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Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Trade Deadline… Kinda Dead?

By Alan Carpenter

Jul 24, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates third base coach Rick Sofield (41) rests in the dugout during a rain delay during the bottom of the eighth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 24, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates third base coach Rick Sofield (41) rests in the dugout during a rain delay during the bottom of the eighth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jul 24, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates third base coach Rick Sofield (41) rests in the dugout during a rain delay during the bottom of the eighth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 24, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates third base coach Rick Sofield (41) rests in the dugout during a rain delay during the bottom of the eighth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

Not, It’s Not Your Imagination… there’s not a lot of Rumors Going On

Yes, I have been looking forward to this trade deadline.  Yes, I expect it to be busy – perhaps approaching an insane pace by next Monday’s deadline.

But I did kind of expect that the Braves would be in the thick of some of the more interesting deals.

Now?… perhaps not.

Wanna know just how slow things are right now?  This exchange tells you everything you need to know:

We’ve had some ideas for trades, sure, but here’s the bottom lines that we’re seeing this Summer:

More from Tomahawk Take

  • It could be the Braves’ own fault for starting this last Winter, but the price for pitching (any pitching) is off the charts.  This is going to limit the market as teams simply don’t want to pay premium prices unless true premium talent (i.e., Chris Sale) is sold to them.
  • Even ‘Bats’ and pseudo-rentals are expensive.
  • “Team Building” trades are still best done in the winter months.  Summer trades are best to fill holes for playoff runs.

As a result, while the Braves have that “FOR SALE” sign posted, it’s hard to see a lot of deals going down this week for Atlanta.  Certainly, anything that would improve the team for the longer term (2017+) would be a real surprise.

We will likely see a couple of relievers sold off.  Maybe a utility guy.  That could be it.  Erick Aybar?  Well, this has been the worst-case scenario:  a bad season making him virtually untradable.

A number of the prospects that Atlanta might want to include in future trades are having improving years.  Getting these guys to the finish line may be important for a number of reasons:  health, finishing strong, getting more outside scouts to see them… in my own thinking, Atlanta may have even a deeper farm system right now than they are getting credit for – even among those who like this farm – and thus there could truly be 30/40/50 different players getting some love from rivals as we approach the inevitable Winter trade season.

The flip side, though, is this:  the Atlanta Braves will likely slog into October, exiting Turner Field with a wimper rather than a bang.  The ‘never again’ vow will be thrown back at John Hart and John Coppolella early and often unless something falls into their laps this week.

Next: Can We Wait for Dustin?

So brace yourselves for a good chance for this team to limp through the rest of the season, as they play their 100th game tonight.

We’ve endured this long… it will be just a few months longer.

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