The endurance run is over; now begins the strength test with 5 weeks to go in the 2018 regular season.
The Atlanta Braves went 13-9 during their 22-games-in-20-days stretch. But while the worst of the marathon is over, the tests are by no means complete.
Now underway: a run of 5 games featuring 4 different opponents (Marlins/Rays/Cubs/Pirates).
Coming tomorrow: a pair of contests against the hottest team in baseball (the Rays).
Once this week is over: the best team in the majors (Red Sox), despite the fact that they were just swept – by the Rays.
Then: a West coast road trip featuring one of the hottest teams in the NL (Arizona) for 4 games. Even the Giants (next) can’t be considered pushovers.
Let’s just say that the work is cut out for Atlanta over these last 31 games… with 7 of the last 10 being against the Phillies. Kind of a bookend to the schedule, given that we saw them a ton in April and May.
Here’s hoping that the cold offensive stretch is now over and that somebody besides Ronald Acuna Jr will be showing up with a working bat in hand.
Speaking of bats
All right, this is still a reach, but given that Alex Anthopoulos has been stymied with every attempt to bolster the Braves’ bench to this point, it may be the only card he has left to play.
Tonight in Florida, the Class A/Florida State League Dunedin Blue Jays are expected to make a roster change to add Josh Donaldson in the first game of a long-awaited rehab stint. If all goes well, he won’t be there for very long.
UPDATE: since learned that the rehab start is set to begin on Tuesday.
Once (and if) Donaldson gets through this test, he can be placed on revocable trade waivers. Then the fun begins.
The playoff-eligibility trade deadline comes on Friday afternoon. The timing of his waiver-wire appearance is critical, for there is a real possibility that it could happen such that a claiming team – if there is one – will be notified of their claim victory at 1pm EDT on Friday… a scant 3 hours before the deadline.
Teams interested in Donaldson’s services – or teams interested in blocking a rival – will need to have their homework done well before class goes into session on Friday afternoon.
Donaldson’s contract makes this interesting. By the end of the week, he will still be owed roughly $4.3 million pro-rated dollars (US, not Canadian). That’s an awful lot for a team to absorb for the purposes of blocking a rival.
Moreover, that’s a lot for a team to absorb at this time of year, period… especially for the clubs trying to avoid a luxury tax penalty (Yankees, Dodgers, etc.).
Then there’s the whole health-and-performance thing… if you spend this money, are you going to get anything for it? That question will be at the heart of teams watching Donaldson tonight and (probably) tomorrow in these Class A games.
So… Atlanta?
Anthopoulos knows exactly what Donaldson has been over the past few seasons. He doesn’t need to know much more now – except whether he is healthy enough to survive another 5-10 weeks.
The big question is whether the Braves will even get a shot at claiming him… though I have little doubt that they will try.
More from Tomahawk Take
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- Atlanta Braves 2012 Top Prospects Review: J.R. Graham
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Trouble is, there are currently 28 other teams that will have a shot to claim him before the Braves get a chance. Only the Cubs have a worse chance – and they already got their bat in Daniel Murphy.
The team I’m most concerned about? Philadelphia.
They are the one club with another possible need at 3rd base … and plenty of money to burn.
Toronto is going to be all business about this: I have to presume that they would just as soon dump Donaldson’s contract on anybody without being terribly concerned about any ‘return’ whatsoever.
In fact, getting the $4+ million back is probably thanks enough, given this disaster of a year for their All-Star hitter. They could hold out for a Qualifying Offer and draft-pick compensation… but I don’t even know if the Jays would want to risk that he’d accept a QO.
But we will have to wait until Friday to see these events unfold.