Atlanta Braves center field shopping: Ramon Laureano

The Atlanta Braves acquired three outfielders after the All-Star break but couldn’t acquire a true center fielder, which makes the hunt likely continue.

As Alan wrote a week ago, Atlanta Braves President of Baseball Operations/ General Manager Alex Anthopoulos wanted to add a true center fielder at the trade deadline, but no one wanted to make a deal; where’s Wayne Brady when you need him?

The club made it through the season, mixing and matching Guillermo Heredia, Joc Pederson, and finally Adam Duvall.

Heredia added personality but is at best a fourth outfielder. Duvall made one great catch in center, but he’s best in a corner outfield slot, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be back. Joc’s days as a starter in center are in the past, and he’s also a free agent.

Internally, Cristian Pache’s glove plays at any level, but his bat has yet to reach Major League quality. Drew Waters continued to strike out over 30% of the time and posted a 56.9% ground ball rate, culminating in a .240/.329/.381/.710 line, a .321 wOBA, and 94 wRC+ for Gwinnett.

While it’s not time to give up on either player, Anthopoulos knows the team still needs that true centerfielder. The cost and age of a free agent center look higher than the Braves would pay.

Starlin Marte is 33, turned down an age offer from the Marlins during the season; after Marte, the free-agent market is pretty thin, which brings us to trades.

The Pirates aren’t going to trade Reynolds, and the Orioles aren’t going to trade Mullins, making the list of quality candidates short. The list improved when Athletics GM David Forst said the store was open.

The Athletics in sell mode made me smile because I’ve liked Ramon Laureano for a long time.

I’m not a fan of or apologist for PED cheats. However, I see no reason that the  Atlanta Braves should allow the suspension to get in the way of acquiring Laureano.

Nandrolone makes no sense.

Nandrolone isn’t a new, designer PED created to avoid detection. It’s been around since the 1960s and is easily detected. According to the non-profit Sports Integrity Initiative, Laureano may have never heard of the substance until the positive test.

The post cited here discusses the cases of world-class athletes who received bans after testing positive for the substance and discusses scientific data that shows positive tests can happen after eating pork.

In a Study performed in 2000, three male volunteers reported nandrolone concentrations in urine between 3.1µg/L and 7.5µg/L ten hours after being fed 310g of pig offal. A standard burrito recipe contains 500g of meat.

MLB contracts with the World Anti-Doping Agency to conduct their tests. WADA acknowledges that these false-positive happen, but while tests are available that determine whether the drug was made in a lab or eaten, WADA doesn’t routinely run that test, nor are they open to discussion about it.

Laureano’s smarter than that.

The other, easier to understand part of this is when they tested Laureano. Laureano was coming off of injury, and players know they’ll get a no-notice test soon after returning from injury.

It makes zero sense to inject a drug this easily discoverable when you know you’re going to get tested; nandrolone doesn’t speed healing; it’s used to create muscle mass. Whatever the cause, he’ll remain suspended for the first 27 games of the season.

Speaking of injuries, on October 1st, the Athletics announced that Laureano had undergone successful core surgery. Core surgery is the latest name for what was once called a sports hernia. The surgery won’t prevent him from reporting to spring training on time.

The Atlanta Braves will have to give to get

Laureano projects to earn just $2.8M this year and has three arbitration years of control remaining.  He’s a gold glove caliber center fielder with an arm that’s as good as Acuna’s, a 24 homer bat, and projects will steal over 20 bases a season.

In 2019, Fangraphs said he was worth 3.9 fWAR, 127 wRC+, and a .356 wOBA. Players with those credentials do not come cheap.

I tried to use the trade values site to get somewhere close to his value, but I couldn’t. When you’re talking about a young proven player with five tools, the asking price will include three “55 value” prospects.

Not many teams will venture to that level; Braves would have to include Contreras, Waters, Ynoa, and at least one more good prospect, maybe two.

That’s a wrap

The signing of Manny Pina makes Contreras expendable. Waters won’t reach Laureano’s level any time soon, if ever. Ynoa’s value is as high as it will get, and a Laureano solves multiple problems for the Atlanta Braves.

Nothing drops in an outfield of Acuna, Laureano, and Rosarios, or Duvall. His bat makes the lineup longer, and his speed on the bases causes trouble for opposing pitchers. Let’s make a deal.