The Trade Market for Atlanta Braves starter Jaime Garcia

Who needs pitching?  If you listen to most of the current MLB contenders, the answer is… virtually everybody.  But what are the most likely matchups available for a trade with the Braves?

It is 11 days from the trading deadline, and the Atlanta Braves still have big decisions to make.  Who to trade and what to hold out for in return?

The biggest problem that has emerged is with middle infielders – too many of them with too few spots on the bench and too few possible suitors in the market.

One thing that is rapidly becoming clear:  Jaime Garcia is going somewhere.  Witness this from Chris Cotillo late Wednesday:

"Lefty Jaime Garcia could move as a rental piece for a club, and his market is picking up after a strong start Sunday (7 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 7 K). He has about six clubs with strong interest in him, according to a major-league source."

I actually started writing this piece about 6 weeks ago.  At that point, Garcia was on fire – a 3.16 ERA and fairly dominant at times for multiple starts in a row.

Then he hit a wall.  And I shelved this write-up.

Fortunately for the Braves (and for me), Garcia rebounded Sunday.  But to solidify his position as a worthwhile mid-to-back rotation piece for a contender, he needs to repeat that, which makes his Friday night start against the Dodgers fairly important.

What else did I write back then?

Before his start Saturday, that ranked 19th in the majors among qualified starters and likely #1 among starters would could be available to others in July (Ivan Nova, 2.83 – but Nova is signed by the Pirates for 2 more years).

Somehow Garcia is continuing getting batters out (lower WHIP) despite walking more and striking out fewer than last year. By his own words (FOX Sports pre-game interview [early June]), Garcia is getting this done by successfully controlling the count better – getting ahead and then working the hitters with command.

Even so, those aggregate numbers are more reflective of his early work this year.  Lately, the walk rate is dropping, the K rate is climbing, and opposing teams are scoring a lot less.

One other key factor seems to be that he’s keeper the ball in the park more (Saturday’s start notwithstanding) – obviously of vital importance in SunTrust Park.

But regardless of how that’s happening, he is continuing to accelerate through this season – getting better as he goes along – and the timing couldn’t be better for him – in a ‘contract year’ – or for the Braves.

So we have to pump the brakes a bit on that… but maybe he’s found the magic again

So which six teams are interested?  I have identified 7 that should be.  Let’s check the matchups.