The first week of the Major League Baseball season is drawing to a close, and coming into Saturday , there are only a handful of teams who are left undefeated. Two of those teams, the Atlanta Braves and the Colorado Rockies remain undefeated, both 3-0. It is a bit surprising that these two teams are the ones still unbeaten, because many people thought that both of these teams were in rebuilding years, a thus wouldn't contend. Now, I'm not saying that these two teams will be playoff teams, I don't know. After all, it's only three games (let's not get ahead of ourselves). But both Atlanta and Colorado are making fans think.
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| The Rockies are 3-0 in 2015 |
Today's post is not about numbers or wins or losses. It is about rebuilding a team and what it means. Using the teams mentioned above, we will look at it. Colorado seems to be in a perpetual state of rebuilding, as they have not put together a season that included the playoffs since 2009, two years after their miracle run to the World Series in 2007. Those have been their only two playoff appearances since 1995. The Rockies always seem to be missing something, but that doesn't mean that they don't have some good players. When the Rockies think of rebuilding, that means that they do what they can to get more talent around their franchise player, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. You can almost guarantee that Tulo will be there year after year, seeing the pieces around him change, to try to give Colorado the best chance to win a championship. That's rebuilding.
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| Atlanta trying to rebound from 79-83 record in 2014 |
Coming into the season, the Atlanta Braves had one of the busiest and strangest offseason of any team. Last season the Braves geared up to make a championship run, and when they fell quite short of that goal and missed the playoffs entirely, they fired their longtime General Manager Frank Wren. When John Hart was hired as the new GM, he immediately began making moves, some of which were surprising. They quickly traded power threats Justin Upton, Evan Gattis, and franchise cornerstone Jason Heyward. As if these moves weren't confusing enough, the Braves got nothing other than prospects in return. Many wondered what the Braves would do next and if anyone was safe, but it was assumed that the Braves would hang on to first baseman Freddie Freeman, shortstop Andrelton Simmions, and closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel, because these were the guys that you'd rebuild a team around, especially because all three signed hefty contract extensions the season before.
Wrong. The morning of Opening Day, the Braves shocked the baseball world by trading Craig Kimbrel to the San Diego Padres. Of the three mentioned about, Kimbrel was probably the most important player to hang on to. In four seasons, Kimbrel 185 saves, more than anyone else in that same four year span. He was widely regarded as the best closer in the game and was already breaking or challenging multiple team and league pitching records.
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| Craig Kimbrel (46) was traded to San Diego on April 6 |
Personally, I was very confused by the move, not just as a Braves fan, but as a baseball fan. Kimbrel is a once in a lifetime talent. The Braves can't expect to give him up in hopes that another one will come along in a few years. That won't happen. I fully expect that Kimbrel will at least challenege the all time saves record before he hangs up his cleats. Kimbrel is not just another great player. He is a player like Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Mike Trout or Chipper Jones. These are guys that you rebuild around, players who are so good and so important to their franchises, that you put players around them and under no circumstances do you make them a casualty of rebuilding.
The Braves are 3-0 because this year's lineup is arguably better than last year's as far as making contact and putting the ball in play. They don't strikeout as much and don't rely so much on the home run. That being said, they have not yet felt the sting of letting Kimbrel go, but they will. In today's game, I guess it is a bit naive of us to believe that players will stay with one team for an entire career-that's just business-but their are franchise players that you build around, and then their are franchise superstars that you put in a glass box and hang on to no matter what. Kimbrel was a glass box player, and the Braves missed it.
Every team rebuilds eventually, and every team does it differently. Whether you do it little by little like the Rockies, or you overhaul and start over like the Braves, every team's time comes. It's part of the game. The rebuilding process may take a year or it may take 100 years-sorry Cubs-but it will happen.
Despite that, both Colorado and Atlanta are playing very well so far this season. We'll see how far they can go.
