Atlanta Braves Wanted to Trade for the Yankees Farm

Blockbuster Trade Offer Ultimately Nixed by Yankees

Right from the start after John Hart and John Coppolella took over the Braves’ Front Office, it seems they were intent on changing their team in a big way.  On October 2nd, 2014, Atlanta hired longtime Yankees International scout Gordon Blakeley, and almost immediately started to go after the farm full of prospects that both Coppolella (a former Yankee employee himself) and Blakeley knew all too well.

How hard did they pursue Yankee prospects?  Several tweets came across last night from MLB Network’s Jon Heyman about a trade possibility that would have stunned fans of both teams:

Let’s break that out:

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This deal was officially dead on November 17th, 2014 when Jason Heyward was dealt to the Cardinals for Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins.  But the question remaining is just how close this was to happening:

The Context

Yes – it may have been the Yankees themselves trying to force the issue here, but it seems that the Braves may have pushed back a bit too hard to relieve themselves of every ‘bad’ contract all at once.  But realize what was going on with that Yankees at that point in time:

• Derek Jeter had just retired.
• Alex Rodriguez had just completed his year-long suspension, though nobody had any idea what to expect from him in 2015… except that he’d show up for the 2015 season.
• They had some time with Chase Headley, but didn’t know if they wanted to commit to a long-term deal with him… or even if they could get him to re-up in New York.
• Meanwhile, their outfield was in a state of flux with out-going players Ichiro Suzuki and Alfonso Soriano, plus an aging Carlos Beltran who was well-suited as a 4th outfielder.

Still, a deal like this was apparently close to happening:

Heyman also tweets that the Yankees “tried hard” to get this done – mostly for Simmons and Heyward, of course, but they could have made use of the others as well.

The Braves Perspective

Atlanta would have ended up with the following:

• Three potential front-side rotation arms in Severino (who would have been the headliner), Banuelos, and Clarkin.
• A potential corner outfielder in Judge, who is now the Yankees’ #1 prospect and 36th on Jim Callis’ Top 100, though just 76th overall on BaseballAmerica’s Top 100 list.  Opinions are sharply divided on his future.
• A catcher of the future in Sanchez, a year before he broke out in Arizona Fall League play last October (36th on the baseballAmerica list and top catcher overall; 59th/2nd from Jim Callis).

Clarkin has been battling elbow issue which could ultimately derail him and he missed the 2015 regular season as a result, though is said to ‘feel fine’ now.  Banuelos, as we know, spent much of 2015 getting back into pitching shape after a Tommy John surgery in 2014.  He’s now ready to go.  Severino has joined the Yankees’ regular rotation and is listed 4th on their depth chart behind Tanaka, Pineda, and Eovaldi.

Ultimately, the teams did not go for the big deal, but did settle on a smaller one – Banuelos for Carpenter and Chasen Shreve.  David Carpenter was released by the Yankees, signed and then allowed to walk away from the Nationals, then circled back to the Braves… for a week.

In the meantime, The Yankees executed a trade with Arizona and the Tigers that landed SS Didi Gregorius on December 5, 2014.  Headley signed up for 4 years on December 16th.

Smaller Deals Were Better Deals for Atlanta?

In the months following, Atlanta did get their farm system rejuvenated… and arguably in a better way, though it will still take multiple years before the full evaluation is in.

• SIMMONS – turned into a year of Erick Aybar, Sean Newcomb, and Chris Ellis
• One year of HEYWARD – ultimately turned into Tyrell Jenkins, Shelby Miller for a year, and then the stunning trio of Dansby Swanson, Aaron Blair, and Ender Inciarte
• KIMBREL was needed to move the younger UPTON – netting (mostly) Cameron Maybin, Matt Wisler and Austin Riley (via draft).
• JOHNSON was swapped with Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher to get his contract off the books more quickly.
• …and we ended up with Banuelos anyway.

Would this initial blockbuster have been good for Atlanta?  Maybe.  It seems to have been fitting for the Yankees’ needs, though it would also have stripped a trio of arms that their rotation could really make use of.  From their side, it’s definitely unclear whether Heyward would have re-upped with them this past Winter.

Certainly, you can point to the pitching since acquired by Atlanta and declare that there is now a lot more upside here than even the Yankees would have provided.  But given those subsequent deals, you almost have to wonder if Craig Kimbrel might have been in the discussion with the New Yorkers as well… particularly since the Yankees have now acquired Aroldis Chapman.

Had this happened, though, the Braves’ rebuild might have taken on a whole new tack.  Assuming the departure of Justin Upton and Evan Gattis along with the signing of Nick Markakis, payroll would have been down to $90 million early enough in the 2014-15 off-season to consider other additions.

Next: Can't Stop the Ozziness

It’s fun to play that “What If?” game, but the number of moving parts is truly hard to keep track of – especially with such a large trade proposal as this.  As the dust has settled, it’s hard to argue with the notion that the deals actually made dwarfed this one in terms of the returns Atlanta has reaped.

Bottom line:  I’m glad it was the Yankees who are reported to have said ‘no’.