The trade deadline is a little over a week away, and the Atlanta Braves are starting to pick up steam at the perfect time. They were always going to be buyers, but needs and targets are starting to become more well-defined now that Atlanta is slowly getting healthier and certain teams have firmed up that they are going to sell.
With this time of year comes a lot of roster movement and uncertainty. You can't get something for nothing, so that puts prospects and even big league talent on the table that have become familiar faces. It also means that some current players' roster spots are in jeopardy. Let's take a look at some of the latest Braves news tidbits that you may have missed.
JR Ritchie named most likely Braves player to be traded at the deadline
Right now, the Braves' list of needs at the trade deadline includes a right-handed bat (probably an outfielder), at least one starting pitcher, and the usual bullpen reinforcements. Atlanta doesn't have any obvious rentals to trade away, but that doesn't mean that they won't have to use their 40-man roster to get deals done.
According to The Athletic's Jesus Cano, he thinks that JR Ritchie is the current Braves player who is the most likely to get traded at the deadline. With the preference of many sellers being that they want big league-ready talent in return for some of their better trade chips, it is hard to argue with the logic here.
Jim Jarvis jumps in MLB Pipeline's Braves prospect rankings after strong MLB debut
Few thought that Jim Jarvis would amount to much for the Braves after the Rafael Montero trade. That deal was all about just getting rid of Montero, and it proved to be basically the only real move Atlanta made at the deadline last year. However, Jarvis has proved those expectations wrong and is quickly becoming a fan favorite in Braves Country.
The prospect experts have definitely taken notice. The fine folks over at MLB Pipeline recently went through and reranked all of the organizational top 30 prospect lists ahead of the deadline. Unsurprisingly, Jarvis' rise got a specific mention, and he is all the way up to 18th now.
Ha-Seong Kim's return to MLB may be with a different team
There have been some hints lately that Ha-Seong Kim's return from the IL is creating an uncomfortable roster situation where he is being paid a lot, but is also, at best, the second-best shortstop option the Braves have available at the moment.
According to Braves insider Mark Bowman, the final decision may actually be pretty obvious. Assuming Kim doesn't experience any setbacks, he HAS to come off the injured list by August 2. With Kim looking like the strictly worse offensive AND defensive option at short for Atlanta, it sounds like the Braves are going to shop Kim around on the trade market, if they haven't already.
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