Atlanta Braves Morning Chop – FRI 11/21
Braves Release Spring Schedule
Spring games open on March 4 with the New York Mets at Disney, and finish up with an odd 3-games Home-Road-Home series with the Orioles on April 2-4. The regular season gets a late start in 2015 – beginning in Miami on April 6th with the home opener set for Friday, April 10 (hosting the Mets). Atlanta has a ton of divisional games in April – eighteen of them – against every NL East foe. So we’ll see right away exactly what each one of them has – early on.
Meanwhile… pitchers and catchers report on February 20th!
Rumor Round-up, from MLBTR sources
Live Feed
Blue Man Hoop
, with links to our stories as applicable.
- Yasmany Tomas: The Braves are set for a private workout and should be considered part of the sweepstakes, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.
- The Mariners will surely make a run at either Justin Upton or Evan Gattis, if they haven’t already, according to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter links). O’Brien gets the sense that top prospect Taijuan Walker is not completely off the table in trade talks with Seattle, but it would probably take more than one year of Upton to acquire him.
- The O’s have been approached by multiple clubs regarding struggling righty Ubaldo Jimenez. The Braves asked about the possibility of a swap involving B.J. Upton, but Kubatko says that is “not happening.”
- 19-year-old Cuban infielder Yoan Moncada remains one of the most intriguing names to watch over the coming months. Ben Badler of Baseball Americaticks through the teams that, in his estimation, are best situated to make a serious run at Moncada. He lists the Nationals, Giants, Tigers, Rays, Angels, Braves, Red Sox, and Yankees, noting that New York would figure to be the favorite if they decide the want Moncada.
- Atlanta met with Jon Lester and his representatives yesterday.
Also:
- Nick Villano of RantSports.com thinks that “Trading for Matt Wieters Should Be Atlanta Braves’ Top Offseason Priority“. Nick Villano is nuts.
Atlanta Braves are building for 2017 – and that’s OK
JAMES BRADBURY / ISPORTSWEB.COM
The Atlanta Braves weren’t going to compete for a World Series next season, and barring any substantial financial repositioning, they weren’t going to be able to offer reigning National League Overall Defensive Player of the Year Jason Heyward a competitive contract either. With those realities in mind, and some unfortunate contracts still on the books (former second baseman Dan Uggla is still owed the remaining $13.2 million left on the five-year, $62 million extension he agreed to when the Braves acquired him in 2011 despite no longer being on the roster), the Braves made the second of what is expected to be many major moves by trading Heyward and reliever Jordan Walden to the St.Louis Cardinals in exchange for immediate starting pitching help and a gem of a pitching prospect in Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins.
[ Editor’s Note: the moves made thus far by John Hart are not necessarily bent toward a GM that is committed to a total rebuild. He is making incremental moves – ones that so far actually could allow Atlanta to compete successfully in 2015. That could change, but while most still expect Justin Upton and/or Evan Gattis to be moved, Hart does have options… and no need to rush into anything. In short: lots of rumors, lots of possibilities… call it a ‘strategic rebuild’ for now. ]
PLUS: Wanna put your two cents in? Follow what Fred Owens is doing during our FanSided Faux-Winter Meetings Event… you might actually like his moves better than John Hart’s!
The Atlanta Braves Morning Chop – FRI 11/21/2014 – TomahawkTake.com