The Atlanta Braves haven’t yet made their signature offseason trade, and that should be very intimidating to 29 other Major League Baseball fan bases.
Two years ago, it was All-Star catcher Sean Murphy. Last year, it was Cy Young winner Chris Sale. The Braves have proven adept at pulling a blockbuster trade out of left field and making it pay off handsomely that very same year.
If there’s any area the Braves could stand to improve, it’s the rest of the starting rotation behind Sale. Thanks to the departure of Max Fried to the New York Yankees, the Braves’ depth looks thin at the moment.
Two pitchers who were in Triple-A last season, A.J. Smith-Shawver and Hurston Waldrep, look to be in competition for the Braves’ rotation out of Spring Training. But what if instead, Atlanta trades one of those top prospects for another ace?
Content creator Jim Riley discussed that very possibility in a recent YouTube video. He proposed that the Braves could land San Diego Padres star Dylan Cease, who will be a free agent at the end of the upcoming season, for either Smith-Shawver or Waldrep and shortstop prospect Nacho Alvarez.
“Pick one: A.J. Smith-Shawver or Hurston Waldrep can be in this trade, and then the next piece, the next prospect who is going to be a part of it, I think we’re sliding way down the prospect line,” Riley said.
“Maybe you can get a Nacho Alvarez in this deal, and there’s your two pieces.”
Cease, who has finished in the top five of Cy Young voting for two of the last three seasons, has some of the best strikeout stuff in the game. He punched out 224 batters in 189 2/3 innings last season to go with a 3.47 ERA.
The Braves would likely try to extend Cease, given that he’ll only be 29 this season, but the righty may well prefer to test free agency. But if the Braves are all-in on trying to win in 2025, it still makes sense to make a Cease trade, because he’d make their rotation one of the very best in the game.
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