After signing Robert Suarez and Mike Yastrzemski, the Atlanta Braves are close to having their ideal roster built out before Christmas even hits. The club still has a few holes to address, namely starting pitching and shortstop.
While acquiring superstar shortstop Corey Seager from the Texas Rangers is a pipe dream at the moment, we couldn't help but wonder what it would actually cost.
What a Corey Seager to the Braves trade would look like (or at least should look like)
Although Seager has struggled to stay on the field since he inked his megadeal back in 2022, with his only full season with Texas coming in his first season, he has not disappointed when he's on the field.
Since 2022, Seager has the ninth-best wRC+ in baseball, hit the 15th-most homers, and accumulated the 12th-most fWAR in all of baseball, despite only playing 495 games, averaging 124 games per season. When on the field, Seager is as good as they come.
There have been a few rumors that the Braves have at least checked in on Seager, the two-time World Series MVP, including one report recently by Rangers beat writer, Evan Grant, there are few obstacles that could get in the way of Seager coming to Atlanta.
The first is the 31-year-old's no-trade clause. Even though the five-time All-Star only has a partial no-trade clause, the Braves are one of the eight teams on the list, according to Ken Rosenthal.
The second obstacle is Seager's contract, which was inked in 2022 and still has six years remaining with $186 million owed. The Rangers, if they do end up trading him, are likely looking for the acquiring team to take on most, if not all, of the remainder of the deal.
Still, for the Braves, a team with a weak farm system, this could work out to their advantage if they're willing to significantly increase their payroll. Instead of needing multiple top prospects, the Braves could take on the whole deal.
In this scenario, Atlanta would still need to send a decent return package to Texas, but could retain Cam Caminiti, JR Ritchie, and Tate Southisene, their top three prospects, though the Rangers have made it clear they aren't looking for a simple salary dump.
A decent comparison for what a Seager trade could look like is the Rafael Devers trade from last season. Even though Devers offers much less on the defensive side and was owed roughly $80 million more than Seager at the time he was traded, he has has been far more durable, is two-and-a-half years younger.
Devers only commanded a package of Jose Bello, James Tibbs III, Kyle Harrison, and Jordan Hicks. Hicks was added essentially to offset some of the cost, while James Tibbs III was traded for Dustin May a month later. This left Jose Bello, a 20-year-old in A-ball, and Kyle Harrison, a lefty starting pitcher who spent most of his time with Boston in the minors after being traded, as the remaining value from the trade for Boston.
Seager will command more than packaging Nacho Alvarez, Didier Fuentes, Aaron Bummer, and a rookie ball pitcher, but Braves fans might be surprised that it might not cost that much more. If the Braves take on the entire contract, they might be able to swing a deal that only adds one of AJ Smith-Shawver and Hurston Waldrep, or perhaps the combination of prospects like Owen Murphy and Drue Hackenberg.
If the Braves wanted to get even bolder, they could try and create a massive package to get starter Jacob deGrom as well, but that would likely require another top prospect, as well as Joe Jimenez to offset some of the costs, as deGrom is still owed $83 million over the next two seasons.
A lot would have to go right for the Braves to acquire Corey Seager, but it might not feel as far-fetched as it initially seems.