WHY? Ultimately, there are things you can’t control in this process and yesterday the Braves found that out.
Yesterday, Ben gave us his take on the news that the Phillies finally got the Marlins off of top-dead-center and acquired J.T. Realmuto. It’s been several hours now, and I’m still scratching my head over why the Atlanta Braves didn’t get this done.
Now that isn’t to say that Atlanta didn’t try, but this wasn’t enough for Miami’s tastes:
Multiple sources inform me (which will soon be denied) that the Braves final offer to the Marlins for Realmuto did include 3B Austin Riley but "not much else." Miami preferred the Phillies package of Sanchez with Alfaro, and there you have it.
— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) February 7, 2019
If this is so, I can understand that they might have wanted more. I also understand that there will be a penalty in having Realmuto on a contending team within the same division… thus spending a bit more to try and trump the Phils’ offer would seem to have been a prudent idea.
No doubt, the Braves considered this, and chose to fold their hand this time.
While I’m not sure yet just how much better the Phillies are going to be in 2019 (and indeed, they are likely not done adding pieces yet), just this marginal upgrade will make the Braves’ task just that much more difficult… as it will be with the Mets and Nationals already.
But then, we didn’t really expect these clubs to sit around and mope about their plight all Winter, right? Of course they were going to get busy.
But my bigger question will be this: of all the trade partners and all the possible outcomes, this matchup of Phillies and Marlins actually seems odd.
I will explain.
Control and Potential vs. Risk
Let me start with the Phillies. Here’s what they gave up:
- Major league catcher Jorge Alfaro
- Top prospect pitcher Sixto Sanchez
- a non-prospect A-ball pitcher Will Stewart
- The right to spend an extra $250K internationally (maybe 1-3 teen prospects)
Alfaro is only 25-1/2 years old and comes with five more year of team control. It’s a bit iffy on what he might become, but defensively he’s very good and offensively he might be slightly above average.
In this era, it surprises me to see them walk away from that kind of control – particularly in the catching position.
The Phils are obviously counting on Realmuto to be a beast at Citizens Back Park – and that might happen. But while he and his agent seem to be open to a contract extension, the fact is that the Phils will only have 2 years to convince him that Philadelphia will be a winning locale.
They still have a bit of work to do there, but it’s my concern that they will now use this trade as a momentum motivator to do exactly that. The names Harper, Keuchel, and Kimbrel come immediately to mind.
Overall: the upgrade potential is there… give this trade a B+ grade for Philadelphia.