4 possible trade partners for the Cubs and Kris Bryant

Atlanta’s pieces make the most sense for Chicago

From the Cubs standpoint, the Braves have the necessary talent to acquire Bryant that allows the Cubs to remain competitive in 2020 but also build for the future.

Atlanta is showing interest in retaining Josh Donaldson after a strong season with the Braves, but they have also come up in Anthony Rendon discussions as well. However, if the Braves were to miss on both free-agent third basemen, then it would make sense they might consider the idea of trading for Kris Bryant.

Atlanta has outfielders Cristian Pache and Drew Waters, rated one and two in the Braves farm system, plus right-handers Ian Anderson and Kyle Wright. A pairing involving any of these four players could likely get a deal started with the Cubs, but with the Braves reluctant to move Pache or Waters, third baseman Austin Riley could give the Cubs an immediate replacement at third. Veteran center-fielder Ender Inciarte is also another name that’s been long-rumored as a trade target for the Cubs, maybe he can sweeten a deal as opposed to Waters or Pache.

Right now, however, it seems the Braves aren’t too keen on a trade at the moment, according to Jim Bowden:

The Braves would likely be more open to trade talks if they miss out on Rendon and Donaldson, but since both are still available and won’t cost them their highly-coveted prospects they seem out of the picture for now. However, if Braves were to miss out on the top third base options in free agency, general manager Alex Anthopoulos might reconsider his trade options.

If the Cubs were able to get their future center-fielder plus a future front-end starter that would likely be enough to let go of Bryant, but it sounds like Braves would rather hold on to their prospects and pay for someone like Rendon or Donaldson.