Should Braves reported top prospect be off-limits in trade talks?

With free agency prices inflated, the expectation is that Alex Anthopoulos will go big game hunting in the trade market, which has been his M.O. since the Braves won the World Series back in 2021.

Unfortunately, Atlanta’s farm system isn’t robust with prospects to dangle on the trade block. Drake Baldwin is one of the club’s top young talents, and he plays a premium position. A.J. Smith-Shawver still needs to refine his craft, but his potential is sky-high. One prospect has reportedly been off-limits in trade talks, though.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported: “Many teams have unsuccessfully tried to land the club’s No. 3 prospect RHP Hurston Waldrep, who might fall into the untouchable category,” which was also reported by Mark Bowman later that day.

Should Braves top prospect Hurston Waldrep be untouchable?

Waldrep was taken in the first round of the 2023 draft. Coming out of Florida, his splitter was heralded as a unicorn pitch, but his short stint with the major league club went pretty poorly, posting a 16.71 ERA and 2.429 WHIP across just seven innings in two starts.

Granted, he found much more success in the minor leagues, and most would agree the Braves rushed him to the majors far too quickly. He hadn’t even had anywhere close to a full season in the minors before making his MLB debut. In 27 starts across two seasons stretching from Augusta to Gwinnett, Waldrep posted a 3.01 ERA and 1.410 WHIP. Most recently in Triple-A Gwinnett, he tossed 40.0 innings in eight starts, allowing 15 earned runs.

Waldrep’s biggest issue is control right now, something that can plague pitchers their entire careers if not fixed. Even with the 3.38 ERA with the Stripers this past season, he still walked 5.4 batters per nine innings. That’s entirely too high, but control issues are very normal for young arms making the jump from college to professional baseball.

Waldrep hasn’t shown anything from a box score standpoint that warrants the “untouchable” tag, but the stuff is undeniable, even if he probably needs to develop another pitch to go with his splitter-fastball combination.

With that being said, Alex Anthopoulos has batted nearly 1.000 when it comes to deciding which players to hang onto and which to include in trades, the lone exception being William Contreras. If the Braves feel Hurston Waldrep is worth hanging onto, who is anyone to argue with him?

Still, in the Braves current scenario, no prospect should be viewed as untouchable. This is a team in the middle of their championship window that is coming off three disappointing first-round exits in the postseason, and they have a ton of holes to fill this offseason. The rest of the NL East is only improving, and the Braves need to do the same. If moving Hurston Waldrep is what’s needed to land a proven star player, it must be considered.