A Braves-Blue Jays trade that upgrades the rotation for World Series contention

The Atlanta Braves have some massive holes to fill on their roster, but their team is so talented and so well rounded, they've been able to stay among the National League's best despite these holes.

Of course, the two holes I'm speaking of are that left by the injury to Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr.

To this point, Atlanta has attempted to fill these holes internally, which hasn't worked out so well, particularly in the starting rotation. The offseason pickups of Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez have picked up the slack for Atlanta, but they still have a massive hole in the fifth spot in their rotation.

They could turn to the Toronto Blue Jays, who are bound to enter a rebuild in the coming weeks, in order to make a move for one of their starters, Chris Bassitt.

A Braves-Blue Jays trade that fixes Atlanta's starting pitching problem

Atlanta's solution for their fifth starter has been to use their prospects and this hasn't gone too well. Bryce Elder, the first choice, struggled mightily and was sent back to Triple-A to work out the kinks. Their top prospect, AJ Smith-Shawver, got injured in his one appearance this year. And the current option, Spencer Schwellenbach has struggled mightily as well.

Luckily for Atlanta, the Blue Jays will be selling here soon, and they have a starter who could fix this problem.

For the Braves to get Bassitt, they would need to send a few of their top 15 pitching prospects over to Toronto, and they can comfortably do this because of how loaded their farm system is. Atlanta is loaded, top to bottom, in pitching talent. Losing their number 10 and number 14 ranked prospects wouldn't hurt them if it fills a pitching hole at the MLB level for the next two years.

Vines needs to be traded. His situation in Atlanta is an unfortunate one, where he's MLB ready, but he's struggling to make his way back to the big leagues because he doesn't match the potential as the rest of Atlanta's pitching prospects. He hasn't had the best 2024, but his stuff and command are both MLB ready.

Hackenberg provides most of the value to Toronto. He's got a full, big league arsenal that he fills the strike zone up with. He's going to need to continue to polish his pitches and his sequencing, but the sky is the limit for the 22 year old.

For Atlanta, they're going to need to get aggressive. The Phillies are completely taking control of the NL East and it's not like Atlanta to sit by the wayside and watch as another team wins. Alex Antholoulos needs to get aggressive and he knows it. Look for him to work some of his trade deadline magic in the coming weeks, potentially in a deal for Chris Bassitt.