Five Burning Atlanta Braves Trade Rumor Questions

On Thursday, July 31st at 4pm ET Major League Baseball will conclude the non-waiver trade deadline for the 2014 season.  Many Atlanta Braves fans want the front office to make a big splash prior to this time but as the time dwindles down, it looks like the Braves won’t be making a “huge” move.

So I had a few questions that popped into my head while at work today and I thought I’d ask my co-writers for their feedback.  Benjamin Chase and Alan Carpenter helped me out on this article…lets dive right in.

1. Say the Atlanta Braves are not in the market anymore for the huge name, top of the line starting pitcher…who are the Braves willing to trade away for a lefty or bench bat help?

Ben: It depends on the bench piece or lefty and their control going forward.  A rental shouldn’t cost more than someone like Cody Martin or Northcraft.  Someone with longer control might require a more upside guy like a Graham or Mauricio.

Alan:  Assuming you mean reliever, I’m liking the idea of a mid-level, 16-25th ranked prospect for a guy like Neal Cotts.  It’s a Scott Downs-like move.

For a bench bat, I think they need to do a little more, because I think the Braves have genuinely lost some games due to lack of production late in games.  So for somebody on my list from the other day (Willingham, Coghland, Ruggiano, maybe Denorfia, Gomes etc.) I’d go with Schafer plus a lower prospect or perhaps a guy like Joe Terdoslavich if he’s not figuring into the organization’s plans… which by now seems to be the case. Wonder if Rangers would do that for Alex Rios… but he’s an everyday guy and we don’t have an everyday slot for him.