Will Atlanta Braves Benefit From Bullpen Buying Blitz

Will Atlanta Braves Benefit From Bullpen Buying Blitz?

Bullpen arms are the hot commodity right now and the Atlanta Braves have some interesting pieces, can they turn them into a better roster?

Bullpen Buying Blitz

With the deadline less than 30 hours away bullpens across the majors may have to add a travel agent to keep everything organized. In the last week:

• The Cubs traded for Aroldis Chapman
• The Nationals traded for Mark Melancon

Then this morning:

• The Indians traded for Andrew Miller
• The Yankees traded for Tyler Clippard
• the Cardinals Traded for Zach Duke

So it’s been a busy week and it will get more hectic in the next 24 hours because more teams need relievers. Who? Well the Mets, Pirates, Yankees, Dodgers and Giants at least and maybe others as well.

The Pirates

While the Pirates trades their closer they are not waving the white flag on the season.

With the Bucs still digging around for a starting pitcher and can obviously use bullpen reinforcements the Braves seem to have the answer to their needs at a price they can afford.

In a similar vein the Pirates have what the Braves need so what would such a trade look like?

Pirates would get Arodys Vizcaino, Mauricio Cabrera, and Aaron Blair and the Braves would get Austin Meadows and Harold Ramirez.

Why would the Pirates do it?

After trading their closer the Bucs have to show the fans they are still in it for this season.  Adding Vizcaino and Cabrera to their bullpen softens the blow of losing Melancon and gives them inexpensive controllable assets.

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Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage has helped a lot of sinker ball pitchers turn the corner and Blair could benefit from the change.

The upside for Pittsburgh is controllability. While they want to win now they are looking at a division that has the Cubs as runaway leaders and they are three games back in the Wild Card with four teams in front of them.  All of the players are under control through at least 2019 and improve their roster for next year.

The players I’m suggesting are blocked by an outfield that is considered one of the best in the majors. Most would suggest they should trade Andrew McCutchen but their owner says that isn’t happening, at least for now.

Next: What's in it for the Braves