Braves Bring Back A Former First Round Pick
Atlanta's second trade of the offseason will definitely save some money
The Braves brought back a player.
No, not Dansby Swanson.
Instead, the Braves have traded Jake Odorizzi to the Texas Rangers for Kolby Allard. Money will also be heading to Arlington as part of the deal, though at this point, the amount is unknown. The deal was announced Wednesday evening to the surprise of, well, everyone.
The trade implies that there was some concern that Odorizzi would pick up his player option of $12.5 million for the 2023 season. That or he actually has already informed the Braves he was going to, though there are no confirmations of that just yet. The expectation was that Odorizzi would not take the option and instead head to free agency. But there’s been no word either way. Nor do we know how much the Braves sent to facilitate this deal. Chances are it was $6.5 million or around that. (Update: It’s reportedly $10 million so…uh…yeah?)
Acquired at the deadline for Will Smith, Odorizzi did little with the Braves, struggling over 10 starts where he averaged less than five innings and saw his HR/9 rate balloon to 1.75. He carried a 5.24 ERA in 46.1 innings and, when you combine his 22 starts with the 'Stros, Odorizzi had a 4.40 ERA and 1.3 fWAR in 106.1 innings. Not great, no, but it was believed he would still get more money on the open market than he would give up by turning down the option ($6 million).
Anyway, the Braves are quite familiar with Kolby Allard, the 25-year-old lefty out of San Clemente High School. He was their first pick of the 2015 draft and the 14th overall selection. Allard made his debut in 2018 for the Braves, but didn't garner much more of a look prior to being included in the Chris Martin trade at the 2019 deadline.
Since the trade, Allard has been pretty bad. To be fair, in three of his four years since the trade, he failed to throw even 50 innings in the majors. But, if 2021 was an example of what we can expect from Allard, yikes.
But Allard isn't here to pitch. He's here to save some money. How much is still unknown and we will figure that out when we know how much money the Braves sent the Rangers. To be frank, I doubt Allard will be with the team by the time spring training opens. With 2 years and 162 days of service time, Allard will almost certainly be arbitration-eligible for the first time in 2023. He will be cheap, of course, and has an option left, but he will take up a roster spot on the 40-man that the Braves may want to save for another player who has a better future.
Perhaps the Braves could retain Allard on a minor league deal and turn him into a project. Mike Maroth needs a challenge, I guess. I don't think there's a whole lot to work with and Allard will likely always be known as a bust, though.
Of course, there is exists a chance that a Braves scout sees something in Allard and the southpaw shocks the world in 2023.
There's also a chance Santa Clarita Diet will be brought back after being cancelled by Netflix in 2019 and we finally get a real fourth season.
I mean...anything's possible?