We have been doing a series of these posts showcasing the
teams that are seemingly selling off players in hopes of a rebuild. Teams like
the Cincinnati Reds, Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves have
been showcases already and I feel the need to come full circle and showcase the
Braves specifically once again. The first post was focused around a possible
acquisition of RHP Shelby Miller, who ultimately went to the Arizona
Diamondbacks for an absolute haul that the Yankees were not going to touch, so
this time around I figured we’d focus on the pitching side of things. What
about Julio Teheran?
The Braves don’t have much more they can really sell at this
point. Andrelton Simmons is gone, Miller is gone, Cameron Maybin is gone, Mike
Minor is gone and I’m sure I’m missing a few from this offseason. Left are
recognizable names like Freddie Freeman, Nick Markakis and Nick Swisher but the
man that may intrigue the Yankees the most would be Teheran. Teheran is a 24-year old right-handed starting pitcher with four years left of team control.
Teheran has shown flashes of brilliance in his young MLB career and may have
ace written all over his forehead in the coming years.
I can’t see a Nick Swisher reunion making much sense for the
Yankees now, especially without a Brett Gardner trade. Swisher can play the
outfield and first base adequately and is a switch hitter but absolutely does
not fit into the mold of the team getting younger or less expensive. The same
can be said for Freeman, especially the expensive part. Freeman is obviously
younger than incumbent first baseman Mark Teixeira but would only block
up-and-coming prospect Greg Bird from taking over the position full time in
2017 making a trade for him both redundant and unnecessary. Markakis fits the
mold of Swisher as well, the Yankees could use a younger right fielder but
without a clear “out” for Carlos Beltran I just can’t see it happening. Even if
New York did trade Gardner or Beltran I could see Aaron Hicks getting the shot
with Dustin Ackley serving as the 4th outfielder before I’d see
another trade or free agent signing. Teheran it is then!
Teheran would slip into the #2 hole behind Masahiro Tanaka
quite well in my opinion and would give the Yankees one of the best starting
rotations in all of the American League. I can’t think of, off the top of my
head anyway, a better 4th and 5th starter than Michael
Pineda and Nathan Eovaldi plus Luis Severino makes a damn good #3 pitcher at
this point in his career. It may not work for New York, mind you, because it
seems like Atlanta could trade their bat boy for two top prospects right now
(how in the world are they getting so much for everyone in every single trade?)
but it’s worth the phone call in my opinion.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)