Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: market conditions starting to move

That pre-Christmas itch is indeed starting to garner some movement amongst some teams and players.  Let’s see how that’s going.

The Atlanta Braves… did not sign a free agent on Monday or Tuesday.  We know that has caused some angst among fans, but please – take Dr. Browning’s advice and exercise some relaxation techniques… it’ll be all better soon.

One thing to note as a reminder,  free agency is not Alex Anthopoulos’ preferred means of team-building.  He would much rather go with the draft, player development, and trades.

The immediate objection to that statement would be ‘but he signed Josh Donaldson as a free agent!’  Absolutely true, though this represents a special circumstance:

• Impact player
• (Very) Short-term commitment
• Gap-filler (kinda)
• Previous relationship with the player

This exception noted, it’s not that free agents are being excluded from the shopping list in general.  It is still quite plausible that Atlanta ends up with one to play right field.  I won’t bother to list the options – Jake already did that for us yesterday.

So while Houston ended up with Michael Brantley and the Phillies got Andrew McCutchen, there are others still on the market.

So why haven’t the Braves chosen to move on an outfielder yet?  Probably several reasons:

• Would prefer a trade – might save money;
• The available free agents fall into 1 of 2 categories:
  • Outrageously expensive (Harper)
  • Multiple at a similar performance tier (Brantley, McCutchen, Pollock, maybe Markakis, Parra, Granderson)
• Would prefer a shorter-term commitment (Brantley fit that bill, but you can’t always get what you want… sometimes players choose to go elsewhere, and perhaps the money still wasn’t right for Atlanta)
• Would prefer a lefty bat (Brantley was one of those)
• Trying to wait on the market to come to them.  Both the Dodgers and Astros (especially now) could be willing to make a trade deal, but they may not be quite ready yet.
• Could also be waiting on another shoe to drop (Realmuto?) that could impact other choices, other players being available to trade.

But yes – it will happen… sooner or later.  Acting too quick could leave Atlanta out if something breaks later.

What Else Happened Recently?

Lots of transactions popping up… as we had surmised:

• Matt Harvey -> Angels
• Daniel Descalso -> Cubs
• Zach Putnam -> Red Sox (minor league deal)
• Zach Lee -> Mets (was it ‘Zach day?’)
• Terrance Gore -> Royals
• Lance Lynn -> Rangers
• Matt Adams – < back with Washington

Rumors

• There’s conflicting info on whether the Phillies met with Bryce Harper during the Winter Meetings.  Jon Heyman says ‘yes’... Steve Phillips says ‘no’.
• Mets are probably out on A.J. Pollock.
• Astros are considering Nelson Cruz?  Maybe not after Brantley.
• And now your obligatory Craig Mish update from Miami:

He’s not yet buying the Astros’ interest… the referenced percentages have Atlanta still at 35% for Realmuto, the Yankees at 30% (seems high), and the Astros barely on the board at 5%.

Personally, my suspicion is that with Brantley on board, they could up their prior bid (and indeed, the only reason to contact Miami again might be to raise their offer for Realmuto).

If so, the Astros would be going ‘all in’... and that’s because they perceive their competition in 2019 is in Boston and New York… and they have to beat those clubs in every way possible to get back to the World Series.  Their ‘window for winning’ is closing and I would not be surprised to see them pony up for Realmuto… soon.

But Atlanta?  Waiting for the right moment to strike.  Oh hey… Harper hits lefty…