Braves: 3 trade deadline targets we should be scouting

It is no secret, the Atlanta Braves are struggling. Coming off of a World Series win, and having the highest payroll they have ever had (including adjustment for inflation), it is a good assumption that they will be buyers at the trade deadline

Trading at the deadline is a delicate art. It is not as simple as finding your weaknesses and filling them with the best player available. There are future contracts to consider, not to mention that there could be bidding wars to consider as well.

Alex Anthopoulos arguably won the trade deadline last season, and a big part of that was trading for players that many fans may not have even considered in the first place.

Typically, you have buyers and sellers at a deadline. There is the rare case of teams trading for change of scenario.

In most cases, there are 3 reasons a team will trade:

Rebuilding: Teams that know they won’t compete any time soon may trade their desirable players for prospects to expedite the rebuild process.

Contending: Teams that feel they will have a legitimate shot at the playoffs in the near future will trade their prospects for players to help the team win now. Typically this is done with a rebuilding team.

Salary Dump: Teams may be willing to give up prospects or desirable players to get a bad contract off the books. For example, the Atlanta Braves trading Craig Kimbrel to get out from under the awful B.J. Upton contract.

How will the Atlanta Braves execute at the trade deadline?

As of right now, odds are that the Atlanta Braves will be trying to compete, even though they currently have a losing record. They are currently on a stretch where they will be playing 29 straight games against teams with a losing record, and it is possible Mets are missing their 2 best rotation arms until July.

If the Braves end up being in the contending category, the first thing that needs to happen is decide which roles that they can upgrade, and next decide which teams line up as partners.

Assessing the Atlanta Braves needs

As far as areas to upgrade, the Atlanta Braves have a few routes they can go. They obviously need an outfielder. Of course, Ronald Acuña Jr is back, but other than him and Adam Duvall, the outfield defense has been terrible. Even Travis Demeritte, with some of his slick catches, has a -0.3 defensive WAR (dWAR).

Even with his positive defensive metrics, it is hard to justify Adam Duvall as a regular starter with his .193/.256/.283 slash line, which equates to a 50 OPS+ (50% below average). All of this considered, the Braves need at least one above average outfielder.

The top 4 in the rotation for the Atlanta Braves is virtually locked with Max Fried, Charlie Morton, Kyle Wright, and Ian Anderson. However, beyond that, the rotation has been giving the Braves trouble. They have a ton of depth with young guys like Kyle Muller, Tucker Davidson, Huascar Ynoa, and Bryce Elder, but they have not been filling the void well.

Beyond the top 4, the best pitcher so far has been Bryce Elder with a 93 ERA+ (7% below average), and he still has a FIP of 6.26 suggesting that he could be getting lucky.

Mike Soroka is on track to come back, but there are still question marks surrounding a player who has not pitched in an MLB  game since August 3rd, 2020. Not to mention, we have seen how easily starting pitchers can get injured.

The 2 biggest needs at this moment in time seem to be an outfielder, and a rotation arm.

Who can the Atlanta Braves line up with in a trade?

There are currently a few teams that are virtual locks that will be sellers at the deadline. The Athletics, Nationals, Reds, Royals, and Orioles are teams to consider lining up with. There are obviously other teams to look at as well that could potentially be good to at least kick the tires on, like the Pirates and Cubs.

Of course, anything can happen, but based on these parameters, there are 3 trade targets that really stick out.