MLB Offseason Trade: Braves trade Marco Gonzales and cash to Pittsburgh

The Braves have traded Marco Gonzales to the Pittsburgh Pirates along with cash for a player to be named later per ESPN’s Jeff Passan and has been confirmed by the Braves.

This deal would appear to be all about the money, as Gonzales is owed $12 million this season and can be a useful player, but is not the impact starter that the Braves would like with the state of their roster. Why pay $12 million for Marco Gonzales when you have Bryce Elder in pre-arbitration?

Gonzales was acquired in the Jared Kelenic trade about 48 hours ago, as Seattle also did not want to pay Gonzales $12 million in 2023. Seattle sent $4.5 million in cash to Atlanta in that deal, but there were a number of other pieces involved. The cash that Atlanta is sending to Pittsburgh is a significant part of the deal and it will be interesting if we learn how much of Gonzales’ salary the Braves are covering. This should at least open up some payroll for Atlanta, even if the exact number is uncertain at the moment. The player to be named later is unlikely to be of much significance, but the Braves haven’t received one of those in a while, and they are a little bit fun, with the added bonus of reinforcing the name of one of our own podcasts at Battery Power.

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