The Braves have only made one notable move this offseason, signing Jurickson Profar to a three-year contract, but they might not be done.
“There’s plenty of really good players that we like, a lot of them, through trade or free agency,” Alex Anthopoulos said. “But you’re trying to get the right fit. It won’t surprise me if we’re still talking to people into Spring Training. It’s the way things are going. We’re almost into the month of February. So we’ll continue to see if something comes up that makes sense.”
The pitching staff needs to be bolstered. With A.J. Minter in New York and Joe Jimenez potentially on the shelf for the entire season, the Braves need to add another high-leverage reliever. The rotation could use addressing too. Spencer Strider is returning from internal brace surgery, while Max Fried and Charlie Morton both left in free agency.
“We’re not locked into one area,” Anthopoulos said. “If there’s a good starter deal, we’ll do it. Trade, free-agent signing or a bullpen deal, the same way. But we’re not close to anything. We’re still having conversations about both.”
Well, how about a trade of the blockbuster variety? Per Pat Ragazzo, the Braves, along with the Mets, have spoken to the Padres about a potential trade for Dylan Cease and Michael King.
“According to sources briefed on the situation, the Mets have spoken to the San Diego Padres about star pitchers Dylan Cease and Michael King who are both available via trade.
The NL East rival Braves are another team who are in need of starting pitching and have talked to the Padres about both Cease and King, sources say,” Ragazzo wrote.
Last season, Cease finished with a 3.47 ERA, 224 strikeouts, 1.067 WHIP, and 4.8 fWAR. After the Yankees traded King to the Padres, he pitched to the tune of a 2.95 ERA, 1.191 WHIP, and 3.9 fWAR.
Both will enter free agency next year, with Cease pretty much guaranteed to hit free agency as a Scott Boras client. That’s why it might make more sense to trade for King. He seems much more likely to sign a contract extension, which is essentially the only scenario where Alex Anthopoulos would part ways with top prospects in a trade.
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Photographer: Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire
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