Most baseball pundits look at this Braves roster and agree this is the best team in baseball. The names in the clubhouse suggest that, and the play on the field certainly suggests that. However, trade deadline season presents the opportunity for other contenders to “catch up” to Atlanta.
Thus all the more reason for AA to decline being stagnant at the deadline and allow other teams to close the gap in talent. The Braves adding a piece or two improves their chances to reach their ultimate goal of winning it all.
Enter the San Diego Padres. Not many teams will actually be selling at the deadlines, and the ones who are certain to don’t have many players that excite the Braves fan base. Lacking exciting talented baseball players is not the case for the friars.
There’s no doubt the Padres are on a short list of most disappointing teams in 2023. The subpar season has San Diego sitting at a 46-51, ten games behind in the NL West, and 6.5 back of Miami for the final wild card spot.
They finish out July with the Tigers, Pirates, and Rangers. Unless they have a really strong week of baseball, you could definitely see San Diego decide to sell at the deadline. If that happens let’s take a look at some players the Braves should have their eye on.