The Atlanta Braves should look to restock.
The team hopes to improve in 2025 with the return of injured players Ronald Acuña Jr., Spencer Strider, and Austin Riley. However, if they want to maximize the value of those players’ returns, they will most likely need to strengthen their pitching staff as well.
Max Fried, a two-time All-Star who has spent his entire eight-year career with the Braves, will test the free agent market this winter. If the Braves are unable to re-sign him, they may turn elsewhere for a top-tier senior starter.
Scott Rogust of FanSided proposed a blockbuster trade in which the Braves would exchange prospects Hurston Waldrep, Drake Baldwin, and Dylan Dodd for St. Louis Cardinals starter Sonny Gray.
“This may seem like a lot for Braves fans, but let’s not forget that this is a team built to win now,” Rogust told reporters. “They’ll have to trade up some of their top prospects to bring in a starter to improve their chances of winning the World Series. Gray is a solid starting pitcher who was easily the best in St. Louis’ rotation this season.
In Gray, the Braves would find a comparable replacement for Fried. Gray has a 3.51 ERA and 1,724 strikeouts in 298 starts across 12 major league seasons. Last season, he made 28 starts and had a 3.84 ERA. In 2023, while pitching for the Minnesota Twins, he was an All-Star with a 2.79 ERA in 32 starts.
Last winter, the Cardinals signed Gray to a three-year, $75 million contract, and they may be prepared to pay some of it down in order to obtain the prospect haul mentioned by Rogust in this trade proposal.
Waldrep, a pitcher, is the Braves’ number three overall prospect. Baldwin, a catcher, is the team’s fifth-ranked prospect. Dylan Dodd, another pitcher, is their 25th-ranked prospect.
All three prospects have major baseball experience and would help the Cardinals rebuild following a poor 2024 season. It stands to reason that they’ll look at Gray for a return like this. The question for the Braves may be if Gray dramatically improves their chances of a deeper postseason run in 2025.
