Braves News: Spencer Schwellenbach cashes in, rumor mill, more

Well the A’s are apparently now deciding to try and win at the major league level, as they have given out a franchise record contract this offseason to Luis Severino and now traded significant capital for Jeffrey Springs. It’s a bit perplexing to me, as they do have a respectable farm system at this point, but it isn’t exactly loaded and a .500 second half to the 2024 season is far from enough to convince me that they are anywhere close to competing. Furthermore, they will be playing in Sacramento for the time being, which is a temporary solution, so I don’t see a particular rush to try and build excitement for the team in a new city. Perhaps the strategy is to enter their final destination (presumably Las Vegas) as an already contending team to maximize interest. I’m also not convinced that either of these deals make much sense just on a value for cost perspective, but I suppose that is to be determined.

Braves News

Spencer Schwellenbach was awarded a nice little bonus out of the pre-arbitration bonus pool on the basis of his quality performance this season.

Demetrius reviewed Travis d’Arnaud’s 2024, likely his last season the a Braves uniform, after a valuable stint for the franchise.

MLB News

Ken Rosenthal wrote up a bunch of rumors for The Athletic, including Luis Castillo trade talk and the A’s continuing to be aggressive in improving their major league team.

The A’s traded significant prospect assets to the Rays for Jeffrey Springs and his 3 years of team control.

The Astros are reportedly a serious suitor to trade for Nolan Arenado from the Cardinals.