Atlanta Braves: Trade for Chris Sale This Offseason?

With the Atlanta Braves eyeing a 2017 resurrection to relevancy, the team should look to add a superstar to create a buzz amongst the fans.

The Braves have been pathetic this year, having one of their worst seasons in recent memory. In addition to poor performances on the field, fans are not flooding into the stadium like in seasons past. Other than Freddie Freeman (who has had his most injury riddled season to date) and Shelby Miller (who has not won in his last 19 starts), the Braves have no players to draw crowds.

Thus, the Atlanta Braves should go out and trade for a superstar, and I believe that superstar is Chris Sale. John Hart has been accumulating prospects over the past year in efforts to create a deeper farm system; however, he has also said that these chips could be moved to acquire big-name talent. John Hart is no stranger to headline trades after dealing Craig Kimbrel, Justin Upton, and Alex Wood.

Although Hart and the Braves have been on the other side of these big-name trades, do not be surprised to see the reverse happen in Atlanta. In the two trades with San Diego, Hart was able to raid their farm system, and he could easily be looking to flip a few of those pieces.

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A perennial superstar I believe John Hart should actively pursue is Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale. The White Sox are no closer to winning a World Series than the Braves are, so they could easily be looking to acquire young talent. Moreover, Hart has shown a keen ability to quickly acquire talent and load up the farm system.

Chris Sale would not come cheap, and a trade involving the superstar would likely exhaust a good part of the Atlanta Braves’ farm system. Sale is currently under contract until 2017, and he has two option years following that could keep him under contract until the 2019 season.

Just this offseason, there have been three “aces” traded at the deadline, Johnny Cueto, David Price, and Cole Hamels. Although Cueto and Price are considered “rentals” (because they are under contract through the current season), Braves’ fans can get an idea of what kind of price tag Chris Sale would come with. The Cole Hamels deal to the Texas Rangers paints a better picture of what to expect; although Hamels is no Chris Sale.

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The Phillies garnered five prospects from the Rangers for Hamels: Jorge Alfaro, Nick Williams, Jake Thompson, Alec Asher, and Jerad Eickhoff. Jorge Alfaro and Jerad Eickhoff were considered to be the key returns in the deal; although, this deal should not be considered a blueprint for what Chris Sale could fetch.

In my opinion, the Braves would be smart to throw the kitchen sink at the White Sox. Never have prospects been worth as much as they are in today’s game. Very often, prospects do not pan out, or they do not live up to expectations. Thus, it would be a smart idea to trade top prospects for a young superstar like Chris Sale.

If the Atlanta Braves were to exercise the idea of trading for Chris Sale, they would have to “come strong” with an offer. More than likely, the White Sox would want to see three top, blue-chip prospects in the deal alongside a couple other key prospects. The Braves would not be ill-advised to include players from previous deals, as this could be seen as justified “flipping.”

I believe that if the Braves used Matt Wisler, Touki Toussaint, and Tyrell Jenkins as the foundation for the trade, the White Sox would perk up their ears. Each of those players were traded to the Braves in John Hart’s effort to dump salaries this season. In addition to the three aforementioned players, the Sox would likely want a position player or two.

With the White Sox signing Melky Cabrera to a three-year deal, they could be looking for a player to replace him after this contract expires. A player in the Atlanta Braves’ system that looks poised to make a splash is Mallex Smith (acquired from San Diego), and his game is fairly similar to Cabrera’s, high contact, low power, and a nice blend of speed and defense.

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