The Atlanta Braves’ Rumor That Refuses to Die

Coppy Has Nearly Ruled Out a Teheran Trade, but left 0.1% open… probably to troll the Red Sox.

So you’re saying there’s a chance.  Okay.

Let’s just read together as a class, and then discuss:

NICK CAFARDO / BOSTONGLOBE.COM

"2. Julio Teheran, RHP, Braves — The Red Sox will be in this hunt when the time is right, having scouted Teheran extensively. Former Braves GM Frank Wren, who is now Dave Dombrowski’s right-hand man in Boston, is a big fan of Teheran. Wren was behind the Craig Kimbrel deal and could also fight for this one. Wren also traded for current Braves closer Arodys Vizcaino, Mike Dunn, and Melky Cabrera from the Yankees for Javier Vazquez and Boone Logan."

Also:

(the rest of this truncated tweet said:  “RHH utility player that can play the corners.”)

But… 99.9%!

Yes, that’s what Coppy said during a recent twitter session:  99.9% certain that Teheran would not be moved at the trade deadline.

Not only that, but it is evident that the pitching-laden Braves are ironically having to struggle just to field a starting rotation right now, what with injuries, growing pains and the Bud Norris trade.  Remove Teheran from the mix (even if a castaway starter is returned) and Atlanta might have trouble even finishing the year – there wouldn’t be enough 40-man roster space to use for all the spot starters that could be required.

Oh, I’m sure they’d make do if necessary, but trading one starter is one thing – trading another (never mind being the caliber of Teheran) would be suicidal.  Coppy would truly have to be blown away.

So how persuasive could the Red Sox possibly be?

The Red Sox have 99 Problems…

… and starting pitching is indeed #1 on that list.

It’s been noted that Wren is still scouting Teheran’s starts. Yes, he still lives in Atlanta, but showing up at Turner Field is not a regular habit, so his presence is noteworthy.

The Red Sox are in a precarious position for a number of reasons:

• They know by now that the Orioles are not going away.
• They know that pitching is their number one concern… by far. They really need two starters and a reliever.
• They know their fans want more out of this team, and last year’s finish still lingers in their minds.  Recent World Series wins have made them ravenous for more.
• They would also like to send David Ortiz out on a high note.

They are also pretty well screwed organizationally – thanks to their own shenanigans.

"Major League Baseball on Friday handed down unprecedented penalties to the Red Sox, removing prospects from their organization and banning the team from signing any international players during the upcoming 2016-17 international signing period, which opens Saturday."

That’s a huge penalty – for not only did the Red Sox lose players already under contract (though only one was of significant value – and he’s why they tried to flout the rules while already on probation for over-spending), but they also got a total ban on signing anyone at all for the next year.

That will leave a big hole in their Latin America development system, and it’s a hole that could take multiple years to fix…. so they should not be sending out their best prospects in trades.

But that’s generally what their leaders do…

Next: Two Polar Opposite Philosophies