Trade deadline: the Atlanta Braves need to sell… and buy

The Braves Rental Center

If the team fades in the next two weeks and the ultimate decision is to “sell”, then there are definitely some resources that Atlanta could use to give them real prospects to use for future considerations — and to offset any losses taken via an outfielder trade.

Here’s a sampling of the top possibilities:

• CHARLIE MORTON.  A playoff-hardened starting pitcher.  These are going to be very hard to come by, but the Braves might choose to make theirs available.  He’s retiring at the end of the year anyway, so gift him with one last playoff run.
• DREW SMYLY.  Yes, I’m serious… his pitching in the last 2 months is most definitely worthy of a trade:  2.84 ERA in June, 2.53 in July.  Again, teams are going begging for starting pitching with all the injuries around baseball.
• WILL SMITH.  He’s got another year of control, and while his contract ($13m per year) isn’t small, it allows the Braves to “buy” a better prospect if they kick in some cash.
• LUKE JACKSON.  A 1.64 ERA for the year is better than all but 10 relievers with 30+ innings… and most of those are on contenders and won’t be traded.
• TRAVIS d’ARNAUD.  Yes, he’s hurt, but won’t be for long, and it doesn’t take long to find a possible destination for him and his expiring contract:  the Padres, Astros, A’s, Mariners, and Mets all have bottom-half-performance out of their catching position.  Add the White Sox, who lost Grandall and there’s a possible bidding war if the Braves make him available.

So yes… without a big turn-around by the end of July, this season could rapidly turn into mush, but there’s a fair chance that the Braves could still make things work in their favor.  Not necessarily for now — but definitely for 2022 and beyond.

Play it right, and the team could cash in quite well.

In the short term, it stinks for fans, but the long term could look a lot brighter.