Braves Pitching Prospect Named a Top Winter Meetings Trade Piece

With the number of top pitching prospect options the Braves have, somebody will be te odd man out and best used as part of a trade

This Braves prospect could be on the move during the Winter Meetings / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Winter Meetings aren’t for a few more weeks, and the Atlanta Braves already have top talent at the center of potential moves. 

Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter put out his list of the top 10 prospects who could be at the center of Winter Meetings trades, listing No. 3 prospect Hurston Waldrep ninth on the list. 

“The Atlanta Braves have not been shy about trading away young, MLB-ready starting pitching in recent years,” Reuter wrote.  

Reuter chose Waldrep because he could be the odd man out. 

“Spencer Schwellenbach has emerged as a homegrown rotation piece, and the team will likely be hesitant to deal 2024 first-round pick Cam Caminiti or AJ Smith-Shawver who has rocketed through the minors,” Reuter wrote. 

The first two names make total sense. Schwellenbach has proven he’ll be a member of the rotation for the next several years. Caminiti was just drafted back in July. It’s hard to see the Braves shipping him off so quickly. 

Smith-Shawver could still possibly be trade bait. He’s been given more opportunities, including a playoff appearance, but he hasn’t solidified his place on the big league roster just yet. He’s definitely more likely to stick around than Waldrep, having just been in the system a couple more years might be the bias as to why, but don’t count him out of being moved to complete a big enough return. 

Regardless, it would be wise for the Braves to move somebody. While it’s great to have options, the prospect pipeline is a bit jammed. The Braves top-three prospects are pitchers, as are seven of their top-10 prospects. 

Not everyone is going to be able to get a chance in the rotation or even the bullpen - the latter potentially being a waste of their talent if they aren’t the closer. 

Waldrep made his Major League debut in 2024 with little success, to say the least. In two starts, he allowed 13 earned runs over seven innings pitched. However, his Triple-A stats are far more promising of what he could develop into. In eight starts, he had a 3.38 ERA in 40 innings pitched. 

He still needs work on limiting baserunners - he had a 1.45 WHIP with the Stripers. You can get away with that in Triple-A, but in MLB, you’ll get rocked. His two-start sample size shows that somewhat. 

Scouts like Waldreps' fastball and splitter, grading them both as a 65 on the 20 to 80 scale. At a 65 rating, these pitches are considered ‘plus’ stuff, which is a step higher above average. Ideally, if he can get his command in order, which is currently rated as below average, he could become an effective starter in the Majors. That alone will get teams interested in a deal this Winter.