At the time, the Atlanta Braves' trade for Tyler Mahle at the deadline was very underwhelming. Acquiring Mahle wasn’t necessarily a bad idea, because he looked like a perfectly reasonable rotation depth signing. The problem was that he was the Braves' ONLY rotation addition at the trade deadline, and that was concerning given the state of Atlanta's rotation.
With Chris Sale as the only starter that appeared worthy of confidence at the time, the pressure was on Mahle and the rest of the Braves' rotation to exceed some pretty low expectations. Against all odds, the rotation has been the least of Atlanta's problems, and Mahle's play has been a bright spot.
In fact, Mahle's first four starts with the Braves have gone so well, one wonders whether or not Atlanta needs to go ahead and make sure he sticks around beyond this season or at least figure out how much that would cost.
Tyler Mahle's start to his Braves tenure is going so well that Atlanta should see about keeping him around
Through his first 23.2 innings with the Braves, Mahle has posted a 1.52 ERA and 3.00 FIP with 23 strikeouts and five walks. Back-to-back outings with six hits allowed hurt his FIP a decent bit, but not to the point where it is a genuine concern. Given that Atlanta gave up precious little to acquire him and that he is making a pittance the rest of the season, that is a huge win for a Braves organization that really, really needed something to go their way.
As to what it would take to keep him around, that is tricky to figure out. Mahle has a career 4.11 ERA, so the odds are good that he will regress from what we are seeing out of him right now. He is also about to turn 32 years old, so you aren't necessarily paying for his prime years. Before the season, Mahle signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Giants. Given his performance with Atlanta, asking him to repeat that sort of deal probably won't go anywhere. However, perhaps a one- or two-year deal with a slight raise AND a club option that has a decent buyout would do the trick.
The shadow of the upcoming CBA negotiations is going to loom large in the early goings of free agency this offseason, as teams are going to want to know what rules they will be playing under before committing too much payroll. However, Mahle has already been a bargain for the Braves and, given the going rate for decent starters right now, they would be foolish not to at least see if they can get something done before a likely work stoppage.
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