10 Days to Go: Atlanta Braves Trade Rumor Round-up

It’s starting to get real… trade chatter is starting to bubble to the surface, and Atlanta Braves GM John Coppolella had better have a couple of portable charging packs at the ready for his cellphone between now and the afternoon of August 1st.

Here’s the latest below:

NICK MARKAKIS. Mark Bowman names the Royals “among the teams that have shown some interest”.

Here’s where Coppolella’s penchant for creativity might have a chance to become something big for Atlanta. Markakis is still owed $25.2 million through 2018, and Coppy could leverage a chunk of that amount or a package deal to “buy” himself a first-tier prospect… if the buying team has one of interest.

In 2017, the Braves project to have an entire outfield of lefty-hitting, little power defenders: Mallex Smith, Ender Inciarte, and Markakis. There’s also the elephant not-yet-in-the-room: Hector Olivera, who’s at least a RHH.

The worst-producing outfields in the majors include the Tigers (-0.7 WAR), Dodgers (believe it or not… 1.8 WAR). Astros (2.5), and Orioles (3.0). Kansas City is at 4.1 (14th overall).

Nick is at 0.4 WAR by himself, but has been steadily improving lately. He’d certainly be an upgrade over Tigers’ OFs Tyler Collins (.161) or Mike Aviles (.212).

MLBTR notes that Royals RF Paulo Orlando is coming back to earth at the plate, and thus Kansis City’s interest in Markakis. They are also said to be kicking tires on Josh Reddick.

CHRIS WITHROW. The Mets are checking right-handed relievers around the league. Given recent trades between the Braves and Mets, it seems the two clubs have been good working with one another (though the Braves seem to have gotten significant returns that are paying dividends).

MLBTR notes Withrow’s available team control (3 more years). I could see this happening.

JULIO TEHERAN. Still not being traded, according to Coppy… who has to answer that question in literally every interview. But he told Mark Bowman that he’s turned down close to a dozen other GM’s on Teheran… so the suitors are nothing if not persistent.

More from Tomahawk Take

OTHER STARTERS. This is newsworthy. Coppy also tells Mark Bowman that he has “gotten some hits on some other starting pitchers”, but it does not really sound like he’s entertaining these requests either… except for…

LUCAS HARRELL. This mention by both Bowman and Ken Rosenthal made more sense before his last couple of outings, but we’ll see how that goes. 3 teams are said to have called on him. Curious.

ERICK AYBAR. Also not being traded, but for a wholly different reason; that being lack of interest. Unless somebody gets hurt between now and September 1st, expect him to remain a Brave until being released close to that date.

ARODYS VIZCAINO. Given his oblique injury and placement on the DL (7/16), seeing him mentioned by Jon Heyman surprises me. At the same time, he’s also not saying that teams are calling Coppy about him.

By the time the deadline comes by, Vizzy will only be 15 days post-injury, and that’s not going to be long enough for teams to guess when he might be available to pitch for them. Thus it would be a sell-low situation for Atlanta, and I don’t know that the Braves would do that. He could turn into a waiver-trade candidate, but even that’s iffy.

ERIC O’FLAHERTY. If the Braves are able to trade EOF, it’s because he’s left-handed and breathing. A 6.65 ERA isn’t good, but he has managed to avoid giving up runs in either of the past 2 days (1.1 innings), despite 2 hits.

HUNTER CERVENKA, IAN KROL, DARIO ALVAREZ. Yep – more lefties… more interest… that according to Ken Rosenthal. More specifially, the Houston Astros are being mentioned in connection with Cervenka “as a possible fallback option”, which pretty much means he isn’t their top target.

One other player probably not being moved is Jeff Francoeur. The Braves really like him and Mark Bowman suggests that there will be interest in bringing him back in 2017. Good on him.

Just checking the upcoming schedule, the Braves have the next two Mondays off – the latter day being non-waiver trade deadline day.

Next: Folty.... long term asset or no?

Those would be the ideal days for finalizing trade deals where players might be coming off the major league roster, though when push comes to shove… these things can happen at any day, any time.

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