The Atlanta Braves may be interested in trading Jair Jurrjens and Martin Prado to increase their financial flexibility, says Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Both players should see a raise to the $5 million range after arbitration, which makes a move now worth a look.
Bowman says the Braves have contacted the Kansas City Royals about a potential trade and they were inquiring about Lorenzo Cain as a potential chip in an agreement. A deal with Kansas City makes sense for a thousand reasons, not the least of which being that Dayton Moore has an ongoing affair with players he previously scouted while on the job in Atlanta (see: Francoeur, Jeff).
Beyond the obvious KC/ATL connection, Kansas City just signed its centerfielder, Melky Cabrera, to an extension and now need to move Cain (a remaining prize from the Greinke trade). Moreover, the Royals are clearly in the need of additional starting pitching, of which Jurrjens would be an upgrade over nearly everyone on the roster not named Bruce Chen. I'm not sure Prado would fit in KC, especially with Gordon and Francoeur seemingly having the corner outfield spots locked down, though.
Hard to say this won't happen considering how much Dayton Moore likes dealing with Atlanta. More if we hear it.