Atlanta Braves: Out Of Left Field Trade Candidates
By Sam Peebles
Out of the box outfield bat options
The trade market has been shaping up. There are teams that are now clear sellers at the deadline.
It would not make much sense for them to hold onto players that will not help them when they are competitive again if they can get something in return that could potentially help them once they reach a competitive window again. This shapes up some trade candidates that may seem — pardon the pun — out of left field.
Andrew Benintendi (Royals)
Benintendi was just traded to the Royals in the offseason, so they obviously want him. However, things are not going as planned with the Royals being 19 games behind first place in their division at the time of this writing, and not looking like they will be competitive any time soon.
Their offense is terrible. They only have 3 hitters over 100 OPS+ (league average). Andrew Benintendi is one of those guys.
Benintendi makes a lot of sense. He is not the game-changer that a Joey Gallo would be, but he is consistently above average. Since he debuted, the only season he has had an OPS+ below 100 was 2020, and we all know what anomaly that was for many player’s stats.
From a Wins Above Replacement (WAR) standpoint, Benintendi averages 3.12 per 162 games played. For reference, Almonte averages 0.7 WAR per 162 games played.
If we are looking at this year, Benintendi sports a 103 OPS+ to Almonte’s 96 (7% better), while beating Almonte out in full body of work by 0.8 WAR so far this season.
A factor that would play in the Atlanta Braves favor in terms of what they would need to give up, is that Benintendi only has one more year on his contract after this year, meaning the trade package may not take nearly as much as one might think.
Max Kepler (Twins)
Kepler could be an intriguing option for the Atlanta Braves. He fits into a mold much like Benintendi in that he could be an upgrade this year, while also helping the future if they so choose. Kepler is signed through 2023, but also has a team option for 2024.
The Twins are obviously not going to win any championship this year, being 18 games out of first place in their division, but there is a possibility that their front office still thinks they are a competitive team.
After all, from 2019-2020 they had winning percentages of .623 and .600 respectively. So, does that mean Kepler is not available, or only available for a massive overpay? Time will tell.
Max is not a game-changer, but has a decent slash line of .238/.324./.468 and a 117 OPS+ over the past 3 seasons. His numbers are slightly lower this year, but he would still be a boost to this thin offense of the Braves. The big question is whether the Twins are willing to sell low at market value for Max.