OK, nix this. The Braves have traded Jaime Garcia and Anthony Recker to the Twins for Huascar Ynoa, a 19-year-old right-hander who was No. 22 on MLB Pipeline's preseason list of Minnesota's top 30 prospects.
A good thing might have happened to the Atlanta Braves on Sunday. Clayton Kershaw, who'd started against them, left after two innings with tightness in his back. The good thing wasn't that the Braves went on to beat the Dodgers -- they didn't, though they did forge a tie against Kenley Jansen, who hadn't blown a save this year -- but that the Dodgers might need a starting pitcher.
The Braves have a few they could offer. One is Jaime Garcia, who was almost shipped to the Twins before the Braves backed away, apparently (according to Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports) due to medical reports on a prospect -- closer Nick Burdi, already rehabbing from Tommy John surgery -- they were due to receive in return. Another is R.A. Dickey, who might have worked his way into the Braves' plan for 2018. The third is Julio Teheran.
We'll have more to say about that ongoing issue -- to trade Teheran or not? -- in a bit, and the Dodgers, whose $242 million payroll dwarfs every other club's, mightn't want someone who'd add to that beyond November. They already have Kershaw and Alex Wood and and Kenta Maeda and Rich Hill (who's 37) and the heralded prospect Julio Urias (who just had shoulder surgery). They might be happier with a rental, meaning Garcia, who not only beat Wood on Friday but hit a grand slam to boot.
(Note: The Dodgers are said to be interested in Yu Darvish and Sonny Gray, as are other clubs. Garcia would come cheaper.)
Latest word holds that the Braves are apt to keep Matt Adams, who hoisted the tying homer off Jansen, owing to a softness in demand for bats. (This doesn't mean the Braves will keep Adams beyond the season. They won't be anxious to go to arbitration with someone who only plays Freddie Freeman's position.) But there is -- we say again -- always a market for pitching.
If Kershaw is apt to miss a month, the Dodgers will need somebody. (And backs can be tricky, which means a month might be more than a month.) They just saw Garcia. He did well against them. He's not Kershaw, but he is left-handed. He could help them get through August and maybe September. I can't imagine this hasn't occurred to the Dodgers -- or to John Coppolella.
(And it isn't as if Andrew Friedman and Coppolella have no history: The two worked the Olivera-for-Wood deal in July 2015; last year the Braves shipped Bud Norris to L.A. Just sayin'.)
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