The Braves have clearly committed to rebuilding and their next move to continue this process could be on the horizon. According to Jonah Keri, the Atlanta Braves are in deep talks with an NL West team – with the deal revolving around SS Andrelton Simmons.
Source: #Braves trade talks with NL West team revolve around Andrelton Simmons.
— Jonah Keri (@jonahkeri) November 12, 2015
Simmons recently turned twenty-six years old and is one of the, if not the best, defensive players in the game. Simmons has won two Gold Gloves in his first three full seasons. Simmons offense has yet to catch up with his defense, as he has totalled just eleven home runs and only 9 stolen bases in the past two seasons combined. He is a career .256 hitter and has trouble reaching base consistently with a career .304 on-base percentage. Nonetheless, Simmons is an elite defender and is currently entering the third year of a seven-year $58MM dollar contract.
It is currently unclear which team the Braves are in talks with. It would appear that the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks are the most likely landing spots. It sounds as though Simmons could be dealt in the near feature, maybe as early as tonight. The Braves would certainly be expected to get a nice haul in return for a defensive wizard who is under team control until after the 2020 season.
It will be interesting to see whether the Braves try to pair Simmons with a player who has a high salary. Michael Bourn or Nick Swisher come to mind, as they both have one year left on their contract and are set to earn $15 and $14MM respectively.
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