Will The Atlanta Braves Trade Nick Markakis?

Nick Carfado’s Sunday piece for the Boston Globe listed Nick Markakis as a potential target for the surging White Sox to look to acquire down the stretch.  Naturally, it was picked up by MLBTradeRumors, which has been reported by this site, and I’m sure Dave O’Brien will respond to all of the questions asked about it on Twtter.

But whether or not the White Sox would be interested (I sure hope not, their farm is trashed, as Alan noted) is not the actual point, it’s the question of should the Braves trade Nick Markakis?  And my answer is absolutely.

I mean, let’s face facts:  The Atlanta Braves cannot be any worse. The solid, not amazing like some would like to believe, production from Markakis’ bat has done little to aid the Braves.  They’ve got a myriad problems performing well, and Markakis’ value may never be higher than this season.  Now some don’t like to accept his faults: he’s a mediocre defender at best, although he has made a couple of solid plays in the early going.  He’s got little to non-existent speed, and doesn’t provide much on the base paths.  While he has returned to hitting a few extra base hits, he’s still not strong enough to return to double digit home run power.  And he likely never will again.  Going forward, the Braves will need to spend money on that asset to become competitive again.

Next: How Trading Markakis is Benefitial