Braves Rumors: Brent Rooker has another big moment
The Oakland Athletics are dreadful, but a lone bright spot is the emergence of corner outfielder Brent Rooker. The 28-year-old has seemingly come out of nowhere for Oakland, which appears far more interested in their next location than the current iteration of the baseball team.
Rooker leads MLB in OPS, and currently has a .391 batting average and .428 on-base percentage. He is everything a contender would want in a trade deadline acquisition and then some, which is why the Athletics will likely sell high on him.
However, if the Braves are smart, they will be the team that calls first. Atlanta and Oakland have a history of such deals, including trades for Matt Olson and Sean Murphy, previously of the A's. Alex Anthopoulos has won those deals, at least so far, which makes you wonder why Oakland would want to trade with them in the first place.
The Braves don't have many top prospect left to deal, but Jared Shuster is an attractive one. If Atlanta can rely on Max Fried and Kyle Wright to return around the trade deadline, then Shuster becomes expendable, especially if Rooker proves he's for real.
Braves Rumors: Chipper Jones is moving
Yeah, I know, it's not much compared to actual Braves rumors, but a team legend moving away is something. Chipper sold his mansion just a few days ago for a whopping $11 million. TMZ's description of the 'estate' does it the justice it deserves:
"The estate was built in 2013 and sits on 37 wooded acres in Canton, only 13 miles northeast of Atlanta … where the Braves star was one of the greatest players of his generation.
The gated estate has eight bedrooms, nine baths, a nine-car garage, and entertainment for days including a home theater, game room, dirt bike track, and a 4-stall horse barn.
BTW, the stable has a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment inside, as well."
Yes, that's officially more than I could ever afford. Jones live happily in Georgia for years. He still might, for all we know, but a little extra income never hurt anyone.
His plan, at least for now, is to downsize. Chipper lives a more modest life post-playing career. While he does some work with the Braves — and surely has other streams of income — it's tough to afford that mortgage long-term. When $11 million is staring you in the face, it's smart to sell.
Braves Rumors: Trade for an ace in the works?
No, I don't know anything. However, Atlanta received some rather serious injury news in the last week, in that Max Fried and Kyle Wright could both be out until July, at the earliest. What does that mean?
It's simple — Alex Anthopoulos will do some shopping on the market before the trade deadline to see if he can upgrade the rotation. Frankly, he'd be dumb not to — this Braves team is World Series-caliber. They just have to reach the postseason and have a full rotation in tact.
In terms of potential players available — the Chicago White Sox have several. Dylan Cease could prove far more expensive than Atlanta is comfortable with. Lucas Giolito, however, makes plenty of sense. He's on a contract year, and currently dealing with a 3.59 ERA. FanSided MLB Insider Robert Murray suggested Giolito could be traded as recently as Friday:
"While Cease is unlikely to be traded, it would hardly be surprising to see Giolito moved in July. He's in a contract year and has bounced back after a down 2022 season, posting a 3.59 ERA and 50/11 strikeout-to walk ratio in eight starts."
Murray also noted that Mike Clevinger could come at a cheaper price for interested parties:
"On the surface, Clevinger's numbers — 4.79 ERA and 35/18 strikeout-to-walk ratio — aren't that impressive. But he has allowed three or less runs in five of his eight starts, with his ERA inflated by a six-run appearance against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 25. He may not fetch much in a trade, especially being on a contract year, but could help a contender in need of rotation depth."
Beyond that, another AL Central team has a looming top trade target in Eduardo Rodriguez. E-Rod has found the form that made him a free-agent commodity a few winters ago. Any trade for Rodriguez would come at an expense, though, as I laid out for Braves fans just a few days ago.
The trade I floated included Vaughn Grissom, Jesse Franklin V and Tyler Tolve. It's an expensive price, but it's what Detroit rightly would request in return for their best pitcher.
Either way, Anthopoulos has a lot to think about.
