According to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, Matt Adams’ days in a Braves uniform may be numbered. The Atlanta Braves are shopping the 29-year-old first baseman in advance of Friday’s non-tender deadline and sources have said Adams “won’t be with the Braves long.”
Atlanta acquired Adams from St. Louis for infielder Juan Yepez last May, just after star first baseman Freddie Freeman broke his wrist and missed two months. Adams had a solid year in which he batted .274/.319/.522 with 20 home runs.
Freddie Freeman will continue to man first base in 2018, after spending some time at third base in 2017, and the Braves are looking to promote top prospect Ronald Acuna to the outfield, making it unlikely Adams would see playing time there. It appears he would be a bench player in 2018 as things stand now.
There are many teams who need a solid first baseman: the Red Sox, Royals, Mets, Phillies and possibly the Angels and Cardinals. Free-agent first basemen like Eric Hosmer and Carlos Santana will likely receive big multi-year deals, as will Logan Morrison, Lucas Duda, Mark Reynolds, and Mike Napoli. Matt Adams, who made $4.6 million in 2017, may be competing with these some of these players for a job as the Braves move to find a trade partner.
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