The Daily Chop: Winter Meetings on tap for Braves

After a relatively eventful week that saw the addition of Cole Hamels to their rotation, Friday was a quiet day overall for the Atlanta Braves. That may change as soon as this weekend with the Winter Meetings slated to get underway from San Diego.

Hot Stove

Washington Nationals owner Mark Lerner said in a recent interview that his team can only afford to keep one of Stephen Strasburg or Anthony Rendon for next season. He pushed further saying the team had made great offers to both players but that it was ultimately up to the player to decide. That prompted a response from Scott Boras who said that the Nationals have plenty of revenue to support big free agent deals if they want to. Will be interesting to see how this story progresses through the Winter Meetings next week.

One player that the Nationals are bringing back in utility player Howie Kendrick who agreed to a $6.25 million contract on Friday.

The Minnesota Twins have an agreement with catcher Alex Avila on a one-year, $4.25 million deal. Avila will serve as the backup Mitch Garver.

The New York Yankees and outfielder Brett Gardner are still working on a new contract according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.

The New York Mets have re-signed reliever Brad Brach on a one-year $850K deal. The deal also reportedly includes a $1.25 million player option for 2021 with incentives in both years of the contract.

The Chicago Cubs have an agreement with former Braves reliever Daniel Winkler. The deal is a split Major League contract which will pay Winkler $750K if he is in the majors and a $200K salary while in the minors. The deal also reportedly contains another $750K in incentives. The Braves traded Winkler to San Francisco in the deal for Mark Melancon at the trade deadline last season.

The Cubs are also reportedly discussing a minor league deal with reliever Brandon Morrow. Injuries limited Morrow to just 30 2/3 innings over his previous two-year deal with the club.