Atlanta Braves look to be in line for MLB trade deadline

As the calendar swings over to June, discussions about the MLB trade deadline begin to heat up.

Who will be the buyers? Sellers? Who are the in-betweeners? The Atlanta Braves appear to be in position to be buyers again.

Braves manager Brian Snitker on his lineup's impressive performance of late: "We're seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel." 💡 pic.twitter.com/V98AZ5Sgdf

— Bally Sports South (@BallySportsSO) June 19, 2024

Normally, this is the time of year when the Braves begin to establish a dominating lead over their division opponents. However, so far in the 2024 season, this has not been the case. The Braves are actually trailing the Philadelphia Phillies, who have the second-best record in MLB at 49-25, seven games ahead of Atlanta, which is 41-31.

The Braves’ good news is that they still have the National League’s fourth-best record and a 5.5-game lead in the Wild Card race. In fact, the National League has been so poor this season that the Braves are the only team with a.500 record or higher.

Still, this hasn’t been the way Atlanta planned to begin the season. For the first time since May of 2022, they went below.500 in a month and lost five games in a row for the first time since September of 2017. However, the Braves have suffered more than just game losses. They have been plagued by injuries since the season’s first game.

Sean Murphy, who suffered an oblique injury in the first game, only recently returned from his long absence. Others have been placed on the injured list, including Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies, while bullpen pitchers AJ Minter and Tyler Matzek have yet to return. Michael Harris II, their centerfielder, is currently out with a hamstring injury.

But at least the Braves will get those players back at some point. The same cannot be true for two of their finest players, albeit in crucial positions. In April, Cy Young candidate Spencer Strider had a season-ending elbow injury, followed by Ronald Acuña Jr.’s second ACL tear in four seasons.

Despite this, the Braves have maintained their.500 record of 8-8 in June. However, it goes without saying that this might be one of the most critical MLB trade deadlines in recent memory for Atlanta, who may be in much greater need than they have been previously.

Even though the National League has struggled, the Braves still need to make some acquisitions to maintain, at the very least, their Wild Card place. Here’s how they can accomplish that:

Adding outfield and bench depth

Acuña’s departure was a significant loss, regardless of his current performance. But losing Harris for the foreseeable future only made things worse. With Harris and Acuña out, Jarred Kelenic has taken over the leadoff role. Surprisingly, the former Mariner has performed well at that position in the lineup. In five games, he’s 9-for-22 with one double, two home runs, six runs scored, and three RBIs.

However, the outfield as a whole has been totally rearranged. The Braves have since recalled Forrest Wall from Triple-A and brought up Ramon Laureano. Both have been serviceable in their short careers, but the Braves are expected to look for productive outfield bats before the trade deadline.

Some players to keep an eye out for are Boston Red Sox Tyler O’Neill, Oakland Athletics Brent Rooker, and Chicago White Sox Tommy Pham, to name a few. In an ideal world, that would be a mix of Pham and Rooker. In Rooker’s situation, Anthopoulos is no stranger to making trades with the A’s.

Adding a starting pitcher, fifth starter

Losing Acuña was big, but not as much as losing Strider. Since his injury after only two starts, the Braves’ ace has proven difficult to replace.

However, the Braves have tried. They’ve demoted seven different pitchers who have started 17 games and gone a combined 2-9. Sure, the sputtering offense had a lot to do with it during the last month, but none of those pitchers had an ERA under 4.50. Spencer Schwellenbach has improved slightly during his last two starts, finishing 1-2 with a 4.98 ERA in 21.2 innings pitched. But who knows if it will last, especially if the offense continues to struggle.

Spence did Schwell #BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/WkpZwJShJp

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 19, 2024

Atlanta sorely needs a fifth starter, and there will be plenty available. The real question, however, is what general manager Alex Anthopoulos considers a fair asking price for one. Who from the farm is he prepared to let go of?

No one pulls more rabbits out of a hat than Anthopoulos, and he’ll most likely do it again at this year’s deadline, reaching into distant corners of the league where few will have looked for a promising player. He did it with Reynaldo Lopez in the offseason.

Some players that could be put on the market include Red Sox right-hander Nick Pivetta, Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Zach Eflin (who the Braves have already been linked to), Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet and right-hander Erick Fedde, and Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Anderson.

Anderson is having the greatest season out of all of them, with a 2.58 ERA in 87.1 innings worked despite a 6-6 record.

Adding relievers

The Braves presently have the league’s fifth-best ERA for relief pitching (3.32). Their bullpen is also the best in the league for not allowing walks, with only 76. And when they do allow guys on base, they rarely score. According to FanGraphs, they’ve allowed 80 runs, the second-best total in the MLB, while keeping men on base 78.4 percent of the time.

However, as the season progresses, the stamina of a bullpen, which requires fresh arms, might wane. Anthopoulos has always advocated having a strong bullpen, which is largely responsible for the Braves’ 2021 World Series success. More relief arms will always be needed, and familiar faces like Red Sox Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin may be available if Boston decides to sell. If the Braves could even pull off one of those, it would further strengthen their bullpen as one of the finest in the league.