Nick Markakis Addition Likely a Precursor of More Moves to Come for Braves

The Atlanta Braves are bringing in an outfielder, having agreed to terms with former Baltimore Oriole Nick Markakis, a move that could mean they're positioning themselves to trade yet another outfielder this offseason. Maybe even two more.

Markakis, who turned 31 in November, has come to terms on a four-year deal with the Braves, as Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports:

Over those four years, Markakis will earn $44 million, according to Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun.

While indications from earlier this offseason made it seem likely that Markakis would re-sign with Baltimore, where he played nine big league seasons after being drafted by the O's No. 7 overall in 2003, the deal is surprising for Atlanta but not unreasonable in terms of money or years.

Whatever you think of Markakis, his $11 million average annual salary is more or less the going rate on the open market for a proven, durable, everyday starting position player these days.

Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

That the Braves made a rather sudden push to land Markakis, however, likely is a precursor indicating the club has more moves in store.

Given how active Atlanta has been so far this offseason under new president of baseball operations John Hart, more seems not just likely but inevitable, especially surrounding the Braves' current outfield situation, as Passan writes.

Since taking over for longtime general manager Frank Wren, who was fired in September amid the team's tumble from playoff contention with a 27-40 mark the second half, Hart hasn't wasted any time remaking the roster as he sees fit.

Having already traded homegrown Brave Jason Heyward along with reliever Jordan Walden to the St. Louis Cardinals for right-hander Shelby Miller and pitching prospect Tyrell Jenkins in November, Hart very well may be importing Markakis now in order to export one or both of Justin Upton and/or Evan Gattis later. Maybe even not-so-later.

(Earlier in November, Hart also swapped second baseman Tommy La Stella to the Chicago Cubs to re-acquire righty Arodys Vizcaino.)

In his career, Markakis has almost exclusively played right field—Heyward's former spot with the team.

Meanwhile, Upton also is strictly a corner outfielder, and Gattis is expected to move out from behind the plate to left field, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported in November.

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

"We want to get Evan’s bat in the lineup," Hart said at the time, "and if he catches, he would play just 100 games, and we would not have a bat perhaps good enough to hit cleanup for those other games. So we are going to put Evan in left field and see what we have."

If you're keeping score at home, that means the Braves now have three corner outfielders for two spots. The easy arithmetic points to a trade.

So, too, does the fact that Upton will be a free agent after the 2015 season. Considering he'll be just 28 years old and possesses a powerful right-handed bat (104 homers and a .479 slugging percentage the past four seasons), Upton will command a nine-figure salary.

As the Heyward trade signaled, the Braves almost certainly don't have the budget for that kind of an extension after locking up a large part of their young core long-term last winter.

That's why there have been scores of rumors about Upton being a potential trade chip, per Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

Same goes for Gattis, in fact. Although the 28-year-old has four years left of team control, Atlanta appears open to exploring the possibility of swapping the slugger, too.

As Mark Bowman of MLB.com writes:

"

Hart has not ruled out the possibility of keeping both Justin Upton and Gattis. But at the same time, he has made it clear that the club is attempting to strengthen itself for the future with the hope of being a consistent postseason contender when SunTrust Park opens in 2017.

"

And that's not all:

"

While much of the trade speculation over the past few weeks has centered on Gattis and the younger Upton, the Braves have not completely given up on the possibility of trading B.J. Upton and the $46.4 million he is owed over the next three seasons. But in order to move the elder Upton, Atlanta would have to find a team that is willing to swap bad contracts or accept him as part of a package that would be highlighted by Gattis or Justin Upton.

"

In short, even before the Markakis-to-Atlanta deal became a reality, a chance existed that the Braves could have an all-new outfield in 2015.

Now that Heyward is out of the picture and Markakis is set to join the team, that scenario looks a heck of a lot more likely.

And the way Hart is wheeling and dealing, it may not take that much longer, either.

Statistics are accurate through the 2014 season and courtesy of MLB.com, Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.

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