The Atlanta Braves are on the board with a trade. But are they done?
Tommy Milone is now a member of the Atlanta Braves and fans won’t have to wait long at all to see him: he’s starting against the Phillies tonight.
This was the ‘necessary’ deal that Alex Anthopoulos needed to execute… a reliable, rental veteran pitcher who will provide innings and usually keep the team in the game. In short, he’s a number five starter.
As it is, of course, he’s probably in the #3 slot right now as things stand with the Atlanta Braves. And that’s why we have to wonder what else might be going on in the Braves front office today.
Where Things Stand
Now that the safe option is done, there’s likely 2 paths that Anthopoulos could pursue right now:
- Internal Options
- Go Big
Obviously internal options haven’t been that… productive… let’s say. But one of them just got a little more interesting:
Cole Hamels is throwing his second bullpen session today. #Braves feel like he's turned corner and moving toward return, Alex A. said. No timetable yet, have to decide if they'd activate him and let him continue getting built up in MLB games, etc.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) August 30, 2020
Even if ready to roll today, Cole Hamels still can’t be activated until September 4th or 5th, but even that would be a bit … well, seeing him pitch competitively at all this season is still a bit optimistic, but it does sound like there’s at least a glimmer of hope in that direction.
Still: Anthopoulos can’t really rely on that possibility given that he’s been unavailable for the entire duration since February.
So that leaves “Go Big”. What does that mean, exactly?
There are about six names that would be possible, with varying degrees of probability:
- INDIANS – Mike Clevinger
- INDIANS – Zach Plesac
- ANGELS – Dylan Bundy
- RANGERS – Lance Lynn
- PIRATES – Joe Musgrove
- MARINERS – Marco Gonzales
The Reds are said to be deadline buyers; the Rockies have already been proven to be buyers. So that tends to eliminate Trevor Bauer and Jon Gray from consideration.
The current state of the rumors on each of the above is as follows:
- CLEVINGER – White Sox are ‘actively involved‘ (Bob Nightengale), but other teams reportedly (Jon Heyman) making contact with Cleveland include the Braves, Padres, Yankees, and Dodgers.
- Dodgers are trying to make their World Series pursuit a lead-pipe cinch, eh?
- PLESAC – There’s been no buzz about him at all… yet it would make sense that he could be moved for all kinds of reasons. In my mind, Cleveland will move one of these pitchers.
- BUNDY – There could be an issue here.
- LYNN – Now being challenged for the title of Human Trade Rumor by Clevinger, but still most likely to be dealt — somewhere.
- Twins, White Sox, and Padres are known to be in pursuit.
- MUSGROVE – a triceps injury is nearly healed, and there’s still a chance he could be traded, as the Pirates are interested in moving… pretty much their entire team. The Braves are said to be monitoring this situation.
- GONZALES – Zero chatter whatsoever. Yet a deal with any of the contenders would actually make good sense for the rebuilding Mariners.
Dylan Bundy’s fastball velocity dipped to 86.9 mph in the sixth inning tonight.
— Ray Butler (@RayButler365) August 30, 2020
Bundy was pulled in that sixth inning after 1 out, despite having thrown 85 pitches and running on cruise control (1 ER, 4 hits, 2.47 season ERA). If that portends an injury, then he’s out of the picture.
According to a source, the Braves have expressed interest in Joe Musgrove, who’s expected to return soon from right triceps inflammation.
— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) August 30, 2020
Adding it All Up
So we see five to seven teams pursuing starting pitching to some degree: Braves, Padres, White Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees, and (to a lesser degree) Dodgers and Twins.
There’s also probably five pitchers reasonably likely to be dealt by tomorrow afternoon (counting the pair of Indians as just one – I don’t believe that both go elsewhere).
Barring late entries, that sounds roughly like an even match… meaning that either somebody doesn’t end up with the kind of prospect package they want or everyone puts their names into a hat and we have a drawing to see who ends up with whom.
In the meantime, we’ll leave you with this:
Anthopoulos says the team will continue to explore ways to add to the rotation and bench between now and the Trade Deadline tomorrow. #Braves
— 680 The Fan (@680TheFan) August 30, 2020
So don’t be surprised if Anthopoulos pulls off something else in the next 24+ hours. It’s that time of the year to Go Big or Go Home (from the playoffs early).