Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: the Haves and the Have Nots

About Cleveland

I promised a Braves angle, and this should definitely be of interest to them.  The Cleveland Indians may be trying something fairly intriguing.

Yes – the Indians’ outward motivation for this almost shocking revelation could be ‘market constraints’ (i.e., a limited payroll budget), but I think this could be part of a bigger strategy for them.

The Indians are indeed going to be short a couple of players… an entire outfield, in fact… thanks to free agency.  So they will need to replace key players.  But they are still occupying the throne in a division that’s horribly weak.

Were the Indians to stay in “go for it” mode, then their ‘window’ might soon close… and honesty has to take hold anyway as they do a self-assessment:  what are their odds of defeating the Yankees or Red Sox or Astros in another playoff run?

Right now, that’s difficult to fathom… even as NL Central champions.  Las Vegas thinks so, too.

A Makeover?

I think that Cleveland is considering a novel approach:  rebuild in place.  More like a ‘makeover’ or ‘remodel’ instead of a tear-down.  Go cheaper, but keep/acquire enough talent to wait out this run that the Big Boys are on.

So let me take Corey Kluber as a prime example (Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer could also be on the ‘listening’ list).  Kluber is shortly going to be 33 years old (April 10), but he’s still pitching at Cy Young award levels (2.89 ERA in the AL; 0.99 WHIP, 5.8 bWAR in 2018).

Would the Braves be interested in him?  You bet they would.

What’s at Stake?

Kluber probably owns the current title of ‘Best Team-Friendly Contract’… or he’s at least in the Top 5.  He is signed through 2019 ($17 million), but also has 2 more team option years ($17.5m, $18m).

The Indians would want at-or-very-near major league level talent back to support them for the next 2-3 years of this transition.  This would probably be a ‘Chris Sale trade’ level event for them, though with players closer to the majors than what the White Sox ended up with.

The Braves have this kind of talent.  They are also not in the American League, so I’d have to believe that Cleveland would prefer not to have the obvious AL suitors (Boston/NY/etc.) take their pitcher and use him to beat them in the playoffs.

The gotcha from Atlanta’s point of view is that they’d have to walk a tight line here if they would also want to pursue J.T. Realmuto… the Marlins would want a significant trade haul as well, and while the Braves could do both, it would be tricky.

Still, it’s definitely something to watch.

Also Of Note

7 Qualifying Offers have been conferred on players with expiring contracts today.  The Arizona Diamondbacks chose to provide 2 of these:  1 to pitcher Patrick Corbin, 1 to OF A.J. Pollock.

The Braves would certainly have some interest in each of these players, but with QO attachments, there’s probably zero chance that they would ever pursue both.

More from Tomahawk Take

• Atlanta Braves 2023 Preseason Top 30 Prospects List: 1-5
• Braves News: Braves acquire Diaz, moves around the division, more
• Atlanta Braves 2012 Top Prospects Review: J.R. Graham
• Atlanta Braves Acquire Lewin Diaz from the Orioles
• Atlanta Braves 2023 Preseason Top 30 Prospects List: 6-10

Given my belief that Corbin has designs on the Yankees, I expect that Atlanta would investigate Pollock’s willingness to come East… assuming he doesn’t accept the QO.  That Kluber news above would also provide an alternative to Corbin.

I expect that’s a close call, but in the end I believe Pollock will decline this offer and join the free agent market as a cheaper alternative to Bryce Harper among the many teams needing outfield help.

Atlanta would have to shed their 2nd round pick to acquire any QO player… a second such signing would cost them their 3rd rounder as well.  Thus while even trying to sign one such player would require some serious contemplation, signing a second would almost certainly be out of the question.

So in perusing that list of 7… pick one – or maybe none at all:  Kimbrel?  Pollock?  Grandal?  Ryu?  Keuchel?  Harper?  Corbin?

As the Indians start down a road of their own making, it will be a fine line for them to walk… I can’t say how successful they might be, but it’s a welcomed effort to try and avoid what a lot of their AL brethren are going to have to wade through.