{"id":15282,"date":"2024-12-05T06:34:18","date_gmt":"2024-12-05T06:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15282"},"modified":"2024-12-05T06:35:56","modified_gmt":"2024-12-05T06:35:56","slug":"should-braves-reported-top-prospect-be-off-limits-in-trade-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15282","title":{"rendered":"Should Braves reported top prospect be off-limits in trade talks?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hurston<\/p>\n

With free agency prices inflated, the expectation is that Alex Anthopoulos will go big game hunting in the trade market, which has been his M.O. since the Braves won the World Series back in 2021.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Atlanta\u2019s farm system isn\u2019t robust with prospects to dangle on the trade block. Drake Baldwin is one of the club\u2019s top young talents, and he plays a premium position. A.J. Smith-Shawver still needs to refine his craft, but his potential is sky-high.\u00a0One prospect has reportedly been off-limits in trade talks, though.<\/p>\n

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com\u00a0reported:\u00a0\u201cMany teams have unsuccessfully tried to land the club\u2019s\u00a0No. 3 prospect\u00a0RHP Hurston Waldrep, who might fall into the untouchable category,\u201d which was also reported by\u00a0Mark Bowman later that day.<\/p>\n

Should Braves top prospect Hurston Waldrep be untouchable?<\/h2>\n

Waldrep was taken in the first round of the 2023 draft. Coming out of Florida, his splitter was heralded as a unicorn pitch, but his short stint with the major league club went pretty poorly, posting a 16.71 ERA and 2.429 WHIP across just seven innings in two starts.<\/p>\n

Granted, he found much more success in the minor leagues, and most would agree the Braves rushed him to the majors far too quickly. He hadn\u2019t even had anywhere close to a full season in the minors before making his MLB debut. In 27 starts across two seasons stretching from Augusta to Gwinnett, Waldrep posted a 3.01 ERA and 1.410 WHIP. Most recently in Triple-A Gwinnett, he tossed 40.0 innings in eight starts, allowing 15 earned runs.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Waldrep\u2019s biggest issue is control right now, something that can plague pitchers their entire careers if not fixed. Even with the 3.38 ERA with the Stripers this past season, he still walked 5.4 batters per nine innings. That\u2019s entirely too high, but control issues are very normal for young arms making the jump from college to professional baseball.<\/p>\n

Waldrep hasn\u2019t shown anything from a box score standpoint that warrants the \u201cuntouchable\u201d tag, but the stuff is undeniable, even if he probably needs to develop another pitch to go with his splitter-fastball combination.<\/p>\n

With that being said, Alex Anthopoulos has batted nearly 1.000 when it comes to deciding which players to hang onto and which to include in trades, the lone exception being William Contreras. If the Braves feel Hurston Waldrep is worth hanging onto, who is anyone to argue with him?<\/p>\n

Still, in the Braves current scenario, no prospect should be viewed as untouchable. This is a team in the middle of their championship window that is coming off three disappointing first-round exits in the postseason, and they have a ton of holes to fill this offseason. The rest of the NL East is only improving, and the Braves need to do the same. If moving Hurston Waldrep is what\u2019s needed to land a proven star player, it must be considered.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With free agency prices inflated, the expectation is that Alex Anthopoulos will go big game hunting in the trade market, which has been his M.O. since the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":15283,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nShould Braves reported top prospect be off-limits in trade talks? - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15282\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should Braves reported top prospect be off-limits in trade talks? - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With free agency prices inflated, the expectation is that Alex Anthopoulos will go big game hunting in the trade market, which has been his M.O. since the...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15282\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-05T06:34:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-05T06:35:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/9532403080877-atl-v-pit.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MsNga\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MsNga\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15282\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15282\",\"name\":\"Should Braves reported top prospect be off-limits in trade talks? - NEWS USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15282#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15282#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/9532403080877-atl-v-pit.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-05T06:34:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-05T06:35:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7d8919f80fe19b5d17fd5541862a7b37\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15282#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15282\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15282#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/9532403080877-atl-v-pit.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/9532403080877-atl-v-pit.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667,\"caption\":\"NORTH PORT, FL - MARCH 08: Braves relief pitcher Hurston Waldrep (93) rests in the dugout between innings during the Friday afternoon MLB Spring Training game between the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates on March 8, 2024 at CoolToday Park in North Port, Florida. 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