According to team president John Hart, he is not trying to breakup the Atlanta Braves. He is simply trying to retool a roster that has some ugly contracts on it while refilling the team's farm league system with future prospects. The Braves have made several moves this season clearly showing they are intending to be sellers over buyers during the offseason. After making some deals during the winter meetings, what is the next priority for the Braves?
The Atlanta Braves continue to wait for the golden phone call regarding a deal for Justin Upton. According to Hart, an Upton trade could be possible, but at the right price. The outfielder is entering the final year of his contract and Atlanta believes they will not be capable of re-sign Upton in free agency, assuming his contract demands will be too high to meet. As a result, he is the priority trade this offseason, but the price tag is high to acquire him.
According to Tom Verducci and Joel Sherman of the MLB Network, there is just about zero percent chance that Upton reports to training camp for the Braves. Hart has stressed that the Braves are fine if Upton is in the outfield at the start of the season, but most MLB sources believe that it will not be the case. He is exercising patience when it comes to a trade this big. The Braves did not acquire the outfielder until mid-January when they dealt Martin Prado for him. So there is a chance that Upton could not be dealt until February if Hart can get the right return price.
Several teams have shown interest in the outfielder. The San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners have shown interest, but do not like the package the Braves want in return. According to Hart, he will wait.
"We didn't come in with any preconceived notion that we were going to walk out of here making some big trade," Hart said. "But along the way, we've been very aggressive in our conversations. We got a good feel. We were well prepared when we came in with what we might want to do. But I think in some cases, unless it's exactly what we want, we're under no timetable and under no pressure to make a move. But I think the accurate portrayal would be that there is going to be a lot of things that happen [within the baseball industry] in the next week to 10 days and on up into January. We might fall under that, too."
Upton will be the first trade target and then deals for Evan Gattis or Chris Johnson could be next. The trade the Braves will not likely get is one for BJ Upton who's contract does not meet his production on the field.
