Why the Atlanta Braves are setting up to trade a catcher

The Atlanta Braves have recognized that in their micro-free-enterprise system called ‘Major League Baseball’, supply and demand considerations loom large.

The Atlanta Braves now have this taste of winning and it’s a meal worth getting again and again.

What follows almost certainly will not be acted upon until after a new labor agreement is completed, but the handwriting is on the wall that Atlanta is making a young catcher available on the trade market… and he could be their most attractive trade piece this Winter.

There are thirty MLB teams.  Every one of them needs at least two catchers, so that’s 60 players all together.

But how many did the Braves themselves use in 2021?  Seven catchers.  For all of MLB, it was 112… nearly four per team:  more than any other infield position and with the lowest OPS in the infield, to boot (.696 across MLB).

So having a good, available catcher is definitely an advantage.  In the end, it’s all about leverage. Whenever you can get it, you make use of this weapon.

We saw a bit last year just how difficult it is for teams to cover the catching position when they lose a man as the Miami Marlins swallowed hard and acquiesced to a deal with a division rival to send Adam Duvall up the Florida Turnpike toward Atlanta.  They got a catcher in return.

Before that date, Alex Jackson‘s career with the Braves included just 19 games and 50 total plate appearances at the major league level.

Miami, however, immediately put him into 42 games with 123 PA just between August 1st and the end of the 2021 season.  That despite an OPS+ of 47 (half that of the “average” offensive player).

i.e., available catchers are a rare commodity.  But let’s see what options Atlanta has.