Tyler Glasnow remains on the Rays coming out of what had been a fairly quiet Winter Meetings until recently. That doesn’t mean trade talks have slowed down, however, as the 6’8″ righty is one of the sport’s highest-profile trade candidates.
Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes that upwards of half the league has been in contact with the front office on Glasnow’s availability. Topkin lists the Dodgers and Braves among that group, while some teams within the AL East have also inquired on the possibility of an intra-division swap.
Atlanta has spent the past few weeks searching for rotation help. The Braves have brought in Reynaldo López with an eye towards a possible rotation move. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos recently noted that the starting staff still “has room” for an addition (link via Mark Bowman of MLB.com).
The Braves have Spencer Strider, Max Fried and Charlie Morton locked into three spots. López, Bryce Elder, AJ Smith-Shawver and Dylan Dodd are among the in-house options for the last two roles. Last year’s first round pick Hurston Waldrep could factor into the mix at some point. There’s talent but also room for one more impact arm as a finishing touch on arguably the sport’s best roster.
Los Angeles has been mentioned as a team to watch on almost every starting pitcher of note, so it’s little surprise they’ve also checked in on Glasnow. The Dodgers’ starting staff is headlined by Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller with very little certainty beyond that duo. They’re clearly going to acquire multiple starting pitchers; Glasnow is one of myriad possibilities.
Atlanta and the Dodgers are far from the only teams still in the bidding. The Angels are hunting for a top-end starter and have been involved on Glasnow. The Cubs have been a frequently mentioned suitor over the last few weeks. Jon Heyman of the New York Post tweeted on Wednesday afternoon that they’re still in the mix.
DodgerBlue23
This guy is really an inch taller than Judge?? I need a side by side pic of them or I am not believing it.
braveshomer
Can anyone remember any significant Starting Pitching acquisitions the Braves have done while the team is competitive? Besides Morton on 1 year deals recently, it’s been what? Derek Lowe or Kawakami?…..I’m sure I’m forgetting someone, but its been a long long time
bhambrave
Greg Maddux, Denny Neagle, Mike Hampton
braveshomer
I left out ‘recently’ but thats my point exactly lol….its been a long time. Derek Lowe was the last one I could think of and even that one was like 15 years ago
NashvilleJeff
Tim Hudson too.
braveshomer
And yes he’s Tall and lanky as can be…and looks exactly like the actor from Oppenheimer lol
SoCalBrave
Unless the Rays are willing to take Dodd and scraps for Glasnow, the Braves won’t trade for him.
Not sure if the Angels have what the Rays are looking in a trade either.
Wire to wire 2024
I feel you. The reds would take him but probably not for what they are asking lol
mp2891
Tjenks – “The reds would take him.” That’s the mindset of a team that thinks they can get filet mignon at McDonalds. Good luck with that.
cookmeister 2
What do the rays want/need?
braves fan 138
Idk but Waldrep better not be on the block as piece we would move, for an ace of any caliber
mp2891
Rays need/want pitching. Waldrep would be an unreasonable ask, but Murphy, Kuehler and Schwellenbach make a lot of sense to me in return for Glasnow.
Benjamin101677
If the rays took Bryce Elder and Vaugh Grissom for him could be a smart move for the rays. Elder was an all star last year before he had maybe fatigue issues second half. The rays pitcher is injury prone and only 1 year left so it won’t be a huge haul.
Ohtani and Snell probably need to sign before any major trades get done as it will change the market. If the dodgers get Ontani then the rays pitcher 25 million contract could put the dodgers into crazy luxury tax areas.
steelerbravenation
No way the Braves move either of them for Glasnow
Rays want to move him due to salary
They will get 2 extremely young think 18-19!year old prospects
He makes $25 million next year and he is always hurt. You are not getting both salary relief or top prospect capital
I would be OK with Grissom as part of the deal but not Elder
mp2891
Benjamin – That would be a huge overpayment by the Braves. Elder may have struggled in the back half of the season, but he’s shown the ability to pitch well in the Majors and that makes him valuable. Grissom has his flaws, but he carries a plus bat which also makes him very valuable. Both players have 5 years of control, which only increases their value. Grissom is not needed by the Rays though, as they have too many 2B/3B as is, but if the Braves offered that package, I would expect the Rays would jump on it and then try to trade Grissom.
UGA_Steve
If you think Elder and Grissom are a huge overpay, then you need to understand Murphy, Kuehler, and Schwellenbach is a bigger overpay.
Elder is a back end guy, not a frontline, and while Grissom could blossom he is already showing signs of just be a hit first utility guy (Arcia might be a comp). The three you mention all have middle rotation or better possibilities. It’s a projection to be certain, but so are all of these deals for prospects. For an expensive one year rental that is too much to give up.
mp2891
The Braves may not make Murphy, Kuehler and Schwellenbach available because of their upside, but that doesn’t mean they have higher trade value than Elder right now. Elder is pitching in the Majors and has looked good at times (and his prospect grades weren’t all that different than the other three). The others are much further off, which means they are riskier prospects. More risk equals lower trade value. It’s easy to dominate the Low Minors. Lets see how they do in the Upper Minors before we anoint them TOR pitchers. In any event, if the Braves want Glasnow, I would expect 1 or 2 of these guys to be part of the deal.
mp2891
SoCalBrave – Really? Then why are the Braves bothering? The Rays have 3 options with Glasnow, all of them good. (1) Trade him during the offseason for a relative haul. He won’t return what Cease does because of salary and years of control, but he’s a better pitcher and has less overall risk because of the one year nature of the commitment. (2) Hold him until the Deadline or an inevitable ST or midseason pitching injury crushes the hopes of a playoff contender, and then trade him for a haul. (3) Keep him all year and receive a QO draft pick at the bottom of the first round. If payroll is really an issue with the Rays, they can just trade Margot and Aroz to get to around Glasnow’s cost. Not a biggie. In regards to a trade to the Braves, I like Glasnow for Murphy, Kuehler, and Schwellenbach.
RamMac14
You have done lost your mind. 3 top pitching prospects for an injury prone expensive starter. That’s comical. Braves hang up on that immediately
Neon Cop
Again, we don’t need to mention LAD in every post. How many roster spots do they think there are?
DodgerBlue23
I heard 92% of the MLBTR populace are Dodger fans Neon….Gotta cater to the super majority..
Shadow_Banned
*Superior Majority
DodgerBlue23
Of course that too Shadow..That goes without saying though..
chippersmoltz
AA isn’t taking part in a bidding war. Especially one where the market says you have to overpay.
Benjamin101677
Feels like that the Braves don’t have to do a huge pitcher signing / trade this off season. They have a decent 1-2-3 and there is always the trade deadline if they miss on some of these pitchers in the off season. Also the fact that Bryce Elder was an all star last year that fell off in the second half need figure out if that was fatigue or the league figuring him out.
With the 3 wild cards in each league going take a major flaw for the Braves not to get some post season play. Of the Braves post season experiences last 5-6 seasons they went the fartherest and won it all when they had the worst record and not a great team on paper. So winning a off season maybe not mean getting to a World Series
Smacky
They won 104 games and were the first team to slugg above.500, tied the record for most HRs hit in a season and have an infield that all went to the all-star game & the MVP – charter member of the 40/70 club. Their pitching isn’t terrible so yeah, I don’t think they need to win the off-season.
UGA_Steve
I agree with both of your takes. They can get by and likely make the playoffs with current roster. They should not overpay for a one year rental given they will have a bigger need next off-season.
Shadow_Banned
Dodgers are signing snell and Trading for Glasnow I been saying it
steelerbravenation
Keep saying it. It’s not happening
mp2891
If the Dodgers miss on Ohtani and Yamamoto, I suspect the Dodgers will move fast to shore up their rotation and make a little noise for their restless fans. The pitching dominos will fall fast once those two guys sign.
steelerbravenation
I am ok with Braves getting Glasnow for this year. On a contract year offer him the QO if he takes it great 1 more year if not you get a pick on his way out the door
He is brittle but maybe the Lopez signing helps get Glasnow through the regular season and he able to pitch himself a new contract somewhere for 24
conquerbeard
So… are the Red Sox interested in, uh, anyone? Or are we on to another year of not buying OR selling? I don’t know how you can be in that big of a market and yet be so quiet. I thought they were supposed to be focused on Yamamoto, but they weren’t even on the list of interested teams that dropped yesterday. Disappointing, really.
budman3 2
Dodgers need a TOR and two other starters to be as good as last year and stop coming up short in the post season. Glasnow is not as “glass” as many think and should be even better after a full year from TJS.. Plus, a solid healthy year and having him in the building, gives them a leg up on resigning him before he hits FA next winter. His value is enhanced in a trade with the Rays by adding another piece they could use, so a MiIF’er like Osleivis (got his cup of tea in the ML late in the year) who can be depth at SSS(Lux) and 2nd (Betts should they need to move him back to the OF) fills that need)
That extra value then brings into play what they Rays need, a future catcher Rushiing and one of the ML ready arms like Frasso or younger Ryan/Martin/Kopp.
bhambrave
Glasnow is injury prone and a $25M hit to the CBT. He’d put the Braves significantly over the second threshold and close to the third. They’d need to include Evan White, if only to give them some wiggle room at the deadline. That might require a bit more prospect capital.
mp2891
The Rays are trading Glas to cut payroll. If they aren’t cutting payroll, there is no reason to move him. Not unless the Braves are willing to part with truly elite prospects (ie: Waldrep plus).
PasstheTums
Glasnow, when healthy, is a #1 starter. He has been in the major leagues for parts of 8 seasons and the most innings he has pitched in any one of those seasons is the 120 innings he pitched in 2023. As 2024 is Glasnow’s walk year it would clearly be in his self-interest to demonstrate health to all of the teams that might consider him as a free agent. As a 25 million dollar lottery ticket he is intriguing. The Rays need to trade him, the Braves need a front-line starter. A better trade target would be Corbin Burnes if he could be pried away from the Brewers. He is arguably a better and more durable pitcher than Glasnow, and his salary for 2024 is $15.1 million, almost $10 million less than Glasnow. Of course the price for Burnes would be considerably higher, but the risk would be considerably less.
Fljay073
The Rays have a floor of a late 30s 1st round compensatory draft pick in the 2025 draft so any trade of Glasnow will be higher than that.
CaliforniaDreamin’89
I’m all for a Glasnow and Snell reunion or a Ohtani and Snell along with Buehler rotation. Bring back Kershaw for one more year as the 5th and see where this rotation of
Buehler
Ohtani (snell)
Glasnow
Stone
Miller
Pepiot
Sheehan
Yarbrough
May
Gonsolin
Kershaw
Zerbs63
Gonsolin out for 2024
May at earliest Aug of 2024, if at all
Yarbourgh isn’t even signed
Kersh if signed at earliest would be All Star Break
bravesfan
Braves shouldn’t go for this unless he is 100% open to an extension or will sign one. He’s injury risk with only 1 year left making a handsome sum for the cost. The prospect capital will be high and if he leaves after 1 year, we’ll be in the market 3 starting pitchers (if not more) in 2025. I’d hesitate to move forward with this
bhambrave
He’s 30 and injury prone. What would you offer? 3 years plus an option or two?