Here’s when the Braves bowed out on Jacob deGrom

The Atlanta Braves were once in on Jacob deGrom before he signed with the Rangers, but there was a natural end point to those negotiations. 

Once Atlanta opted to bring back Charlie Morton, paying him $20 million on a short-term deal, it limited the Braves spending moving forward. Morton has been steady at the front of the Atlanta rotation the last few seasons, and despite the Braves financial flexibility, they do have the Dansby Swanson conundrum at the forefront of their offseason plans.

So, signing someone like deGrom would’ve been an added bonus to a club which won the NL East last season with the roster Alex Anthopoulos assembled.

deGrom ended up signing a five-year, $185 million contract with the Texas Rangers. In the end, that was far more than the Braves or even New York Mets wanted to spend in AAV or contract length.

The Braves were never really a threat for Jacob deGrom

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, Atlanta never really had a shot at deGrom, as his agent didn’t pay them much mind.

“…Steve Veltman, deGrom’s agent, pursued talks with the Rangers, it was evident that the final contract would go beyond the Braves’ comfort level,” Olney wrote.

deGrom would’ve been the head of a rotation that included Max Fried, Kyle Wright, Spencer Strider and Morton, with the likes of Mike Soroka, Ian Anderson and Bryce Elder in a reserve/long relief role. That kind of organizational depth is often coveted by contenders, but rarely achievable due to financial issues.

As much money as Atlanta has saved over the years on contracts for Ronald Acuña and Ozzie Albies, the likelihood of them using that kind of capital on a stud free agent has never been all that high. It’s not their style.

The Braves develop from within, and sign their own to team-friendly deals when the time is right (usually prior to arbitration). It’s why they let Freddie Freeman walk, and are driving a hard bargain with Dansby Swanson.

deGrom was never in the cards.