Atlanta Braves Rumors: The Real Cost of Brian McCann

Here’s My Proposed Real Deal

In short, the chance of a match here seems dim. The sides are most likely too far apart in their respective valuations of McCann.

• Braves get Brian McCann and $10 million.
• Yankees get pitchers John Gant and Chris Ellis.

This would have the net annual payroll impact of McCann reduced to $12 million, which represents a bit of a compromise from the point of view of Atlanta.

In any trade like this where the key acquisition hasn’t proven worthy of the contract, the pieces going back in the deal are likely wild cards that could prove to be Major League worthy, or could die out in the Minors.

Gant, in my opinion, likely has an MLB career whether it be as a back-end starter or middle reliever. Ellis is what Gant was at this time last year.

Both of these guys are part of the back-end surplus that I discussed in a piece 2 weeks ago and likely won’t be missed…that is, unless they turn out to be studs which is always a scare when making trades.

If you look at the piece linked above, the guys I mentioned aren’t set in stone but any of those back-end starter types could be dealt to fill this need.

But would the Braves be inclined to give up anything more than this? No… not likely at all.