After the deadline had passed we learned the Atlanta Braves made two of their biggest moves of the MLB trade deadline getting Jorge Soler and Richard Rodriguez.
Even with the Atlanta Braves getting Joc Pederson, Eddie Rosario, and Adam Duvall most fans were pretty satisfied with what Alex Anthopolous was able to do.
Obviously, the biggest frustration was that he didn’t do anything to address their biggest weakness — the bullpen.
That all went away when it was announced they traded for one of the best relievers on the trade market in Richard Rodriguez from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
His value had gone down a little because he hasn’t been great in July, but before that, he was considered the top relief target out there until Craig Kimbrel became available.
His numbers on the season are still very good with a 2.82 ERA and 2.86 xERA in 38.1 innings with 14 saves and a 1.17 BB/9 rate.
He doesn’t strikeout a lot of batters and has a very low Whiff rate, which is why I don’t think he’s ultimate role is a closer.
Instead, he relies on creating weak contact with a fastball and slider that has very good spin rates.
And that’s where the concern with him comes in because he’s had maybe the biggest dramatic drop in spin rates since MLB started cracking down on foreign substances.
His fastball spin dropped almost 200 RPM and his slider 500 RPM — that’s scary.
We’ll see how that plays out, but either way, he’s still a solid arm for the bullpen who is under control for a while.
The Braves gave up Bryse Wilson and Ricky DeVito.
I actually thought that was a pretty significant price considering the trend for Rodriguez.
If Wilson were moved to the bullpen full-time he is capable of being just as good as Rodriguez.
And DeVito is an arm I’ve always like as a mid-rotation starter and he was moving up prospect rankings.
Braves Also Get a Big Bat in Jorge Soler
This one came out of nowhere after they already got Rosario and Duvall. But remember, Rosario is out for a while.
Jorge Soler is having an awful season hitting just .192 with a .288 OBP and 81 wRC+.
But he comes with a lot of power from the right side and has started to heat up lately. He’s hit 7 home runs since July 20.
Two years ago Soler looked like he was on his way to becoming the All-Star player many thought he could be when he hit .265 with 48 home runs and a wRC+ of 136.
He’s not good defensively, but he’s a scary bat off the bench against left-handed pitching.
Soler is a free agent after the season. The Braves gave up reliever Kasey Kalich for him.
This ended up being a very exciting deadline for the Braves who at least gave themselves a chance to win the NL East and reach the postseason for the fourth straight season without giving up much.