FRIDAY, 9:07pm: The Braves have announced the agreement. To make room for Keuchel on their 40-man roster, they transferred reliever Darren O’Day to the 60-day injured list. Atlanta plans to activate Keuchel after he makes two starts in the minors, Mark Bowman of MLB.com tweets.
6:32pm: Keuchel has passed a physical, per Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter). The signing is expected to be announced tonight.
THURSDAY, 9:02pm: Keuchel’s contract is indeed for one year, reports Yahoo’s Tim Brown (Twitter link). He’ll be paid $13MM between now and season’s end, which is a bit more than the $11.16MM he’d have made on a prorated deal worth the same amount as the $17.9MM qualifying offer. (ESPN’s Jeff Passan adds that his base salary is technically around $20MM, and the $13MM represents the prorated version of that sum.) Keuchel will take a physical tomorrow, and he’ll jump right into the fray with Triple-A Gwinnett when he makes a start there on Saturday.
8:18pm: The Braves have agreed to terms with left-hander Dallas Keuchel, reports David O’Brien of The Athletic (Twitter link). It’s “likely” a one-year deal, O’Brien adds. Keuchel is represented by the Boras Corporation.
As was the case with Craig Kimbrel, Keuchel will see his prolonged free-agent saga come to a close just days after the draft-pick compensation that has hung over his head was lifted. The terms of the contract will surely be only a fraction of what the former Cy Young winner had eyed when rejecting a $17.9MM qualifying offer from the Astros back in November, but but a short-term arrangement will allow Keuchel the opportunity to once again test free agency — this time without the burden of a qualifying offer and likely with some lower expectations; Keuchel and Boras reportedly sought a contract of five years and more than $100MM in the early stages of free agency.
Keuchel, 31, has seen his results tail off since his brilliant Cy Young campaign back in 2015, but he’s still a quality arm who should provide some much-needed stability to a Braves rotation that hasn’t functioned according to plan (or anywhere close) in 2019. Top starter Mike Foltynewicz missed several weeks to open the season and has struggled considerably in his return from the injured list, while Sean Newcomb has been moved to the bullpen and Kevin Gausman is lugging around a 6.15 ERA. Julio Teheran has posted solid bottom-line results, but fielding-independent pitching metrics forecast him as a regression candidate.
Mike Soroka has been far and away the team’s best starter, putting himself not only in the Rookie of the Year race but in the Cy Young race early in the season. Soroka, however pitched just 56 1/3 innings between the Majors and minors last season and figures to have some degree of workload restriction facing him down the line. Lefty Max Fried has also emerged as a largely solid option, but he tossed only 111 innings last year and could see his own innings monitored a bit late in the year.
Last season, Keuchel racked up 204 2/3 innings while working to a 3.74 ERA with 6.7 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 0.79 HR/9 and a 53.7 percent ground-ball rate. Keuchel’s strikeout and ground-ball rates have dipped in recent seasons, particularly in 2018, and he also saw both his 2016-17 seasons shortened a bit by injuries. All of that has taken some of the shine of the lefty, but it’s also a fact that he’s posted a sub-3.00 ERA in three of the past five seasons. Even when throwing out his Cy Young campaign, Keuchel has a 3.77 ERA with a premium ground-ball rate and above-average control through his past 518 1/3 innings.
Based on that track record, there’s little doubt that he’ll be an upgrade for the Braves — especially when considering who he’ll likely replace. Gausman would appear to be the odd man out in this situation, as he’s struggled through the worst season of his career and could very well be bullpen-bound. If he can manage to find success in that admittedly presumptive new role, the benefit to the Braves would be twofold; not only would they get another quality arm in the ’pen, they’d have a starter working deeper into games (Keuchel) and thus not forcing the bullpen into action as frequently.
Keuchel drew interest elsewhere around the league, with the Yankees in particular being mentioned as an aggressive pursuer. However, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Yankees had a very clear cutoff with their offer and were not willing to budge beyond paying Keuchel the prorated portion of the $17.9MM qualifying offer (Twitter link). That base salary would’ve paid Keuchel about $11.16MM through season’s end — assuming a deal is completed tomorrow. The Cardinals, Twins and Rays were all mentioned as interested parties, to varying extents, although Juan Toribio of MLB.com tweets that Tampa Bay was never strongly after the lefty. Those teams will instead have to turn to the trade market in order to find rotation upgrades, as Keuchel was the open market’s lone realistic difference-maker.
The Braves, too, still figure to be active on the trade market moving forward. Even after adding Keuchel to the rotation, the Atlanta bullpen has been shaky and could stand to be improved upon. The team has been relying on Luke Jackson in the ninth inning as well as a host of converted starters and a series of low-cost fliers on veterans (e.g. Jerry Blevins, Anthony Swarzak). Newcomb has shown well in that role, as has Touki Toussaint, which makes the situation a bit less dire, but it’d nevertheless be a surprise if the Braves didn’t add at least one more reliable arm to the relief corps. Keuchel may very well be the highest-profile addition made by Atlanta between now and July 31, but he’s unlikely to be the only one.
Lol. Just glad the evil empire didn’t get him!
Don’t laugh. We’re gonna unload for Max Scherzer.
I don’t think they’d have the pieces to acquire him
Frazier, Andujar and German?
While the Yankees have the pieces to get Scherzer, not sure that a guy who appears to be a DH only and another who is out for the season are going to be the main pieces.
Yeah they do but don’t forget the fans will say we will never give up those future hall of Famers for literally the best pitcher in the game
Andujar’s injury is irrelevant to any potential deal, assuming teams would be confident it’s not a long-term issue. You’d still be getting 4 years of control of a way cheaper option to Rendon who’s yet to enter his prime – that’s a pretty good starting point. Frazier I agree with – guys like him are a dime a dozen nowadays.
Andujar couldn’t field before the injury.
Torres should get him
Who cares
I’m crying, not laughing, that Mo was apparently too cheap to bring him to St. Louis.
Nats aren’t going to part with Schezer when the division is still up for grabs.
Washington is in 13th place in the NL. Probably too early to panic, but they need a contingency plan for not making the playoffs. They were .500 last year at the trade deadline, and held onto everyone, hoping it would all come together.
Nats won’t trade him
Nor should they. Pitching is hard to find, and they have some good young players.
Gonna take more than that Package to get Max
As a Yankee fan I’m glad they didn’t get him!
You’re in the minority then. Just go read the article the other day on the Yankees emerging as the favorites to sign Keuchel.
He didn’t want to shave
Most dudes who rock beards like that are hiding chubby necks.
Or just like having a beard
Now get rid of Gausman and Faulty!
So, you want to dump 2/5 of the starting rotation?
whenever you see that guy’s comments just ignore him. he’s just a troll.
exactly
well someone has ti be bumped
Not necessarily. I think for now a 6 man rotation would behoove the Braves. Especially considering the extra rest it would provide Soroka and Fried. Not to mention the extra rest might prove to be beneficial to both Folty and Gausman
I think Fried performs better with regular rest; worse with extra days
Why would you get rid of folty. He’s young and has upside. he’s obviously got some issues lingering from his injuries because that’s when he started his troubles. SMH and I am Yankee fan.
Agreed
Well Gausman can kick rocks and Folty will be shifted to the pen when we get Mad Bum via a trade or he signs with us next year since he’s an unrestricted free agent. He has made it clear he wants to finish his career in Atlanta
When did he say that?
Since Bumgarner put all teams that were expected to be contenders on his no trade list before the year, does whatever bonus SF pays him to waive it count against their luxury tax?
lol
Basil Faulty?
Now watch the Braves unload Inciarte, O’Day and Duvall with some young arms for Will Smith & Pillar
How much more for DJ Jazzy Jeff?
hahaha! Classic
Take it from me, Alex Anthopoulos just don’t understand.
lmao at these refreshing jokes
What year is this?
@runDMC clutch move
No thanks on Pillar. That guy gets on base less than Ender
Gonna take more than that to get Smith. Duvall has very little value.
He did say with some young arms but given the ambiguity of that offer, if I were a Giants fan I’d scoff too.
Smith has more value than that entire package. Nice try.
Why would the Giants want Duvall? They traded him away for a reason. He ain’t coming back.
Not sure if multiple Braves fans continue to suggest Duvall to the Giants or the same fool everytime with multiple accounts but it’s the lamest idea on this site and there are more than a few doozies on here.
These are the Braves spare parts. This won’t get any kind of a prospect back. Inciarte might draw a mediocre one. Duval couldn’t even get cash considerations. He has negative value. Pillar is a DFA candidate who may not even get claimed for free if he is
another take my crap for a good player trade. It don’t work that way, pal.
This can’t be true. He said he was holding out for principle.
13mil > His principal
Wait, I thought Bowman and DOB said the Braves interest was “overstated”?
DOB is a smug idiot.
Seems like a good deal, for the Braves. All this holding out for a one year deal though, oooof.
The Beard LIVES!
Not sure if he qualifies as the ace the Braves needed, but at least Braves fans can’t say that the front office doesn’t totally suck
Um… See: Soroka, Michael
Soraka is not yet an established ace.
Well, ace maybe not, but he’s their clear #1. Not close
Max Fried too, even if he has hit a rough patch in his last few starts.
Soroka and Fried are going to be dominant for many years to come. Anderson to join soon and round out the trio.
Soroka, Fried, Anderson, possibly Wright with Touki closing would be fun.
90% of this fan base are complete idiots so they’ll still say it
Says a NASCAR fan. Although I might agree if you said Braves fans have very little baseball knowledge. Most aren’t complete idiots
So said the person who watches cars go in circles
Nascar blows, but this guy isn’t wrong.
I’m a braves fan…I’m allowed to say this.
He can’t be as bad as Gausman.
Glad the Braves are finally being proactive.
June 6th signing not exactly proactive, but yeah I’m glad they picked him up too.
Lol yeah. I mean we should have made a move earlier but I’m not going to complain too much. Better late than never. I don’t think I can take watching Gausman pitch another game.
1 year. sweet
Now trade fir Mad Baum
Stroman is the better option. AA needs to mend fences with a fruit basket across the border. Does Bryce Wilson and William Contreras have their visas in order?
Well played.
Good move. Can we agree to subtract the beard?
Is it because it makes Folty mad in the clubhouse, pacing uncontrollably and mumbling to himself how it was “his, all his”? It is, right?
I’m more happy about this because I believe this is the first contract between the Atlanta Braves and Scott Boras isn’t it? Maybe this opens a door for other Boras clients to come join. Yes please!!!!!!
Derek Lowe was represented by Boras. BJ Upton may have been too. I know Frank Wren and Boras had a good relationship. I think it was just Schuerholz that wouldn’t deal with him and that had more to do with Boras lying to him and the Texas Rangers during the Alex Rodriguez negotiations.
Doesn’t make sense if it’s a one year deal. He won’t likely hit the rotation for a few weeks. That will leave him 3 months to build his resume for next year.
whatta you know… Sometimes you’re favorite team does make a move.
Just wait until Mad Bum is in the rotation later this year or starting next year
Not gonna happen. He’ll be playing with Houston.
I think the Brewers are more likely.
Agreed. that would definitely be nice.
As a Yankees fan I’m pretty bummed. We need the SP depth. Especially bummed if this turns out to in fact be a 1 yr deal.
Yankees need more team doctors more than anything else.
@goldenjabs trade you our staff doctor for tanaka? Hes a d**k, youll love him.
I’d rather the Yanks trade for Stroman than sign Keuchel. Maybe if it was still the offseason I’d be bummed too but im wary about signing players midway through the year who you expect big things out of.
I wonder what the track record is for big players who wait to sign a contract. I can think of Stephen Drew and how that turned out
Flip flopping at its best folks.
The new bobblehead for the Braves will be the player combo of Culbertson and Swanson except it will be the beard twins of Nick Markakis and Dallas Keuchel.
Swanson is kinda raking now
Markeuchel
Hard to believe no one offered him a multi-year deal if that’s true about it being a one and done offer
Just because he didn’t sign for multiple years, doesn’t mean it wasn’t offered.
Just because he didn’t take one doesn’t mean it wasn’t offered.
Sometimes a 1-year is more attractive, since he gets to try again for a big payday this off-season
Braves fans can finally stop complaining now. They are insufferable.
They won’t, unfortunately. The ones on here are especially bad.
So fans are required to be content with the team when they underperform and don’t make the necessary moves to improve? Thanks for your wisdom.
Yankee and BoSox fans own that title
fans complaining about other fans comlaining are incorrigible.
If your team spent a entire season and off season talking about “shopping in every aisle” and being “in on every player” in free agency only to make the “huge” signings of Brian McCann, resigning Markakis, and a 1 year stopgap deal for Donaldson you’d probably be upset too.
Granted, the Markakis and McCann deals were good value and the Donaldson deal, though unnecessary, was fine, but we ignored the obvious holes in the bullpen and were content entering the season with a lot of rotational question marks…
After all of our bluster about spending money (and after using taxpayer dollars to build the new stadium or revenue had increased significantly) our payroll is actually lower than last year’s, even with the Keuchel signing. Braves fans have a reason to be irritated, especially watching the bullpen blow so many games after we ignored nearly a dozen solid-to-great bullpen free agents during the off season.
Through yesterday, the Braves bullpen ERA was 4.25. That’s better than the Dodgers bullpen, better than the Brewers bullpen, only 0.05 behind the Phillies. The pen is in the top half of the league, even with their horrible start. Braves ownership has fitted out a pretty good team, all without shipping out prospects who could become the next wave behind Acuna, Albies or Riley. All this bashing makes no sense. I don’t think this team’s ownership could do anything to make some of you happy.
And that is with your 9th inning guy Vizcaino out for the year after pitching 4 games, your 8th inning guy Minter in the minors and your 7th inning guy ODay unexpectedly still on the IR. Throw out Biddle and Soroka sucking after showing decent last year and Freeman DFA and you have an entire bullpen gone.
Do they have any news on the return timetable for Darren o’day?
I think they could win championships to make Braves fans happy. I’m not a Braves fan but I expect my team to win titles, not be pretty good.
Expect whatever you want. 29 teams (representing 96.7% of fans) won’t be crowned champions this year. If titles are all that makes you “happy” you’re in for a pretty dismal sports experience.
If you’re measuring bullpens by their ERA, then that’s your own issue.
The bashing makes perfect sense. Ownership talks out of both sides of their mouths. Not only did they talk all offseason about how much “financial flexibility” they’d have as Admiraltrey mentioned, they’ve been talking for the last 4 years while tanking about how “when the time was right” they’d take all the money they’ve been saving and invest it in the team. So, coming off a wildcard victory, with an awesome young core, and Freddie Freeman in his prime, there is no better time to invest than right now. And they didn’t do it.
Now, you can also easily make the argument that the value wasn’t there this offseason. Most of the bullpen guys they would’ve added (Andrew Miller types) were pretty expensive and have almost all underperformed (Ottavino being one of the few exceptions, and he wanted to go to the Yanks from the start). But adding Donaldson addressed a need we didn’t really have, and to not touch the bullpen, which was a disaster last year, and rely entirely on rooks and middling veterans to anchor the rotation was a mistake. If they’d added someone like Corbin, which would have been well within their supposed budget to do, they’d probably be in first place right now…and that’s not counting how long it’ll take Keuchel to ramp up and what he’ll ultimately end up being (he wasn’t great last year).
This is all to say that the Liberty Media and AA misrepresented how much they cared to actually invest in the team and fans have a right to be upset about that after suffering through a pretty ugly rebuild.
I think you mean sobotka??? Not Soroka! Soroka is killing it as a starter!
Tell me you’re not a Braves fan??? The Braves won the division last year not the wildcard……………
Well stated.
Not a fan! Hope I’m wrong.
Got a Gausman replacement without trading talent. Leaves room for trading for bullpen help.
Love Cashman 90% of the time but I disagree with this move passing on Dallas. Maybe the people who have been saying the Yankees are a cheap team now are true.
Why pass on a player you can just spend money and don’t have to trades players for. The nationals ain’t trading Max or Strasburg, they’ve been winning lately and the NL East is wide open
Who says they passed? It’s very likely Keuchel just didn’t want to go to a team that wouldn’t let him be himself.
You wear jorts to work?
hahaha… fn jorts!!! I haven’t heard that in a long time.
Yanks didn’t offer more than the prorated qualifying offer. That’s why.
Why continue beating to death the draft pick narrative? If Kimbrel and Keuchel were willing to sign for $43m and ~$12m, respectively, in the off-season, they would not have been unsigned opening day. It was all about their contract demands. The only effect the pick thing had was perhaps delaying their in-season signing, which who cares.
I think a big trade between the Braves and Jays would highly impact the Braves chances. Marcus Stroman and Ken Giles to Braves for a package of minor league players. What would the Braves need to give up for them though?
A lot. Aka – Too much.
Passes on the $17.9 million qualifying offer to ultimately sign what looks like a $13 million dollar deal. Now he will likely struggle like pitchers before him in similar situations have and be back on the market with worse stats this winter. Brilliant!
He can’t exactly predict the future when he declines the QO. It’s easy to Monday morning quarterback.
He was never going to accept the QO. Which really wasn’t the problem if he would’ve accepted the QO $$ figure in the middle of Spring Training it’s highly likely he would’ve had multiple teams ready to sign.
Exactly. He could almost certainly have had the $17.9 mil up to the start of the season. He waited two and a half more months and it didn’t work out for him at all. Once it became clear no one was giving him multiple years he should have sucked it up and taken what he passed on in the first place.
I’m shocked if true. Truly shock the braves spent a dime
Do you always say stupid stuff or just on this site?
Surely took long enough and I’m excited to see how it goes. And in June, the offseason is finally over!
If he does his job, has fun, and is taken in by the clubhouse like most that come to ATL; he will want and earn himself an extension/payday..
Thank you AA and liberty for making it happen and going out on a limb nonetheless! Shows a lot to the fan base regardless what happens from here on out.
WHAT ARE THE PHILLIES AND MATT KLENTAK DOING??
Waiting.
Brain failure. Kelenic just started double A. Why would you trade him?
The Phils had the cash and the need to get Kimbrel and Keuchel. They don’t have the farm system to out bid the other contenders for the top pen arms and starters on the trade market. It is a head scratcher that they couldn’t or wouldn’t close a deal for at least one of those two.
At the end of the day, AA made the right moves. They’re competitive, in a pretty well balanced division, for 2019, and in 2020 he drops 32M or so in salaries, between JD and the Bearded One. By next year. more talent bubbles up, and he can make the big splurge.
Pretty sharp shuffling of the coins…….
The Brave will or could drop significantly more than 32MM
Josh 23
Julio 11
Oday 9
Swarzak 8.5
Venter 2.2
Will all most likely be gone. That equals 53.7 million
Gausman could be non tendered as an A4 saving 9.3 MM
It could be 63 million off the books for 6 players.
Acuna and Albies still playing at the minimum
Right now the Braves have only 40MM on the books for 2020
Good points; I was only thinking of Kimbrell/Donaldson. And that’s a pretty great position to be in, considering their pipeline, and, frankly a division that has a 5 year project (MIA), an enigma wrapped inside a puzzle (WASH), a train wreck (NYM), and a team built on confusion (PHL).
Braves are going to be relevant for quite a while. Not necessarily AA’s doing; but he’s jumped in with skill.
MISTAKE!
Good thing it comes off the books at the end of the season. Worst case scenario: one night stand with a butter face.
Underated comment
No brainer, the Yankees never ever had any intentions of signing Keuchel. Why? This in the new Yankees under P T Steinbrenner who has the philosophy of building a cheap team that only to be competitive, but no desire to win the World Series every year like THE BOSS! Also, there will be no wonderful trade unless it fits his financial needs. For PT Steinbrenner has a new slogan Thank God I was born into the Yankee Organization so I can scam the fans.
Unless the Yankees have a trade target (mad max) I don’t know why they cheapened out on Dallas. You can’t go wrong on a one year deal !
Good for Braves – professional guy. Stupid Yankees. Can’t have enough pitching
To sit out ST, April and May and still receive 13 per isnt half bad.
Not mad at all for a year if anything else he eats innings
Now make a move for Colome & Wil Smith
First official 6 man rotation in at least 40 years. Anyone think it will start a trend like the reliever/opener concept did?
Uhh…no…There rotation is not good enough for a 5 man. Why would they expand it?
That was the whole point in signing Keuchel in the 1st place. Not to replace our worst starter with him to enhance the the rotation, but to keep the innings pitched counts as low as possible on guys like Mike Soroka and Max Fried. Those are the Braves 2 best starting pitchers and neither of them has ever pitched more than 140 innings in a season before. That means they will both either have to get shut down way before the playoffs in a 5 man rotation or they both would have to be put at serious risk for injury.
Bad Move for Keuchel
Boras screwed the pooch this time. One year deal (really a half year) after all that waiting? And what happens if he shows a lot of rust? Braves did good.
well color my face red.
braves also desperate for pitching. Their prospects suck
Soroka is horrible. He should be sent to single-A or better yer he should play hockey…rolls eyes
soroka is pitching in the majors all year and some last year.. So that’s not a prospect, genius. Have you seen Wright, allard, wilson, and Gohara? mediocre to terrible
I think you should really relearn the definitions of mediocre or terrible.
I miss Braves games on TBS!!!
I’m trying to understand the relevance of mentioning the pro-rated portion of this deal vs the pro-rated portion of the qualifying offer. It’s not apples to apples. Had he signed the QO, he would have started the season and not been paid any pro-rated amount. The fact is he is making less real money to play baseball this year than if he had taken the QO. It was not a good deal for his side in hindsight. That’s an expensive vacation to miss 2 months of the season when you have limited earning years in your career.
And for the Yankee fans complaining, where was he going to pitch? CC isn’t getting moved out of the rotation in his final year. Tanaka, Paxton, and Happ aren’t either. Unless you know FOR SURE that Severino isn’t coming back this year, Keuchel doesn’t have a spot. German will eventually hit an innings limit, but Severino should be ready by then. I’m not understanding the outrage over a pitcher that has declined in recent years and will need weeks to get ready. Even then, who knows what the Braves have. For them, it was worth a shot though….Not the Yankees because of the logjam.
The point is to show what he would have made if he had started the season with the team. Thought that was pretty self explanatory. And the fact is he is also playing less baseball this year as well. Its just like trading for a starter at the deadline, you take on whats left of his salary, which would be the pro-rated portion for the the remainder of the year. Same thing.
Apparently you didn’t read what I wrote…or read what the author wrote. I didn’t say what was the point of listing the qualifying offer. Obviously that is a somewhat relevant number in hindsight. I said what is the point of listing the “pro-rated” portion of the qualifying offer? Under no circumstances would the “pro-rated” portion of the qualifying offer ever come into play. If he accepted the QO, it wouldn’t have been pro-rated since he would have started the season in April. There is no debate to that. It’s a fact.
To push the point that even though he sat out a portion of the season he isn’t losing anything since he’s making the exact amount anyways…
What math shows you that? When you sit out two months, you lose real money. He is being paid less than the qualifying offer. He would have made over 4 million more had he taken the qualifying offer because he would have missed no time. And this brings me back to the original point.
What is being pro-rated? In season games… spring training included?
I predict that Dallas Keuchel will be 3-7 4.40 ERA
Which is still an upgrade to the back end of Atlanta’s rotation!
And if he makes 16 start from whenever his debut is til his last. He’ll $812,500 per start. Which if he makes his debut on June 16th he’ll make roughly make 18 starts. Depending if they skip him for extra rest for October.
13mil for 3 months. Probably wont make his Braves debut til the last week of June.
Must me nice to be able to be guaranteed that kind of money when normal average Joes like all of us have to work 52 weeks a year.
You’re worth whatever somebody is willing to pay you for labors/services. and baseball is a 52 weeks a year job. if you don’t work 52 weeks a year and stay in shape, you’re done. Hunter Pence just played in the winter leagues to prove he still belongs.
Now will the crying stop?
Does it ever?
I’m not sure I understand what Braves fans (for the most part) think, they simply want Atlanta to make a move just to make a move. Doesn’t need to be the right move, or a good move, but damn it make a move to make a move!
Most fans hung their hat on the line about shopping every isle and took it literally to mean that the Braves would spend on every isle. That was never the case but most fans were unable to understand this.
Maybe Keuchel got frustrated with the offers on the table and the way the process played out, so he just took the Braves offer because he wanted to get back on the field. Perhaps Atlanta wasn’t the best offer, but it was his preferred destination out of the interested teams.
He’s from Tulsa, OK and went to University of Arkansas. Atlanta isn’t exactly his “backyard” but it could be more appealing to him than New York or Philadelphia. There’s no guarantee he gets the offer he’s looking for next offseason, but this at least puts him a good position and gives him another chance at an eventual payday.
So, he’s not game ready. I imagine he will be by the trade deadline. I seem to remember Houston trading for a struggling Justin Verlander at the deadline a couple of years back and look where that got them.
I would not confuse Kuechel with Verlander……
I’m not sure it means anything, but a few days ago Scott Boras claimed that Keuchel has been working so hard that he will be MLB game ready within a week. We will just have to see how his results are tomorrow at AAA Gwinnett before we can tell if that was total BS or not.
Will be lights out or like the old Bugs Bunny cartoon, Wham!@ there goes a home run! Wham! there goes another one, Wham Wham Wham Wham!!!!
That he is making a minor league start one day after signing is a sign that he had been doing a heck of a job working hard. He is already game ready in the Braves eyes.
It’s not going to help. LOL
Kuechel makes his first minor league start tomorrow?
With the addition of Keuchel, the Braves can try and trade for a reliever. Shane Greene for Gausman and a prospect. Gausman has been terrible and would offer salary relief and it would help increase the prospect side… Maybe Bryse Wilson? and some lower prospect? CJ Alexander 3B? Gausman could step right into the Tiger rotation and possibly be a trade piece later.
I’m a huge Braves fan but I truly find it hard to believe that Detroit would want anything to do with Gausman’s $9+ mill prorated contract considering he is a free agent after this season. I get your point. You are looking at it like the Vizcaino deal. The Braves traded him along with DFA Biddle for the Mariners overpaid relief pitcher. That was a cash neutral trade though and the Braves only gave them Vizciano so they wouldn’t have to give up $. Everyone knew that Vizciano would not pitch for any team again before he hit the free agent market. Gausman, on the other hand, is supposedly healthy. There is not a single team without playoff hopes that wants or needs him. The Braves would be the opposite of shrewd to give him away as some sort of cash swap like they did Vizciano. He has at least some semblance of a chance to produce for a contending team this year. That potential (how limited anyone thinks it might be) is 100% wasted on the Tigers. No offense to AL Central fans, but if you are trailing the Cleveland Indians, you aren’t making the playoffs. The only reason I say that is: the Cleveland Indians aren’t making the playoffs either.
In other words it will absolutely not increase the prospect side. Why would any non-playoff caliber team increase the number or quality of prospects to rent less than a season from a poorly performing pitcher? Even if he turns it around with said team, the only thing accomplished would be a lower draft pick. Then said team would have to watch that player walk away.
O’Day needs to go…. doubt he’ll pitch this year. Guy feeling says he’ll keep getting “injured”
Everyone thinks the braves are getting Mad Bum….
Looks like Boras’s ego cost another client millions. Gotta have a better pulse on the market and the changing dynamics of the game. While Boras had his time it looks the sun is setting on him….
AA could trade with Jays===Inciarte,Duvall,A.Jackson,J.Ramos,Gohara,Allard and B.Wilson FOR===Stroman,Giles and C.Biggio.