Braves general manager Frank Wren has given indications that he would be open to re-signing Tim Hudson, tweets David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. MLB.com's Mark Bowman offers the same take (also via Twitter), though his wording — "strong indication" — is even more emphatic than O'Brien's.
Hudson, who turned 38 in July, saw his season end prematurely in a gruesome freak accident in which Eric Young Jr. stepped on his ankle in a race to first base, resulting in a fracture that would require surgery. Though he didn't pitch after July 24, Hudson still totaled 131 innings of 3.97 ERA ball with 6.5 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 55.8 percent ground-ball rate. Prior to his injury, he'd rattled off a 2.73 ERA over the course of 10 starts, shaking off the rust from an early-season slump.
In my recent free agent profile for Hudson, I noted that he could be forced to find a new team due to the Braves' wealth of young pitching talent. Atlanta currently has Kris Medlen, Julio Teheran, Mike Minor, Brandon Beachy, Alex Wood and David Hale as rotation candidates with big league experience, and that's before even mentioning top prospects J.R. Graham and Sean Gilmartin, each of whom could surface in the Majors next season.
If the Braves are interested in retaining their longtime rotation stalwart, it's hard to imagine a better fit for Hudson. He makes his home in the Atlanta suburbs, would be reunited with his coaching staff and teammates and would also joining a contender for the 2014 season. Hudson is scheduled to be healthy in early- to mid-November, so the Braves should be able to quickly determine how much they feel he can help them in 2014.
