House That Hank Built
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2 reasons Atlanta Braves should trade for Kris Bryant

By Matthew Browning

MIAMI, FL - APRIL 15: Kris Bryant #17 of the Chicago Cubs is congratulated by teammates after scoring in the first inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on April 15, 2019 in Miami, Florida. All players are wearing the number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - APRIL 15: Kris Bryant #17 of the Chicago Cubs is congratulated by teammates after scoring in the first inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on April 15, 2019 in Miami, Florida. All players are wearing the number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images) /
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Kris Bryant #17 (L) and Javier Baez #9 of the Chicago Cubs. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Kris Bryant #17 (L) and Javier Baez #9 of the Chicago Cubs. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Win-Now Mode

Freddie Freeman spoke very candidly at Chop Fest (paywall) about the pain he and the Braves felt when watching the Nationals get to and win the World Series.

He mentioned that the “hunger is real” for the Braves to bring a championship to Atlanta for the first time in 25 years.

Trading for Kris Bryant would help this significantly.

Consider this: Bryant has been a three-win player four times in his career and a SIX-win player three times.

In comparison, Camargo was a three-win player in 2018 and nothing else. Riley, though full of potential, was a 0.1-win player last year.

But potential means nothing right now. It needs to be all about production.

Earlier in the week, I conducted a fun exercise about what the Braves would look like if they held on to all of their prospects and they all panned out, which is unrealistic.

The more realistic approach is to trade prospects now before they pan out or not.

So what would a trade package look like for Bryant? That’s a difficult question to answer because the Cubs’ dreams will have a hard time becoming reality.

It was reported by NBC Sports Chicago in late December that the Cubs would want three of the following: Drew Waters, Ian Anderson, Austin Riley, and Kyle Wright.

Those are some lofty dreams, huh?

According to Baseball Trade Values, Bryant has a value of 38.

Here are the values of the players the Cubs are reportedly interested in: Waters (50.6), Anderson (35.6), Riley (34.2), and Wright (21).

So one of those players would assuredly be the headliner, but asking for three is insane.

A fair and maybe even minor overpay trade proposal would look like this:

By moving Inciarte, the Braves free up $7.7 million. They could then non-tender Shane Greene and Adam Duvall and save an additional $10-ish million.

There’s $18 million.

With the addition of Bryant to the lineup, it would lengthen an already potent offensive attack.

CF-Acuna

2B-Albies

1B-Freeman

3B-Bryant

LF-Ozuna

C-D’Arnuad

SS-Swanson

RF-Markakis/Riley

L-O-A-D-E-D

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