Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times just broke the news that the Braves are out of the Archer Sweepstakes, and the Pirates have won the bidding for his services:
“BREAKING: Under deal being finalized, #Rays trade Archer to #Pirates for Glasnow, Meadows, and a still being decided 3rd piece” – @TBTimes_Rays
Even without the “being decided 3rd piece”, this seems like a massive overpay. Meadows and Glasnow have their warts, but they are still both oozing with upside. Meadows is a five-tool center fielder hitting .292/.468/.795 in his rookie season. Glasnow was once a top 5 prospect in baseball, and after a rough 2017 has bounced back nicely this season. He’s a guy who could blossom at any moment into an ace.
A similar package for Atlanta probably would have involved Drew Waters, Gohara/Wright/Toussaint, and someone else.
This isn’t a knock on Chris Archer, he’s an excellent starter who I would personally love to have. However, the Braves were in a bidding war with the Pirates. For them to beat that offer, bad words such as “Waters”, “Toussaint”, “Anderson”, and “Riley” could have started getting tossed around. Some of those guys may have even been on the table already. The return for Gausman still hasn’t been announced, but I’m much more comfortable giving a more paltry return for him and seeing what he can do outside of his gauntlet of a division (Spoiler Alert: he has an ERA of 3.13 against non-AL East teams this season). Baltimore has a track record of misusing their starters, ask Jake Arrieta.
Personally, I’m glad Atlanta decided to pursue other options after seeing what Pittsburgh gave up.