Atlanta Braves: Top 10 Players to Target at Trade Deadline
By Seth Carter
The Atlanta Braves have a ton of talent on the roster, but they have a couple of glaring holes.
The Atlanta Braves have some issues that need to be addressed at the trade deadline if they want to make a run, primarily with starting pitching and third base. Here are six veteran players that could be available at the trade deadline to fill those needs.
Starting Pitching
The Braves entered the season with some questions behind the big two of Mike Soroka and Max Fried.
- Which version of Mike Foltynewicz were we going to get?
- How do we replace Cole Hamels while he’s injured?
- Which guy will step up and seize the role as the fifth starter in the rotation?
We got a version of Folty that we’ve never seen before. Sean Newcomb was a candidate to become our fifth starter after Mike Soroka went down for the year, he was thrust into the number two spot before being thrust back down to the alternate training facility.
Kyle Wright has shown signs of life but continues to struggle the second time through the lineup. Touki Toussaint has some deadly breaking balls, but like Wright, too often shows a lack of confidence in his fastball.
Third Base
The Braves need a steady presence at third base. Riley’s .167 average over a 1/3rd of the way through the season doesn’t pair well with Camargo’s .192 average.
I love them both dearly, and their defense has been really good, but the Braves might consider bringing someone in to either give them a veteran option or push/help these two young players.
I threw some of these names around in the offseason and people pooped all over them.
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This is that worst-case scenario that we didn’t want to admit would happen. The idea was to find an affordable, steady veteran who we knew could give us something if the floor dropped out on both Camargo and Riley.
Well, here we are. Camargo has a .244 on-base percentage and Riley is striking out in 32% of his plate appearances and has a 41 OPS+.
Surely one of these guys would step up… but that hasn’t happened. With Acuna and Albies dealing with injuries at the moment, there isn’t room for a cavity the size of Dean’s Blue Hole.
Here are some options for both needs (in no particular order).