Braves rumors: 1 dream trade, 1 savvy play, 1 to avoid altogether

Braves Rumors: Aroldis Chapman just isn’t worth the price in a trade

There’s no player I’ve wrestled with more in terms of a potential trade option, especially in regard to the Braves, than Aroldis Chapman.

With his stock lower than perhaps it’s ever been before this offseason, Chapman landed on the Kansas City Royals on a one-year deal for 2023. Things have been quite ugly for the team as a whole, sitting even below the White Sox in the AL Central, but the 35-year-old reliever has drawn rave reviews.

In 22 appearances, Chapman has two saves and six holds with a 3.10 ERA and 1.43 WHIP. That has made him one of the buzziest trade targets on the market as the surely out-of-contention Royals could look to capitalize on a team looking for a high-end rental option to bolster their bullpen. As such, Chapman is likely going to have a heated market, meaning a trade for him would be expensive.

That should be strike one for the Braves in terms of considering a pursuit. What’s more important, though, is that Chapman is starting to cool off quite a bit after a dominant start. After allowing just two earned runs and nine total base runners in 10.1 innings for April, the veteran gave up five earned runs and 20 total base runners in 10 May innings.

Given that we saw Chapman battle immense inconsistency with the Yankees last season, the fact that he’s displaying that again month-to-month is not comforting. And it’s something that the Braves should be extremely wary of, especially since trading to upgrade the bullpen would be to alleviate some of the inconsistency they’ve seen from Minter and Iglesias already on the roster.

When you factor in the potential trade cost with his recent dip in performance, staying away from Chapman is probably the best option for the Braves overall.