A Braves-Giants trade for a Hail Mary addition of Cy Young candidate

The Atlanta Braves have a huge hole in their starting rotation, created after they lost their ace Spencer Strider to a season-ending elbow injury. They tried to fill the hole with Bryce Elder and Darius Vines but both young prospects struggled mightily.

They tried to use their top prospect, AJ Smith-Shawver, to fill the hole but he got hurt in his first start. Atlanta would then try to use their third-ranked prospect Spencer Schwellenbach but he got hit around too much. On Sunday, they called up their No. 2 prospect, Hurston Waldrep, and even he got hit hard, surrendering seven earned runs.

Obviously, Atlanta needs to go to the trade market to fix their problem and if they have the patience, they could wait for former Cy Young, Robbie Ray, to make his return from Tommy John surgery.

A longshot Braves-Giants trade that solves Atlanta's pitching problem when Robbie Ray is healthy

Robbie Ray underwent Tommy John Surgery over a year ago and now he's finally ramping up his return. Ray is on track to return around the All-Star break, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Ray is attached to a massive contract with over $50 million still left to pay the injured lefty. This massive contract could lead the Giants to be willing to trade him upon his return if the Braves are willing to eat a good chunk of the contract. San Fransisco would likely still have to send money over in a deal, just to eat a chunk of what he's owed.

This trade could end up making sense for both sides. The Braves would receive Robbie Ray, a lefty that has Cy Young potential, but also potential to be an expensive bust on their roster. The Giants would be getting Ray's risky contract off their books and receiving two of the Braves pitching prospects.

Vines has found himself in a logjam in Atlanta, where he likely won't get another chance to start at the big-league level unless something miraculous happens. He's behind aforementioned prospects Elder, Schwellenbach, Smith-Shawver and Waldrep in the pecking order. He needs a fresh start in a new city as he's already 26 years old.

Kuehler is a high-potential righty with a hard fastball and a sharp slider to pair with it. He's got all the tools to be a future big leaguer, but he hasn't pitched past Single-A, so it's really hard to judge him completely yet. He could begin working his way up the minors shortly.

But the Braves need to be willing to take this risk on Ray's salary. If he returns from the injury as good as he was before, the Braves get themselves a steal. That's a big "if" on the table, but it's one the Braves need to take a chance on to close the gap in the NL East.