Atlanta Braves finally trade Jaime Garcia… and are now turning toward Gray?

Trade news has happened… but if today’s rumor is to be believed, it could be just the start of something bugger.

The Atlanta Braves have finally found an agreement with the Minnesota Twins for starting pitcher Jaime Garcia this afternoon, a deal that comes with its own intriguing ingredients.

Here’s the formal announcement:

(Yeah, we’ve used a lot of Garcia pics lately… had to break out one for Recker.)

More, Much More

There are several details to go over here:

That $100K doesn’t sound like much, given that Minnesota is assuming all of the remaining $4.7 million on Garcia’s deal (out of $12 million for the full year), but it likely balances out things after Recker had been elevated to the majors to cover for Kurt Suzuki during his bereavement absence over the weekend.

The other – perhaps more interesting aspect of this might be that the Braves could have been persuading the Twins to take Anthony Recker for another reason… he is 33 years old, after all.  His departure vacates two positions on the 40-man roster.

On Sunday, the Twins designated lefty pitcher Craig Breslow for assignment (i.e., removing him from their own 40-man list).

This was apparently a move to prepare for Recker’s arrival, which the Braves could not really support until Suzuki returned.  That happened today… so perhaps the trade announcement was delayed for a day or two specifically for that reason.

About the Return

I won’t spend a lot of time on Huascar Ynoa.  He’s 19 and sounds like a ‘high upside’ pitcher, but it still predictably raw and far from the majors.  He will not rank among the Braves’ Top 30 prospects at this point.

The changes from last Thursday’s “near deal” are interesting, though:  Nick Burdi was to be the target, according to reports.  While Atlanta would have had to wait for him to heal after Tommy John surgery, he sounded like a fairly significant ‘get’ for the Braves.

Ynoa… not as much unless the scouts really think they see something.

Here’s something else from Thursday:

So there wasn’t much difference in the salary, perhaps, but there was  a difference in the prospect.  Curious.

The Next Rumor

In a lengthy and even meandering piece for the New York Post this afternoon, writer Joel Sherman is opining about the interest the Yankees might have in various front line starting pitchers.

What he actually says about the Yankees is… a bit on the “light” side:

"In 2015, Brian Cashman mainly stayed pat at the deadline feeling his organizational depth was not in a place to make big deals. This year, by already trading the well-regarded Blake Rutherford, the Yankees GM has shown he believes his infrastructure is in a different place.Which is why the Yankees are maintaining interest in available starters, namely Gray."

He goes on to mention Jose Quintana (they favored him for durability reasons), Yu Darvish, and Justin Verlander, but that last line in the quote above is the only thing resembling a substantive tie between the Yankees and… any starting pitcher.

Except there’s this:

"The Yankees and Brewers are viewed as the strongest contenders for Gray, but the Braves have also joined the fray, hoping to perhaps make a long-shot wild-card run this year and be contenders with Gray in 2018-19. The Astros also are staying in touch with the A’s about Gray, who despite his fragility might be the best starting option left in the trade market."

Okay, that’s more interesting.

What It Will Take

Now that the Garcia situation is settled, Coppy can now fully turn his attention to bigger fish.  Gray is probably the only one of interest to him at this point in the season… and this indicates that he’s likely made that pivot.

In a discussion about Gray this morning on MLB Network Radio (Sirius/XM), host and Diamondbacks voice Mike Ferrin mentioned hearing that it would take “two Top 50 prospects” to get Sonny Gray.

What does that mean for the Braves?

Let’s use the latest BaseballAmerica chart, because… well, we don’t actually like the one from MLB Pipeline.

• 10 Ronald Acuna
• 23 Kolby Allard
• 25 Ozzie Albies
• 33 Mike Soroka
• 41 Kyle Wright (not tradable at this time)
• 42 Sean Newcomb
• 55 Ian Anderson
• 72 Kevin Maitan
• 76 Luiz Gohara

Let’s eliminate a few names:  Acuna, Wright, Maitan, and probably Newcomb.  If any of these were dealt, there might be blood in the streets.

Let’s also go ahead and assume that Ozzie Albies is in a trade offer for Gray – since he was for Quintana.

So pick one from this list:  Allard, Soroka, Anderson, Gohara.

Gohara might be too low-ranked unless Billy Beane really wants him.  One of them would go to Oakland in such a trade… or perhaps a lower-ranked pitcher and another just outside the Top 100 (Wisler, Sims, Blair, etc).

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Just to be clear:  this is speculation based on information that is pieced together from multiple sources, and it’s not a trade proposal that I’m personally suggesting.

That said, before everyone starts looking for the pitchforks in the garage and lighting torches, do recognize that (a) Sonny Gray is better than anyone on the staff right now, (b) he’d be around for 2018 and 2019, and (c) There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect (TINSTAAPP).

So there you go – a trade and a rumor together … all wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

Next: It's History!

Feel free to continue to speculate wildly… we’ve got a week to go before the trade deadline.