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The Atlanta Braves Rumor That Won’t Die

By Alan Carpenter

May 31, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; The sun sets as Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Julio Teheran (49) watches the action from the dugout in the 8th inning of their game against the San Francisco Giants at Turner Field. The Giants won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
May 31, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; The sun sets as Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Julio Teheran (49) watches the action from the dugout in the 8th inning of their game against the San Francisco Giants at Turner Field. The Giants won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports /
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Julio Teheran Continues to be a Hot Topic in Trade Discussions, but would Coppy dare to pull that Trigger?

We have already made the case – pro and con – for trading Julio Teheran.  John Coppolella then responded strongly to rumors about moving Teheran.

But on Friday, MLBTR.com decided to investigate potential matches for a Teheran trade on their own, and then on Saturday, Nick Carfado of the Boston Globe and beat writer covering the Red Sox also chimed in.  His take is particularly juicy, and I’ll get to that in a minute.

Why Teheran?

It’s fairly obvious:  performance, cost, and control.  Oh, and the fact that there are very few pitchers of this caliber that will be on the market this summer… if any.

You might have been inclined to count James Shields on that short list, but (a) Big Game James will be getting triple the guaranteed money of Teheran through 2018… and (b) he’s hardly been worth it.  Oh – and he’s already been traded.  Meanwhile Teheran is pitching very well and is locked up through probably 2020’s team option.

Teheran also doesn’t have to be a staff ace:  he can be acquired to slot in behind a Kershaw or Keuchel or Price and the team that does so would be very happy indeed to have that kind of 1-2 punch.

But Whither Coppy?

Here’s the rub.  John Coppolella could end up getting a very sweet offer for Teheran… and then still turn it down for reasons akin to pride.

You see, he, John Hart, and John Schuerholz all made very sweeping and very public statements after the 2015 season about how embarrassed they were and how ‘this would never happen again’, etc., etc.

If the Braves trade Teheran, it’s essentially guaranteed to happen again.  It fact, it probably would be historically bad.  1962 Mets bad.  Worst of all time bad.

I want to send a quick message to @Braves to say this about that:

It’s okay with me, Coppy.  You can trade him if you get the right deal.

Look, John:  I know what you tried to do for 2016.  You were gap-filling.  You were trying to build a bridge to get to better prospects for 2017.  I get that.

You brought in veterans.  Not the best, but they were largely some of the better ones that were out there that could be had on single-year deals.  A few of them had worked out (Frenchy, Beckham, Flowers).  Several more have not (Stubbs, Aybar).  A few other things have blown up in you face (Olivera, Peterson).  Why Freeman isn’t hitting is a colossal mystery.

I get it – you had poor choices and many things haven’t panned out.

But whether you opt to trade Teheran isn’t going to fix 2016.

If he stays… the team might win a handful of additional games.  If he goes… then you will have sold him at peak value.  But what difference will it really make in the standings?

The Braves are on pace for 45 wins right now.  Call-ups could raise that to… what, 50?  Maybe?  If you sell off Teheran (who is 1-6 with that Shelby Miller kind of year going at a 2.92 ERA), then you’ll still probably be around 42-47 wins.

This “sell high” thing is important, too, given the struggles Teheran went through last season and his recovery from that.  You really don’t want to wait any longer.

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