MLB Trade Rumors: Braves going after Mike Moustakas makes a lot of sense

With the MLB Trade Deadline more than a month away, teams are already starting to circle moves to make.

Have you ever been playing a video game and reached a level you aren’t expecting to beat? Then you get halfway through and think oh my god I can do this, then you start adjusting since the finish line is in sight.

That’s kind of where the Atlanta Braves are right now. No one expected them to be any good this year, yet two months into the season they’re leading the NL East and have a four-game lead on the Washington Nationals. It’s insane, but the Braves control the division at the moment and are now trying to see how long they can keep it going.

Making a move at the deadline was probably going to be Atlanta acting as sellers. They still might, but right now it sounds like the front office is thinking about trades that can fortify the roster now rather than planning for the future.

According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, the Braves are probably going to try and make a move to acquire Mike Moustakas before the trade deadline in July. That’s not a deal a team that isn’t serious about winning thinks about making.

The move makes even more sense after the weekend decision to release Jose Bautista after a very short experiment. Atlanta was hoping that maybe they’d get the Joey Bats version of the slugger but that never panned out. There’s an opening on the corner of the infield that the Braves need to fill and now it sounds like Moustakas could be that guy.

All of this depends on how well the Braves continue to play. Should this blissful winning come to an end, the motivation to trade for a veteran third baseman loses almost all of its luster.