Atlanta Braves Browsing Not Shopping At GM Meetings
By Fred Owens
The annual GM Meetings kick off in Scottsdale this week, a place where deals are always discussed and sometimes made. Braves GM John Coppolella has made it clear the Atlanta Braves are mostly browsing and definitely not shopping for a big-ticket pitcher.
There’s been much debate and conjecture about the path the Braves will take to reshape the roster this off-season. Debate is particularly intense when the subject of starting pitching comes up with fans dreaming on Chris Sale or Justin Verlander.
It’s been pretty clear all along than Coppy wasn’t going there but fans continue to think he’s posturing for a sneak attack of some kind. His latest interview with David O’Brien should add clarity and insight into his plans.
The Atlanta Braves Seek Pitching, Pitching and Pitching
Coppy’s said many times in the last two months that he wants to add a starter or two or three; that’s still the case
"“The biggest needs for us, 1, 2 and 3? Starting pitching, starting pitching, starting pitching,” Coppolella said Friday. . . “"
Okay nothing new there but he went to – as congress critters say – clarify and expand that point specifically about top end, ace starters.
"“We weren’t going to go after those guys anyway. It was not efficient for us,” Coppolella said. “You don’t buy No. 1 starters, you grow them. You draft them, you develop them. For us, it’s not efficient for us to go out and buy a No. 1 starter. Unless something drastically changes, you won’t see us going after a No. 1 starter.”"
That seems pretty definitive and makes perfect sense. There are only a handful of teams that can pay the outrageous salaries pitchers like Verlander can demand and the Braves are not among them and never will be. Even if they were ready to spend like that, there’s no one in this year’s market in that class.
Acquiring one would mean a trade of the prospects he and Hart acquired as the seeds to grow their own number one guy. That directly contradicts their stated plans for wave after wave or prospects coming through the system. Prospect’s can’t grow into Braves if they get transplanted to a farm owned by someone else.