r/Braves • u/game-threads • 1d ago
Off Day Thread Braves Postseason Discussion Thread - Tuesday, October 13
No game today. Feel free to discuss whatever you want in this thread.
Around the League
CLE 1 @ TB 3 - Top 9, 1 Out
Last Updated: 10/13/2026 10:50:05 PM EDT
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u/bobthewriter 1d ago
Go Brewers, go Badly-named Cleveland Team.
("The Steamers" was right there.)
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u/BringItOnHome_ATL Skip Caray Hall of Fame Advocate 1d ago
It is so bad.
Waiting for Chris Pratt to appear on their roster accompanied by a raccoon mascot who curses out the fans at some point.
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u/OSRS_Socks AA powers the Battery 1d ago
I wish it was the spiders but anything was better than the guardians.
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u/bobthewriter 1d ago
Spiders would have been historically accurate, too. Just an absolute miss, IMO. I understand moving on from "Indians" and don't really have a quibble with it.
But "Guardians" is a dumb name.
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1d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/CaptainCorey 1d ago
What kind of AI bot account shit comment is this? This is a bot account, everyone ^^
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u/Choppa_tha_hamsta 1d ago
Based on postseason performance:
Contreras > Murphy/Baldwin
Freddie > Matty O
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u/kash96 I GOT BARVES IN ATLANTA 1d ago
i remember the thought process being freddie will be better the first couple years then Olson will be better after. which makes no sense considering we just won a WS. the window was open, we didn’t need to really think long term imo
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u/PenguinKing15 1d ago
The original plan was never to lose Freddie. Signing Olson was always about solving a short term issue, that issue being that we were likely to not have a 1st baseman for 2022.
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u/wellwasherelf Elder Stan 1d ago
And before the Olson deal came together, we almost wound up getting Rizzo to play first lol
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u/AnEternalEnigma 1d ago
AA also said there were also plans to use Adam Duvall at 1B in 2022 if nothing came together. Can you imagine?
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u/Bravosfan27 1d ago
Wait what I don't remember that lol
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u/BringItOnHome_ATL Skip Caray Hall of Fame Advocate 1d ago
Yup, he was the only other realistic option available.
As a Cubs enjoyer going back to the Harry Caray and WGN days, I loved Rizzo. But we are very, very fortunate AA moved quickly enough to get Matt.
Rizzo was nowhere near Matt’s level and he’s been out of baseball 2 full seasons now.
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u/rickyrescuethrowaway 1d ago
Watching the Brewers and Rays and their guys going nuts over a well executed sac bunt or a walk after working a long AB. Love that kind of energy. Everyone on these kind of teams feels like one cohesive unit.
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u/ClawbberingTime 1d ago
I just got around to the AA interview and my main takeaway is that the 680 guys are incredibly dense and unprofessional. Just would speak over other reporters and asked questions they knew AA couldn’t answer (or maybe they don’t - not sure which is worse).
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u/gonk_gonk 1d ago
Has anyone heard if the Devil Rays jerseys are back for good? Or is this just playoff marketing?
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u/mistaken4193 1d ago
Just wanna say Fire Alex Anthoupolos that is all.
Can’t even enjoy the Brewers beating down the Doyers because I get irrationally angry about the Contreras trade
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u/RunawaYEM 1d ago
Yes we should definitely fire the GM after making the playoffs eight times in nine years right after we won 94 games and won a playoff series against a hated rival because you can’t just be happy for a former Brave lol where do y’all come up with this shit
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u/MiniRacer311 Old Thicc 1d ago
Hot take - You could argue that AA's only true impact to the team are the Sale and Olson trades. All other moves were either keeping players he inherited or getting lucky trading for 3 role players that all got hot at the right time.
I expect the downvotes.
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u/RunawaYEM 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yes because in addition to those absolute fleece deals for Olson and Sale, he definitely wasn’t part of the FO that drafted Harris and Baldwin, bought out Acuña and Albies arbitration years at incredible deals, acquired Mauricio Dubon who this entire fanbase adores, acquire Raisel Iglesias for Tucker Fucking Davidson and plug him in at closer for 4 1/2 years, get Dylan Lee, Tyler Matzek, Ray Kerr, win a World Series, and etch himself as one of the best GMs this organization ever had.
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u/scottmushroom 1d ago
But he had the nerve to trade a beloved (by me as well) All Star DH that was not doing well defensively at catcher for a top notch defensive catcher that also hit well.
It's very easy to look back at a trade and pick it apart, but at the time it made sense (and again, I hated to see him go). He developed into the catcher he is now with the Brewers and their staff. He may or may not have made the same improvements here, but that wasn't going to be a certain.
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u/Outrageous_Ad1938 1d ago
But did it make sense? We controlled Contreras for another 7 years at the time of the trade. He would have been given one of AA's specialty long term control contracts. Catcher is a premium position, and a good hitting catcher is quite rare. Its easier to teach defense than offense. And while hindsight is 20/20, he has turned into a good catcher.
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u/theoxfordtailor Maddux Guy 1d ago
You can argue that defense is easier to teach, but Sean Murphy has proven that he's got something that no other catcher really has. You might be able to create a good defensive catcher when he wasn't one before, but you can't clone an elite one.
Plus, Murphy can hit. Or rather, he could at the time he was traded to us. If he stays healthy, I'm optimistic about his bat next year.
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u/Dense-Practice-9369 1d ago
If he actually played, I’d see your point. The thing is, he doesn't play. He’s always injured. He gets hurt just using the TV remote. He can't be elite if he doesn't play. His hitting? Well, his injuries have taken a toll on that. He doesn't hit anymore, and he doesn't hit in the playoffs either, so he doesn't contribute there, either. Optimistic about next year? I’ve heard that for the last few seasons. It never happens. That’s four seasons now of declining performance and injuries. The perfect is the enemy of the good; if he doesn't produce, trading him (if possible) would be a good option.
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u/theoxfordtailor Maddux Guy 1d ago edited 1d ago
He hit one of our only homers in the division series. Try again.
And that's bullshit holding his injuries against him. That's not AA's fault and it's not Murphy's fault either.
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u/Outrageous_Ad1938 1d ago
But, in his last two years, granted each was a small sample size due to injuries, his defense has not been good. And his hitting has tanked.
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u/theoxfordtailor Maddux Guy 1d ago
No, last year, he had +7 FRV and while his 2024 number was just a +1, he still had one of the highest blocks above average in baseball.
This year was an outlier for his pure glove-based metrics, but his real defensive value lies in his game-calling and how good he is with pitchers. There is no chance we get the elite version of Tyler Mahle we got without Sean Murphy catching him.
But all that's beside the point. The Contreras trade made sense at the time. He's doing great with the Brewers and I'm happy for him. I don't see the need to act like a bitter ex.
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u/wellwasherelf Elder Stan 1d ago
People get so weird about Contreras. He's been a Brewer longer than he was a Brave, but the way people talk you'd think we traded Dale Murphy himself.
Also, in addition to what's already been said, for a while we were very heavy on pitchers who relied on breaking stuff. And Contreras is not a good blocker. Murphy is one of the best in mlb.
Really what it boils down to is that we chose Drake over Contreras and Shea. If we kept Contreras, then Drake probably gets traded. But it doesn't matter anyway, because what's done is done.
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u/kash96 I GOT BARVES IN ATLANTA 1d ago edited 1d ago
we clearly lost the murphy trade it’s ok to admit it
contreras has 15.3 War with the brewers to Murphy’s 6.9 with us. We sure did fleece em
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u/theoxfordtailor Maddux Guy 1d ago
There's no "losing trades."
Go read other comments on this thread. Two things can be true: the Murphy trade was a great move at the time and it didn't pan out due to unforseeable circumstances.
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u/kash96 I GOT BARVES IN ATLANTA 1d ago
saying there’s no losing trades is a ridiculous take lmao. it made sense at the time but clearly wasn’t the right move. contreras is better than murphy therefore we lost the trade
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u/scottmushroom 1d ago
I think its fair to say that it made sense on paper at the time. Contreras was playing primarily DH for a reason (his defense was bad) and Murphy was coming off a Gold Glove season along with having a decent to good bat. I think it's also fair to look at it and say we lost. Murphy has been plagued with injuries and hasn't hit well most seasons while Conteras has maintained a good bat and developed exceptionally defensively.
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u/theoxfordtailor Maddux Guy 1d ago
Exactly. Both things can be true. It was a good move but it didn't pan out the way it was envisioned.
Besides, it may just be that the Brewers are the best fit for Contreras. Sometimes players just do better on certain teams with certain coaches.
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u/Outrageous_Ad1938 1d ago
Or any other hitting coach than Hyer.
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u/theoxfordtailor Maddux Guy 1d ago
Oh, gotcha: Contreras would have continued being one of the worst catchers in baseball and his bat would have declined if he stayed with us. Thus, there's no advantage to keeping Contreras and the Murphy trade at least got us a plus defender. You're proving my point.
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u/Outrageous_Ad1938 1d ago
He was DHing because D'arnold was the starting catcher and his bat was too good not to use, much like Baldwin DH's whenever he is not catching. To think a catcher, a position that wears on players unlike any other position, that was 5 years older was not going to have issues going forward seems short sighted. But that is the issue at hand.
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u/theoxfordtailor Maddux Guy 1d ago
He was a fifth percentile defensive catcher in 2022 with a -9 FRV. That's the reason he wasn't the regular starting catcher. He was one of the worst catchers in all of baseball.
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u/Dense-Practice-9369 1d ago
Everything you mention is trivial when the foundation remains the same, yet you still expect a different outcome. Acuña is a ghost in the playoffs—he’s always injured. Olson is another one who disappears in the postseason. Riley gets worse by the day. Albies’s defense has slipped and his offense is inconsistent; in fact, he’s regressing. There is only one top-tier starting pitcher. How can you keep fielding the same failing team over and over and expect the result to change at some point? All those signings you mention don't add up to a World Series-caliber team. You're missing something.
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u/Dense-Practice-9369 1d ago
Making the playoffs with that team isn't all that hard. Reaching the postseason isn't the ultimate goal for a franchise as big as the Braves. After all, the Braves teams of the 90s and 2000s achieved far more—winning consecutive pennants—yet still fell short with only one championship ring, despite boasting the best starting pitching staff for over a decade. The window of opportunity for this core group will close soon, too, and the reality is that they’ve only made it to the World Series once in all these years. Criticism is warranted here; we aren't talking about Tampa Bay, but the Braves.
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u/theoxfordtailor Maddux Guy 1d ago
Making the postseason is easy! Why don't teams just do it every year. Are they stupid?
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u/zekerthedog 1d ago
Having fun rooting for Wild Bill