Atlanta Braves put several on Fangraphs trade values list

In their annual feature, fangraphs.com ranks major league players but perceived trade value.  Several Atlanta Braves got their attention this year.

We are in the midst of trade season, and even Atlanta Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos was caught suggesting on Fox Sports Wednesday evening that the dam might start releasing some deals as early as this weekend.

The art of the trade is a fascinating subject, based on so many factors:

• A great deal of it that is solidly based on scouting:  watching players and determining how they can benefit your team.
• There’s negotiation.  Gaining an understanding of the needs of another club and trying to gain the advantage of getting what you need without also losing something you need.
• There’s valuation.
  • “Value” can come in terms of performance, length of control, age, cost to keep, the ‘intangibles’, and more.
  • While you must assess the value of players based on your own organization, you may also find that some of your counterparts may value certain players higher or lower.
  • That difference in perception of advantage between differing clubs can be exploited… if you do your homework right.

The Value Equation is what we’re talking about today.

Interestingly enough, as fangraphs ranks these players – arguably the Top 50 performers (whether now or projected) in the major leagues, you’d have to look at nearly every one and think “but there’s just no way this guy would ever be traded”.

You’d be right, too.

The upshot of these rankings is that these players are valued so highly that it would be nearly impossible to assemble enough value from a suitor to convince a GM to let them so… unless perhaps another player on this list was involved.

Just to underscore this point:  if you were to scan the entire Top 50, there’s one common thread:  none of them have appeared in any serious trade rumor during this year’s trade cycle.

Let’s see how the Braves fared in the 2019 edition of this fangraphs’ survey.