MLB Rumors: Mets misery, Braves fit former Yankee, Red Sox huge return

MLB Rumors: Braves are perfect fit for former Yankees top prospect Deivi Garcia

If there was a big criticism to level against Alex Anthopoulos for how he handled the trade deadline for the Atlanta Braves, it was the lack of addressing the bullpen. Yes, the club did trade for Pierce Johnson and veteran Brad Hand, but there were plenty of fans and analysts who believed the club could’ve done more to solidify itself as the leading World Series contender.

The New York Yankees might’ve just dropped a gift right in the Braves’ lap on Monday, though.

After a fall from grace within the organization and in baseball circles’ opinions alike, the Yankees designated former top prospect Deivi Garcia for assigment on Monday. Garcia was a Top 100 prospect in baseball in both 2020 and 2021, but has struggled mightily to live up to that hype with an ERA in Triple-A of 5.67 this season as a reliever. This comes after New York essentially gave up hope that he could be a starter with bad years in 2021 and 2022 in the minors as well.

At 24 years old, though, there’s no reason to believe that Garcia isn’t a worthwhile reclamation project, especially for an organization like the Braves who have shown an innate ability to develop young players and, at other times, polish diamonds in the rough. This would definitely be a case of both when it comes to Garcia.

Admittedly, there’s a good chance that Garcia wouldn’t be an immediate help for the Braves bullpen this season. He’s simply shown no signs with the Yankees organization that he’s ready to be a major-league reliever. At the same time, though, with the need for some younger arms in the system, he fits the bill of what the Braves should be looking for, a once-promising prospect who has struggled that, in essence, the stud minor-league development of the Braves system can potentially fix.