The Atlanta Braves have been a busy team during the first few weeks of the offseason. First, they reportedly were close to a deal with the Kansas City Royals involving Martin Prado and/or Jair Jurrjens, but that fell through and both sides have since looked elsewhere.
On Friday morning, ESPN's Jayson Stark gave Braves Country an update surrounding the team and what they may plan to do:
Teams that have spoken with the Braves report they're continuing to "float" Jair Jurrjens' name, even after their potential deal to send him to Kansas City fell through. "They're not really pushing him. They're floating him," said an executive of one team that spoke with them. "The impression we got is they've got to unload money. They want to get a bat, and the only way to do it is to unload money. The one guy they'd move, no problem, is Martin Prado. He seems like he's fallen from grace over there."
First of all, I have a hard time believing Martin Prado has, 'fallen from grace' with the organization. Throughout his tenure in Atlanta, he has done nothing but be professional both on and off the field and has great value to Fredi Gonzalez and the team.
Second of all, the more and more we see this offseason, I truly believe Frank Wren will not hesitate do pull the trigger on a deal if the right one comes around for Prado, Jurrjens, or any one of our talented young players.
Finally, there seems to be a continuing theme whenever we hear about the Braves: the team wants to cut payroll to free themselves up for a big-name player (or players). While one can speculate all he or she wants, it only makes sense that the team would pursue a shortstop and possibly a left fielder. Stark mentions Jimmy Rollins' name in the same article:
One friend of Jimmy Rollins tells Rumblings he has more than a half-dozen teams interested in him. An educated guess on five of them: Phillies, Cardinals, Brewers, Braves and Giants.
Earlier this week, we heard the team was not in on Rollins or Jose Reyes. Now we have Stark, one of the more credible national baseball writers around, saying the Braves could be interested in the veteran shortstop.
I still do not believe a deal happens because of the eventual price tag and length of the contract, but J-Roll would make a lot of sense for Atlanta. He would be a perfect No. 2 hitter behind Michael Bourn, can still hit for power and get on base at a decent clip, steals bases and continues to be one of the better defensive shortstops in the league.
Anything more than a three-year contract would be scary -- Rollins will turn 33 at the end of this month -- but Wren could definitely be open to a deal if the contract length is short enough.
Still, though, I'm not buying it.
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Team kicks tires on Jamey Carroll:
There were some whispers this morning about veteran utility man Jamey Carroll, but after some early speculation on the Braves, it appears they are not in on the 37-year old. Ken Rosenthal updated us:
Sources: #Braves, #Indians not among finalists for Jamey Carroll. #mlb
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As Veterans Day arrives...
I, as well as the rest of the SB Nation Atlanta team, would like to thank everyone who has served in our nation's military. We would not be here without you and we appreciate all you do from the bottom of our hearts.