What potential capital would Atlanta be ready to part with if they wanted to strike a trade deal?
The Atlanta Braves believe they can make one big summer splash per season.
In the last three years, Atlanta has added pitcher Charlie Morton after 2020, pitcher Matt Olson after 2021, and pitcher Sean Murphy after 2022. Morton was signed as a free agent, but the other two were acquired via trade (and both from the same team, the Oakland Athletics).
Atlanta’s farm system is widely considered to have fallen into the bottom third of baseball in terms of quality and quantity, but there are still useful pieces there that would be desirable to other teams.
What are Atlanta’s most appealing trade pieces if they were to make a trade (say, for Mitch Keller of the Pirates or Tyler Glasnow of the Rays)?
Vaughn Grissom, an infielder, is a likely relocation candidate.
Grissom, 22, was promoted from AA Mississippi (where he’d only played 22 games) to Atlanta as an emergency call-up last August due to injuries to both Ozzie Albies and ineffectiveness by four other backups.
USA TODAY Sports’ Kyle Ross
He batted.291/.353/.440 with 5 home runs in 41 games in 2022 while playing second base, and he followed that up with rotational work in 2023 while Orlando Arcia was sidelined with a microfracture of the wrist. However, his output dipped both at the plate (.280/.313/.347 with no homers) and defensively (six errors in only 158 innings), and he was replaced by Braden Shewmake before being relegated back to AAA Gwinnett for the remainder of the regular season.
Alex Anthopoulos alluded to Grissom as an infielder in his postseason comments and stated that finding playing time for him was a priority for 2024, but Atlanta’s established infield combined with Grissom’s success in AAA Gwinnett may make him an enticing trade target to other teams.
When Atlanta talks about trade transactions, expect Grissom to be one of the first names mentioned.
Could Atlanta move Michael Soroka?
The righthander battled back from three Achilles tears to make it back to MLB, but he didn’t have the statistical season he hoped for. Combine that with the fact that he accumulated a fifth year of service time while on the injured list and may now refuse any assignment to the minor leagues, and Atlanta could either non-tender Soroka or, more likely, set an arbitration hearing with him and trade him.
Brett Davis is a sports reporter for USA TODAY.
With a projected $3M salary in his final year of arbitration before free agency, it’s easy to imagine a team asking for Soroka in a trade, hoping he can return to his NL Rookie of the Year runner-up form from 2019.
Drake Baldwin is a skilled catcher who plays in a depth role.
Baldwin, Atlanta’s third-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft out of Missouri State, advanced from High-A Rome to AAA Gwinnett in his first full season in the minors, batting.270/.385/.460 with 14 home runs in 109 games.
Baldwin, who is more than adequate with the bat, also caught 23% of attempted basestealers and allowed only three passed balls in over 630 innings behind the plate, indicating that he may be a well-rounded package at catcher.
With 2023 All-Star Sean Murphy signed for five more years (with a club option on a sixth season, his age 34 season) and “backup” Travis d’Arnaud in the fold for up to two more seasons, Baldwin may be out of the majors for a while.
Over the years, Atlanta has been known for good catcher play, not only from their backstops (Brian McCann and Javy Lopez), but also from prospects they’ve traded, such as William Contreras (currently the starter in Milwaukee), Shea Langeliers (currently the starter in Oakland), and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (who played for six different teams for 12 years). The organization’s skill pedigree is strong enough to offer an acquiring team confidence in what they’re getting.
Baldwin is ranked 13th in our next organizational prospect rankings, while MLB Pipeline ranks him 28th.
Atlanta’s pitching depth might be used in a deal.
The BRaves have a plethora of back-end rotation types in AAA, as evidenced by their use of thirteen traditional starters last year (and sixteen different starters altogether, when considering openers).
It’s also feasible that an organization develops feelings for Jared Shuster, Allan Winans, Dylan Dodd, or Darius Vines and requests one of them in exchange for a starting spot in 2024.
Atlanta has traded potential starting pitchers Patrick Weigel (Milwaukee), Bryce Wilson & Ricky DeVito (Pittsburgh), Ryan Cusick & Joey Estes (Oakland), Andrew Hoffman (Kansas City), and Tucker Davidson (Los Angeles Angels) in the last three years, and it could be argued that the Braves nailed their evaluations on each of those outgoing players.
Because of Atlanta’s pitching-heavy drafts in recent years, the Braves have a plethora of not-yet Rule 5 eligible arms to package in a deal. If Atlanta refuses to deal AJ Smith-Shawver and 2023 draftee Hurston Waldrep (which is the perfect choice – I wouldn’t move either one, honestly), there will be plenty of arms available.
There is always the possibility of Chavez, Jesse
I’m not sure why, but Atlanta has traded the now-40-year-old Chavez twice and he’s always found his way back. The most recent deal came in August 2022, when Chavez was traded along with starter Tucker Davidson to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for closer Raisel Iglesias. Chavez was waived less than a month after being dealt and quickly rejoined the Braves.
He missed half of the season due to a fractured shin, but he also had one of his best years since 2018 in 2023, with a 1-0 record and 1.56 ERA in 34.2 innings – provided he’s healthy, Atlanta bringing him back on another minor-league deal feels like an easy decision for a team that’s set to lose up to five relievers to free agency this season.
