Braves: 5 prospects that could be traded this offseason

Austin Riley

I want to reiterate what I said on the first page, I am not giving up on any of these players, and I’m certainly not giving up on Austin Riley.

However, if the Braves do re-sign Josh Donaldson — or sign any other third baseman for multiple years — then I think they almost have to trade Riley.

At this point, he’s done just about everything he can do at the minor league level. He needs a chance to prove that he can get it done in the big leagues — and more specifically, that he can hit a Major League offspeed pitch.

The only problem is, with the Braves in win-now mode, they might not be able to give him that chance.

They can’t go into a season in which they’re trying to win a World Series with an unknown at third base.

He got another look in September and struggled just as bad hitting .132 over 28 at-bats.

In my Opening Day roster predictions article, I have Riley penciled in as the starting third baseman.

But that’s more so because I don’t think the Braves will be able to re-sign Donaldson.

And if they can’t re-sign Donaldson, I think they look to get an impact bat in the outfield instead and hope that either Riley can figure it out or Johan Camargo can be as good as he was in 2018.

However, if they do get another third baseman this offseason, especially if it’s someone with multiple years of control, then I think it’s a clear sign they will look to trade Riley.