The Atlanta Braves front office doesn’t leak. In the 13 years I’ve been writing for the site that’s now The House That Hank Built, the only significant deal broken was the signing of BJ Upton, and Frank Wren made no attempt to hide it. Fortunately, both Wren and Upton have moved on, and all predictions of major moves were noise.
As Steven wrote here on Monday, Bob Nightengale wrote that Alex Anthopoulos was actively seeking reinforcements, but the Braves GM wasn’t going to spin off a big name for a handful of prospects. There’s nothing new in what Nightengale heard from other GMs, though they aren’t about to discuss a deal with Atlanta that might be in the works because they understand that leaks lose deals.
On June 12th, Jon Heyman predicted that the Braves would buy and were surveying the market for shortstop and outfield help. That isn’t news; any Braves fan could tell you those needs were at the top of the list, followed closely by bullpen help.
Today, we heard that Alex Anthopoulos is trying to find a trade, so let’s take a look at the markets Heyman says the Braves are eyeing, starting with shortstop.
The trade market for shortstops is so thin, it’s transparent
The shortstop market is thinner than a wet napkin. Thirty players other than Nick Allen have 200 PA at short this year:
- Two players, Trevor Story and Xander Bogaerts, have bad contracts and aren’t hitting.
- Ten players, Mookie Betts, Francisco Lindor, Dansby Swanson, Corey Seager, Jeremy Pena, Trea Turner, Carlos Correa, Bo Bichette, J.P. Crawford, and Willie Adames, play for contenders, have big contracts, and aren’t available.
- Ten players, Bobby Witt Jr., Elly De La Cruz, Angel Perdomo, Maysn Wynn, Jacob Wilson, CJ Abrams, Gunnar Henderson, Gabriel Arias, Zach Neto, and Anthony Volpe, are young, controllable stars, and a couple play for contenders, making them unavailable. (10)
- Six Players, Joey Ortiz, Trey Sweeney, Xavier Edwards, Brooks Lee, Josh Smith, and Otto Lopez, are either poor defenders, utility men, not a significant improvement at the plate, or both.)
So, the market Jon Heyman has the Braves perusing includes the two players not on that list, Isiah Kiner-Falefa (IKF) and Chase Meidroth, and two veterans who are, at best, long shots.
This shortstops could be long shot options for the Braves
IKF is 30 and a free agent at the end of the season, with roughly $3.2MM remaining at the deadline. He’s currently batting .284/.332/.358/.690 with one homer for the Bucs, striking out less and walking less than Allen, and played in the 2022 postseason with the Yankees. The Pirates would certainly trade him, but would his addition make a difference?
The White Sox drafted Meidroth (24 on July 23rd) in the fourth round of the 2022 draft. He’s hit well at every level of the Sox’ system, batting .293/.437/.400/.838 at AAA in 2024. This year, he’s batting .276/.308/.337/.695 with two homers in 209 PA and posted 3 OAA at shortstop. The Sox have a couple of shortstops in the top ten on their prospect list, but my guess is the Sox aren’t shopping him, and if they did, the Braves wouldn’t like the price.
If Texas or Seattle collapse, the Braves need to pounce
If the Rangers collapse in a large steaming pile of missed opportunities, utility man Josh Smith might be available, but the Braves infield defense would suffer.
The Mariners are 37-35, one game better than the 500 club their run differential suggests. The team started the year with the best rotation in the AL, but injury and inconsistency meant they haven’t been at full strength. The lineup isn’t scoring a lot of runs.
The Mariners’ top two prospects are shortstops, and even though neither is quite ready, if they fall out of the race, they might be willing to trade JP Crawford.
Crawford is 30 and under team control through 2026, with roughly $6.5MM remaining this year and $12MM due next year. He’s currently batting .293/.412/.409/.821 with six homers, a .371 wOBA, 147 wRC+, and 2.7 fWAR. That translates to, ‘he’ll be expensive.’ I don’t know if the Braves have the player capital to do it, but the Mariners owe us something for the awful Kelenic deal.
That’s a Wrap
I see no point in trading for players who are simply another team’s version of Allen, which describes most of the available alternatives, and landing a replacement from the rest of the list won’t be cheap. I suspect both Meidroth and Crawford would cost multiple pitching prospects, and depending on which ones they ask for, that might kill the deal.