Atlanta Braves rumors: looking at a trade for Joc Pederson

Here’s that Rumor bit

Regardless of the reason, here’s the actual story – as told by Ken Rosenthal in TheAthletic (subscription required):

* [A.J.] Pollock, as a right-handed hitter, would be a better fit for the Dodgers’ predominantly left-handed lineup — though Harper, a left-handed hitter, actually has better career numbers than Pollock against lefties. Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp, traded to the Reds last month, both bat right-handed. Pollock hits lefties better than Puig and is a better defender than Kemp. A trade of the left-handed-hitting Joc Pederson — which is under discussion, sources say — would balance the lineup further.

Okay, that’s nice, but what does that have to do with the Atlanta Braves?

Fair question… let’s read more from the same source, emphasis added:

* Two things to like about Joc Pederson, who is drawing interest from the White Sox and possibly the Braves and others: His strikeout rate has dropped for four consecutive seasons, from 29.1 percent to 27.3 to 21.1 to 19.2. He also crushes right-handed pitching: .893 OPS with 24 homers in 386 plate appearances last season, .842 OPS for his career.

That might be useful for the Braves.

The only head-scratcher I have with this is the notion that the Dodgers’ think that Pollock might be enough of an upgrade to warrant the idea of trading Pederson and increasing their own costs.

Of note, though: Pederson is terrible vs. left-handed pitching, meriting an entirely anemic .512 OPS last season and a 38 wRC+ score… a number that is scaled to make 100 the ‘average’ for major league players.  The Dodgers face quite a bit of that in their division.

As it turns out, the Braves might have that covered in the person of Johan Camargo.  If he can handle left field – probably – then he could be used against left-handers (which actually aren’t that prevalent in the NL East anyway – the newly arrived Patrick Corbin being the most notable exception).

Camargo’s 2018 splits had him at over .800 OPS and with a 116 wRC+ score vs. southpaws.  That would play nicely with Pederson while also adding a more-defined role for Camargo.

At this point, there’s the obligatory mention that Alex Anthopoulos was working for LA’s Andrew Freidman and that the pair have already hooked up in a couple of transactions since the former executive’s relocation to Atlanta.  Okay, that box is now checked.

But in all seriousness, such a deal does fit the parameters of what Anthopoulos was saying this past weekend, including the part about waiting for a ‘situation that could be resolved soon’.

• The Dodgers need to sign another OF… whether Pollock or Harper.
• Any trade idea between the clubs needs to be finalized.
• At least there’s no 40-man roster move necessary; they have 39 listed as of this morning.

What to Give Up for Him?

Honestly, Anthopoulos’ candor on the subject makes me think that a trade deal – for whoever he was talking about – could be essentially done, pending the resolution of this ‘situation’.

This scenario involving Pederson is as good an idea of what he was referring to as anything else.

If Pederson is the target and is ultimately traded to the Braves, it would likely involve a move of prospects, as LA doesn’t have any obvious holes at the major league level.  The closest thing to a major league player that I believe the Braves could/would move would be Adam Duvall…but the Braves could use the depth at least as much as LA.

More from Tomahawk Take

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• Alex Anthopoulos discusses the Atlanta Braves payroll, rotation, Grissom, Swanson, Acuña, and more
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• Atlanta Braves: Current Left Field Mix

Even their Dodgers catching situation has been resolved with the addition of Russell Martin last week, so if you’re still thinking about JT Realmuto and wanting to send Tyler Flowers away… probably not.

Prospects would certainly appeal to LA, as they continue to run through them and could always use more for additional deals – now or down the road – so they might actually not care who the Braves would give up.  Pederson would not be cheap, but an acquisition shouldn’t break the bank, either.

Hey, maybe Atlanta could also pluck a useful bullpen arm from them in the process (that depth chart literally has fourteen relievers listed right now).

Hey… a $5 million OF would still leave some payroll room.  Kimbrel, anyone?

So now we wait… again.