The Atlanta Braves have thus far been among the winter's most aggressive teams, already lassoing three veteran starters -- signing Bartolo Colon and R.A. Dickey, and also trading for Jaime Garcia. Yet the Braves' hunt for starting pitching is raging on -- and they're aiming high.

How high? The Braves are reportedly interested in a pair of aces: Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox and Chris Archer of the Tampa Bay Rays -- with Sale as the preferred target, according to Jerry Crasnick:

The Braves are seemingly committed to improving their present-day roster as they move into a new ballpark. Of course, there's a difference between trading for Garcia -- an injury-prone mid-rotation starter with one year remaining on his contract -- and trading for a front-of-the-rotation pitcher with multiple years remaining on a team-friendly contract -- a description that fits both Sale and Archer.

As such, we'll see whether the Braves are willing to pony up and meet the prospect demands made by the White Sox and Rays. It seems like -- based on another note passed along by Crasnick -- the answer is probably not:

Or, maybe, the Braves are just posturing to increase the significance of Albies' inclusion, when and if he's put into a package. (And Albies is presumably far more likely to go than Dansby Swanson, Atlanta's other top middle-infield prospect.) Whatever the case, the Braves seem serious about making a push toward relevancy -- and adding a front-line starter would help the cause.