House That Hank Built
Fansided

Atlanta Braves off-season preview

By James Kunkle

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 16: Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves and Bryce Harper #34 shake hands during the T-Mobile Home Run Derby at Nationals Park on July 16, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 16: Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves and Bryce Harper #34 shake hands during the T-Mobile Home Run Derby at Nationals Park on July 16, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 5
Next
ATLANTA, GA – APRIL 03: Bryce Harper #34 of the Washington Nationals walks off the field after the second inning against the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park on April 3, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA – APRIL 03: Bryce Harper #34 of the Washington Nationals walks off the field after the second inning against the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park on April 3, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

One Opening, Many Options

Center field and whichever spot Acuna would play are taken care of. I expect Adam Duvall (whether you like it or not) will probably be the 4th outfielder, so I fully expect the Braves to go out and find another starting outfielder. Recent reports are the Braves do not expect to issue a qualifying offer to Markakis which is not a surprise at least to me. A look at this list will show that whatever they choose, there is no shortage of options.

Potential Free Agents

  • Michael Brantley– Had a terrific year last season. Health is always the question though
  • Carlos Gonzalez– Stock has dropped in recent years, however, he still is a quality hitter
  • Adam Jones– Positive is he shouldn’t command top dollar nor a lengthy commitment
  • AJ Pollock- Much like Brantley, his health is the question, however when healthy Pollock is one of the better outfielders in the game
  • Nick Markakis– Despite not offering him the QO most likely, the Braves will surely look into continuing this relationship
  • Andrew McCutchen– Not the player he once was, but still a good player
  • Bryce Harper- Much like Machado, I expect the Braves to talk about him. I expect at least 25 teams will talk about him ( Sorry Rays, Marlins, Royals, Pirates, and Athletics) At the end of the day I just don’t think the Braves will be willing to commit that much to one player.

If the Braves don’t want to sign any of those players (or simply fail to do so), they could always look at the trade market as well.

Potential Trade Targets

  • Eddie Rosario– Twins star had a breakout year in 2018
  • Byron Buxton– Kind of the opposite of Rosario, the Twins might possibly sell low on Buxton?
  • Wil Myers– Simply on here because of the latest rumors. Just don’t honestly see the Braves saying yes to this
  • Kole Calhoun– I’ve always thought of Calhoun much similar to Markakis, just quality across the board. Could the Braves replace Markakis with him?
  • Avisail Garcia– Despite being in rumors for years, Garcia is a quality bat but much like Myers, I don’t think the Braves see him as a solution.

Prospects in the system

In my eyes, none of the 3 closest to the Major league level outfield prospects would be ready at any point in the 2019 season. Those prospects would include

Home/Braves News