Atlanta Braves filling gaps on the final day of 2019 mock Winter meetings

The final day of the Atlanta Braves’ participation in FanSided’s Winter Meetings simulation passed quietly for most teams, but your Braves made several key simulated acquisitions.

Your Atlanta Braves fearless imitation GM found himself almost alone on the last day of the mock Winter Meetings. Most of my early messages went unanswered. I spent much of the day attempting to wake up the Cubs sim-GMs to make a deal, but they ignored me and in my view, made a mistake in doing so.

[ ed. note: Usual disclaimer – which must be emphasized since Anthopoulos is trying to keep pace with Fred’s moves in real life – is that every Braves transaction discussed here is the result of a mock exercise conducted among FanSided’s 30 MLB team sites.   He’s right, though – it did seem like some of the faux-GMs took early flights home.  ]

I contacted Oakland in my efforts to replenish the farm system after trading away seven pitchers and eventually agreed to send Rule 5 eligible A+ ball pitcher Odalvi Javier to the Athletics for RHP Jharel Cotton.

The Dodgers selected Cotton in the 28th round of the 2011 draft and traded him to the Athletics as part of the package for Josh Reddick and Rich Hill in August 2017.  At the beginning of the 2017 season, Baseball America ranked him the #84 prospect in MLB. Their post-2016 scouting report ($$) describes his tools thusly:

"Cotton led the Pacific Coast League with 155 strikeouts, a 1.08 WHIP and .214 opponent average . . .best weapon is his double-plus 77 mph changeup, which has screwball action . . . the 92-93 mph pitch can touch 96. He also throws two-seamers and cutters that give hitters different looks, and they all come out of the same release point. His delivery is not something pitching coaches would teach, but it works for him, and his athleticism belies his 5-foot-11 frame. . . (also mixes in a slider and curveball."

The 2017 season saw Cotton bounce back and forth between AAA and Oakland, where the AL West wasn’t kind to him. In spring training ahead of the 2018 season, Cotton suffered a sprained UCL and eventually had TJ surgery. He returned – perhaps too quickly – in May of 2019 but struggled with control.

I channeled my inner Alex Anthopoulos when I simulated the acquisition of Cotton. He’s the type of under the radar, bounce back candidate the Atlanta Braves’ GM signed acquired frequently in the past. Cotton gets a 40-man roster spot and starts his simulated Braves career in Gwinnett.

Shortly after I began negotiating with Oakland in the simulation, the Chicago Cubs actually acquired Cotton – in real life – for cash considerations.