Braves upgrade pitching staff in trade with Orioles before deadline

The Braves are closing to adding Orioles starter Tommy Milone

Milone has an ERA slightly under 4.00, which is a vast improvement when compared to the majority of the Braves starting rotation which consists of Max Fried, Ian Anderson and spare parts. Atlanta will send two prospects to Baltimore in return for Milone, both of which are outside of the 60-man player pool.

Milone is a soft-tossing lefty whose pitching style is dependent more on control than overpowering opposing hitters. He was named the Orioles Opening Day starter this season, and has performed admirably to this point. Not to mention, he’s on a very affordable salary that ought to make Braves management more enthused about bringing on extra payroll midseason.

What does Tommy Milone add to the Braves rotation?

Atlanta’s rotation needed an upgrade, and the acquisition of Milone alone shouldn’t be the only help Alex Anthopoulos pursues.  There are still plenty of top-line starters available from the short list of sellers in this year’s market, including Lance Lynn, but they’ll come at a steep price. Hence the Braves way of thinking in taking care of their need right away while perhaps going big-game fishing come Monday.

For Baltimore, such a move helps distinguish them as a seller. The Orioles sit outside of the AL Wild Card race at this juncture, and the odds of them making a playoff run seem farfetched. At 14-18, the O’s have surprised many pundits this year, but it’s not worth mortgaging the future over.

Bringing in two more prospects from Atlanta’s system, albeit mid-tier ones, is another step in the right direction for a franchise which knows its in the midst of a rebuild, regardless of what their record says in this shortened campaign.