Braves: 1 trade to make and 1 prospect to promote to get back in NL East race

The Atlanta Braves need to make this trade and call up this prospect if they want to get back into the NL East race.

The Atlanta Braves were expected to solidify themselves as a powerhouse in the National League at the start of the 2021 season. This was a team that narrowly missed out on the World Series last year and spent money in the offseason to make a push for the Commissioner’s Trophy.

Instead, the team has underperformed and currently sits in third place in the NL East (29-31), four games behind the New York Mets as of this writing. Luckily for them, there is still plenty of season left for Atlanta to gain ground on their rivals and clinch the division title for the fourth consecutive season. If they want to do so, they must consider trading for one particular player and to call up this one prospect.

The Braves should trade for Craig Kimbrel

If this season has shown anything, it is that the Braves desperately need to bolster their bullpen. That was evident in Thursday’s walk-off loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, where Chris Martin blew a 3-1 lead in the tenth inning. Not to mention that the Braves have the sixth-most blown saves this season, per Baseball-Reference.

While the team did sign Shane Greene this season, the Braves need to make a huge move to really fix their rotation of relief pitchers. They can solve those problems by acquiring Craig Kimbrel from the Chicago Cubs.

When Kimbrel signed on with the Cubs in the middle of the 2019 season, it looked as though he would go down as the biggest free agent bust in franchise history. He was no better in 2020 and he looked downright dreadful in this year’s spring training. But since the 2021 regular season commenced, Kimbrel has been lights out.

Through 25 appearances this season, Kimbrel recorded a 0.72 ERA, a 0.72 WHIP and 41 strikeouts over eight walks in 25.0 innings of work. Kimbrel recorded 15 saves in 17 opportunities.

Landing Kimbrel would be gigantic for the Braves. Who would not like a reunion? However, that is all dependent on the Cubs, who are in the NL Central hunt as of this writing.