Huh, THis one confuses me

[depley]

Off of MLB Trade Rumors

The Orioles tried to open a conversation with the Braves about bringing back former right fielder Nick Markakis, Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com tweets. But Atlanta seemingly showed little interest in trying to work out a swap, per the report.

It would seem to me this is one player that we should currently be listening to offers on. Why would we not?

[Julio3000]

Нет! Мы не будем торговать Ник Markakis.

[Millwood1Hitter]

Because we're "competing!"

[Ross7405]

I would assume they want him to be the veteran leader to help shape the club.

The coaching staff should be able to do that....but sometimes the veteran helps.

I would absolutely listen if I was in charge, but they want Nick to share the leadership role with Freeman.

[Enscheff]

My guess is the O's don't have anything worth trading for, and the Braves are waiting for a team with good prospects like the Rangers to come calling for an OFer.

[bravesfanforlife88]

If the O's gave us Bundy and then some AND ate Markakis' contract I'd have to listen. Bundy could eventually turn out to be serviceable if he can get past the injuries. Letting our kids play plus netting the extra cash couldn't hurt

[rico43]

The story is the same now as it was in 1995: Gammons has no pipeline to the Braves. Anything he quotes out of Braves camp is guesswork.

[smootness]

If that's true, I'm guessing it's because we want him to build up more value and we're not keen on trading a guy one year after signing him to a 4-year deal. Doesn't help in future FA negotiations.

[DaneHill]

The story is the same now as it was in 1995: Gammons has no pipeline to the Braves. Anything he quotes out of Braves camp is guesswork.

I believe he was actually in Braves camp today. He was talking with Dale Murphy in a pic I saw earlier, so assumed he'd hear some scuttlebutt while there, from either the Braves or Orioles side.

[buck75]

maybe they're just messing with us. Should we look for Neck to be traded to the O's soon?

[striker42]

The story is the same now as it was in 1995: Gammons has no pipeline to the Braves. Anything he quotes out of Braves camp is guesswork.

Yeah. This is clearly something he heard from the O's end so you have to consider that slant. The O's perception of "Little Interest" in working out a trade could simply be that the Braves asked a higher price than the O's wanted to pay and refused to back away from it. My guess would be that's the case as the front office has not concealed the fact that they'd trade anyone not named Freddie Freeman.

Right now there are other considerations that are forcing us to demand a really high price. When you trade a guy the year after you signed him to a four year deal, it doesn't make you team look good to other free agents. This might be important this coming offseason. Also, there's the fact that this offense is already terrible. If we moved Markakis we'd likely be significantly worse. Even when you're not competitive you want to put an entertaining product on the field.

So while I'm sure Coppy would trade him, he's not going to trade him unless the return outweighs considerations like that. This means a high asking price that would give the impression that we have no interest in moving him. I expect to hear Markakis' name a lot more at the trade deadline. If he's sitting at the All Star break with a .280 batting average, a .350 OBP, and half a dozen HRs, we'll have teams interested in trading for him.

[Chico]

Yeah. This is clearly something he heard from the O's end so you have to consider that slant. The O's perception of "Little Interest" in working out a trade could simply be that the Braves asked a higher price than the O's wanted to pay and refused to back away from it. My guess would be that's the case as the front office has not concealed the fact that they'd trade anyone not named Freddie Freeman.

Right now there are other considerations that are forcing us to demand a really high price. When you trade a guy the year after you signed him to a four year deal, it doesn't make you team look good to other free agents. This might be important this coming offseason. Also, there's the fact that this offense is already terrible. If we moved Markakis we'd likely be significantly worse. Even when you're not competitive you want to put an entertaining product on the field.

So while I'm sure Coppy would trade him, he's not going to trade him unless the return outweighs considerations like that. This means a high asking price that would give the impression that we have no interest in moving him. I expect to hear Markakis' name a lot more at the trade deadline. If he's sitting at the All Star break with a .280 batting average, a .350 OBP, and half a dozen HRs, we'll have teams interested in trading for him.

I agree with all of this. What would the plan be right now? It would be more of a salary dump since the O's don't really have much to offer, and unless we have another trade in place it doesn't make sense right now. I don't want to see a Swisher/Frenchy platoon out there.

[nsacpi]

For marketing reasons (presumably having to do with the casual fan), teams that are rebuilding are willing to wave the white flag during the off-season and at any point during the season once it is clear they are not contenders, but not during spring training or the weeks just ahead of it.

We did make a rare exception with the Kimbrel trade. But I think the value coming back in that trade was so good that it was hard not to accept the offer from the Padres. I think if there was a similar overpay we'd be willing to trade Markakis or anyone else for that matter.

[striker42]

For marketing reasons (presumably having to do with the casual fan), teams that are rebuilding are willing to wave the white flag during the off-season and at any point during the season once it is clear they are not contenders, but not during spring training or the weeks just ahead of it.

We did make a rare exception with the Kimbrel trade. But I think the value coming back in that trade was so good that it was hard not to accept the offer from the Padres. I think if there was a similar overpay we'd be willing to trade Markakis or anyone else for that matter.

Getting rid of BJ was a huge part of the Kimbrel trade. There's no motivation like that right now.