Braves Rumors: Red-hot trade target, Aces to acquire, Chipper sells

Braves Rumors: Brent Rooker has another big moment

The Oakland Athletics are dreadful, but a lone bright spot is the emergence of corner outfielder Brent Rooker. The 28-year-old has seemingly come out of nowhere for Oakland, which appears far more interested in their next location than the current iteration of the baseball team.

Rooker leads MLB in OPS, and currently has a .391 batting average and .428 on-base percentage. He is everything a contender would want in a trade deadline acquisition and then some, which is why the Athletics will likely sell high on him.

However, if the Braves are smart, they will be the team that calls first. Atlanta and Oakland have a history of such deals, including trades for Matt Olson and Sean Murphy, previously of the A’s. Alex Anthopoulos has won those deals, at least so far, which makes you wonder why Oakland would want to trade with them in the first place.

The Braves don’t have many top prospect left to deal, but Jared Shuster is an attractive one. If Atlanta can rely on Max Fried and Kyle Wright to return around the trade deadline, then Shuster becomes expendable, especially if Rooker proves he’s for real.