3 players the Braves have pursuit after this offseason begun.
If Alex Anthopoulous is to be trusted, the Atlanta Braves’ roster scramble this offseason is probably (hopefully?) leading to something exciting. Very few of their transactions have been straightforward; Marco Gonzales, Evan White, and Matt Carpenter have all come through and been flipped or dumped after failing to be flipped within days of their acquisitions. It’s weird, definitely unorthodox, and a little confusing, but we can only sit and wait for something big to happen.
Meanwhile, big free agent names are coming off the board, signing or being traded to other teams, and the Braves seem on the sidelines for most of them. They’ve been connected to various free agents and trade chips (Shohei Ohtani, for one shining moment, Dylan Cease, Eduardo Rodriguez, who we’ll get to in a second), but nothing has materialized yet. While we can remain optimistic that all of these small moves will add up to something, it’s a little frustrating having to wait while dominoes fall. Here are three players that the Braves should’ve made more of a play at this offseason.
Eduardo Rodriguez
Although the Braves were at one point rumored to be interested in Eduardo Rodriguez, nothing serious ever materialized between the two parties. He eventually went to the Diamondbacks on a four-year, $80 million contract during Winter Meetings, joining Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, and Brandon Pfaadt in what could be one of the best rotations in baseball next year. If the Diamondbacks are able repeat their miracle postseason run — which, with signing Rodriguez, resigning Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and acquiring Eugenio Suarez, they seem to be positioning themselves to do — there’s a good chance the Braves will run into them in the postseason.
After Sonny Gray, who the Braves were also connected to during his free agency, fell off the board by signing with the Cardinals, Rodriguez became the next best thing in the vicinity of both Gray’s skill and affordability (they ended up signing comparable contracts, too; Gray went to St. Louis on a three-year, $75 million deal). Rodriguez might even have a bit more upside, given that he’s only 30 and Gray is 34. Alas, the Braves missed out on Rodriguez to another potential playoff contender that seems set on coming back and winning the whole thing next year.
