Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: the Market Forces are strong with these

The Other Big Market Lynchpin

Kimbrel is the price-setter for the relief market.  Patrick Corbin is the bellwether for the starting pitching market… and rumblings (via MLB Network Radio reports on Friday) suggest that he will sign this week.

His suitors are the Yankees, Phillies, and Nationals… and that’s almost certainly the entire list after a whirlwind tour of those cities last week – presumably almost immediately after returning from a honeymoon.

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It seems that the new Corbin family wants to get a home set up right away.

But once he does sign with a new team, that will set the bar for the rest of the free agent starters out there, which will – in turn – also start slotting available arms for the trade market.

So if the Braves are truly ‘in’ on Dallas Keuchel, for instance, they might know within the next week what the parameters could be for him.

Looking further down the trail of falling dominoes, Anthopoulos could then use this to pencil in a budget for relievers and an outfielder… and so forth.

You’ll note that I’m not even considering Manny Machado and Bryce Harper in this equation – these guys represent their own unique markets, and thus even among other position players, their deals won’t have any bearing on anyone else.  It’s kind of like the way a wilderness wildfire can get raging enough to effectively create its own weather.

Still:  things are moving, and the Winter Meetings are coming at a time in which things are coming together.  It should be a very busy time next week.