You nailed it, that Lind/Valencia platoon would've been phenomenal! Personally I would've traded Lind if I was getting a bit more back (say packaging Lind with pieces or prospects to net something significant). I'm obviously hoping for the best from Estrada/Smoak but they both have serious potential to be disastrous. At least with Lind we knew what were getting (back pain and a few missed games included of course). The s***** thing is on paper he looked to have finally have found his perfect platoon partner in Valencia and could have been utilized perfectly in terms of situationally and also to provide adequate rest for his back.
No Donaldson error and he might've come out unscathed yesterday. I think he needs to stay in the pen though, it'll allow him time to develop and feel comfortable in the majors. Let him do the bullpen where he might've found his niche already and then evolve into a starter a la Jimmy Key as mentioned. If he fails as a SP (which the numbers suggest he might) then I'm sure he'll excel as a RP doing 1-2 innings of high heat plus the dirty curve.
Yup Smoak & Estrada are real crapshoots, they could both be serviceable or absolute junk. It will be interesting to see how they perform this year, plus how long Lind lasts as an everyday player in Milwaukee and the numbers he puts up.
Lind. AA claimed it was to save deniero but if you combine Smoak & Estrada it's only 2M, he hated Lind but that missing dangerous lefty bat will be key in a lot of situations this yr. Hopefully I'm wrong though and Smoak/Estrada have useful campaigns..
Saunders was a little ahead of schedule, next up is Reyes. Oh well at least AA still has some prospects, Navarro, and upwards of 15M in his back pocket still left to spend..
I'm surprised Hellickson isn't worth a little more. In Yunel's case though like I said the party's over once he leaves, that was the clearly the reason why we sucked in 2013 and the Braves have never been the same. It's the curse of the Maricon!