Can the Yankees And Braves Link in Julio Teheran Trade?

The Atlanta Braves (16-37) are in full rebuild mode, and according to many MLB insiders, GM John Coppolella is willing to trade his most valuable asset in 25-year old right-hander Julio Teheran should the right offer come along.

Might Brian Cashman and the New York Yankees be a potential trade partner?

It’s not as far fetched as you think, but the Yankees are in dire need of starting pitching.

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Braves are looking to be overwhelmed with a package that includes major-league ready talent in exchange for Teheran:

"“The days of us trading players like Teheran for prospects are over. We need to get better at the major league level. We would have to be overwhelmed to move Teheran,” Coppolella said."

Not only is Teheran one of the premier right-handed pitchers in all of baseball, but he also comes with four more years of team control under a team-friendly contract. With an average-annual value of $5.4 MM through 2019 and a $12 MM club option for 2020 coupled in with two months of dominant pitching behind one of the worst teams in baseball and a relatively weak class of upcoming free-agent starters outside of Jake Arrieta (2018) Jose Fernandez (2019) and Matt Harvey (2019), this might be the opportune time for the Braves to ante up and move their star right-hander.

While teams like the Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins, Detroit Tigers and AL East Rival Boston Red Sox are likely to be in the market for starting pitching during the trade deadline, they certainly have more attractive major league ready hitters to offer the Braves than the Yankees, but the problem is, with over 700 innings pitched and counting so far during his young career, teams might not be willing to take the risk of parting ways with one or more of their premier hitters in order to acquire Teheran.

If the Braves can’t find a trade partner willing to offer suffice major league-ready talent, will they really turn away an intriguing prospect package to keep Teheran in the fold long-term?

Who knows, but this is where Brian Cashman can swoop in and work some magic.

Would the Braves really turn down a prospect package of minor leaguers knocking at the door that includes Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez along with a major league-ready pitching asset in Dellin Betances?

Now that said, if the Braves actually contemplate parting ways with Teheran for the aforementioned package, there’s no guarantee the Yankees would actually be open to dealing any of them either.

Both Sanchez and Judge entered the 2016 season on Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects List (Gary Sanchez 36th, Aaron Judge 76th), and were deemed ‘untouchable’ at the deadline last season when it came to names like David Price. Betances on the other hand is likely the future closer of the Yankees, as many insiders are speculating that Cashman will deal both Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman this summer before Betances.

No matter what happens, I would just urge Brian Cashman and the New York Yankees to be very careful. The Braves already made out like bandits when they sent Teheran’s former teammate Shelby Miller over to the Diamondbacks for Dansby Swanson, Aaron Blair and Ender Inciarte.

What do you think Yankee fans? Can the Yankees and Braves link up in a swap for Julio Teheran?