Should the Atlanta Braves jump in on Mookie Betts?

With every passing moment, it seems as if a Mookie Betts trade is becoming more and more likely. Should the Atlanta Braves be in the mix?

Even with the current group of outfielders they have, should the Atlanta Braves pursue Mookie Betts and maybe see if we can snag him out of Boston before one of the current favorites (San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers) do?

I will go ahead and answer that question, if you believe you can get him without going way overboard, you absolutely try at the very minimum to swing a deal for him.

It does not matter if he has stated he will try his hand in free agency at year’s end, I would still go for it. Even if he is only here for one year, he could be the difference between wearing a ring next Spring or not.

Heck, Mookie Betts could be the difference in playing meaningful October baseball or completely missing out altogether.

The best player in the world is not an argument, everyone knows that is Mike Trout. However, a very strong argument could be made that Mookie Betts is the second best player in the world.

On top of that, one of the main people who could replace him as the second-best would be his teammate in this dream scenario, Ronald Acuna.

As mentioned earlier, and as most already know, Betts is headed to test the market after the 2020 season. So would you have to pay prospect wise to get him, yes. Would you have to pay a king’s ransom? Probably not.

An offer that would be deemed fair would probably be something like Kyle Wright, William Contreras, and maybe someone like Patrick Weigel. Obviously those could be interchangeable but you get the point.

As far as money goes, yes Mookie Betts would be expensive as he is due $27M this upcoming year, but if the Atlanta Braves were to ship off some assets like Ender Inciarte, Shane Greene, and Adam Duvall, then it’s not an amount that would bog down the Atlanta Braves.

To add onto that last point, would those three get you back the prospects you just gave to Boston for Betts? No, but they should be able to get the Atlanta Braves some of the prospect capital back, but again, it would mostly be for salary purposes.

Doing a little day dreaming here, but if the Atlanta Braves did acquire Mookie Betts, they would have the scariest offense in the game. Yes, even over the New York Yankees, or whoever else you would want to match them up with.

A top 5 in some order of the following

• Ronald Acuna
• Ozzie Albies
• Freddie Freeman
• Mookie Betts
• Marcell Ozuna

And obviously, the bottom three would still be Travis d’Arnaud, Dansby Swanson, and Austin Riley/Johan Camargo, which in turn might lessen the burden that one of those two scheduled to play third base might feel otherwise if they are asked to be a top 5 hitter in the Atlanta Braves lineup.

Just in case you have not noticed how good Mookie Betts has been in his brief career thus far, let’s look at the accolades, and remember he will be playing the 2020 season still at the young age of 27.

• AL MVP
• 4X All-Star
• 4X Gold Glove winner
• 3x Silver Slugger
• 2018 batting title winner
• 2x Wilson Defensive Player of the Year
• 10.9 WAR in 2018
• 42 career WAR thus far

The Atlanta Braves would be a much better club if they were to acquire the services of Mookie Betts. They would then become the National League favorites over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Let us know in the comment section below if this is something you would like to see the Atlanta Braves go after?