Braves should pursue a trade for Adrian Gonzalez
Adrian Gonzalez hit 40 home runs last season for San Diego.
The last time the Braves made one of those, “The future is now,” trades, John Schuerholz sent a bundle of prospects to the Texas Rangers for Mark Teixeira.
Didn’t work out. Teixeira wasn’t the missing piece for a World Series team. He wasn’t even the missing piece for a second-place team.
Here’s another chance to get it right. I don’t know if the Braves are one player away from playing for a championship. But Adrian Gonzalez gets them closer than any other player they could acquire. Economics may force the San Diego Padres to trade the All-Star first baseman.
There is no downside to getting Gonzalez, other than whatever/whoever it is the Braves would have to send San Diego in a trade. But here’s the upside:
♦ He gives the Braves the power hitter and run producer their lineup desperately needs. His home run totals have consistently increased — from 24 to 30 to 36 to 40. Last year, he also drew 119 walks. With a.277 batting average, that gave him a .407 on-base percentage, which would’ve ranked first among Braves’ regulars.
♦ Gonzalez has a favorable contract: $4.75 million and $5.5 million in the next two seasons. Then he becomes a free agent. It’s the same situation the Braves faced with Teixeira (they traded him before the deadline in year two when they dropped out of the playoff race).
♦ Gonzalez is a better option than re-signing Adam LaRoche, who may require a three-year contract and isn’t nearly as good of a player. It creates a situation with prospect first basemen Freddie Freeman, but the genuine concern over that probably is a year away — unless Freeman is included in the deal.
♦ Gonzalez gives the Braves a power hitter in his prime to go with all of their pitching. It lessens the offensive load on Chipper Jones, who is coming off a down season, and takes the pressure off Wren for acquiring a high-impact corner outfielder to strengthen the lineup.
The San Diego Union Tribune reported at least three teams — the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston and Seattle — expressed interest in Gonzalez at the deadline last July. The newspaper also quoted a source saying, “I think it’s only a matter of time until they trade Adrian,” and reported the player was “conspicuously absent” from a season-ticket brochure mailed to fans.
He would be a needed boost for ticket sales — and the lineup — in Atlanta.
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286 comments Add your comment
Coach (2010- Mr.Overrated retires)
November 11th, 2009
3:36 pm
Noah, Adrian Gonzalez projects to make close to the same as Mark Teixeira come 2012. We are talking 20 million per season here, which is way beyond our Braves current budget.
P.S. Corporate ownership blows chunks in so many ways and ML baseball desperately needs a salary structure similar to that of the NFL.
bvillebaron
November 11th, 2009
3:37 pm
Who once said that stupid is as stupid does? Apparently you Jeff and other proponents of this nonsense never learn from past mistakes, including, in particular, the Texeira debacle. Instead of simply giving them Freeman, Schaefer, Medlen and Teheran, why don’t we really wipe out the farm system and throw in Minor and/or Heyward as well? Besides we all know that getting Adrian Gonzalez will guarantee that trip to the World Series. Aren’t you the same guy who argued that Atlanta should keep Vazquez despite his age, salary, career year and looming free agency? If you get get Adrian Gonzalez or a comparable impact bat for Vazquez, fine, but trading more prospects at this stage of the rebuilding of the Braves is sheer lunacy.
Bobby's Cox
November 11th, 2009
3:38 pm
If they can include KJ in the deal… bonus.
Not likely. The Pads want to dump salary, and Gonzalez only makes like 4.5 mil as posted by Schultz. KJ will make almost as much as him next year in arbitration, and when you throw in all the prospects, they’d be raising their salary.
Jon
November 11th, 2009
3:45 pm
Clusters this is my only name but honestly you can defend yourself and I like that.
Blackbird
November 11th, 2009
4:00 pm
I think I smell Wren getting played by the Padres again, ie Peavy!
bravesfan2051422
November 11th, 2009
4:07 pm
Okay…………….But………… How would they make this trade without giving up anybody too important??
ugaaccountant
November 11th, 2009
4:13 pm
Bravesfan2051422 – San Diego wants rookie salaries or minor leaguers, not established players. We wouldn’t be giving up any current major leaguers, unless it’s Medlen. Then, as far as important prospects, Wren just needs to steer them to whomever is overrated.
Sonny Clusters
November 11th, 2009
4:17 pm
Okay, Jon, we can be friends. Clusters was always open-minded and they’s lots of folks stuck with only one name (Oprah, Prince, Shaq, Madonna, Jon ) and having only one name makes some of ‘em grumpy.
Sonny Clusters
November 11th, 2009
4:19 pm
Jon without the “h” you is stupid. Anyway when we was playing we was winning because we was playing without Bobby Cox.
Jon
November 11th, 2009
4:20 pm
I know what you mean, and I guess that other Sonny is impersonating you.
Jon
November 11th, 2009
4:21 pm
Sonny, just ignore the fake one and you will do just fine. I read a comment from Jeff, he said, “Sonny the impersonation is the biggest form of flattery”. That was on an older post.
bugman
November 11th, 2009
4:22 pm
Sonny,
The most sincere form of flattery is being copied!
Jon
November 11th, 2009
4:23 pm
I thought you were just being dramatic. My apologies Sonny.
robo
November 11th, 2009
4:25 pm
only works for me if they sign gonzalez to a multi-year deal.
Jon
November 11th, 2009
4:25 pm
Bugman said it better than I did, I couldn’t remember the exact way that Jeff phrased it.
Jon
November 11th, 2009
4:27 pm
That Sonny Clumps character was definately a cheap imitation.
John Tucker
November 11th, 2009
4:28 pm
Could notagree more. Adrian GOnzalez is best 1B man in MLB not named Pujois; and Briaves should trade whaaomever they have to to get him for next 2 years and try bto sign him long term as Chipper leaves.
Nativebird
November 11th, 2009
4:29 pm
Never, ever deal Yunel. Ever. In any other media market, he is a periennial All Star. Keep the kids, deal anyone else over the age of 28. Anyone. (all of em).
Jon
November 11th, 2009
4:30 pm
Typo, I meant definitely.
Sonny Clusters
November 11th, 2009
4:32 pm
That 4:19 Sonny is the imposter. We was always wary of imposters and people that didn’t like Dairy Queen. When all this is over, Dairy Queen for everybody . . . on Jeff.
Melvin Flowers-Macon Georgia
November 11th, 2009
4:33 pm
Chipper Jones need to retire his pop in the bat is bout over. We might can use his bat on the bench at times.
Jon
November 11th, 2009
4:34 pm
Oh, just ignore him Sonny. We can definitely get Dairy Queen.
Nativebird
November 11th, 2009
4:34 pm
Oh, and all these “never trade the farm build from within its too expensive in FA”, CONVENIENTLY forget that without the Fred Mcgriff deal, and without the Greg Maddux deal, you can have all the home-grown Braves you want, but the World Series and the 90’s run never happens, so SPARE me with your over-simplified “farm only” routines.
ugaaccountant
November 11th, 2009
4:34 pm
John Tucker – No reason we couldn’t sign him long term as part of the deal. Can’t leave it up to chance like we did with Tex. Very similar players at similar ages. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
ugaaccountant
November 11th, 2009
4:36 pm
Nativebird – We’re on a budget now. We have to lose salary to add any more, so good players like Vasquez might be traded to clear the room.
Melvin Flowers-Macon Georgia
November 11th, 2009
4:37 pm
O By the way Braves fans remember PEAVEY- NO WAY, Don’t believe none of this.
Jon
November 11th, 2009
4:40 pm
Jeff is my favorite columnist. I used to like DOB’s stuff but he is a complete a**hole when he posts comments and Mark Bradley used to be too negative about our teams, but he has gotten much better since then.
Jon
November 11th, 2009
4:40 pm
Melvin also remember Furcal and Burnett?
jj
November 11th, 2009
4:41 pm
If you can get Adrian Gonzalez for a package of Freeman, Medlen, and a couple more #10-15 rated prospects in our system then of course you do it. This would allow you to trade Vazquez for prospects, which is much easier. Contenders don’t want to give up their bats, and non-contenders don’t want to give up prospects for rentals. Vazquez for Gonzalez with prospects washing out would make so much sense for this team.
ugaaccountant
November 11th, 2009
4:52 pm
JJ – I like your thinking. If we could get a stud prospect at 3b in the Vasquez deal, it would be golden.
JayD
November 11th, 2009
4:54 pm
Larry is the answer at 1st (it will keep him around a couple of years longer) – Go out and get a ThirdBaseman!
bob horner stayed hurt
November 11th, 2009
4:55 pm
I agree with jj….Gonzalez for Vazquez…it will hurt to give up Javy’s arm..but wwe need a bat folks…you get what you pay for…I think we need to hang on to Medlin…something about him..?? he’s a real “pitcher”..with a bright future…IMHO
Orlando Man
November 11th, 2009
4:59 pm
A Gonzalez for Vazquez deal would have to involve a 3rd team…which is fine. Then they, the 3rd team, could give up the prospsects. The Braves may only have to lose one prospect then. I like that deal then.
Bugman's 5th Grade Teacher
November 11th, 2009
5:00 pm
Who said “idiot”? Don’t be so hard on yourself. Just because you never made it to a 6th grade teacher is no reason to get all defensive and self-deprecating.
tdmorgan
November 11th, 2009
5:00 pm
I like the idea of Gonzalez, but Hoyer, the new GM for San Diego, said the only reason he would trade him is to restock the Padres system. He has an opportunity to start the rebuilding process quickly by trading Gonzalez. A possible trade could center around Minor, Christian Bethancourt (C), Freeman, and Medlin. It gives them a pitcher for now with Medlin who would be starting for several teams if it weren’t for the Braves pitching depth. Minor is a pitcher who is close to being ready, possibly up this year if not at the beginning of next. Freeman is an up and coming first baseman. Bethancourt is already a top ten prospect based on his defense and his offense is coming along, he only just turned 18. Plus Bethancourt is blocked by McCann. With the way he is progressing he could be ready in the next couple of years. This not only gives them a solid core but some players that have upside as well. If we had to, we could throw in Brandon Hicks while his stock is soaring after the AFL.
Also, some people have mentioned about him being left handed, but so is LaRoache, we can then find a RH for LF or RF. We won’t need to go after someone like Holliday or Bay but could go after a second tier OF with a shorter deal because Schafer will be up soon probably beginning of 2011 at the latest, he just needs to get his confidence back. We could possibly try to go after Mike Cameron and improve our defense by moving McLouth to LF and put Diaz in RF until Heyward is ready in June.
Orlando Man
November 11th, 2009
5:00 pm
Although, I don’t like losing Vazquez…. I rather Lowe…not a perfect world though.
tdmorgan
November 11th, 2009
5:07 pm
y’all, Vazquez has a no trade clause to Western Division teams
Geo123
November 11th, 2009
5:08 pm
Jeff,
Your loigc makes no sense at all. You say that the Padres are trying to lower their payroll and yet then you argue for the Braves to pick him up partially because his contract is so cheap. You can’t have it both ways. Then you add to the pjoor logic by saying even though this great player is signed chpealy tha tthe Braves shouldn’t give up any of their top prospects. Does this make sense to anyone at all? You get a top player in the game who’s signed cheaply for 2 more years and you don’t give up much. I’d like to live in your world. It was written around the trade deadline that the Red Sox were very interested and several of their top prospects were being named as trade bait. Here’s a quote form Heyman at SI atthe deadline. “The Padres wanted more than Clay Buchholz, Justin Masterson and Jed Lowrie for Adrian Gonzalez.”
Expanding on what others were talking about and adding Bell to the trade here’s what the Dodgers were offering according to Heyman.
” Via Twitter, Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that the Padres almost dealt Heath Bell and Adrian Gonzalez to the Dodgers for James Loney, Russell Martin, Blake DeWitt, James McDonald and Ivan Dejesus.”
Here’s the link.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/07/failed-deadline-blockbusters.html
The point is the Padres may trade him but they won’t be in a hurry and if someone gets him this winter they will have to give up ALOT to make it happen. You will have to give up your good prospects so don’t write that you won’t…
Bugman's 6th Grade Teacher
November 11th, 2009
5:14 pm
I know and he was always trying Bugman’s 5th grade teacher. He was a little slower than the others and he liked to pick fights and lost. However, he never believed that he could like the engine, and he just dropped out one day. Sad really.
tdmorgan
November 11th, 2009
5:19 pm
but if we were to trade prospects to get Gonzalez, we could trade Lowe for low-level prospects with upside and may need to throw in a few million a year but it would be worth it. I hate when people do this but with what i proposed earlier our lineup could look something like this.
McLouth LF
Prado 2B
C Jones 3B
Gonzalez 1B
McCann C
Mike Cameron CF
Escobar SS
Diaz RF
once Heyward comes up you can bat him sixth and put Cameron eighth. People complain about Chipper getting older, but with legit protection with Gonzalez you increase the probability of him being more productive. Remember how well he played in 2008 with Tex providing production behind him, just in case you forgot 364 avg, 470 obp, 574 slug, 1044ops, he also had almost 30 more walks than strikeouts. This past year, everything was on him to provide production for the offense, he can’t do it by himself anymore like he did 8-9 years ago. With the savings from Lowe we can fix our bullpen. We would save on Gonzalez because he was cheaper than LaRoache, non-tender both KJ and Church, and we’ll also save 10 mil by getting rid of Mike Gonzalez and Soriano. Also we will get rid of Garrett Anderson even more saved. We would instantly be in great position to go to the playoffs.
ugaaccountant
November 11th, 2009
5:34 pm
TD Morgan – The vasquez trade is separate to any Adrian Gonzalez. As would be trading Lowe. Everbody understands that the Padres aren’t going to trade a $5 million dollar bat to save money, while taking on an $11 million dollar pitcher. They don’t have the money to do so or A. Gonzalez wouldn’t be for sale in the first place. People are saying that it could work in the Braves favor, but we’d need a couple of trades to happen.
“The Padres wanted more than Clay Buchholz, Justin Masterson and Jed Lowrie for Adrian Gonzalez.” So that was with 2.5 years left on his contract. We can compete with this offer using Teheran, Medlen, and Freeman. A well thought of SP, RP and Batter, but all are prospects, same as Boston except a little younger. Nobody knows if San diego prefers younger with more possible upside or ML ready and a bit more predictable. I think our 3 prospects in that list would be a very compeling option compared with Bostons.
I would not want to offer that though, unless he is signing a long term extension as part of the deal. Boston may not need such assurance, as they can always just up their financial offer until he does sign, or buy someone else about the same as him. Must be nice to be them
Geo123
November 11th, 2009
6:11 pm
ugaaccountant,
I think you gave a pretty good answer and that wold be a good offer. However I think that the Red Sox players are a little better, Bucholz or Masterson. Freeman is a better prospect to me than Lowrie, but doesn’t play a position of need for the Padres (if they trade Gonzalez I thikn they will move Blanks to 1B). . Bucholz was 7-4 in the majors last year and posseses at least 3 above average big league pitchers. His control isn’t perfect for sure. Masterson was traded to the Indians in the Martinez trade but ended the year averaging almost a K an inning. Once again contro lis an issue.. Medlen was tough but Teheran is too youbg to compare to those guys right now…
ugaaccountant
November 11th, 2009
6:23 pm
Yeah, i’d pick Boston’s guys too. Just saying it’s at least an idea.
Uncle Rico
November 11th, 2009
6:36 pm
Unfortunately, Schultzie likely sealed the fate (unknowingly) of this trade happening w/a comment in his 12:27 approx post….”Towers was fired & Jed Hoyer is now the GM”.
For those out there who do not already know this, Hoyer was the Asst GM in Boston, & is a Theo Epstein protege (odd, considering they’re about the same age).
We all know that Epstein is no fool, & would drive quite a hard bargain if he had Gonzo on the block.
He’d demand AT LEAST two quality prospects (i.e. Heyward, Freeman, Kimbrel, etc) & probably more.
Someone out there will be willing to meet the Padres’ demands….with Hoyer calling the shots, it won’t be another Peavy saga.
Kelly
November 11th, 2009
6:36 pm
We can compete with this offer using Teheran, Medlen, and Freeman.
I would be flabbergasted if the Padres would accept anything close to that for Gonzalez. At the very, very least they would want Jurrjens, Freeman, and Schafer. Personally, I think it is a pipe dream to think that the Braves can get Adrian Gonzalez.
Braves For Life
November 11th, 2009
6:55 pm
Kelly- Teheran, Medlen, and Freeman is a good trade for Gonzalez. The trade proposal includes the 2nd (Freeman) and 3rd (Teheran) highest rated prospects in the Braves farm system and a MLB ready pitcher (Medlen). It may not be quite enough but it is a good starting point and you certanly should not be ” flabbergasted” by it.
ugaaccountant
November 11th, 2009
6:55 pm
Kelly – I think Schafer is slightly behind Teheran and Medlen in trade value. Obviously if it’s JJ plus more for AG, we have to simply say no thanks.
I wonder where Bucholz would rank on a full ML “prospect” list if he were still eligible? Easily top 100 but how high? Obviously it’s silly to think of JJJ in those terms, since he is likely to get some cy young votes this year.
Braves For Life
November 11th, 2009
7:08 pm
ugaaccountant- I give you credit for coming up with a good proposal. I was thinking of quality young cheap players that we had that SD would have interest in and Prado came to mind. I think throwing him in with Teheran, Medlen, and Freeman should get the job done. It would be borderline to much but then again give something to get something. Prado could fill in at either 1B, 2B, SS, and to a lesser degree 3B for SD and he is making the minium for another couple of years. What are your thoughts?
jim
November 11th, 2009
7:16 pm
If Gonzalez doesn’t catch a long hot streak, I’m not sure if batting .250 with 30 HR’s and a bunch of strikeouts is going to significantly help the Braves towards their longterm goal.
When you get into the playoffs, it’s harder to hit. For a batter to not be able to hit .300 during the regular season, you can’t expect much in the postseason. This guy would probably be 1 for 15 in a 3 game sweep loss for the Braves in the opening round.
marko
November 11th, 2009
7:26 pm
I enjoy reading how everybody thinks that another team would jump on the chance to make a big trade for players with the Braves that we don’t realy want or prefer.
If I am running a MLB team, I would not consider trading my allstar/gold glove 1B to a team in return for Medlin, Schafer, Lowe, or Kawakami (or all of them). I would not want any of them to ever be one of my starters.