Atlanta Braves Showed Major Interest in Signing Phillies’ Ace
The Atlanta Braves showed interest in the Philadelphia Phillies ace who re-signed this offseason.
The initial splash move of the MLB offseason was when Aaron Nola re-signed with the Philadelphia Phillies on a seven-year, $172 million contract to stay with the team long-term. This happened quickly into the offseason, indicating how important it was for them to get this deal done.
Jeff Schultz of The Athletic recently spoke with Atlanta Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos who said he wanted Nola this offseason. That proved why it was so important for the Phillies to get this deal done quickly.
“We pursued Aaron Nola (who re-signed with the Phillies). Beyond that, we’ve engaged clubs and inquired on trades. The starters who have been moved, and one specifically, we didn’t need to trade core players off our roster,” the GM told Schultz.
While losing Nola would’ve caused issues for Philadelphia’s rotation, losing him to the Braves would’ve been even worse. If Atlanta had found a way to land the right-handed ace, the Phillies would have needed to find another elite arm, which might not have been out there for them.
For what it’s worth, this could’ve also been a smart tactic from Anthopoulos as he wants Philadelphia’s front office to spend as much on a player as they can to handicap them in other areas.
As the Braves look to improve in similar ways to the Phillies, expect situations like this to continue. High-level players will be on both of these teams’ radars, which will lead to both teams trying to land the same guys.
Philadelphia will continue to look to add talent as the offseason goes on.
They’ve played well the last two seasons but neither have resulted in a World Series title. For a team that has this much talent, they certainly have enough to get the job done.
The same can be said for their rivals in Atlanta.
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Phillies’ Young Star Tabbed As ‘Breakout’ Player Heading Into Next Year
One of the major reasons why the Philadelphia Phillies were able to make it back to their second-straight National League Championship Series in 2023 was due to the play of their young players.
With injuries to Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper, plus the early slumps by Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber, the Phillies need players to step up that would keep them afloat.
Perhaps no one on the team rose to that occasion more than Bryson Stott.
The second year player went from a below average hitter his rookie year, to slashing .280/.329/.419 with 15 home runs and 62 RBI with an OPS+ of 104 during the 2023 season. He also provided elite defense at second base that turned him into a Gold Glove finalist.
Now, expectations are much greater for the young star entering his third year as Todd Zolecki of MLB.com has selected Stott as his breakout player in 2024
“Stott gets the nod because he is one hot start away from making his first NL All-Star team … He finished with 4.3 WAR, which was tied with Zack Wheeler for the team lead. The average baseball fan knows Stott, but they don’t really know him. If he has a good April, May and June, they will,” he writes.
Philadelphia would love nothing more than to see their first round pick in 2019 make his first All-Star game. Not only would that be a great moment in his career, but it likely also means the Phillies likely have gotten off to a much better start than they had in 2022 and 2023.
They were able to overcome their slow starts in both seasons to make a deep run in the playoffs, but they would like to avoid that and compete for a division title.
Stott becoming a breakout player would certainly help that.
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