Atlanta Braves shopping not buying as waiver trade deadline looms
By Fred Owens
Sergio Romo – Tampa
Sergio Romo may be the pick of this litter. The one-time Giants’ closer turn Rays’ opener (gag me) is a one-trick pony, but it’s a very good trick.
When Romo’s slider works well it’s extremely hard to hit with authority. This year for the Rays, he’s made 60 appearances, thrown 55 1/3 innings, struck out 63, walked 18 and allowed six homers while pitching to a 3.42 ERA (ERA+ 119) – 1.211 WHIP.
Sergio has a minor reverse split but neither side of the plate hits him well.
| Split | G | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vs RHB | 57 | 17 | 35 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 47 | .246 | .285 | .373 | .658 |
| vs LHB | 45 | 14 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 16 | .219 | .338 | .328 | .666 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
The 35-year old righty earns about $625K before he becomes a free agent after this season.
That’s a wrap
At this point, I’m not sure any player meets the standards Anthopoulos’ set. He’s said they looked around for players but believed their internal options were better than any trades available. That may be true for pitching but when we’re talking position players I’m not so sure.
I understand not wanting to block anyone’s progress. I understand we played most of the year while ignoring Ryan Flaherty’s existence. I also understand that the Atlanta Braves bench is tissue thin. With all due respect to the players there, Gwinnett offers no one worthy of a job on a division winning team.
We’ve seen in the last 24 hours how thin we are at the back of the bullpen. Adding Dyson or Romo corrects that. Sam Freeman and Peter Moylan do not.
Tyler Flowers’ slump against RHP continues to shorten the lineup. Suzuki’s injury means the Braves lost the ability to at least mitigate that shortage every other night… though clearly, Suzuki thinks otherwise
#Braves’ Suzuki on being able to play if needed: “If it’s not broken and I’m not on the DL, I’m available.”
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) August 22, 2018
The Braves lack a left-handed bat on the bench so they use Adam Duvall; that’s a role he’s not suited for based on his L/R splits. Charlie Culberson’s splits are fine but when he plays –as he does often these days – someone whose splits aren’t fine sits.
Bringing Curtis Granderson or Lucas Duda or board blocks no one and fills that void. Duda also provides cover at first base.
Next. Analyzing their trades. dark
It’s a good thing I’m not cynical or I’d start to believe the Braves GM only wants to win if he can do it without making any changes. If that’s true it’s understandable and he should say so. He’s been honest about his aims so far, spinning the situation now is a mistake.