Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: watch out for rumors about Zack Greinke next week

So Back to Greinke

The Braves are in a position in which they can essentially set an ultimatum price for Greinke.  After that, the D-Backs can decide if they simply want to take what they can get for him or not.

If interested, the Braves could offer this:

• Julio Teheran ($11m plus an option year, $1m buyout)
• Darren O’Day (depending on his current no-trade list of 7 teams; $8 million plus deferred monies – likely an extra $1m in 2023)
• Adam Duvall ($3 in arbitration this season)
• 1 or 2 better prospects… players that Arizona could use, but nothing that Atlanta would truly miss in the long term.  Your mileage may vary on exactly who… but it doesn’t matter a lot.

Arizona then sends Atlanta:

• Zack Greinke
• David Peralta
• $10 million in 2019 and in 2020
• The $2 million ‘assignment bonus’ to Greinke when traded.
• All deferred monies on the contract

The Braves would end up spending only about $10 million extra to get Greinke this season beyond what they would have spent on the above players, plus close to $8 million more for David Peralta.  That’s within the budget and much cheaper than free agent options at either position.

You could still want a player like Mitch Haniger… sure:  I understand that.  But Jerry DiPoto has declared that there would be no “player plus a contract” swaps for him – it would only be a haul of premium prospects that he’d be looking for.  Besides, Atlanta has little interest in most of the bigger contracts they still carry.

But in Peralta, you’d get a guy that had a 130 wRC+ (runs created) score in 2018… vs. Haniger’s 138.  That’s strong.  He also carries a lefty bat to balance the Braves’ new lineup.

In 2020, Greinke would get $32 million, and the Braves would be responsible for $22 million of that in this scenario.  For 2021, it would be the full freight of $32 million.

Arizona would still save over $51 million in the deal from the Grienke side alone (close to half of what he’s still due) and the Braves effectively get an ace-level pitcher for 3 years at a net price of $17 million-ish on average per season.

Arizona also saves money from the arbitration seasons of Peralta.  That’s their take from this – the money more than the prospects… though admittedly they might need one premium prospect from Atlanta just to keep their fans from continuing to bring up the last deal.

So with 1 deal (remember our 1-stop shopping ideas from a few days ago?) the Braves’ starting pitching and Right Field issues would be resolved, and the finances would still be roughly intact.

More from Tomahawk Take

• Show the bullpen some love
• Braves News: Atlanta’s left field situation, Dansby negotiations, more
• Alex Anthopoulos discusses the Atlanta Braves payroll, rotation, Grissom, Swanson, Acuña, and more
• Braves News: Braves 2023 rotation speculation, Correa deal on hold, more
• Atlanta Braves: Current Left Field Mix

Is it ideal?

No – but please find me another affordable deal that lands both an outfielder and frontline starting pitcher in which:

• the pitcher has thrown 170+ innings in 10 of the last 11 seasons (and 200+ in most of them).
• the pitcher has a lifetime ERA of 3.39 (and lower for the last 2 seasons)
• the pitcher walks virtually no one (2.15 batters per 9 innings)
• the outfielder is a lefty hitter
• the outfielder has a silver slugger trophy
• the outfielder just hit at least 30 homers, and in which…
• the Braves own the leverage in the negotiations.

Personally, I’d love to get Kluber and Haniger or Kluber and Brantley or Kluber and McCutchen.  But that’s just not in the cards.  Talking Arizona into Greinke and Peralta?  That’s a lot more doable.