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Latest On Chris Sale’s Trade Market

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5:45pm: Rangers GM Jon Daniels told reporters (including Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram) that his team isn’t looking at the trades like the blockbuster that brought Cole Hamels to Texas in 2015, which would seem to confirm that the Rangers indeed aren’t in on Sale right now.

SUNDAY, 1:40pm: Mark Bowman of MLB.com joins Heyman in reporting that the Braves aren’t willing to give up Swanson, whom the White Sox covet. Discussions between the two teams aren’t leading anywhere as a result (Twitter link). While it won’t surrender Swanson, Atlanta would consider parting with Albies, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter).

10:51am: The Braves have deemed Swanson untouchable in trade talks, while the Nationals have likely done the same with shortstop/center fielder Trea Turner, reports Heyman.

SATURDAY: The Braves have already added three starting pitchers in Bartolo Colon, R.A. Dickey and Jaime Garcia early this offseason, and they’re now trying to swing a trade with the White Sox for ace Chris Sale, according to Fanrag’s Jon Heyman. However, there’s competition in the form of the Astros, Nationals, Red Sox, Rangers and Dodgers, writes Heyman, who notes that Los Angeles is lagging behind because it’s hesitant to deal any of its top prospects.

The Dodgers are more focused on bolstering their rotation through free agency than trades, tweets FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, which aligns with a report from earlier Saturday that they have a deal in place to re-sign left-hander Rich Hill. Contrary to Heyman, Rosenthal relays that the Astros and Rangers are out on Sale at the White Sox’s current asking price. And while the Red Sox are involved, they’re also reluctant to meet Chicago’s demands (Twitter link).

After agreeing to sign outfielder/designated hitter Carlos Beltran on Saturday, Astros owner Jim Crane told Mark Berman of FOX 26 that the team will go into the winter meetings seeking pitching, but it’s unlikely to make any “big moves” (Twitter link). That would seem to rule out a Sale acquisition for Houston.

Based on reports from Heyman and Rosenthal, both the Braves and National League East rival Nats – who are continuing their discussions with the Pirates regarding center fielder Andrew McCutchen, per Rosenthal – are among the front-runners for Sale.

It’s unlikely the Braves would include prized young shortstop Dansby Swanson in a trade, Heyman suggests, but the belief is that they have the pieces to make a deal happen. Atlanta has major league trade chips in center fielder Ender Inciarte and right-hander Mike Foltynewicz, not to mention a well-regarded prospect pool that features the likes of middle infielder Ozzie Albies, southpaws Sean Newcomb and Kolby Allard, and righties Mike Soroka and Touki Toussaint. Baseball America included all five of those players in its Midseason Top 100 prospects list.

Braves, Rays Far Apart In Chris Archer Talks

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  • If the Braves acquire an ace, it’s more likely to be the Rays’ Chris Archer than the White Sox’s Chris Sale, tweets Mark Bowman of MLB.com. However, the Rays’ current asking price “far exceeds” what Atlanta is willing to pay, Bowman adds. The Braves have run into a similar problem with the White Sox regarding Sale.

Braves Sign Jacob Lindgren

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  • The Braves have announced a one-year major league agreement with left-handed reliever Jacob Lindgren, whom the Yankees non-tendered Friday. The 2014 second-round pick briefly cracked the majors in 2015, but elbow issues limited him both that year and this past season. Lindgren threw just seven innings in 2016 – all with the Yankees’ High-A affiliate – before undergoing Tommy John surgery in August. The 23-year-old could miss all of next season while recovering from the procedure, but the Braves will retain his rights beyond then if he’s on their 40-man roster, as ESPN’s Keith Law notes (via Twitter).

Orioles, Rays, Braves Among Teams Interested In Welington Castillo

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1:17pm: Add the Orioles to the list of teams interested in Castillo, as MASN’s Roch Kubatko tweets. The Orioles could lose Matt Wieters to free agency and have been interested in Castillo for some time, according to Kubatko.

11:03am: The Diamondbacks’ unexpected decision to non-tender Welington Castillo has added a new name to the free agent catching market, and Castillo is already receiving interest. The Rays are “expected to aggressively pursue” Castillo, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times wrote last night. The Rays, who currently have Luke Maile and Curt Casali atop their depth chart at catcher, were already expected to look for catching help, so it’s easy to see why the surprise addition of a .264/.322/.423 hitter and longtime starter to the market would be intriguing for them.

Topkin also tweeted this morning, though, that Castillo was receiving a number of calls, and not just from the Rays. It’s possible one of those teams could be the Braves, who have “some interest,” as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweets. Current Braves backstop Tyler Flowers hit fairly well last year and rates as a good framer, and he and fellow catchers Anthony Recker and Tuffy Gosewisch are all now under contract for 2017. Castillo could certainly still help the Braves, however, and it stands to reason that they’d have interest, since they’ve also shown at least some interest in free agent backstops like Matt Wieters and Jason Castro.

Braves Avoid Arbitration With Anthony Recker, Paco Rodriguez

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  • Lefty Paco Rodriguez avoided arbitration with the Braves for $637,500, Heyman tweets. It seems likely he’d have been non-tendered had he not taken that contract, per David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter), which helps explain why he took less than his projected $900K.
  • The Braves agreed to a $800K figure with catcher Anthony Recker, Heyman tweets. The veteran receiver had projected at $1MM, but will settle for less to take his place in a still-uncertain catching mix. Atlanta also recently acquired and tendered Tuffy Gosewisch, and also has Tyler Flowers under contract. Recker hit a surprising .278/.394/.433 last year, albeit over just 112 plate appearances. While he lands a bit shy of his projected number, Recker won’t have to settle for a split arrangement; instead, he’ll receive a full big league deal.

Braves Non-Tender Chris Withrow

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  • The Braves non-tendered righty Chris Withrow, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets.

Braves Interested In Sale, Archer Even After Garcia Acquisition

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The Braves are still looking at trading for an ace even after adding Bartolo Colon, R.A. Dickey and Jaime Garcia to their rotation this winter and are specifically focused on White Sox lefty Chris Sale and Rays right-hander Chris Archer, per ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (all Twitter links). The Braves prefer Sale to Archer despite the potentially higher asking price and shorter amount of club control remaining on his contract, Crasnick adds. Atlanta is receiving quite a bit of interest in top prospect Ozzie Albies (in general and not specifically from the White Sox or Rays), Crasnick adds, but they’re expressing a good deal of reluctance to part with him. The Braves don’t seem especially enamored of Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray on the heels of a down season in 2016, according to Crasnick.

Braves Remain In Mix For Chris Sale

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The Nationals, Astros, Red Sox, Rangers and Braves are at the forefront of the Chris Sale market, reports FanRag’s Jon Heyman in his latest notes column. However, an exec with one of those clubs that spoke to Heyman still said he’s not sure that Sale is moved at all due to the exorbitant nature of the White Sox’ asking price. The Nationals, for instance, have been asked for Trea Turner as part of the package but have balked at the idea, Heyman notes, with one Washington source calling the budding star “too valuable” to part with. It’s similarly difficult to envision a player like Alex Bregman or Dansby Swanson being moved for Sale as well. The White Sox do like Dodgers prospect Cody Bellinger, writes Heyman, but L.A. has yet to show a significant inclination to pursue Sale, he adds. (And, from my vantage point, the Dodgers would need to add quite a bit more than Bellinger to a Sale package anyhow.)

Braves Bid On Volquez Before He Signed With Marlins

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The Braves have already grabbed headlines tonight by acquiring lefty Jaime Garcia from the Cardinals in a four-player trade, but here are a few other notes from around the division…

  • The Braves put in a strong pursuit of righty Edinson Volquez before he went to the Marlins, ESPN’s Buster Olney tweeted yesterday. The team’s interest in Volquez came after it had already landed both R.A. Dickey and Bartolo Colon, but the Braves have been said to be focused on acquiring short-term assets in the rotation or front-of-the-rotation arms that would require enormous trade packages. As such, it’s possible that Atlanta only had interest in Volquez on a one-year deal, but he received two years and $22MM from the Marlins. Atlanta acted quickly to grab another short-term rotation commodity with tonight’s Garcia trade.

Braves Acquire Jaime Garcia

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6:04pm: Both teams have announced the trade via press release.

5:20pm: The Braves have been one of the most active teams of the offseason thus far, and that continued on Thursday as the team reportedly struck a deal to acquire veteran lefty Jaime Garcia from the Cardinals in exchange for minor league infielder Luke Dykstra and young right-handers John Gant and Chris Ellis.

[Related: Updated St. Louis Cardinals Depth Chart and Atlanta Braves Depth Chart]

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Garcia, 30, has long been a steady member of the Cardinals’ rotation but struggled a bit in 2016, working to a career-worst 4.67 ERA with 7.9 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and a very strong 56.7 percent ground-ball rate in 171 2/3 innings. He’s controllable only through the 2017 season, as the Cardinals exercised his $12MM option at season’s end. Despite the fact that St. Louis picked up that option, though, trading Garcia has long seemed like a highly plausible outcome. The Cards already have Carlos Martinez, Adam Wainwright, Mike Leake and Alex Reyes in the fold in addition to right-handers Michael Wacha and Lance Lynn returning from injuries.

As for the Braves, Garcia will be the third veteran arm they’ve added to their rotation already this winter. He’ll join fellow newcomers Bartolo Colon and R.A. Dickey in the Braves’ rotation behind right-handers Julio Teheran and Mike Foltynewicz. Like Colon and Dickey, Garcia is a one-year commitment that can function as a reasonable stopgap to upper-level arms in the Braves system like Sean Newcomb while also give young righties Aaron Blair and Matt Wisler, who have struggled in the Majors, additional time to develop in Triple-A.

Despite Garcia’s 2016 struggles, he’ll bring to the Braves a career 3.57 ERA with 7.3 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 56.5 percent ground-ball rate in 896 innings as a Major Leaguer. Shoulder injuries have limited him throughout his career, and he missed time with a groin strain as well in 2016, but he’s averaged 151 innings in 2015-16 and made a total of 50 starts in that time.

While the Braves have been connected to Chris Sale and other front-of-the-rotation names in trade chatter, the addition of Garcia lessens the chances of that hope becoming a reality for Atlanta fans, though it doesn’t eliminate the possibility. Both Mark Bowman of MLB.com and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports note (Twitter links) that the Braves still intend to pursue front-line starters. The rotation certainly looks full at the moment, but it’s possible that as a young right-hander with a fair bit of MLB experience under his belt, Foltynewicz himself could be added to a trade package to help bring in a significant upgrade (though that’s merely speculation).

Each of Ellis (No. 17), Gant (No. 21) and Dykstra (No. 29) appeared on MLB.com’s midseason list of the Braves’ Top 30 prospects. Ellis, who turned 24 in September, was acquired with Newcomb in last year’s Andrelton Simmons trade. The former third-rounder posted a strong 2.75 ERA in 78 innings at the Double-A level this year, averaging 7.0 strikeouts against 4.0 walks per nine innings before moving up to the Triple-A level. He struggled in 67 2/3 innings with Triple-A Gwinnett, though, working to a 6.52 ERA. He did register an improved 8.6 K/9 mark, though he also averaged 6.9 walks per nine innings there as well. MLB.com’s report on Ellis notes that he has the size, strength and repertoire to become a No. 4 starter with three average to above-average offerings but slightly below-average command.

Gant, also 24, was acquired from the Mets in the 2015 Kelly Johnson/Juan Uribe trade and made his MLB debut last year, totaling 50 innings with a 4.86 ERA. Gant logged 49 strikeouts against 21 walks with a 42.1 percent ground-ball rate. He also worked to a 4.18 ERA with better than a strikeout per inning in 56 Triple-A innings. Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com call Gant’s fastball, changeup and curveball each an average offering but also note that he has a tremendous feel for pitching. Nonetheless, they peg his ceiling as a back-end starter, albeit one that could conceivably join the Cardinals’ staff immediately out of Spring Training if necessary.

Dykstra, the son of former Mets/Phillies outfielder Lenny Dykstra, is a 21-year-old middle infielder that the Braves plucked with their seventh-round pick back in 2014. He went through his second stint in the Class-A South Atlantic League in 2016, hitting .304/.332/.363 with no homers and seven stolen bases in 81 games. Callis and Mayo call him a fringe defender with an average arm and note the he hasn’t shown any power to this point in his career, but his hit tool draws strong marks — and that skill is reflected in his career .300/.335/.385 batting line through parts of three minor league seasons.

ESPN’s Mark Saxon first reported that Garcia had been traded to the Braves. FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported (on Twitter) that three prospects were going to St. Louis in exchange. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that Dykstra and Ellis were in the deal (Twitter link). SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo reported Gant was the third piece (Twitter link).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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