Braves should turn to Orioles to fill two vitally important needs at trade deadline

BySteven Teal|
Baltimore Orioles v Atlanta Braves
Baltimore Orioles v Atlanta Braves | Edward M. Pio Roda/GettyImages

The Atlanta Braves are teetering on being sellers at the 2025 trade deadline. They haven't been able to climb back into the division or wild card race. It's going to take a hot streak similar to the second half of the 2021 season to reach the playoffs.

However, the team isn't the only one needed to make that happen. Alex Anthopoulos is going to have to find a way to help patch some holes in the roster. The starting rotation is depleted with Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, AJ Smith-Shawver, and Reynaldo Lopez on the IL.

Spencer Strider and Grant Holmes are doing their best, but the remainder of the rotation is extremely suspect. They certainly need to add another quality starting pitcher to help get them where they want to be. The bullpen has done its best, but that is another area of improvement needed.

The offense is another story, and a lot is going wrong for most of the lineup. However, every contender is going to be looking to upgrade offensively, so that will be a tough task.

Atlanta could look to a recent opponent to fill a couple of their needs, whether they are buyers or sellers.

The Baltimore Orioles showcased some of their talent with a recent sweep of the Braves. Some of their pitching talent could be a nice boost for the Braves. There are a few names that fans should keep an eye on.

Orioles could provide Braves with one-stop shop for pitching needs at trade deadline

Those players are Charlie Morton, Trevor Rogers, Felix Bautista, and Seranthony Dominguez. Morton and Dominguez are in the final years of their contracts and would be rentals. Bautista has two more years of arbitration left before he hits free agency, and Rogers has one year of arbitration left.

Charlie Morton

Morton started the year terribly, but has since improved. He's familiar with the Braves and would provide some much-needed veteran leadership to the rotation. Uncle Charlie has a 2.97 ERA over his last seven starts with 11 walks and 44 strikeouts. His familiarity with Atlanta and impending free agency make this an easy trade for the Braves to make.

Trevor Rogers

Rogers recently pitched extremely well against the Braves and held the offense scoreless. He hasn't been an incredible pitcher in his career, with a 4.18 ERA with the Marlins and Orioles. He's been outstanding through five starts this season (28.2 IP) with a 1.57 ERA, eight walks, and 24 strikeouts. He may not be the biggest name, but he is affordable and has experience.

Seranthony Dominguez

Dominguez has experience in the NL East and is pitching pretty well out of Baltimore's bullpen this year. He sports a 3.22 ERA over 36.1 innings with 49 strikeouts. His metrics are very impressive, but walks have been an issue for him. That's something Atlanta would need to help him fix if they brought him over.

Felix Bautista

Bautista is one of the long-shot options for the Braves. He would help solve their offseason problem of needing a closer with Raisel Iglesias reaching free agency. He's continued to impress with a 2.48 ERA this season, including 20 walks and 48 strikeouts. Similarly to Dominguez, he needs to improve his walk rate. However, he is a great option to consider with a cost of just $1 million this season. The asking price will be high because of that and the fact that he has two years of arbitration left.

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