Braves Rumors: 3 Adam Duvall Replacements To Target For Deadline Trade

The Atlanta Braves lost a key member of their 2021 World Series championship team in Adam Duvall to a season ending wrist injury

Although Adam Duvall’s bat best profiles as a platoon bat, having a 129 OPS+ vs lefties and only a 76 OPS+ vs righties, his defense (and a some injuries to other players) made it to where he was worth a full time spot for the Braves, starting 86 games in 2022.

The Atlanta Braves have enough depth to cover left field if it comes to it with Eddie Rosario, Marcell Ozuna, and Guillermo Heredia. However, all three of these players have produced negative value to this point with -1.5 WAR, -0.5 WAR, and -0.2 WAR respectively.

Not to mention Ozuna has no business playing in the field on a regular basis having -4 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) in only 341 innings. Rosario started off rough in right field having -5 DRS, but we found out that was largely due to an eye issue. Since that has been corrected, and he has shifted to left field, he is doing well enough with 1 DRS.

Now that Duvall is not in the mix, and the other options are underperforming, it may make sense for the Atlanta Braves to explore some trade options.

The Braves do not have much financial flexibility, having the highest payroll they have ever had (including inflation or not), and only approximately 23.2 million shy of the luxury tax threshold, so they most likely will not be targeting players that cost much.

The Atlanta Braves also have the worst-ranked farm system, hindering their ability to add high-end prospects to make a huge splash.

With these thoughts in mind, it is most likely that the Braves will target rental players on the final year of their contract, but with Alex Anthopoulos at the helm, nothing is guaranteed.

Here are 3 players the Atlanta Braves could target

Andrew Benintendi

Benintendi may be best known for his prospect status coming up in the Red Sox system and ultimately not living up to the hype.

Even if that is the case, Benintendi has been a solid bat ever since he has been a Royal. This year especially stands out with a 125 OPS+ (25% above average). His current slash line is .322/.390/.401.

Benintendi only has three home runs this year, which could be concerning. However, with a .390 OBP, he could fill a need that the Braves have, which is a player that gets on base at a high rate.

Even though the Braves are 1st in the NL in home runs, and 2nd in runs scored, they are 17th in MLB in OBP. If the Braves could get more runners on base, which Benintendi is exceptional at, it could go a long way in scoring even more runs.

In left field, Benintendi has 1 DRS in 757 innings, which is part of why his overall game has been good with 2.5 WAR, which is far better than any of the options the Braves currently have.

The Braves are also currently better against lefties than they are against righties with a 107 OPS+ to 100 OPS+. Adding a lefty bat could be beneficial in remediating that gap.

The biggest question is if the Braves want to get into a bidding war with other interested teams, because it is virtually guaranteed that Benintendi will not be a Royal come August 3rd.