Bravos Insight

A Ketel Marte trade has been rumored in the media for several days now, but anyone who follows the Braves knows Alex Antholoulos is not giving up any of his top pitching prospects for anyone. Ken Rosenthal, of the Athletic, reported “After all the injuries they incurred in their rotation last season, they do not want to part with Hurston Waldrep, who could be their No. 5 starter. They also are reluctant to move any of their better pitching prospects”. Hearing all this, does this mean there’s no chance of the trade to be pulled off?

Let’s not even dive into the emotional baggage of departing with fan-favorite Ozzie Albies, who would have to be part of any trade package going to Arizona. Let’s keep our focus on what it would take to pull off a trade for a player like Marte, without adding Waldrep, Cam Caminiti or JR Ritchie. First, let’s not sleep on the value of Ozzie Albies. Not only is he four years younger than Marte, who is 32 to Albies’ age 28 this season, but he’ll also play 2026 on a $7M contract, with another very affordable $7M team option in 2027. The .240 second baseman, who hit 30+ homeruns as recently as 2023, is a bargain at $7M. 

If the Braves are going to pull off this trade, they’ll need to start by adding a pitcher capable of battling for a spot on the Dbacks rotation in 2026 and a solid bullpen arm. Grant Holmes would be the first option, as Arizona would want a major-league ready starter, and as stated earlier, they’re not getting Waldrep. Didier Fuentes or Bryce Elder would need to be added as rotational options to provide depth. To fulfill the bullpen arm, the Braves could send Dylan Lee. This part would hurt a bit, but the hope is being able to replace Lee before the season starts.  Lee is a very strong piece to this trade with his strong strikeout ability, good control, and effectiveness against lefties. He is slowly evolving into a high-leverage arm with impressive stats in recent seasons.

Now, the next part is so subjective it’s crazy. This all depends on how you value prospects, but trust me, nothing you say, for the positive or negative, will trump anything someone else has already said. None of us are experts at evaluating prospects, or at least good enough to justify our evaluation over MLB, ZiPS, or baseballtradevalues.com. That being said, I tried to offer three solid prospects to suffice missing out on the top three pitchers on the Braves prospect-list. SP Briggs McKenzie and SP Owen Murphy would be the two starting pitchers I would add to the trade. Both are highly regarded prospects in the Braves farm system, as they’re ranked #5 and #8 respectively. I would also add SS Jose Perdomo to complete the trade proposal.

Absolutely no way to know how Arizona would look at a trade like this. The Braves would probably have to eat the contract of someone like 32 year old SP Eduardo Rodriguez, who is owed $40M over the next two years, but could become a free agent in 2028. Not sure if he is better than Waldrep, but at $21M this year, he would get every shot in the world to make the roster.

The truth of the matter is, these trades have to make sense for both teams to work out. I think this is a ton to give up for one player, but to get a player like Marte, you have to bet big to get the ultimate payoff. These are all fun scenarios that offer us something to do in the offseason. Let me know if you think of another trade being held up, or seem too ridiculous to even discuss. Trust me, we’ll discuss it.