What Are Some of the Big Trade Rumors for the Atlanta Braves During the MLB Off-Season?
Something that may be difficult to grasp for non-American sports fans is that teams and franchises are known to change town or city. It doesn’t matter if they have been based in the same place for decades, if the owner decides he wants them to play their home games in a stadium 3000 miles away from now on, that is what is going to happen, whether the fans like it or not.
In the NFL, the Las Vegas Raiders would be a prime example. They began life in Oakland, before moving down to Los Angeles. The stint in LA was short-lived, and soon they moved back to Oakland again. Then, in 2020, they moved to Nevada, and now play in Sin City.
Other examples in the NBA would be the Clippers (who travelled north from San Diego to Los Angeles) and in the MLB we have the Atlanta Braves. They began life in Boston, spending 60 years in Massachusetts before heading to Milwaukee for 12 years, before moving south to Atlanta, where they’ve been based since 1966.
The Braves have just lifted the 2021 World Series, where they beat the Houston Astros 4-2. It was a thrilling series, as was the whole playoffs. If fans had used the best sportsbook bonus to place bets on the Braves to go all the way at the beginning of October, they would have been overjoyed at the outcome. The best time to bet on them would have been after game 2, where the Braves and the Astros had 1 win each. After that, however, as Atlanta went on a winning spree, the odds for them to win the World Series would have gotten shorter and shorter.
By winning the championship this year, they became the first side to ever win the World Series in 3 different home cities, as they also won baseball’s top prize during their time in both Milwaukee and Boston. In total, this was their 4th World Series title, with their last coming all the way back in 1995. Will the bookmakers make them an enticing prospect for bettors next season?
While many fans, and possibly the players and staff as well, will still be busy celebrating their triumph over the Astros, General Manager Alex Anthopoulos and President Derek Schiller will be already looking ahead to next season. In all sports, it is generally accepted that you can’t sit still while you’re on top, and that you have to look to add and improve to your squad from a position of power. Given that they will now be last in the 2022 draft pick, they’ll have to make moves in the trade market to freshen things up.
Let’s take a look at some of their targets for the off-season, whether that is bringing in new players, or trying to keep hold of some of their current crop of talent.
Impending free agents that should be resigned
There are several players who helped the Braves to their World Series win whose contracts have now expired. While many of them will be allowed to move on, despite playing key roles in the championship-winning season, there are some names amongst this list that will, in an ideal world, be brought back.
The first is Freddie Freeman, the first baseman who has been with the Braves for his entire professional career. Not only has he played a huge part for the team for the last 10 years, but he also performed strongly throughout the playoff campaign. It might not be cheap to sign him up again, but Anthopoulos and Schiller would be foolish not to do everything it takes to bring him back to Turner Field.
Another man who falls into this category is the outfielder Jorge Soler. Unlike Freeman, he has only been with the Braves since July, but in that time has quickly proved himself to be a valuable addition. He hit 3 home runs during the World Series, which led to him being awarded the MVP for the finals. Singing him up again would be a smart move.
Will the Braves bring in a pitcher?
One possible area that the Braves could look to strengthen is at pitcher. Looking at the list of free agents, there are a number of names available that could certainly do a job for them, even if they weren’t brought in as a number 1.
Max Scherzer has had a stellar career, winning the 2019 World Series, and winning several Cy Young Awards. Now his contract at the LA Dodgers has run down, he could be just the sort of player the Braves could pick up, if they were willing to pay for his contract.
Other options could include Robbie Ray, who recently ended his tenure with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Experienced Morton back for 2022
Another player who has already been signed up for next season, with an option for 2023, is Charlie Morton. It hasn’t come cheap at $20 million, but given his wealth of experience, the Braves clearly thought it was more than worth having him sign up to help them defend their title.
