If Not Correa…
The last few years of covering the Braves in an official capacity has periodically brought about specific premium players that have become available at one time or another that I’ve FAWNED over until the notification came across my phone of their acquisition by another ball club.
At the 2020 MLB Trade Deadline a report was widely spread that Mike Clevinger had been made available by Cleveland. For a brief few seconds I imagined a Braves rotation that included Mike Clevinger. Then a report later surfaced that linked the Atlanta Braves to Mike. That sent me full-on, head-first into “WE HAVE TO GET CLEV” mode. I spent the next 36-48 hours diving deeper & deeper into the Braves winning their first World Series since the 1990’s because of the Clev addition. Then into just how dominant of a title it would be…Then he was traded to San Diego. Dream over. Clevinger was just recently available again, this time on the free agent market; but he signed a 1-year deal with the White Sox for less than half of what we’ll pay Charlie Morton in 2023. Morton’s “questionable” extension rears it’s ugly head again.
Last offseason Justin Verlander became a free agent. There I went again…“Verlander to Atlanta would bring about the first repeat World Series winner since the Yankees three-peat from 1998 to 2000”. Well, Verlander re-signed with Houston. Then Houston won the World Series.
Verlander’s a free agent again, so the saga continues…
Now this year’s free agency focus is on the big four shortstops, and the Braves need a shortstop. I’ve made no attempt to conceal my infatuation with Carlos Correa being the Braves franchise shortstop. But the more I step back & analyze what Correa-to-Atlanta would entail, the less likely it becomes in my mind.
So if not Correa, then who?