The Alienation Factor of the Bear Cave (And Why It Should Be Avoided)
A lot of Braves fans keep telling me that, should the unthinkable happen and Evan Gattis is traded in the off season, it will be to help the team.
Here's why I have a problem with such a sentiment....
1. The Atlanta Braves, on the whole, are NOT good with trading position players. Pitchers, certainly, because they have them a plenty. This is true both on the roster, and in the farm system. With just a mere few exceptions, such as the Prado trade for Justin Upton for example, the organization flat out sucks with trade returns.
2. The extent of his "bear cave" fan base is far and wide. Don't believe me....
a. Every last social media fan group he has are in the thousands, and even tens of thousands. That makes a lot of difference when you consider that attendance for Turner Field was at it's lowest in a decade. You wanna risk it getting lower?
b. His own Twitter page has 104,000+ followers. (Myself, included) Braves Country gets excited for El Oso Blanco. His mere presence in the line up creates a cheer storm from fans, which was even more evident every time he returned from a DL stint and the Ted erupted. He strikes fear into the hearts of his opponents.
c. The marketing department would call for the Braves FO's heads if they get rid of a player with the 4th highest selling club jersey to Freeman, Heyward, and JUp, highest selling T-Shirt, and highest selling overall item in the white bear hats. Not to mention his FAN VOTED bobblehead night, of which I personally attended this past season, drew in an additional 3,000 more fans to the Ted than the Weezer concert the previous night, and Weezer has been around for years. He's a draw! What more reason could you possibly need to keep him on the team, when you couple that with the necessary offensive, and even defensive numbers he gives you to have every opportunity to win games?
If the Braves organization favors alienating a huge chunk of the fan base, they will regret it.
Here's why I have a problem with such a sentiment....
1. The Atlanta Braves, on the whole, are NOT good with trading position players. Pitchers, certainly, because they have them a plenty. This is true both on the roster, and in the farm system. With just a mere few exceptions, such as the Prado trade for Justin Upton for example, the organization flat out sucks with trade returns.
2. The extent of his "bear cave" fan base is far and wide. Don't believe me....
a. Every last social media fan group he has are in the thousands, and even tens of thousands. That makes a lot of difference when you consider that attendance for Turner Field was at it's lowest in a decade. You wanna risk it getting lower?
b. His own Twitter page has 104,000+ followers. (Myself, included) Braves Country gets excited for El Oso Blanco. His mere presence in the line up creates a cheer storm from fans, which was even more evident every time he returned from a DL stint and the Ted erupted. He strikes fear into the hearts of his opponents.
c. The marketing department would call for the Braves FO's heads if they get rid of a player with the 4th highest selling club jersey to Freeman, Heyward, and JUp, highest selling T-Shirt, and highest selling overall item in the white bear hats. Not to mention his FAN VOTED bobblehead night, of which I personally attended this past season, drew in an additional 3,000 more fans to the Ted than the Weezer concert the previous night, and Weezer has been around for years. He's a draw! What more reason could you possibly need to keep him on the team, when you couple that with the necessary offensive, and even defensive numbers he gives you to have every opportunity to win games?
If the Braves organization favors alienating a huge chunk of the fan base, they will regret it.
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| Even the dark side wants his autograph! Come on, now! |
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| That's what I'm talking about! |
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| His own mini me. |
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