Atlanta Braves Being Mentioned in Trade Talks
May 7, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox center fielder Austin Jackson (10) slides safely into home plate to score against the Minnesota Twins during the eighth inning at U.S. Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
The Needs of the White Sox
I didn’t know that it was possible for a club to start out so dominant… so quietly. But that’s the case with the Chicago south-siders. They are in a curious situation: not only are they the best team in the American League, it’s not even close. They are 3 games clear of the Orioles for the best AL record… but in a funny twist, they aren’t even the best team in their own city.
Still, that’s okay with the ChiSox, who would probably almost prefer that you don’t take notice of them for a while.
The Sox have a 5 game divisional lead, but are looking for more. And it appears that it’s the outfield that they are concerned with.
- Melky Cabrera: .305/.379/.786 BA/OBP/OPS
- Austin Jackson: .225/.288/622 <- the weak link
- Adam Eaton: .292/.381/.765
Chicago would like to sit Jackson and slide Eaton to CF, leaving room for an upgrade in RF. Atlanta has a candidate in Nick Markakis: .294/.395/.790. That’s better than the other outfielders. He is also lefty-hitting, which is perfect for them.
The White Sox can even afford to take Markakis’ contract. Great! So who’s the problem here?
The White Sox have a major league need and that typically demands a minor league return to the seller. Except the White Sox farm system is pretty terrible. Some of the system-wide rankings I found included these: 24th, 23rd, 24th (and 23rd), and 26th.
In short, it’s RHP Carson Fulmer, RHP Spencer Adams, and SS Tim Anderson (like we need another SS). And none of those guys is a sure thing – significant questions remain for each one.
Obviously, the Braves could use somebody like their 3B Todd Frazier, but that’s not going to happen while the Sox are flying high: despite Frazier’s .194 BA, he’s hit more dingers than the entire Braves’ team thus far, and he provides a big 1-2 punch in that lineup with Jose Abreu.
CONCLUSION: There is no match-up here. The White Sox are going to have a real hard time with this with anybody. There’s just nothing here that the Braves could use. The only reason for considering such a deal for Markakis would be for salary dump purposes, and that’s just not necessary right now.
My suspicion is that Jay Bruce should be their target, but the Reds already made one bad deal recently that involved the White Sox, and they don’t want another.