The Braves will undoubtedly be trade-deadline sellers… again; let’s sharpen a pencil and see what that might look like come July.
Our Atlanta Braves were able to get some veterans on 1-year contracts in 2015 and were able to turn them into prospects at the trade deadline. This year’s strategy remained the same but, for the most part, the veterans have not held up their part of the deal. In fact, here is a list of veterans on 1-year deals with negative WAR:
- Kelly Johnson
- Jeff Francoeur
- Erick Aybar
- A.J. Pierzynski
- Bud Norris
- Jim Johnson
- Jason Grilli
- Alexi Ogando
- Eric O’Flaherty
Now the good part! Here are the veterans on 1-year deals that have a positive WAR:
Yeah, I know. That’s not good.
There are some that seem to be turning the corner and could be useful pieces (Norris, KJ, O’Flaherty) but they’re not likely to bring much in return…maybe a lower-end prospect. I do think the Braves annual veteran tradeoff will happen and we’ve already seen one shipped off in one of the more odd (and questionable) moves of recent memory, but I don’t think that’s where the real prospects come back.
Let’s take a look at the Braves shopping list for the 2017 season and who could be shopped and shipped off.
Next: Pass Me That Catalog, please?