Today’s edition of our Atlanta Braves mailbag sees fans wondering if the Braves are done for the winter, and if not, who they might look at to finish their shopping.
Since last Monday, we’ve seen Dallas Keuchel, Travis Shaw, Julio Teheran, Maikel Franco, Martin Perez, Jonathan Schoop, Gio Gonzalez, C.J. Cron, Cesar Hernandez, and Hyun-Jin Ryu find a new home for at least next season… and the Atlanta Braves are sitting at the curb – waiting.
Josh Donaldson still can’t decide what he wants to do, which seems a little odd since he’s the last free-agent third baseman of note, and there are, at least theoretically, four teams in the mix for his services.
On Thursday, Ken Rosenthal wrote in The Athletic ($), that Donaldson had multiple four-year offers (Twins and Nationals), opined that the Dodgers are still sniffing around JD, but like the Braves aren’t considering four years. Various sources say Donaldson gave the Braves right of last refusal.
After Shaw’s signing, the available field of veterans includes Kyle Seager and Eduardo Escobar, with Brian Anderson possible at the right price. Nolan Arenado entered the pool when Colorado realized they’re better off trading him now than watching him leave in two years and end up with a draft pick.
Someone asked in a comment (sorry I can’t remember who and I lost the comment) whether the Diamondbacks signing of Madison Bumgarner meant the Snakes wouldn’t trade Escobar, and meanwhile Adam wants to know ‘if not Donaldson, who?’
Since these are loosely related, I’ll start there.