With the Winter Meetings just a few days away and many teams ready to start taking care of their major offseason needs, the rumor mill is starting to churn as it routinely does this time of year.
After Sonny Grey signed with the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, the Braves’ two most obvious starting pitching targets in free agency (Grey and Aaron Nola) were no longer available. As a result, the chances of the Braves moving to the trade market grew logically. And, as usual, the Braves were linked to trade talks with the White Sox for ace Dylan Cease, as were many other teams in baseball.
As previously stated, the Braves’ interest in Cease is evident. He has two years of experience, has shown ace level potential in the past, and has good durability. Furthermore, being a native of Georgia, he matches characteristics with previous Alex Anthopoulos trade targets, players with ties to Atlanta that the Braves could pursue potentially extend for the long term once they are acquired.
However, with Cease, there are a couple of notable truths they may make an acquisition and extension easier said than done. For one, as a Scott Boras client, an extension could be less likely than it would be with other players. And with Cease being affordable and attractive in terms of money and talent, many teams are likely showing interest in the right-hander. As a result, Atlanta will likely have to part with a significant trade package that likely will need to include at least one of their prized pitching prospects, AJ Smith-Shawver or Hurston Waldrep.
Of course, the above information is mostly general in nature, so the information should be kept in context. The extent at which talks have occurred or if names have even been exchanged remains an unknown. It is notable that talks could have been going on for a bit of time since the Braves and White Sox recently completed the six player trade with Aaron Bummer coming to Atlanta and Michael Soroka heading to Chicago.
There’s also the fact that Alex Anthopoulos usually makes moves that no one expects, albeit a couple of his major manoeuvres in recent years have been reported on before they were executed. While little is known about the Braves’ true possibilities of acquiring Cease, it is clear that Atlanta is looking to make a significant upgrade to their pitching staff in some shape or manner.
And if talks heat up to the point where an agreement can be reached by Sunday’s Winter Meetings, we could get answers much sooner rather than later.
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