The reliever the Atlanta Braves have been waiting for?

The Atlanta Braves have been linked to seemingly every closer available over the past year and the Pirates have one certainly worth trading for.

Luke Jackson has been the Atlanta Braves closer for this year and if you were to base his performance on ERA you would think he was doing a fine job with a 3.12 ERA. However, when you look closer you see he has seven blown saves and has allowed 66 base runners in 49 innings.

This doesn’t bode well for the Braves especially when closing games in June and July is far different than closing in October. To be considered a true World Series contender a team must solidify the 9th inning and have a true closer.

That brings us to the elite closer that the Pirates have in Felipe Vazquez. Not only is Vazquez elite he’s under team control at a reasonable rate.

He will make 4 million this year and the Braves will get a prorated version, followed by 5.25 million, and 7.25 million with 2 club options after that for 10 million.

2 weeks ago, this wouldn’t even be conceivable… the Pirates were still on the periphery of contention.  Since then… 9 losses in a row and 15 in their last 17 games will change things in a hurry.

Bullpen Stud

Vazquez’s on the field performance is far better than his contract, boasting a 1.87 ERA and converting on 21 of the 22 save opportunities.

He is a strikeout machine with a 12.3 SO/9 with a fastball that sits 98 and will hit 100 at times, slider (87), curveball (82), and a changeup that sits 88.

To put that in perspective his changeup is thrown about as hard as Dallas Kuechel’s fastball.

Despite the cheap price, he won’t come cheap in terms of prospects. With every contender seemingly looking to sure up the back end of the bullpen a bidding war will drive the price up.

Not to mention his team-friendly contract is also appealing to his current club that doesn’t need to trade him.

In order to pry him away from the Pirates, you will have to wow them with an offer. Seemingly this would mean two top ten prospects and a couple of other pieces as well.

Such a trade offer would look like this:

I know that you’re thinking this is a lot for a closer – and granted it is. However, Buster Olney is reporting that the Pirates are asking the Dodgers give up their number one prospect according to and 10th in all of baseball to mlb.com, Gavin Lux, while the Braves headliner in Kyle Wright is 4th in the system and 38th overall according to mlb.com.

Joey Wentz is an arm I’d prefer not to give up, I would offer Kolby Allard or Huascar Ynoa, to begin with, and see if a deal can get done.

Travis Demeritte has been raking in Triple-A batting .290 with 20 HR but is seemingly blocked by prospects Christian Pache, Drew Waters.

Daniel Winkler is a throw-in and the Pirates have had a history of getting the best out of pitchers and perhaps they can work their magic again.

Overall, I think Alex Anthopoulos balks at the actual asking price and the Braves seek a cheaper trade in terms of prospects to try and add to the back end of the bullpen.