Atlanta Braves: 4 Factors Alex Anthopoulos faces in replacing Mike Soroka

Many factors weigh on the Atlanta Braves as pitching trades are contemplated.

How do the Atlanta Braves replace Mike Soroka?  The short answer, of course, is “you can’t”.  He’s the kind of talent that all teams want and that all teams hold onto.  You can only rarely go out and make a trade for such top-of-the-rotation arms.

In this 2020 environment, such a deal will only be that much more difficult.  The reasons for this are myriad:

• 16 teams make the playoffs with others “in the hunt”:  thus many more ‘buyers’ than ‘sellers’, all other things being equal.
• But nothing else is equal this year:  injuries are piling up, said to be five times the normal start-of-season rate (source: MLB Radio on XM Tuesday morning).
• More specifically, injuries to starting pitchers — and even really good starting pitchers — are also continuing to mount all around baseball:  nearly everyone needs pitching now.
• Sporadic outbreaks of ‘the virus’ are wreaking havoc on teams and may very well influence their own playoff chances/aspirations.

So for the few teams willing to trade starting pitching… it’s going to be great:  they can name their price and it’s likely somebody will pay that price as desperation breeds rash decisions.

So should the Atlanta Braves get involved?  As it happens, GM Alex Anthopoulos already had been talking with clubs about pitching since Summer camps got started.  That was when he “only” thought that replacing Cole Hamels might be an issue.

But now it’s Hamels, Hernandez, Foltynewicz, and Soroka who are down or otherwise gone, while Newcomb and Wright are struggling to get through three innings and nightly open auditions are being staged for the fifth starter’s role.

So there’s no reason for Anthopoulos to have stopped calling anyone.

But even as he does burn up those phone lines, here are four factors that will govern just how hard he goes after a trade deal between now and the end of this month…