Atlanta Braves Trade Watch: run-down on MLB buyer/seller status

As we’ve already mused in this space, timing is everything.  With 16 days to go until the non-waiver trade deadline, here’s the current look at the buyers, the sellers, and their key needs/pieces.

How far should the Atlanta Braves go in trade talks?  So far this week, all indications are that they probably did enough to get Jose Quintana from the White Sox, but the Sox seemed to simply want a different set of players.  Good luck… sometimes the trades you don’t make work out, too.

In the meantime, here’s the noise that we’re seeing as all 30 teams make their 2017 buy-or-sell calls:

NL EAST

• Washington.  STATUS:  Buyer.  NEEDS:  Bullpen.  No changes, but more injuries as starter Joe Ross is out indefinitely (elbow sprain… uh oh).  No replacement named thus far.  Said to be in on Brad Hand (San Diego).  Probably also begging the Marlins for somebody.  Meanwhile, Jayson Werth had a setback (or at least a slowdown) and Trea Turner is still out.  They are still looking like a team just one more key injury away from disaster.

UPDATE:  Joe Ross is done – Tommy John surgery next Wednesday.

• Atlanta.  STATUS:  Buyer/Seller.  NEEDS:  Starting Pitching, bullpen.  I’m ready!
  
• Miami.  STATUS:  Limited Fire Sale?  AVAILABLE:  Anyone with an extended contract.  But don’t expect them to eat a lot of money, either.  May be best source of bullpen help for Washington.  David Phelps and A.J. Ramos are getting the most buzz, currently.  Their situation is complicated by negotiations for the sale of the team… and the Commisoner’s watch.
• Mets.  STATUS:  SELLER (NEW).  AVAILABLE:  veterans with expiring contracts.  That means Jose Reyes (Good Luck With That), Neil Walker (GLWT), Lucas Duda (GLWT) Curtis Granderson (maybe), Jay Bruce (maybe).  They don’t want to trade from their core… but guess what they will be asked about?
• Philadelphia.  STATUS:  Buyer??  NEEDS:  everything.  They really want Christian Yelich from the Marlins and seem willing to take some bad-ish money from them to get him.  But not “Giancarlo Stanton contract bad”.

NL CENTRAL

• Milwaukee.  STATUS: Buyer. NEEDS: Starter, Reliever. Said to be in on Brad Hand (yes, this is a common theme this week, along with probably 3 members of the Padres rotation).  Have a big lead (5.5 games) thanks to a great finish before the break, but have to be spooked by the Cubs.
• Cubs.  STATUS: Buyer (duh). NEEDS: Starter, Reliever. Yes, despite getting Quintana this week, they are apparently now trying to crush the market and get Sonny Gray, too.  Initially, my thinking was ‘but they have just trashed their farm’ – until realizing that Kyle Schwarber, Javier Baez and Ian Happ are still on their team with Jeimer Candelario the new – but blocked – #1 prospect.
• Cardinals.  STATUS: Limbo.  NEEDS:  Middle of order hitter.  Actually, that’s not all they need, but the main question now – and they’ve just done a front office shake-up – is ‘where do they go from here?’  As a note, the Braves just passed them in the standings last night.
• Pittsburgh.  STATUS:  Seller.  AVAILABLE:  Andrew McCutchen.  That said, everybody wants Gerrit Cole, who has 2 more years of control after 2017.  Jon Morosi says he’s available… for a big price.
• Reds.    STATUS:  Seller.  AVAILABLE:  Zack Cozart?  Raisel Iglesias?  Those are the headliners, but also some additional pitching (Feldman and Storen). That’s the result of failing negotiations on a Cozart extension and the thought that perhaps teams could ‘blow them away’ with an offer for reliever Iglesias.

AL WEST

• Dodgers.  STATUS:  Buyers.  NEEDS:  Bullpen help.  The Orioles’ Zach Britton is a target of theirs.  So is Brad Hand, but the Padres are holding him for ranson at this point.
• Arizona.  STATUS:  ‘Aggressive’ Buyers.  NEEDS: you might have thought ‘pitching‘, and that’s probably true, but they seem to want a bat also, and are starting to kick the tires with Detroit about J.D. Martinez.  Arizona has been in a swoon  and may be feeling the pressure.
• Colorado.  STATUS: Limbo.  NEEDS:  starts and ends with pitching, but suddenly the Rockies are fading while the Dodgers have roared by them.  They are still the second Wild Card team, but how much will they actually be willing to do?
• San Diego.  STATUS: Sellers.  AVAILABLE: most of the rotation, but other than that, it’s less than you’d expect.  They still have a bunch of young talent and Rule 5 guys that they’d like to keep.  Otherwise a lot of pitching is available, but they are trying for a high price.  A few might go just prior to the deadline at lower rates, though:  it’s the only thing that makes sense for them.
• San Francisco.  STATUS: Sellers. AVAILABLE: Nobody?  The Giants are probably about as shocked about how their season has progressed as anyone, and seems in a vapor-lock about what to do.  Mark Melancon might have been a good ‘sell’ piece, but he’s still hurt.  Johnny Cueto can be had but with his opt-out at years’ end, that creates an impossible means of valuing him… and he might miss his next start, to boot.