Potential Atlanta Braves’ Free Agent Targets… after 2018

Sep 19, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones (10) hits a RBI single during the sixth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

In the past couple of weeks, columnists have been in awe at the alignment of stars – MLB stars, that is – who could be free agents after the 2018 season.

Over that same time period, I have written about the shortage of production that the Atlanta Braves currently face – and the potential shortfalls that may continue into the future.  The logical next question is this:  how does Atlanta fill those holes… and could any of these 2018 free agents be a solution?

The Slow Road Back

Of course, even raising these questions more-or-less leaves me open to the accusation of ‘burying the lead’:  that on current trajectory, the Braves don’t really have a lot of hope to compete toward a playoff berth until after 2018.  That’s not necessarily the case, but remains a distinct possibility, given the projections made in those prior posts linked above.

But let’s instead return to those projections and see what positional holes we can reasonably expect to see… and then who might be able to fill them.  Admittedly, I have to be less specific as we go further out into the future, but there are some things we can use as starting points for our guesses.

• 1B – Freeman is still ours through 2021… and if the Braves want a championship-caliber team with him around, then 2019 is probably the last year to start pursuing that in interest… along with 2020-21, of course.
• 2B/SS – Some combination of Swanson and Albies should have the middle infield locked up by 2019.
• 3B – I have some concerns here, and we will have to see whether Atlanta opts to try and acquire a Javier Baez via trade, or rely on either Rio Ruiz or Austin Riley.  Riley could be moved into LF; if Ruiz is going to blossom into the 3B of the future, then we will certainly know by 2019.
• LF – I mentioned Riley as a possibility here, but Hector Olivera is signed through 2020.  Between 3B and LF, something will have to give, but at least there doesn’t seem to be a hole.
• CF – Either Mallex Smith or Ender Inciarte.  Inciarte could be getting fairly expensive by now if his last 2 years in the majors are a useful predictor of things to come over the next 3.
• RF – Nick Markakis is a free agent this 2019 season.  This is a definite upgrade/replacement area.
• C – By now, we’ll know if Lucas Herbert or anybody in the farm system can develop into the next Brian McCann.  Likelihood?  Low, but admittedly our standards have been set fairly high over the years.
• Pitching – not going to worry about how the Braves handle pitchers – either starters or the bullpen.  Should be fairly well loaded by then.

Matching Needs

Okay, so there are 2-3 positions that we might need to consider for an upgrade by 2019:  3B/RF/C.  Checking out that monster list of free agents, let’s see what might be available at those positions:

• Bryce Harper.   If he keeps up the pace he set in 2015, you might just have to turn over the deed to whatever stadium he’s playing in… his contract will be that big.
• Jason Heyward.  If he continues to improve, he will definitely opt out of his Cubs deal.
• Manny Machado.  Now there’s an interesting name.  He will still be just 26½ then.
• Andrew McCutchen.
• A.J. Pollock.  So we couldn’t get him from Arizona earlier in the month.  How about in 3 more years?  Curiously enough, that’s also Shelby Miller‘s first free-agency foray year as well.
• Adam Jones (will be 33-1/2 then, and ready for RF)
• Michael Brantley (will be 31-2/3 by then)

I still don’t see a Catcher in that list of elites, though, and only 1 third baseman.  Colorado might be more willing to trade Nolan Arenado by then, given that he’s a Super 2 player and would be a free agent after 2020… if the Braves think a 3B man is needed.

In general, Atlanta’s traditional approach to free agency has been to target one special player and then fill in around the edges.  That has sometimes happened via trade, sometimes via free agent signing.  So two?  Three free agents?  Not very likely… but one would be a reasonable guess by then, and one might be enough to push team production to a ‘contending’ level.

Next: Voting for the Hall of Fame

Going any further than this would be folly at this point:  3 years represents eons in the baseball universe, and lots of things can and do happen.  I can say that the payroll space should be present for doing just about anything needed … but then the contract prices will continue to get that much higher by then as well.  Still, it’s fun to speculate about the future… though I certainly wish that the future could come a lot sooner.