NL Foe Could Offer Starting Rotation Answer for Braves

One NL Central team has a pair of starting pitchers who could be intriguing potential trade targets for the Atlanta Braves.

Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Winning the National League Rookie of the Year award and starting the MLB All-Star Game, right-hander Paul Skenes took baseball by storm during 2024. The Pittsburgh Pirates will obviously be keeping Skenes on their 2025 roster, but the Pirates have other quality starters that are potentially available.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Andrew Destin and Noah Hiles wrote this past week that the Pirates are "open to the idea" of trading 2023 All-Star Mitch Keller. Destin and Hiles added that the Pirates have also made fellow starter Jared Jones available.

Either one is an intriguing possibility for the Atlanta Braves.

"The ultimate goal of trading Keller, per sources, would be to trim payroll while also upgrading other areas on the roster," Destin and Hiles wrote. "Multiple sources said the club’s ideal return would be a young, quality major league bat. Keller’s departure would also create more financial flexibility for additional roster moves.

"Jones, meanwhile, would be an entirely different type of move. Viewed by some to be in the upper tier of the game’s intriguing young arms, the 23-year-old right-hander would have a much higher price tag due to his potential, league-minimum contract and multiple years of remaining control."

Trading for Jones might be the better option of the two for the Braves for multiple reasons. Pundits around the internet seem to agree, as a couple different writers have linked the Braves to Jones since the PPG report.

Because of his age, Jones has more upside and is cheaper than Keller. With Jones, the Braves would replace the departed Max Fried while still having the ability to stay under the luxury tax, which may or may not be one of the team's goals this offseason.

Trading for Jones, though, could be expensive. It could cost multiple MLB-ready hitters and maybe a minor league pitching prospect. With a trade involving either pitcher, though, the Pirates will mostly be looking for offensive upgrades.

Jones has electrifying stuff. He went 6-8 with a 4.14 ERA and 1.192 WHIP with 132 strikeouts in 121.2 innings last season. He could be even better in an organization with a better track record developing young pitchers.

The Braves shouldn't be ruled out in a potential Keller deal either. The 28-year-old is a more proven option, as he's already made the All-Star team and has recorded a 4.25 ERA or better in each of the past three seasons.

This past season, Keller was 11-12 with a 4.25 ERA, 1.303 WHIP and 166 strikeouts in 178 innings. He threw roughly the same amount of frames as Fried, who left the Braves to sign with the New York Yankees on Dec. 10.

Both Jones' star potential and Keller's reliability should be attractive qualities for the Braves starting rotation this offseason.