Atlanta Braves Rumor: Freedie Freeman, Teheran are Both on the Block

Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) hugs catcher A.J. Pierzynski (15) after a home run against the Miami Marlins in the fourth inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

It’s not like the Braves and John Coppolella are necessarily waiting to let the anger from last night’s trade to fade before thinking about the next deal.

For those who follow us regularly – and thank you kindly:  I don’t say that enough – you’ll recognize that we do not make a habit of simply throwing out random ideas or rumors from some guy shopping for Christmas ham (although that one was actually valid).

Turns out that we have a few sources, too, and one of those is telling us the same thing that Martin Gandy (above) passed along.  The word “seriously” was even involved… it’s that word which go me to write this.

Reports suggest there’s nothing close, nothing imminent… but… well, you know:  it could be a spark one second and an inferno the next.  Dave O’Brien just suggested that he’s heard nothing of the sort, and I’ll report that, too:

There’s other background rumblings as well that generally support the rumor-hypothesis:

• ESPN has an article (quoting Gandy about his angst as a fan) about the trade.  The other main point about that piece (at least based on the title) is that Freeman himself might be annoyed at the continued accumulation of prospects… but no one who can help the team win now.
• Recall that a year ago, Freeman met with the Braves Front Office to make sure both saw eye-to-eye on the rebuild that was in progress then.  Of course, the schedule that would have been related to Freeman was “2017” and right now it’s very difficult to see how that could happen unless Atlanta is able to somehow get hold of a Todd Frazier or equivalent… while keeping the rest of the major leaguers.
• So if Freeman was questioning the moves last year, he ought to be close to open rebellion now.  Notably, however, there are no quotes from him on the subject at hand.

There really isn’t much else to say here at this time.  ESPN went on to propose a few landing spots for Freeman.  I’ll add a couple of notes about each:

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• Red Sox.  Given that Frank Wren works for them now, this makes the most sense, but their current plan was to put Hanley Ramirez at first base… a player who is running short of places on the field to hide.  Yes, they could move him, but there’s at least $64 million tied up for his services… possibly another $22m beyond that through 2019.  They also can’t move Ramirez to DH until David Ortiz‘ deal is done… which runs through next season.
• Pirates.  Forget it:  they can’t possibly afford Freeman.
• Cardinals.  This actually makes sense… at least if Matt Carpenter were coming back.  They do have a way to cover third base if that were to happen.
• Astros.  Possible.  They could also use Teheran.  We’d clean out their farm, though.
• Indians.  Their 2015 payroll was an all-time high of $87 million.  Freeman exceeds $20 million in 2017.  Do the math.

So there’s basically 3 teams that could use Freeman and afford him.  Of these, the Red Sox clearly have the prospects (or major leaguers) that we’d want back, but it’s still an awkward fit with them.

As for Julio Teheran, people continue to use the ‘sell low’ tag on him, and indeed, that could soften his market, though given the “team friendliness” of his deal, a taker should not be hard to locate.

Nonetheless, the Braves are apparently trying to do this for 2 of the players they still have under contract beyond 2016 (the others being Dian Toscano, Nick Markakis, and Hector Olivera).  Coppolella spoke of “pain” yesterday about the Simmons deal.  The Braves might wish to consider a Novocaine give-away night to open the season if they trade away Freddie Freeman.

Next: We Need Antonio Alfonseca to Count Our Pitchers

So call this a ‘heads-up’ in case something happens later… meanwhile choose for yourself just how valid this might be.  I personally hope it works out to be mere smoke.  I will be happy to be proven wrong on this one.

It had better be for bats.