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Fresh off signing two veteran hurlers this past weekend, R.A. Dickey and Bartolo Colon, the Atlanta Braves are looking to add another starting pitcher to their rotation and they have their sights set quite high as they’re looking into acquiring the Rays ace, Chris Archer. The Braves are also rumored to be interested in Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox and Sonny Gray of the Oakland Athletics.
Archer is coming off a somewhat down year in which he compiled a record of 9-19, with a 4.02 ERA and a 3.81 FIP over 33 starts, racking up just over 200 innings pitched for the second year in a row.
The Rays still have Archer under team control through the 2019 season, with a guaranteed $19 million over those three seasons, plus two more option years that would give him a total of $39 million through the 2021 season.
The Braves, with the addition of Dickey and Colon, currently have a projected starting rotation that consist of Julio Teheran, Mike Folteynewicz, and Matt Wisler. Archer would immediately make the starting rotation better, but he would come at a heavy price as he is arguably the most valuable starting pitching option available this off-season.