‘Tis the season? We figured there would be lots of Atlanta Braves rumors… but getting this many this early might be telling us something else.
With timing absolutely perfect for the San Francisco Giants, starter Madison Bumgarner is suddenly pitching like everybody thought he was capable of doing. As a result, many teams – including the Atlanta Braves – are showing their interest.
You will be forgiven if you’re thinking “Not this again!”… even Ken Rosenthal, when writing about this topic in TheAthletic, seemed to acknowledge some combination of resigned fatigue in even bringing up the subject.
Except that it will continue to be a subject until GM Farhan Zaidi finds the deal he wants.
Whatever corner of the baseball universe that deal originates from, I do expect he’s going to get what he wants.
Let’s get to it, though, for this story isn’t so much about the Braves’ interest, it’s a lot more about the Braves interest in… everybody.
Here’s the link to Rosenthal’s piece (obligatory note: subscription required).
Now here’s the salient quote:
"The Astros, Twins, Braves and Brewers are among the clubs interested in Bumgarner, according to major-league sources. None of those clubs will publicly admit as much — no, no, they’re just kicking the tires! — and the Twins are the only one in that group that can acquire Bumgarner without his permission."
His implication here is that all of these teams are actually, genuinely interested… that they’re not simply ‘kicking the tires’. Of all of this, that’s what specifically grabbed attention.
Ignore that bit about ‘permission’ – Bumgarner will go wherever he’s traded, but he would like some say in the process – and he’ll get it, too… perhaps also with an extra check in hand to help with relocation expenses.
However, Ken Rosenthal is telling us that teams are already actively engaging in the trade process. Our expectation was that this would drag on to the last week of the month – and it still might.
However, there’s another aspect to this that signals a definite change in the trade winds. This and other recent news are combining to forecast an outcome that could be different from previous expectations.