Atlanta Braves trade rumor update: All quiet for now

Relief Pitching

The Trade of Brad Hand to Cleveland and Zach Britton to the Yankees officially started the relief market auction.  The Jays sent Seung Hwan Oh to the Rockies this evening for a pair of unranked A – ball first base prospects (lottery tickets) from the same Sally League team.

Pundits are salivating over the next big one – a Reds trade of Raisel Iglesias or Jared Hughes – they are sure will rebuild the entire Reds system. The return for either player could indeed significantly improve the Reds system but almost anything would.  Most feel Amir Garrett won’t move this season and I doubt Iglesias moves either.

Meanwhile, the Marlins obviously believe their relievers are gold-plated. MLBTR reports an unlinked JP Morosi tweet suggesting Boston’s top two prospects fall short of the Marlins price for Drew Steckenrider.  I hope they enjoy him in Miami.

No roster crunch ahead

Yesterday Chris Barca among others suggested that the Yankees were willing to spend some prospect capital because they had a roster crunch coming in the offseason. I promised readers I’d check on the Atlanta Braves situation, so here’s the scoop.

After checking on Roster Resource and Cots, there doesn’t appear to be a similar problem ahead for the Braves. Fifteen names appear as Rule 5 eligible on the Roster Resource list, but the Braves cut one of the players listed last spring and another holds a 40-man roster spot now.

Seven players on the existing roster are free agents after the season ends. Removing them and adding back the folks on the 60-day DL, leaves three open. A quick look at the remaining 37 names shows a handful that could come off the roster with hurting depth significantly, Rio Ruiz and Jason Hursh to name just two. Here are the list and my projections for the players on it.

I discussed this with Ben Chase and we agree that there may be a weak case for Didder’s and at a stretch Franco’s addition. Generally speaking, those players I project as being left off the list are replaceable pieces.

You may see some of these players and players on the 40-man roster today moved in the next week and even into August. That would open spaces for new signings or other additions.  Whatever the case, there’s no problem with Rule 5 protection next December as the roster stand now.

That’s a rumor wrap

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The trade machine finally started rolling and seems to gather speed every few minutes. The Diamondbacks picked up righty Matt Andriese from Tampa and designated old friend Randall Delgado to make room for him.

The Phillies have their tails up and checkbooks open. After coming back late Tuesday to beat the Dodgers they handed them another 7-2 loss Wednesday afternoon. LA comes to Atlanta with a 3-3 record since the break. Manny (I want to play shortstop) Machado plays third in place of a yet again injured Justin Turner.

I expect both of these teams are frantically searching for starting pitching and/or relief pitching and will pay through the nose for the arm they get. Watching teams make that choice fail, lament their mistake, then do it again is fun . . .  if you are not a fan of that team.

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves camp is quiet as the tomb. Alex Anthopoulos said publicly, he’d do something to show the team management believes in them as they start the final two months of the season. We can only hope it’s a significant move that works for future years as well as the 2108 season.