Guest Writer: Andy Simms of

Filling the void: The one where the Nick Markakis hole was filled with… Nick Markakis…

The biggest story of the off season for the Braves to date has been the lack of urgency in filling the void left behind when Nick Markakis became a free agent at the end of the season. One name after another was offered up as a possible solution, only to be either signed away to another team or shot down as speculative rumor-mongering on the part of bloggers and national writers alike. All this time there were warnings from Alex Anthopoulos of what was to come:

Despite reports that link #Braves to several available 3Bs, Anthopoulos said again they don't consider infield a need; they're pleased with their current INF. Needs are catcher, RF and bench, and they're still open to re-signing Markakis and/or Suzuki as they consider all options — David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) November 6, 2018

Cue up the Dumb & Dumber "So you're saying there's a chance" GIF. This is Alex Anthopoulos on staying in contact with free agent Nick Markakis. #Braves pic.twitter.com/hijJsAplVW — Cory McCartney (@coryjmccartney) December 5, 2018

On Tuesday the Braves announced a reunion with Nick Markakis and presumably resolving the issue of the right field vacancy, at least for 2019. Markakis returns to the Braves on a 1-year deal with a second year option that guarantees him $6M by way of a $4M payout for 2019 and a $2M buyout on that option ($6M) for 2020. This is a very reasonable deal for a guy who is coming off his first All Star selection, a Silver Slugger award and a Gold Glove. Markakis admits that he had other offers with more years and more money, but ultimately his decision was made for him:

#Braves' Markakis: "Besides me wanting to come back, the tipping point was my kids. I asked them where they wanted dad to be, and they all said ‘Braves.’" — David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) January 23, 2019

Upon the announcement, Braves Twitter exploded. There are basically three camps: those who loved the move, those who were disappointed by the move, and those who were looking for a reason to blast the Braves and their owners anyway…

The #braves resigning Markakis for so cheap is such a great move. So much value there. Nobody should be upset with this. #ChopOn — Bryan Stone (@StoneOnAir) January 22, 2019

A few thoughts on the Markakis signing #braves:

If signed elsewhere would Nick Markakis start for the:

Red Sox

Yankees

Astros

Brewers

Cubs

Dodgers



If not, how can the Braves say they’re aiming to compete for a WS yet have him not just starting but in the middle of their order? — Any Middle Reliever in Baseball Fan Account (@MyothaTwitta) January 23, 2019

I’m all for waiting until March 28 to grade the off-season, but this is the reason why people are extremely mad about how this off-season as gone on.



Best farm system + money factory outside the stadium shouldn’t equal Nick Markakis in RF. — Luke Jackson Fan Account™ (@NLEastChampions) January 23, 2019

Y'all can buy the lip service about flexibility to make other moves.



I'll buy it when I actually see it. Stop acting like because he said that was the plan and what we COULD do it means that's what we are GOING to do.



Y'all been eating up the lip service for quite some time — Ben Gunby (@gumby61184) January 22, 2019

So I have had around 24 hours to digest this signing, and these two responses to the Markakis deal seem to capture where I am at right now on this issue:

The Braves are one Josh Donaldson injury away from not having upgraded anywhere at all this offseason. — Bennett Hipp (@BennettHipp) January 22, 2019

I mean, I don't hate the idea of bringing back Markakis but it's just not really an improvement when they had a chance to improve. 😴 — local bIogger (@fergoe) January 22, 2019

I mean, I get it. The contract is terrific. If you had told me we signed Nick Markakis to a 1 year, $4M to be a bench player for 2019 I’d have thought it to be a little rich but worth the money. When you consider that Markakis is going to assume an every day role in the outfield, however, this just leaves me wanting more… so much more…

Anthopoulos has hinted that the Braves may not be done, and that this deal preserves enough working capital to address other needs. At this point, at least for me, this rings hollow. We were told exactly the same thing when the Brian McCann signing was announced, and we were told on numerous occasions beginning with the trade announcement of Matt Kemp that 2019 would be the year we had substantial funds to make a push for the playoffs. While it’s easy to get excited over the Donaldson signing, we do have to remember he hasn’t shown he is recovered from injury and back to MVP-level performance, and that’s the only level that will make his contract worth the $23M we are going to pay him. Aside from that the net effect to the Braves roster is that we have remained stagnant.

Truth be told, I am not even that upset about Nick Markakis returning. I had hopes that the Braves would take this chance to significantly upgrade his roster spot, but in the grand scheme of things I don’t know that aside from overpaying Bryce Harper there was anyone we would put in RF that would overcome the current deficit we have in the rotation when compared to our division rivals. It can be seen as a disadvantage that Markakis is not a guy you can count on to bat clean-up, and that displaces Acuña from the lead off spot and takes away valuable plate appearances from a very dynamic hitter, but that is assuming that he maintains his second half production and doesn’t fall victim to the second-year-player slump so common among young players. In essence, all this signing does is introduce one more in a long line of questions about the Braves starting lineup:

Can Ender avoid a slow start to the season and remain at the top of the lineup?

Can Josh Donaldson show he his healthy and ready to perform at an MVP level?

Will Acuña suffer a sophomore slump?

Was the second half of Markakis’ season an indication of overall decline or just a function of over-work?

Can Albies make adjustments at the plate from the left side to overcome the adjustments the league made to him?

Can McCann provide any offensive value?

Will Flowers continue to trend towards offensive decline or will a platoon improve his overall offensive value?

Was the wrist of Swanson the reason he struggled offensively last year and, if so, is he 100% healthy now?

The biggest question that faces the Braves in 2019 is whether or not Alex Anthopoulos believes there are any moves left for him to make that can close the gap on paper between the Braves and their NL East contemporaries. If he looks at the landscape and sees nothing that tips the scales to his advantage before the season even starts then we are likely to enter 2019 with essentially the same team that we had in 2018 and hope that the moves the rest of the league made don’t pan out. This is a strategy doomed to failure in my opinion, but aside from empty promises there is nothing to provide any indication that a significant move is in the works.

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