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

Braves Rumors: Trade for an ace in the works?

No, I don’t know anything. However, Atlanta received some rather serious injury news in the last week, in that Max Fried and Kyle Wright could both be out until July, at the earliest. What does that mean?

It’s simple — Alex Anthopoulos will do some shopping on the market before the trade deadline to see if he can upgrade the rotation. Frankly, he’d be dumb not to — this Braves team is World Series-caliber. They just have to reach the postseason and have a full rotation in tact.

In terms of potential players available — the Chicago White Sox have several. Dylan Cease could prove far more expensive than Atlanta is comfortable with. Lucas Giolito, however, makes plenty of sense. He’s on a contract year, and currently dealing with a 3.59 ERA. FanSided MLB Insider Robert Murray suggested Giolito could be traded as recently as Friday:

"“While Cease is unlikely to be traded, it would hardly be surprising to see Giolito moved in July. He’s in a contract year and has bounced back after a down 2022 season, posting a 3.59 ERA and 50/11 strikeout-to walk ratio in eight starts.”"

Murray also noted that Mike Clevinger could come at a cheaper price for interested parties:

"“On the surface, Clevinger’s numbers — 4.79 ERA and 35/18 strikeout-to-walk ratio — aren’t that impressive. But he has allowed three or less runs in five of his eight starts, with his ERA inflated by a six-run appearance against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 25. He may not fetch much in a trade, especially being on a contract year, but could help a contender in need of rotation depth.”"

Beyond that, another AL Central team has a looming top trade target in Eduardo Rodriguez. E-Rod has found the form that made him a free-agent commodity a few winters ago. Any trade for Rodriguez would come at an expense, though, as I laid out for Braves fans just a few days ago.

The trade I floated included Vaughn Grissom, Jesse Franklin V and Tyler Tolve. It’s an expensive price, but it’s what Detroit rightly would request in return for their best pitcher.

Either way, Anthopoulos has a lot to think about.