Lefty Relievers Crowd Braves Bullpen

Jun 26, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Luis Avilan (43) pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fifth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Next: Should he Stay or Should he go and who is he?

Should he stay or should he go  — (who is he?)

If there are no trades the Braves will opt to move another pitcher by via DFA but I don’t think that will be the case. I expect at least one and maybe two small trades fairly quickly. The first and most obvious is Johnson.

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Several teams are looking for a closer and JJ looks like a closer again but he could also fill the eighth inning role for a number of teams as well as providing backup closer insurance. That leaves us will a bullpen that leans left when the majority of hitters swing the other way. That’s why I think they’ll try to move Avilan as well.

As much as Braves fans moan about Avilan he hasn’t been a bad option and teams needing a lefty could well come get him. Detwiler looks more like a LOOGY than he does and Manny isn’t going anywhere.

That’s a Wrap

If there’s no trade the Braves could of course simply DFA one or more of the veterans who doesn’t pitch will in the next couple of 12 days to make room but if they aren’t planning on keeping them and can’t send them to Gwinnett, why give them a major league deal?  It’s true Detwiler is being paid by the Rangers but the Braves could have simply let him go on down the road.

As bad as the Cubs bullpen is I could see them grabbing both JJ and Avilan to give them two lefty relievers and take Pedro Strop out of the equation. They could then bring up Rafael Soriano and suddenly their bullpen looks pretty good. That’s just a guess of course and the trade likely wouldn’t bring back anyone high up their prospect list but they have some nice piece that are surplus to their needs but might help us.

There are of course other teams who could use bullpen help and this wasn’t meant to be a suggestion of a trade merely a look at a bullpen that’s definitely going to change in the next 13 days. When that happens we’ll let you know all the news and its impact as soon as we can round it up and get it online.