TRADE WEEK: We are now down to 8 days before the non-waiver trade deadline and the Braves’ plans are starting to become just a bit less cloudy.
As we just went through the litany of injuries to various Atlanta Braves pitchers, a couple of themes seem to be emerging. That line of thinking is enhanced by a comment that Jim Bowden got from Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos today:
Anthopoulus: “We want to add to this team.We are looking for acquisitions on players we can control rather than rentals.Teams more engaged on the rentals. Hopefully we can get something done in next 8 days.We can afford to add a starter&reliever& a bat. We are open to anything”.
— Jim Bowden⚾️🏈 (@JimBowdenGM) July 23, 2018
There’s another bit – with information coming from Jon Paul Morosi today… and this tweet is the only one I’ve found to document it:
Morosi says controllable reliever market is crazy. Mentioned Marlins/Red Sox talk and that Steckenrider would cost more than just Groome or Chavis to give you an idea on price
— Matt Powers (@MattPowers31) July 23, 2018
This is interesting… and all points in the same direction. So let’s break this down.
Watch Out – the Braves are about to move
ATLANTA’S NEEDS
- Bullpen
- Starting Pitching
- Bench
- 3rd base possible, but unlikely
ATLANTA’S PHILOSOPHY
- Hold onto premium prospects
- Don’t overpay – especially for rental guys
- Cash is available for those who can make an impact
- Wait for the time at which prices for players dip… which should be in the next few days (probably by Thursday-to-Saturday)
There’s more:
Morosi says Braves most active team in trade market. Mentioned Marlins and relievers(mentioned Zeigler) also mentioned Archer and Hamels
— Matt Powers (@MattPowers31) July 23, 2018
Tigers-Royals game https://t.co/WxWqyFBjRU
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) July 24, 2018
THE PLAN?
At this point we will enter “speculation mode“, in which I explain what I think might happen based on this information.
Here goes…