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I admit that when I saw the Braves-in-on-JT-Realmuto rumors, I had the same reaction as most people: well it’s clearly being ginned by his agent. , with the happy help of the Braves, so the price tag / urgency on the Phillies can be increased.
That is * probably * all it is.
But two things fell this morning and I wonder if the Braves are really about to shake up the capture market in a really fundamental way. First off you have David O’Brien (local source) no entirely rejecting the idea of a true Realmuto chase:
Mailbag: Why Realmuto Makes No Sense For The #Braves, unless….
Also, what’s up with the ridiculous DH decision deadline, and where Ender and those extra Braves starters. https://t.co/X658vuOE4o– David O’Brien (@DOBrienATL) January 22, 2021
This “unless” part is as follows:
One way to sign Realmuto might make sense if the Braves had a planned trade to acquire a powerful left fielder or third baseman in exchange for Arnaud, who obviously wouldn’t be kept as a $ 8million save. ‘they signed Realmuto. .
But even in this scenario, signing a free agent with a nine-figure contract and making him one of the highest paid players in his position (if not the highest) doesn’t fit the Braves’ modus operandi, it’s the less than one can say.
Having said all of that, we come back to the point about the famous secret Anthopolous making some unexpected moves. It would be such a decision. A very big one. But it is not known how valid the rumor is.
Then you had an almost simultaneous comment from Jon Morosi, also on the possibility that the Braves would sign Realmuto and make Travis d’Arnaud commercially available:
If the #Braves sign JT Realmuto, they are sure to find a deal for Travis d’Arnaud at one year and $ 8 million. the #Angels – which have an external depth of field – are a landing point for d’Arnaud. And new Angels general manager Perry Minasian is a close friend of Alex Anthopoulos. @MLBNetwork @MLB
– Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 22, 2021
To be sure, the Braves could keep both guys given the designated hitter’s likely presence in the NL this year, but the Braves still crave a big bat at third base or in left field (depending on location. where Austin Riley plays), so adding Realmuto AND keeping Arnaud AND adding another bat sounds like a lot.
So if the Braves shocked everyone and gave up nine figures on Realmuto, they would immediately do some crazy things in the Capture Market. On the one hand, they would have pulled the best out of the market without having been seen themselves as a “catch the needy” team that was a Realmuto contender in the first place. That would leave other possible bidders like the Phillies or Blue Jays, Nationals or Angels or anyone else who is now hiding looking for another impact sensor.
On the other hand, the Braves would then be able to offer a relatively inexpensive one-year impact sensor on the commercial market; no one expected Travis d’Arnaud to be available, so it would take a hot minute to find out where the Braves could do it.
It’s not hard to see the potential market impact of Willson Contreras here, given the rumors that have tied him to the Phillies, Marlins, Nationals and Angels.
My gut always says the Braves aren’t actually going to rally for Realmuto, and the Phillies will end up doing this thing. But it’s definitely an interesting wrinkle.
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