Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: coming up on deck

A Few Inside Fastballs

• So the Braves had more than just a token presence for Sonny Gray‘s last start.  That’s certainly interesting.  The bigger question will be “what does Oakland want for him?”  One thought:  of all GMs, the one that might like the idea of a “quantity over quality” package would be Billy Beane.
• The Marlins have traded their shortstop to the Rays.  J.T Riddle takes over at that position, and his defense has been… a bit above average so far.  His bat… not so much (.230 in 173 PA’s, .605 OPS).

If the Marlins are intent on rebooting their farm system by selling off major league pieces, then the Braves should consider what they have to sell.  Unfortunately, the pieces they’d likely rather move are the expensive ones:  Giancarlo Stanton, Wei-Yin Chen, and Martin Prado.

Edinson Volquez would be next on that payroll leadership list, but they will be able to move him elsewhere.

The Braves would want CF Christian Yelich and/or C J.T. Realmuto (do you have to be named ‘J.T.’ to get on their team now?).  Yelich is making $3.5m, but Realmuto is sitting at pre-arbitration numbers… until next season.  Either might be difficult to get, but then… these are the Marlins.

For those wanting Martin Prado back, recognize that he’s getting $11.5m now, $13.5m in 2018, and $15m in 2019.  And he’ll be 34 years old in October.  And his fWAR is -0.2.

But if I were an enterprising GM like Coppy… how about Prado and Realmuto together, then flip Martin to the Yankees or Boston for half his price?  We’ve seen more complex deals that that from the Braves in the past couple of years.

• So the Nationals have picked up K-Rod.  Minor league deal… at least it’s low risk for them – which is good, considering that he’s been terrible this season.

Still wondering if the Braves would consider helping them out with relief in the form of either Jim Johnson or Arodys Vizcaino.  That’s the team with the most obvious bullpen need.

• The Mets are just about to declare themselves to be in full sell-off mode.  So is there a pitcher you might want from their triage center?

Seeing a lot of thoughts that Matt Harvey might be worth a look.  That’s probably got its own pitfalls – never mind his on-field performance.  Between his clubhouse issues, agent choice (Scott Boras), and availability only through 2018, the thought here is ‘no thank you’.

Next: Throwing 50 Shades of Gray

Does anybody care about the Phillies?  Didn’t think so.