1 perfect Braves trade target from each of the biggest potential sellers

Braves trade target from the Chicago White Sox: RHP Lucas Giolito

While I’ve recently championed the idea of the Braves being a bit sneaky and targeting young Garrett Crochet from the White Sox, even if there is the expected fire sale in Chicago, the fact of the matter is that the club is far more likely to trade a veteran at a decent price for Atlanta than they would be a hurler in his early 20s.

Having said that, the strength of the White Sox roster right now is indeed the pitching they could be willing to deal and there is no one better for the Braves than Lucas Giolito.

Now, to be clear, this wouldn’t be a quick-fix solution to replace Fried and/or Wright in the rotation. Rather, this is a longer-term play for the rotation that would potentially be giving Atlanta one of the best 1-2-3 punches in terms of starting pitching in baseball.

Giolito has never been dominant for an entire season but he has been a clearly quality starter for every season since 2019 with the exception of last year, posting three straight seasons with an ERA of 3.53 or lower from 2019-21 and with a WHIP never exceeding 1.10. He’s been on that track so far this season in a bounce-back campaign where, despite a 2-3 record, he’s posted a 3.86 ERA and 1.12 WHIP over nine starts.

Still just 28 years old, Giolito is another trade target who would be a perfect extension candidate. More pertinently, though, adding the righty to the rotation would give the Braves the luxury of going Fried, Spencer Strider, and Giolito at the top of the rotation, which would be massive, particularly in the playoffs.