Braves interested in starting pitching at trade deadline; rumored to check in on Justin Verlander

With the trade deadline less than 48 hours away and several smaller deals already done, the Atlanta Braves continue to explore ways to improve the roster. One path would be another starting pitcher, and MLB Network's Jon Morosi claims Atlanta's checked in on one of the best available:

The Braves are working to add a starting pitcher, with less than 48 hours before the deadline.

They’ve checked with the Mets regarding Justin Verlander but are not currently engaged in negotiations on JV. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 31, 2023

To his credit, Morosi clarifies that Atlanta's not in active negotiations for Verlander, but there's a few reasons why a Braves acquisition of Verlander wouldn't make a lot of sense:

The first is the money: Acquiring Justin Verlander would count for ~$15M on this year's payroll - with Atlanta at $210M (per Spotrac), it'd push Atlanta dangerously close to the first threshold of $233M. And it would absolutely blow a hole in Atlanta's budget going forward, with Verlander's salary coming in at $43.3M next year and his 2025 option already vesting for $35M, when he'd be 42.

(Admittedly, as we saw with New York's trade of Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers, they have the ability to buy their way out of this issue.)

The second is the teams involved: What are the odds that New York's going to trade their best pitcher to their division rival? Imagine the sports talk takes if Justin Verlander comes into Citi Field in a Braves uniform next season and gets a win over the Mets. Steve Cohen might have to literally catch a helicopter from the owner's box to avoid the angry crowds protesting his ownership and front office decisions.

And this works both ways, too - based on the deal Texas made to get Scherzer (#2 organizational prospect Luisangel Acuña, Ronald's little brother), Atlanta'd probably be giving up Vaughn Grissom. You know how bad every single one of those Grissom home runs in Truist Park would hurt for the next FIVE years?

But the biggest reason this doesn't feel likely to happen: We heard about it.

Alex Anthopoulos works in silence - Atlanta's become notorious for absolutely NO leaks, with often times even the beat writers finding out about a trade when Atlanta sends the press release out and posts the tweet.

News that Atlanta's checked in on a possible Justin Verlander trade came either from the New York Mets office or Justin Verlander's agent.

Think about it: If I'm the Mets, and I want a better offer than whatever's sitting on my table right now, all it takes is a text to a friendly reporter "hey, Atlanta's looking at getting Verlander." If you're a contender in the National League, do you want the prohibitive World Series favorite getting last year's Cy Young winner? No! You either jump in and make an offer or, if you already made one, probably sweeten it a bit.

This works both ways, too - Justin Verlander has a no-trade clause, and so he'd need to approve any deal. There's leverage that comes along with that clause - either controlling your destination, or getting additional compensation in return for waiving the no-trade. Maybe Verlander wants to go somewhere else than the best offer on the Mets' table, or he just wants some additional compensation (like a 2026 option) to waive the clause.

I do expect Atlanta to acquire a starting pitcher, and yes, maybe it takes Vaughn Grissom to do it. And I don't think it'll be Justin Verlander.

But if it was: could you imagine a playoff rotation of Max Fried, Spencer Strider, Verlander, and Charlie Morton in a five game series?

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