Atlanta Braves GM tells A-list members: A deal is close

Houston you may have my outfielder

The Astros quite rightly refused to trade Tucker for J.T. Realmuto, but they are looking for a controllable starting pitcher. The Atlanta Braves could provide that in the form of Sean Newcomb; he’s both affordable and offers long-term control, something the Astros need if they are to keep some of their younger players around.

If it’s Newcomb for Tucker, the Astros would want another good player like Cristian Pache or Drew Waters as well. The Braves would look to dive into the Astros for a lower level piece to balance the books like Jonathan Arauz or Peter Solomon.

I’d love to have both Tuckers in the Braves system, but I doubt this is the player.

Eddie Rosario

I traded for Rosario as part of the simulated winter meetings here on FanSided, and I love this player. Rosario plays either corner but probably projects better defensively in left.

He’s a left-handed hitter who doesn’t need a platoon partner though his power does drop against lefties:

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

In the simulation, I sent Julio Teheran and Shane Carle to Minnesota for Rosario and Andrew Cabezas. Since that time the Twins decided they want to challenge the Indians next season and would likely want a better arm than Teheran.

They too would want Newcomb making the deal more complicated as pieces get discussed. If we could pluck Taylor Rogers from their pen and add a lower level prospect a deal like that could work.

The Twins do have other outfielders, but none ready for major league play they can reasonably expect to replace Rosario. This deal seems closer than Tucker but is still not the one most likely to occur.