Atlanta Braves Showing Interest in Zobrist… But Could It Even Happen?

Oct 31, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets right fielder Curtis Granderson (3) is tagged out on a stolen base attempt by Kansas City Royals second baseman Ben Zobrist in the fifth inning in game four of the World Series at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta Braves Mentioned in Hunt for Zobrist

He will be 35 years old by the time the 2016 season rolls around, and he’s likely to get a 4-year contract… but there’s word today that the Atlanta Braves are at least in the mix for acquiring the services of Uber-utilityman Ben Zobrist.  Of course others are aware of him, too:

Okay, so that’s 60% of the NL East Division’s membership in one rumor.  But let’s take a look at how this could possibly make sense from either the Braves or Zo’s point of view:

What the Braves Would be Looking For

Rosenthal added more today:

I agree.  Effectively, this could serve as the equivalent of hiring a player-coach.  Atlanta did this via a different route in 2015:  Nick Markakis to some extent, Jonny Gomes to a much greater extent, and A.J. Pierzynski… somewhere between the two.  You could argue that paying the premium price that it will cost for Zobrist might be worth it if the entire organization got a boost from his work ethic, clubhouse presence, discipline, attitude, etc.  But that would be a high premium – a topic I’ll defer to the end today.

In the past 9 seasons, Zobrist has logged defensive time at 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, LF, CF, and RF.  Over the past year, most of his time was spent between LF and 2B, with roughly 3 games at 3rd.  While his 3B experience is very light by comparison, the Braves could envision moving Zobrist between all three of those positions – 2B, 3B, LF – in the near term.

His uncanny flexibility would also make the Braves flexible – able to offer any of several players in a future-unknown trade scenario while still knowing they had the position covered.

OFFENSE.  When I discussed Brett Lawrie the other day as a perfect trade target, one of the reasons for this was the ability of Lawrie to play second base on days in which Jace Peterson was facing left-handed pitching.  The same scenario applies to Zobrist.  His slash line was .329/.409/.517/.926 against southpaws in 2015… which was pretty much a “down” year by his standards.  But frankly, he’d need to be on the field somewhere vs. any arm since he OPS’d .753 from the other side of the plate.

The Sales Pitch

What the Braves will have to determine is whether the added benefit of Zobrist to the organization transcends his value even as a ballplayer… and thus the extra cost of his acquisition

It’s going to be a bit on the thin side… but more money would help.

As Rosenthal suggests, the first team to offer a fourth guaranteed deal might win the bidding.  The Braves would have to hope that Zo would be intrigued by the chance to start opening a new chapter in his career – once that would ultimately take him in a coaching direction.  Certainly, that winning spirit is going to take some time to develop.

He’s got his ring now – or at least he will have it soon – so perhaps signing to play on a ‘winner’ isn’t necessarily a biggest factor in his decision-making process.  Maybe.  If a future coaching role is important to him, then Atlanta could tout themselves as a resume-starter for him (told you this would be real thin!).  As suggested, I believe they could offer significant playing time as well.

All things being equal though, would you expect a player like Zobrist to not draw trade interest at the trade deadline in another year or so?  Regardless of whether Atlanta were to make a 4-year offer, it’s most likely that he’d end up in another city.  Believe it or not, the related sales pitch could be something like this:  “we’ll give you the contract you want and ultimately flip you to a contender… and you won’t have to even try to guess which club will be good in another two years or so:  we’ll get you to a contender at that point”.  Strange, perhaps, but hey – it could work.

Next: Reasons to Avoid; the Financials