How Aggressive Should Atlanta Braves Be at Trade Deadline

We take a look at just how aggressive Alex Anthopoulos and the Atlanta Braves should be with the 2020 MLB trade deadline approaching.

It’s less than two weeks from the trade deadline and the Atlanta Braves currently sit alone atop the NL East standings despite several key players being injured.

This figures to be a pretty quiet trade deadline for several reasons.

One, I don’t think teams are going to be willing to give up much in such a season of uncertainty.

And two, with the expanded postseason and such a short season almost every team is still in the playoff picture.

While I don’t think we’ll see a ton of moves, and I certainly don’t think we’ll see any blockbuster deals, I do think there will be several smaller moves made.

The question for Anthopoulos, and many other teams, is jus how aggressive should they be to win a 2020 World Series?

Let’s first look at the needs for the Braves in 2020.

The most obvious and glaring need is in the starting rotation where only Max Fried is a sure thing at the moment.

Atlanta certainly hopes that Cole Hamels can come back healthy in September and pitch like Cole Hamels, but that’s a big ‘if.’

Assuming Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies come back healthy, the only major weak spot is at third base.

To this point, neither Johan Camargo nor Austin Riley has swung the bat well enough to take over that job.

The question then becomes do you trade for a third baseman or let those two continue to fight it out so we know what we have at the position moving forward?

But those are the two areas that need to be upgraded the most.

The Braves have one of the best bullpens in all of baseball, and when fully healthy this lineup is also one of the best.

If I were the GM of the Atlanta Braves I’d give Riley everyday at-bats the rest of the season to give him a chance to prove he belongs. I’ve seen enough of Johan Camargo at this point to know what he’s going to do.

To me, the rest of the 2020 season is just an audition for guys like Riley and some of the young starters to see if their part of the future of this team.

With Mike Soroka out, the Braves aren’t going to find someone on the trade market to replace him. And I don’t think this is a World Series team without Soroka right now.

But I would go out and find a middle-of-rotation starter to help take some stress off the bullpen by having another starter that can work deep into games.

I still think this team is good enough to easily make the postseason and perhaps make a deep run. However, I wouldn’t give up any top prospects in hopes of winning a 2020 World Series.

That is unless AA is able to pull off a blockbuster that not only helps the Braves try to win in 2020 but over the next few seasons as well.

If there were a top of the rotation starter available that is controllable for a few more seasons, then that type of move would make sense. But again, I don’t think any of those players will be available this trade deadline.