Breaking: Braves To Make Blockbuster Trade Deadline

The Braves have been missing Spencer Strider and Sean Murphy for most of the season, and Ozzie Albies joined them on the injured list last week.

The Braves have lost three All-Stars, but still continue to win. They have the best record in the National League (15-6) and are on track to win more than 100 games, like they have in the previous two seasons.

However, given they have already lost their ace for the season, the trade deadline will remain a major topic of conversation. The rotation has been a headache in October for the past two years, and matters won’t get any easier in 2024 without Spencer Strider. Unless the Braves make a massive trade to replace him.

It’s not Alex Anthopoulos’ style. The Braves are expected to trade for Jesús Luzardo from the Miami Marlins, despite the fact that they have yet to complete a massive deal involving multiple top prospects for a starting pitcher, particularly in the middle of the season.

With Spencer Strider out for the season, the Braves need to add front-line starting pitching as much as any contender in the league. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos might prefer a right-handed option to go with lefties Max Fried and Chris Sale, but beggars can’t be choosers. If Luzardo is the best pitcher available, the Braves need to be in on him.

The Braves’ general need for a frontline starter is rather exaggerated at the moment. Don’t let Max Fried’s early-season difficulties deceive you—he’s still an ace. Chris Sale appears to be a more than capable #2 starter, while Charlie Morton is coming off his greatest start of the season against the Texas Rangers. Add in Reynaldo Lopez, who has been the Braves’ best starter through three rotational turns, and you have a powerful top four.

However, a lot can change between now and the trade deadline. If another injury occurs, the Braves could begin to appear desperate. They can’t just rely on seasons during the peak years of this championship window, and Alex Anthopoulos should be thinking ahead as well.

Max Fried is a free agent at the end of the season. Chris Sale has one more guaranteed year on his contract, and Charlie Morton is expected to retire. Outside of Spencer Strider, who is coming off a ruptured UCL for the second time in his career, the Braves do not have any starting pitchers that are expected to stay in Atlanta for the long run.

Miami doesn’t need to trade Luzardo, but the club could maximize its return for him this summer, because of the lack of other enticing options on the market and his having a few remaining years of team control.

Bendix won’t get his entire wish list, but the Braves have such a loaded lineup and a clear need to add pitching, so they may be willing to overpay a bit.

Miami should make Atlanta say no on giving up pitcher Hurston Waldrep, the Braves’ No. 2 overall prospect. Pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach, shortstop Nacho Alvarez Jr. and catcher Drake Baldwin are among the other pieces in the Braves farm system that could make sense as part of a trade package for Luzardo.

Because of what Kelly has said, I’m hesitant to acknowledge that a deal like this with the Braves is possible. The Marlins do not need to move Luzardo because he is under team control until 2026. The only way they’re going to sell him within the division is if the Braves overpay, which Alex Anthopoulos hasn’t been prepared to do since becoming general manager.

It’s more likely that the Braves will look at their historically strong offensive and wager that their bats don’t go to sleep in October, expecting that their lineup can pull them up, like it did in 2021 when the Braves pitching staff wasn’t in nearly as good shape as it is this year.