Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: of rants and rumors; a ready market
The Padres? Really?
Corey Kluber is still being sought by some teams, it seems… lending more and more credence to the thought that he might actually be dealt elsewhere by the Indians. At this point, you’d think that the Cleveland brass would try and stifle the chatter if they were intending to keep him.
At the same time, the Indians don’t need to trade him, though that team is still in dire need of outfield help.
Right now, here’s the most available free agent OF’s still out there (a conundrum for Cleveland since they just finished saving some money; they’d certainly prefer not to go spend that savings):
- Jose Bautista
- Melky Cabrera
- Derek Dietrich
- Avisail Garcia
- Craig Gentry
- Carlos Gomez
- Marwin Gonzalez
- Carlos Gonzalez
- Curtis Granderson
- Robbie Grossman
- Brandon Guyer
- Bryce Harper
- Matt Holliday
- Austin Jackson
- Jon Jay
- Adam Jones
- Matt Joyce
- Nick Markakis
- Cameron Maybin
- Rafael Ortega
- Gerardo Parra
- Hunter Pence
- A.J. Pollock
- Sean Rodriguez
- J.B. Shuck
- Denard Span
- Danny Valencia
- Neil Walker
- Eric Young
- Chris Young
Of course, this list is especially relevant to Braves’ fans as well. Cleveland could choose to buy a couple of these guys – some of them even fairly cheaply – but they’d rather try and grab a couple in trade, and it seems that Kluber is the bait.
The Padres, are said to be interested in sending at least one of their… well, just let Jon Morosi tell us about the problem between them and the Dodgers:
Key question in Corey Kluber talks: Do #Indians prefer Manuel Margot, 24, from #Padres or Alex Verdugo, 22, from #Dodgers? If Cleveland trades its ace, the front office would like to address center field in the process. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 26, 2018
Frankly, I don’t get the Padres’ interest… dismantling a key part of their lineup to get Kluber? That’s filling a hole by digging another one, and it makes no sense.
Maybe I’m not the only one who doesn’t get it, though (via MLBTR.com):
"7:03pm: The San Diego organization has held some talks regarding Kluber as well as Blue Jays righty Marcus Stroman, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). But while “the Padres could still add a starting pitcher for 2019,” he says, “it won’t be one of those two.”"
Yeah, that makes better sense. We keep hearing about these lesser teams trying to become ‘more interesting’ my engaging heavily in deals… like Cincy’s last week. But to what end? They aren’t ready, and neither are the Padres.
Morosi mentions that Dodgers, Phillies, Brewers, Padres, and Reds (another ‘doesn’t make sense’ add-on) are all “in” on Kluber to some degree or another… and an NL club deal would probably Cleveland a little happier.
Nope, there is a decided absence of the Braves from that list (as usual), but I have to believe that Anthopoulos is at least keeping tabs on the discussion… despite having no outfielder (except Inciarte?) to consider dealing.
One given in #Braves trade talks: Two players are truly untouchable - Freddie Freeman and Ronald Acuña Jr.
— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) December 26, 2018
Additionally, Acuña's ability to play any of the three outfield spots makes just about anything possible in the OF if Atlanta wants to get creative in its trade pursuits.
Grant was killing it on twitter today… also noting this:
Whatever route(s) they decide to go this winter, #Braves will continue that methodical market watch that is less wait-and-see and more about finding the right deals. Trade still feels like the most likely route to add a top of the rotation starter.
— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) December 26, 2018
There’s still some issues that the Braves are facing in the market… which also explains in part why this off-season is still dragging an anchor.