I’m not always a huge fan of Bleacher Report’s trade hypotheticals, but this Braves trade with the Padres was interesting to me. Zach Rymer came up with a few offseason trades:
One of them sees Ian Anderson getting sent to the San Diego Padres for some help at shortstop:
The Proposal: Atlanta gets SS Ha-Seong Kim, LHP Adrian Morejon; San Diego Padres get RHP Ian Anderson
Atlanta is on track to have Vaughn Grissom and Orlando Arcia compete for the club’s starting shortstop gig in spring training. It’s not an ideal scenario, as Grissom is unproven at short and Arcia hasn’t played the position regularly since 2020.
Meanwhile, Dennis Lin of The Athletic reported in December that the Padres could be open to moving Kim or center fielder Trent Grisham for a starting pitcher. Kim seems like the more logical choice to go in our eyes, as it just seems like a waste to play him at second base after he was a Gold Glove finalist at shortstop last season.
A swap of Kim for Anderson, who fell out of favor with Atlanta in 2022, would be reasonably fair talent-wise, but less so the extent that Kim is signed through 2024 while Anderson is controlled through 2026. Thus, Morejon would also go to Atlanta to balance things out.
Who Says No?
Whether two top-tier National League contenders would do this kind of trade with one another is suspect enough. And Atlanta’s end is perhaps especially suspect, as they need Anderson for depth and Grissom has upside that simply can’t be ignored.
The 22-year-old may have hit a wall at the end of last season, but before that he’d had tons of helium after starting the season at High-A, moving to Double-A and then skipping past Triple-A to the majors, where he was hitting .347 after 26 games.
This makes a lot of sense for the Braves, but there is some risk. We’ve seen Ian Anderson dominate before, and more importantly, we’ve seen it in the postseason. Both guys could probably use a fresh start. Kim had a few big games against the Braves, and he makes sense as a band-aid at the shortstop position. Morejon is an interesting lefty option in the pen, where the Braves are already loaded. Still, if Atlanta could get someone else in return, I’d probably prefer a younger position player in the lower levels of the minors. Regardless, this trade offer isn’t that bad, and you’d have to think the Braves would consider it.
Vaughn Grissom’s offensive upside is worth letting him figure things out defensively in the big leagues, but if the youngster struggles, the Braves could be caught with their pants around their ankles. Arcia’s floor is high, but you’d like a little more for a club with World Series aspirations. Moreover, the starting rotation is one of the deeper position groups on the roster. Using Anderson as a trade piece could prove worthwhile if Mike Soroka and Bryce Elder prove capable, but they’d undoubtedly be selling low on Anderson. It’s an interesting trade hypothetical, though.
What do you think about this Braves trade?
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