We’re less than 200 hours from the trade deadline and … not much is happening yet. So while we wait… we’ll speculate about what the Atlanta Braves should do.
Atlanta Braves General Manager Alex Anthopoulos has noted in past interviews that opportunities to make the playoffs ought to be respected and not taken for granted.
In the spirit of this philosophy, the TomahawkTake staff is now weighing in on how the Braves should treat this deadline season.
We’d like to share our thoughts… and hope y’all will do the same… then we can all sit back and see who wins bragging rights.
Let’s start off with the guy closest to our minor league prospects as he shares his thoughts. Each writer cited will be speaking from their words as we go along.
Clint Manry
THE NEED: Pitching, pitching and more pitching. No matter how well the Braves offense is rolling, it will be hard holding off the Nationals this season or overtaking the Dodgers in the Playoffs without consistent run prevention from their starters. Keuchel was a nice start, but lets add one more big-time starter.
THE TARGETS: in order of preference…
- (TEX) SP, Mike Minor: He essentially has the best fastball in the game (if you like spin rate… and I do). His 4-seam spins at 2,649 RPM (according to MLB.com), which is the highest among MLB starters. Plus, he knows the Braves well.
- (TOR) SP, Marcus Stroman: he keeps the ball on the ground at an elite level thanks to an above average sinker with over 3.5″ of drop. This guy will limit the big flies and do it with style on the mound.
- (DET) SP, Matthew Boyd: strikeouts, strikeouts and more strikeouts. Boyd is a top-tier pitcher when it comes to K’s, thanks to the second-largest jump is K% from last season to this season, according to MLB.com. The Braves need a big time strikeout guy in their playoff rotation.
Josh Mathews
THE NEED: Pitching
THE TARGETS: With the cost of packages including Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith, or Marcus Stroman and Ken Giles looking as if they’ll require a king’s ransom, the Atlanta Braves should play a conservative hand at the deadline.
If we can acquire arm or two at a reasonable cost, we should. However, I do not think we should trade any of our best prospects for what’s available at this time. I would hate to potentially hurt our future, especially with the International restrictions in place, on a deal that may not cover the holes we presently have on the roster.
Translation: bargain-hunting as the deadline bell sounds.