MLB Rumors: 5 Marcus Stroman trade destinations

1. Atlanta Braves can fix their rotation woes with a Marcus Stroman trade

Much in the same vein of the Astros and Yankees, only doing so in the National League, the Atlanta Braves have been extremely successful this season in spite of the injury woes they’ve been forced to endure, particularly with their pitching staff.

Max Fried has been out for more than a month, as has Kyle Wright, and the depth has been tested with Ian Anderson undergoing Tommy John surgery and the likes of Dylan Dodd and Michael Soroka not totally panning out to help stabilize the rotation. Of course, Spencer Strider and Bryce Elder have been two of baseball’s best this season while Charlie Morton and Jared Shuster have been good too, but it still appears that the Braves are searching for answers.

The club’s latest answer is to start 20-year-old AJ Smith-Shawver, who started the season in Single-A and rapidly rose up to the bigs in just two months. His stuff looks dynamic, but that’s hard to feel fully confident in given his lack of reps and experience.

For quite some time, it’s seemed as if this situation could lead to the Braves exploring the starting pitcher market at the trade deadline. If that is the case, the question has then been whether they’d look for a premium option or a budget choice. If it’s the former, then Marcus Stroman could be the guy.

Given Stroman’s personality combined with his performance, he’d be a perfect fit in the Atlanta clubhouse and, most importantly, would ultimately elevate the Braves rotation from one with question marks to one of the best in baseball — especially once Fried returns.