The wild, yet bizarre, offseason of the Atlanta Braves took an odd turn on Monday night, when Fox’s Ken Rosenthal reported that the team tried to package Evan Gattis with B.J. Upton together in a deal to the Houston Astros. The proposed trade would have sent Dexter Fowler and an unnamed pitching prospect to Atlanta.
Fowler, 28, was a logical target for the Braves — he is from Atlanta and would have replaced Upton in center field. The Braves also are seeking young pitching and would like to add a veteran catcher such as Corporan to pair with Christian Bethancourt.
The Astros, however, balked at adding $39 million in payroll — the difference between Upton’s remaining $46.35 million and Fowler’s $7.35 million — and the teams never agreed on the second player going to the Braves.
This failed proposal is all well and good, but let’s face facts here – this may have cleared payroll, but it wouldn’t make the Braves much better in 2015 and beyond. Fowler will be a free agent after the 2015 season, and will make at least $9 million through arbitration (MLBTR projects him at an even $9.0 million).
Justin Upton is also a free agent after 2015, assuming the Braves don’t resign him. That means that after trading Gattis and B.J. Upton, the team would still need one starting outfielder for 2015 after trading Jason Heyward, and would have exactly zero outfield starters signed for 2016 and beyond.
But hey, at least the Braves would have payroll space! That means they could sign a free agent outfielder or two like Melky Cabrera, Nick Markakis, Michael Morse, or Alex Rios! That wouldn’t end poorly at all! Or they could wait until next winter, when Yoenis Cespedes, Austin Jackson, and uh…Drew Stubbs are free agents! Gee, none of those players would end up as busts, would they?
