With the trade deadline now 11 days away, the Atlanta Braves are continuing to seriously look for starting pitching.
As the Texas Rangers are starting to fall back to the pack in the American League playoff race, the team may have signaled to the Atlanta Braves and others that they are looking to ‘sell’ over the next several days.
Meanwhile, other clubs had made such intentions known some time ago.
Come this time of the year, the only things busier than pro-level baseball scouts and General Managers are the termites down at the local saw mill. Or perhaps it’s whoever’s making their travel arrangements.
On Friday night, there were 2 top – and available – starting pitchers on the bump to showcase their stuff, which only added to the complications for those wanting to see both.
One game featured a lockdown performance against a bottom-feeder team.
The other had an old friend with his hands full against his club’s fiercest rival – and division leader.
This news raises to 3 the number of starters that the Atlanta Braves are now known to have been scouting in person in recent days – with Zack Wheeler being the 3rd.
That said, this number is probably at least 4, with word that the Braves are among those also showing interest in Detroit’s Matt Boyd, for while one of Friday’s scouting efforts came in Detroit, Boyd pitched in nearby Cleveland on Thursday.
Who is Checking on Whom?
The Cubs, Yankees and Padres are all also represented tonight. Different level of scouts repping different teams. Braves, Yankees are teams to keep eyes on. https://t.co/vhQScjLlUt
— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) July 20, 2019
Marcus Stroman's 2-seamer has been lively through two scoreless innings, as he pitches before scouts from no fewer than 8 teams beneath ominous skies tonight in the Motor City. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 19, 2019
On broadcast they said the Red Sox, Yankees, Rays, Braves, Reds, Dodgers, Padres and I’d assume Astros and/or twins are there too
— 🚀 (@AnunobyHive) July 20, 2019
First off, the scouting effort would be both pointless and a waste of time/resources if the teams hadn’t given an indication that they are willing to make a deal for certain players. So you’d have to assume that there’s mutual interest in some kind of deal.
Second, that ‘different levels of scouts’ observation may be worthy of note, though we don’t have enough context here. There are, after all, other players that might be trade targets in the Rangers’ stable and different teams will have different agendas.
That’s particularly true in that Toronto/Detroit game since closer Shane Greene ended up pitching for Detroit – despite the lopsided deficit.
Let’s do our own scouting… of these newer candidates, maybe we can figure out which pitcher would be better to pursue?