We look at a mock trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks that could help the Atlanta Braves fill several holes at once and meet Braves rumors about adding an outfielder.
This is the time of year when we love to fantasize in Braves rumors about potential trades that can make our team better for the upcoming season. If the Atlanta Braves want to get creative, I think the Arizona Diamondbacks could be a perfect fit.
Now when putting these trades together, you have to keep in mind that I am obviously biased towards the Braves. And while I will try to put together a trade that makes sense for both parties, my angle here is to give the Braves what they need.
It’s pretty clear that the Braves still need an everyday corner outfielder, and they would love to also get a frontline starting pitcher.
The Arizona Diamondbacks just happen to have both of those, and they could potentially be for sale.
They’ve made it pretty clear they are looking to cut payroll in 2019 as they’ve already trade Paul Goldschmidt and have hinted several times about moving Zack Greinke’s contract.
Their current payroll for 2019 according to Spotrac is just over $111 million. Zack Greinke is set to make $34.5 million this season and $35 million the following two seasons.
Obviously, that is stupid money that the Braves wouldn’t want to take on, so they would need the Diamondbacks to chip in quite a bit.
While the right-handed pitcher doesn’t posses the stuff that made him a Cy Young winner back in 2009, he still knows how to get hitters out.
The past two seasons he has put up ERAs of 3.20 and 3.21 and WHIPs of 1.07 and 1.08, while primarily pitching in a hitter-friendly home park.
He’ll play this season at 35, so he’s definitely on the back-end of his career, but his numbers show that he is still a top of the rotation pitcher.
He might not be the ace everyone was hoping for, especially since he would be getting paid ace money, but he’s won at least 15 games in eight of the last 10 seasons.
And while I know wins don’t mean as much to people anymore, but the fact is, Greinke knows how to win games when he’s on the mound.
As for the corner outfielder, I think most are aware of the desire to acquire David Peralta. To me, he is the best option for the Braves in right field, but the Diamondbacks don’t seem anxious to move him even though he is only under club control for 2019 and 2020.
So let’s look at what a potential deal between these two clubs might look like.
Obviously, the package that the Diamondbacks receive will depend on how much money the Diamondbacks send back in the trade.
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Let’s say they chip in $5 million for 2019, and $8 million for the following two seasons for a total of $21 million.
That means the Braves would still be responsible for $83.5 million over the next three seasons. I still think that’s way too much and the Braves would never go for that, but let’s continue anyway.
The Braves throw Julio Teheran into the deal to offset some of Greinke’s contract in 2019. It would also save them $1 million next year if Julio’s contract is bought out. So overall the Braves would be saving around $12 million.
However, they would also be taking on the $7 million that Peralta is expected to make in 2019, as well as what he’ll earn in arbitration for the 2020 season.
That means the Braves would be taking on about $25 million for the 2019 season, which puts them right around their expected budget.
Kyle Wright is the big ticket going to the Diamondbacks, but I think he is expendable with three prospects ahead of him in the pitching ranks.
Isranel (Izzy) Wilson is a B-level prospect that could eventually be a replacement for Peralta in the outfield.
Honestly, this prospect package still might be too much considering how much money the Braves are taking on.
While it seems like a perfect fit in Braves rumors for the Braves to get Greinke and Peralta, the size of Greinke’s contract makes any deal for him almost impossible. Instead, the best case scenario here might be for the Braves to just target Peralta, which would still cost them a prospect package like the one in this example.