Braves, Marlins make moves Monday

Good morning! Have you switched to baseball mode yet? You probably should.

The news:

• The Braves traded pitchers Max Povse and Rob Whalen to Seattle for Alex Jackson, the No. 6 pick in the 2014 draft.

Jackson, 20, is an outfielder with potentially outstanding raw power but little in the way of a contact bat.  He has yet to get out of low-A ball, where in 2016 he hit .243/.332/.408 with 11 home runs and 20 doubles.

• The Marlins also made a move Monday, signing pitcher Edinson Volquez to a two-year, $22 million contract.

Volquez, 33, went 10-11 with a 5.37 ERA for Kansas City last year, a poor follow-up to two good seasons in 2014 and ’15. He walks more than he should, which helps keep his ERA typically in the fours.

• Jim Salisbury has a profile of Scott Kingery, the 2015 second round pick and second base prospect who ended 2016 with Reading.

There’s high expectation with Kingery, who will likely start the 2017 season with Reading before a possible promotion to Lehigh Valley. He hit .281/.335/.388 across two levels last season, flashing speed and the ability to spray the ball into the gap. He’s also a decent fielder at second.

Jay Floyd interviewed him recently upon the close of his time in the Arizona Fall League. He came in at No. 15 in our 2016 Prospect Nation rankings.

• Finally, some potentially bad news. Buster Olney reported Monday that stalling in talks regarding the collective bargaining agreement could cast a major shadow on baseball’s winter meetings.

In short, the CBA expires Thursday and sides are not close to a new deal. Because of this, teams have threatened not to bring their front offices to the annual meetings Dec. 4-8, during which teams make trades, jockey for power plays and participate in the Rule 5 Draft.

There are also murmurs that owners might threaten a lockout or work stoppage, but we’re not there yet.

One of the issues on the table has been an international draft, which the MLB Players Association strongly opposes (it would allow Major League Baseball to basically set contractual terms). But Ken Rosenthal reports the draft issue has been tabled in order to get the CBA done.