5 players the Atlanta Braves should consider trading for
With the blooming farm system of the Braves and the impending long term success of the organization, some trades need to be made to further mold the team into a consistently contending team.
There have been trade rumors all throughout the season suggesting the Atlanta Braves either sell the farm system, or stay put and build the team internally.
Internal builds have a way of being effective, but not everyone in the minor leagues is going to turn into the next Chipper Jones, John Smoltz, Andruw Jones, or any other glorious player that participated in the Braves’ longest continuous postseason run in MLB history.
Sometimes you have to give up something valuable to get something valuable, and that’s what the Braves are going to have to do to a certain extent this off season.
The biggest position player weak-spot for the Braves is going to be right field. The team has already parted ways with Nick Markakis, unwilling to make a $17.9 million qualifying offer to him. The Braves are making the right decision here with no disrespect to Markakis whatsoever.
His All Star season helped the Braves get to the postseason, but the Braves have a chance to upgrade right field with pending free agency and trade opportunities.
Another weak-spot is going to be pitching. The Braves have made improvements with the acquisitions of players who will remain on the team for 2019 such as Kevin Gausman and Darren O’Day, but Brad Brach and Aníbal Sánchez are going to be free agents who will be hard to just let go.
So with that in mind, here are my Top 5 trade targets for the Atlanta Braves this off season:
Madison Bumgarner
If the Braves cannot land deGrom or Thor, the possibility of seeing the Giants sell off Madison Bumgarner is an idea that has surfaced.
The Giants made big moves before the 2018 season by acquiring seasoned veterans Andrew McCutchen from the Pirates and Evan Longoria from the Rays. As it turned out, the Giants have had a poor 2018 season. They were projected to be playoff contenders before the 2018 season began, and soon became a team that unexpectedly fell off the rails. The Giants finished the 2019 season just 1 loss away from a 90 loss season at 73-89.
There is a chance the Giants would like to get some value out of Bumgarner, and I’m not talking about the kind of value off of a pitchers mound. They may be inclined to trade off Bumgarner in his final year before he elects free agency* to net some prospects, and the Braves would be players in this type of situation along with many other teams.
* – 2019 represents a $12 million option year; but that’s a no-brainer pickup.
Adding Bumgarner helps establish the Braves young and talented rotation which is in need of a dominant and consistent front line starter. Sure, Mike Foltynewicz has filled in this role nicely, but a big time pitcher like Bumgarner helps establish the rotation even more. Bumgarner also adds a pitcher with a lot of postseason experience which could really help the Braves.
Jacob deGrom
The Mets have a legitimate chance of being a threat to contend in 2019 IF they can manage to stay healthy, but health issues have been a recurring issue for the Mets.
There is a chance the Mets new front office would be interested in selling off one of their two top starting pitchers to slightly rebuild in some areas. The Mets have hired Brodie Van Wagenen as their future GM, and right now we do not have much of a clear idea of what Mr. Wagenen has in mind for the Mets moving forward.
There was a lot of speculation that somebody was going to land deGrom before the 2018 trade deadline, but the Mets front office belatedly made it clear they did not have any intentions of trading deGrom or Syndergaard.
That stance may change once the off-season begins, and if it does, the Braves won’t be the only team looking to fill a top-line starter role via deGrom or Syndergaard.
However, a deGrom trade could be even more unlikely since Brodie Van Wagenen was Jacob deGrom’s agent before the took the GM position with the Mets. Van Wagenen knows a lot about deGrom and his abilities, so there is a good chance he will want to keep deGrom around.
The Atlanta Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos traded for a Cy Young winner from the Mets in the form of R.A. Dickey when he was the GM for the Blue Jays. So, who’s to say that he won’t do the same thing by pulling the trigger on someone who might win the Cy Young or MVP like deGrom? Or maybe one of the pitchers he gave away in that R.A. Dickey trade: Noah Syndergaard?
J.T. Realmuto
The Braves have already extended Tyler Flowers who is one of the better pitch framing catchers in baseball, and he needs somebody to platoon with… or backup.
The likelihood of the Braves resigning Flowers’ duo partner, Kurt Suzuki, seems unlikely to happen as the Braves will be active in upgrading the catcher position. The aging veteran duo can’t hold down the fort forever.
The Braves have the prospect capital to get a deal for Realmuto done, and a move like this would help the Braves tremendously. Realmuto is offensively one of the best catchers in the game, he can hose down runners on the base paths, and is actually a threat on the base paths with his speed which makes him a very unique catcher.
The real trick will be two-fold: (a) getting Miami’s attention with enough – but not too many – Braves’ prospects to deal away, and (b) out-bidding the other serious suitors, which are likely to include Houston, Washington, the Dodgers, and likely up to 3 or 4 more clubs.
Having Flowers with the team for 2019 could benefit Realmuto because Realmuto is one of the league’s worst pitch framing catchers (hey he does have a weakness!) while Flowers is one of the best.
Nicholas Castellanos
Assuming the Atlanta Braves will not try to sign a free agent like Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen, A.J. Pollock, or any of the other talents available in free agency, Castellanos could be one of the many viable RF trade target for the Braves.
Not only can Castellanos play RF, but he can play 3B as well. In his 6 year major league career, he played 4 seasons at 3B, and 2 seasons in the outfield.
The downside of Castellanos, however, is his defense. It has room for improvement and the Braves have a huge emphasis on playing good defense as they were near the top in team defensive runs saved for 2018.
The upside to Castellanos is his offense. Castellanos had a 4.7. oWAR (offensive WAR) and a -2.4 dWAR (defensive WAR) by baseball-reference’s reckoning – good for a 2.9 WAR overall.
This year, Castellanos hit for 23 HR, 89 RBI, 46 2B, 185 H, and slashed .298/.354/.500/.854. The offensive production is there, and the Braves could use the offensive stability that Castellanos can provide.
Eugenio Suárez
The Braves made a couple of moves this past season with the Reds, and I would be surprised if Suárez’s name didn’t get tossed around a bit during 2018 trade talks.
Suárez is developing into one of the top third basemen in the National League, and has been doing so in a very quiet and under-the-radar manner.
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Does Johan Camargo need to be replaced? No. Camargo has proven he is a valuable enough player to fill a starting position, and the Braves need to utilize that. Camargo provides consistent offensive output and has made many gold glove caliber plays at 3rd base all season long.
Acquiring Suárez is an alternative route the Braves could take if they are willing to move Camargo to the outfield, or might even be interested in trading him (which I really doubt will happen).
I personally think Johan Camargo has the ability to develop into something like a Jose Ramirez caliber player. That is something the Braves need to keep around, whether it is at 3rd base or another position.
Suárez reached the 30 HR and 100 RBI mark before the end of the 2018 season, and has compiled a WAR over 4. He also has positive defensive runs saved for the season and for his career.
2018 was the first time Suarez was an all star; one of many all star selections to come. And there’s a chance some of those All Star selections could be in a Braves uniform.
Next. Make the Pitch Already!. dark
Who are trade targets you would like the Braves to explore? Comment below!