The Braves traded away the other three of their best four hitters besides Freeman – corner outfielders Justin Upton and Jason Heyward, and catcher Evan Gattis. They got back one major league starting pitcher (Shelby Miller) and eight prospects in those trades.
“These guys have been very supportive of what we’re doing, and I think that they like the dynamic around the club, some of the things that we’ve tried to do to sort of bring in some veteran guys that are going to be vocal,” Hart said. “(Those) are going to be guys that are going to talk the game and hold each other accountable.”
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