After showing (arguably excessive) restraint when it came to trades early in his tenure, Atlanta Braves front office head Alex Anthopoulos has found his stride when it comes to wheeling and dealing in recent years. After making a massive trade for Matt Olson after the Freddie Freeman negotiations went sideways and then giving up a big package to acquire Sean Murphy, it is clear that Anthopoulos is willing to swing a big trade if he covets a player enough.
One such player that is clearly on the Braves' trade radar this offseason is Garrett Crochet. Without question, Crochet is the most coveted player on the trade market period right now and the Braves are far from the only top suitor. The problem is that the White Sox seem to want position players in exchange for Crochet and Atlanta is not exactly rich in hitting prospects at the moment outside of Drake Baldwin and maybe Nacho Alvarez.
However, Braves beat writer floated an interesting possibility over the weekend that could change the calculus dramatically. According to Bowman, the idea of trading Ozzie Albies this offseason has some merit, although the chances it actually happens is unlikely. If the Braves actually made Albies available, that could be enough to convince Chicago to send Crochet to Atlanta.
Garrett Crochet, K'ing the Side with Filth. 😷 pic.twitter.com/ajK4cMmx9L
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 21, 2024
If the Braves were willing to trade Ozzie Albies, a Garrett Crochet trade looks a lot more likely
Just to head off at least some of the hate mail, this is not an advocacy of trading Albies. Not only has he been a key piece of the Braves' run since 2018, but Albies is on an extremely team-friendly deal at the moment. Albies certainly isn't a perfect player by any stretch, he is still one of the best second basemen in baseball when he is healthy and at $7 million for 2025 and then club options at the same rate for 2026 and 2027, Albies is an absolute bargain.
However, Bowman isn't the kind of guy to throw out baseless speculation and he has a point here. Albies has struggled to stay on the field, his offensive value is limited by his aggressive approach at the plate, and his defensive metrics haven't been great the last couple of years. If the deal was for the right player, dealing Albies as a proven commodity with cheap, flexible team control isn't all that crazy.
That brings us back to the Crochet discussion. As one of the best young pitchers in all of baseball who would come with two years of team control and who has already expressed a strong willingness to sign an extension with his new team, Crochet may actually be worth moving Albies. It would certainly create another roster problem for the Braves to solve and Anthopoulos probably wouldn't do it unless he thought extending Crochet was probable, but there is a world where the Braves could do the unthinkable and trade Albies to give the White Sox the position talent they covet in such a deal.