Can the Braves snatch this rival All-Star slugger in free agency?

To say it has been a nightmare season for the Atlanta Braves is nothing short of an understatement. As things stand today, the Braves are in fourth-place in the NL East, two games behind the Marlins — yes, the same Marlins that were swept by the Rockies.

With all hope now a thing of the past, general manager Alex Anthopoulos is prepared for a minor sale that will likely only include rentals. Among those in their contract year stands the one haymaker that should land the Braves a decent haul, veteran slugger Marcell Ozuna. Chris Sale, who has drawn significant interest, will not be on the move. Anthopoulos has made that clear in no uncertain terms. 

The 36-year-old southpaw has a club option on his contract for next year, one Anthopoulos plans to exercise. But this raises a question about next year. With one more year of Sale, what will Anthopoulos do to compete? Does he bring back Ozuna, or does he instead try for slugger that is a little younger and has done somewhat better this year?

One has to think that Anthopoulos found some inspiration watching three home runs on three pitches fly off the bat of Kyle Schwarber in his ballpark to win the All-Star Game. In the last year of his contract with the Phillies, Schwarber is hitting .247/.378/.545 with 30 home runs. He couldn’t have asked for better timing with stats like these.

Over the past four years, Schwarber hit anywhere from 32 to 48 home runs. A few of his batting averages have wavered in an unfavorable direction, but Schwarber corrected that last year. In addition, his tendency to draw walks (more so the tendency of opposing pitchers to avoid pitching to him) has attributed to some rather admirable on-base numbers regardless of his batting averages.

Schwarber would make an excellent grab for the Braves, but there is always the matter of money. Anthopoulos is always financially conscientious. Luckily, with the contracts of Ozuna and Raisel Iglesias coming off the books, there will be room to spend. And as a DH heading into his age-33 season, Schwarber’s market value probably won’t be as high as it should be, even if several teams will be interested.

In any case, with the team heading into Sale’s walk year and the DH spot open, Anthopoulos will be under pressure to put forth a competitive team over the offseason. Whether its Schwarber or another star slugger, we can likely expect something big from Anthopoulos coming off this shockingly disheartening season.