Our Braves and Diamondbacks Hypothetical Trades piece is 3rd in a series of pieces determined to either find good matches in trades for the Braves and/or find teams that could be selling. Here are our first 2 pieces in the series:
The Diamondbacks finished the 2020 season as the cellar dweller of the NL West with a record of 25-35. Inside a division with the Dodgers and the all-in Padres, they’re destined for 3rd or worse in their own division and .500 ball is about the best they can hope for with their current group. While they don’t seem to be financially stricken, they have several players with 1-2 years of control that they could part with before their next run. With a top-10 farm system ready to bloom in 2023, the Diamondbacks would likely entertain the idea of adding to that farm system for expiring contracts.
Cot’s Contracts on Diamondbacks
Here are a list of players that could be made available by the Diamondbacks and their contracts:
- Kole Calhoun: 1/$8MM with $2MM buyout on a 2022 $9MM option
- Eduardo Escobar: 1/$7.5MM
- David Peralta: 2/$15MM
While none of these guys seem like Marcell Ozuna replacements, they can be a key component to a platoon should Braves choose to go that route. As in our other exercises, I’ll be utilizing the trade simulator to weigh deals.
Fake Trade Idea Number 1
- Braves get Kole Calhoun
- Diamondbacks get Sean Newcomb
Breakdown: Neither of these players have much surplus value, but Calhoun turned in a pretty good 2020. Newcomb needs a fresh start elsewhere and would come with 4 years of control. Of the realistic deals, this seems the most realistic and one that definitely makes sense for the Braves if they don’t go the big route for an OF bat.
Fake Trade Idea Number 2
- Braves get Eduardo Escobar
- Diamondbacks get Johan Camargo
Breakdown: Braves get what Johan Camargo should’ve been for 1 year in exchange for the actual Johan Camargo. I’m not convinced this is a good idea, but it’s an idea.
Fake Trade Idea Number 3
- Braves get David Peralta
- Diamondbacks get Sean Newcomb and Touki Toussaint
Breakdown: Peralta will be 34 next year and isn’t likely to get better, but he’s not getting much worse either. He can still hit RHP very well and would be a solid versatile bat for 2 years.
I’m not really in love with any of these deals. It’s not necessarily who the Braves would be giving up as it’s fake deals and pieces can be swapped around should Diamondbacks prefer prospects over MLB talent. What bothers me is that they all feel cheap…like the Braves settled for less instead of cashing in on their window. Still, if one of the 3 above were complementary pieces and the Braves still went and got that one big bat, then I’d definitely consider any of these 3.
Great series, Ryan. Good to hear new voices in the comments too. It looks like the Journal is gaining fans daily.
Keep writing and discussing. Reading BJ is a high point in my day.
Peralta has been a pretty good offensive player for some time and he is on a reasonable contract albeit at the twilight of his career. It would take more than that to get him. I would imagine the Dbacks would want another lower level guy with some ceiling to get him as they don’t seemed pressed for money. They just aren’t going to compete with the Dodgers and Padres. Trading for him feels like an AA move (more so if he was in the last year of his deal).
@Wesley
I agree that I think it’ll take more than that to get him. He’s been a staple in their org for a while and even though he doesn’t have much surplus value going into 2021, they’ll need a sweetener to pull the trigger.
@Coop
I’ve noticed new names too! Some of my Twitter friends, like Wesley above and Ryan Bauer, have been coming over to comment as well as others. It makes me very happy.
Braves Journal writer Jeremy Timmerman with an interesting thought that seems right up this board’s alley. Thoughts?
@4 – 100% on board with that. My roto league has done it that way for years.
My fantasy football league has always done that. The winner of the consolation bracket gets the 1st pick the following year, then it goes by reverse order of finish.
Yep, I’m basically on board with this.
The idea of the draft lottery sort of works the same way, but I do like bluntly rewarding teams for finishing .500, rather than rewarding them for losing 90+ games. There has always been a fear of a rich-get-richer trend, and that’s another reason that MLB has mostly banned draft pick trades, which otherwise make good sense. Frankly, if an owner is unwilling to spend a nickel on the major league squad, maybe he or she should consider selling the club to someone who will. The idea of treating small market clubs as the indigent poor is risible, given how much these teams sell for.
They do need to do what they can to avoid tanking, but its not that easy, maybe a really brief losers tournament that determines draft picks placement?
Would be like an extra postseason
Hello, friends. I really miss baseball.
@4 I get that it’s a great indication of who is “trying” to win, but you have “first team out’s” that win 90+ games. They don’t need Bryce Harper.
@10 – I think the question is, who deserves Bryce Harper?
@11 I don’t know if there’s a team I hate enough to answer that question.
The wonderful thing is that the epistemologically true answer is the same as the ontologically true answer.
The Phillies.
You cannot get this anywhere else. Thanks, gents.
Who would have interest in a BJ Fantasy Baseball League?
I am down to be the commissioner/create the league. I prefer Yahoo to ESPN.
New thread. Chief, I’ll bring you over.
https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2021/01/05/braves-and-cleveland-indians-hypothetical-trades/
Another simple way to avoid tanking is to do a 6-7 team draft lottery like the NBA, but you could give more Ping pong balls to the teams closer to .500 and a few less to the 2-3 teams with the worst record.
And like NASCAR (I think) does with the flipping of the field in the all-star race, you don’t know how many teams are going to be in the lottery until the season ends and the Commish spins the wheel or draws a number out of a hat (on TV).
So if you monkey around and lose too many, you get fewer balls in the hopper, or worse, Miss the lottery altogether and have to pick just before the playoff teams.