I'm going to sound like a broken record here, but where will Bryce Harper land? The rumors have been trickling in and an interesting murmur that The Athletic's David O'Brien brought to surface was bringing the six-time All-Star to Atlanta.
So yes, the Hot Stove is still warm. But it didn't take long for this to quickly become a cold take:
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SIGN UP HERE Well -- it was fun while it lasted. Still, it became apparent some Braves fans and the surrounding areas aren't exactly writing "I heart Bryce Harper" on their notebooks.
But if there was a chance the team down South was still in the mix, that could have been an interesting (and strong) team.
The Braves are "highly unlikely" to bring back fire reliever Craig Kimbrel, so why not concentrate on the bats and the outfield situation for now? Well, to start things off, defensively, they're doing alright. Ronald Acuña Jr. more than made a name for himself in 2018 during his NL Rookie of the Year campaign slashing .293/.366/.552 with 26 long balls and 64 RBI -- and was even mentioned in some MVP talks. In center field, Ender Inciarte has just about every inch of that domain covered, and when he comes through at the plate, the guy can be deadly.
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[RELATED: Giants interested in Bryce Harper]
Harper, of course, is a right-fielder by nature and the team is starving for someone to take over after All-Star Nick Markakis granted free agency in October. Can they depend on Adam Duvall? He had a very abysmal season with Atlanta (.132/.193/.151 in 33 games). So it may not be a difficult decision to make.
There's also the ballpark factor.
SunTrust Park literally has a section made for lefty Freddie Freeman with a power alley in right field. Imagine Harper getting ahold of one and sending it into the Chophouse -- interrupting someone's meal. Having him add some pop to a lineup that already possesses Ozzie Albies and a group of guys that are more than ready to continue their momentum would be so much fun to watch.
The team also freed up some monetary space when they traded Matt Kemp to the Braves in that huge salary-swap sending him to the Dodgers, so there aren't many reasons why this wouldn't take place. Well, besides the fact that it's not going to take place.
But he does look good in those colors.