5 Unexpected Trades the Atlanta Braves Could Pull off This Offseason

The Atlanta Braves have already made one big trade this season, swapping their old general manager, Frank Wren, for the new team of John Hart and his padawan, John Coppolella. The team has also been busy trading out a lot of its coaching staff for different versions.

In the weeks ahead, Atlanta could embark on a mission to trade a lot more than general managers and coaches. Trading away key players in an effort to acquire prospects and rebuild the team is something that I recommended on my blog last month, and it’s also something that both principal beat writers who cover the Braves, David O’Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Mark Bowman of MLB.com, have suggested.

We still don’t know what direction the new front office regime will actually take, but if it goes the route of rebuilding, then I believe there are as many as five unexpected trades the Braves could make. Note that I am not counting a trade of B.J. Upton among them, as that wouldn’t fall in the category of “unexpected.”

Begin the slideshow to see the five Braves players who could get traded this offseason.

Evan Gattis

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El Oso Blanco is unfortunately the guy most likely to get traded this offseason. Like so many fans, I was on the Evan Gattis bandwagon from day one. There’s just so much to love about this kid, from the story of his rocky road to the majors to his lack of batting gloves to the great nickname—the big guy is a fan favorite.

But the business of baseball can’t always accommodate fan favorites. Gattis is a hard worker, but he’s not a first-division defensive catcher. He did what the team asked in 2013 when he played a lot of outfield, but he’s never been an outfielder before in his baseball career. Gattis is probably best used as a designated hitter, and that is one reason why the Braves will attempt to trade him to an American League team this offseason.

The other reason is the presence of young catcher Christian Bethancourt. He’s the better defensive catcher, and there is hope that his hitting will eventually arrive.

In return for Gattis, the Braves could get two good prospects or one really good prospect. He could also be swapped for an established mid-rotation major league starter or setup reliever.

Justin Upton

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Justin Upton is in the final year of his contract and signed for just $14.5 million next year. With a weak crop of free-agent power hitters on the market, Upton could bubble to the top of the bats that are available via trade.

The team that acquires him would get the first crack at signing him to a long-term contract next year, but if it can’t, it can be confident in extending him a qualifying offer at the end of 2015. That will give the team a first-round pick if he signs elsewhere and make up for one of the prospects that was traded away.

Armed with that knowledge, and the fact that the Braves could also hold onto him and get draft-pick compensation next year, Atlanta should feel secure in asking for at least two first-round-quality prospects in any trade.

Jason Heyward

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Much like Justin Upton, Jason Heyward is in the final year of his deal before he becomes a free agent and likely gets a huge, multiyear contract. The big advantage with Heyward is that he could interest more teams than anyone else on the trade or free-agent market.

He will make just $7.8 million next year—a bargain for a player with the offensive potential and defensive prowess that J-Hey can bring to the field. That lower salary—almost half of Upton’s—could interest a lot of small-market or mid-market teams with tight payrolls.

A team like the Cleveland Indians or Minnesota Twins that’s trying to be competitive while in the bottom third of MLB payrolls might be willing to part with two or three prospects for Heyward, knowing that it would get one back at the end of the year with a qualifying offer.

Mike Minor

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Even though he rebounded from a bad stretch last season to finish out the year strong, the Braves could determine that now is the time to move Mike Minor. The principal motivator behind this decision is his escalating salary through arbitration.

According to Matt Swartz and MLBTradeRumors.com, Minor is set to get an arbitration salary of $5.1 million next year. That’s a modest raise from his $3.85 million salary this year, but it could pale in comparison to third- and fourth-year arbitration numbers in 2016-17.

If the Braves can’t sign Minor to a long-term contract, or if he is not interested in signing a long-term contract with Atlanta, then that could prompt the team to trade him this offseason before any more erratic pitching occurs.

With contracts for good starting pitching going through the roof, a low-cost guy like Minor (even in his later arbitration years) could be an attractive option for some teams. With three more years of team control, trading Minor now would maximize his trade value and likely return two good to great prospects.

Craig Kimbrel

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Wait, what, who? Craig Kimbrel?

That’s right, I’m suggesting it…and it would be unthinkable. But let’s think about it for a minute.

What would a team that needs a really good closer pay for the best closer in baseball?

Combine that with a year in which there is only one real closer (with just one year of closing experience) on the free-agent market, the Yankees’ David Robertson. There are some discards, such as Francisco Rodriguez and Rafael Soriano, but no one who can approach the dominance of Kimbrel.

If the Braves have already made a few trades and committed themselves to rebuilding with a complete overhaul, then trading Kimbrel could make sense. With all the factors listed above making the available relief pitching scarce this offseason, Atlanta might see if it could extract three top prospects from a desperate team.

It may be unthinkable, but when rebuilding, everyone is in the trade conversation.