A new rumor surfacing Friday afternoon states that the Atlanta Braves could be one of the teams close to trading for reliever Jake Deikman.
Maybe Kansas City Royals reliever Jake Deikman never left Atlanta after dispatching the Atlanta Braves in a two-game set earlier this week.
The lefty reliever pitched in two games against the Braves this week and could soon join Atlanta.
According to Mark Feinsand, the Royals are close to trading Deikman and mentions the Dodgers and Braves as the ‘two clubs showing serious interest.’
The Royals could be getting closer to trading Jake Diekman, according to a source. The Dodgers and Braves are believed to be two clubs showing serious interest in the lefty reliever.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) July 26, 2019
In those two games against the Atlanta Braves this past week he gave up 1 earned run and 3 hits over two innings with 4 strikeouts and recorded a hold in both games.
He struck out the side in his one inning on Wednesday.
His numbers on the season don’t look great with a 4.75 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP, but he’s struck out 63 batters in 41.2 innings.
Over his career his numbers don’t support the notion that he’s a lefty specialist as lefties have actually hit better against him in his career at a .234 clip compared to .221 for righties.
Deikman is someone I mentioned three months ago that the Atlanta Braves should target. Better late than never, I guess.
But this far from a done deal for the Atlanta Braves as Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports that the Dodgers are likely the frontrunner, and division rival Phillies and Nationals remain in the mix.
Dodgers appeared to be the frontrunner from the start. Diekman still on the Phillies’ and Nationals’ radar as well, per source. https://t.co/UE6uF3Ih0b
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) July 26, 2019
Deikman isn’t someone who would really move the needle a ton for me in the bullpen. But it would be a veteran arm that we could rely on, and someone we could probably get at a rather cheap price in terms of dollars and prospects.
He’s likely owed about $1.1 million of the $2.25 million he’s owed this year. And then he has a mutual option for 2020 of $5.75 million.
Stick close to your phones as we finally have a deal that could be close to getting done. And whether it’s the Atlanta Braves who trade for Deikman or not, it could start the domino effect for trades.