Atlanta Braves winter meetings preview

Trade targets to acquire

Kris Bryant– Hopefully Bryant’s grievance with MLB will come to a close quickly, because I think that is what is holding up any prospect of a trade. It would obviously be in the Cubs best interest to wait and see how many years Bryant would have before free agency before trying to move him as the return would be significantly better if it stays at 2 years.

Bryant is obviously a super talent and would be the exact power bat and third baseman the Braves are in the market for. It would sting to lose the prospects it would take in this deal, but getting a talent like Bryant would make the Braves maybe the NL favorites?

Starling Marte– Many of the writers here have all stated in some way that they would love to get Marte from the Pirates. The timing if it’s ever going to get done seems to be right now as the Braves have the need and reports are trickling out that the Pirates would move Marte in the right deal.

Marte would immediately make the Braves better and his arrival would perhaps make the Braves outfield one of the best in the entire game, if not the best.

Corey Kluber– This one is tricky. For years prior to his injury last season, Corey Kluber was one of the best pitchers in the entire game. The Indians have a nice little stash of pitchers in their organization and could use some young bats, but they would be selling low on Kluber if they were to deal him now.

Kluber is playing the 2020 season on a club option, so he would probably not be long for Atlanta, but he could play an important part in hopefully leading the Braves to a World Series win in 2020.

Mitch Haniger– Much like Kluber previously, Haniger was sought after big time last winter, but in the 2019 season, his production dropped dramatically and he suffered an awful sounding injury. Odds are that he will bounce back in 2020 to a version in between both of his two previous seasons. If acquired, he would most likely play in left field for the Braves.

Jon Gray– A contradiction of some sorts, but yes the Rockies need to be on the lookout for pitching. So why would they trade arguably their best pitcher? Because the Braves could offer 2 or 3 young potential starters at the major league level for them.

Gray might not be as well known around the country as some other pitchers, but he took a step forward in 2019 and we finally saw some of the potential he was always labeled with.