MLB Trade Rumors: Braves seeking bullpen, bench help

With the All-Star Break now in the rear view mirror, the focus to shift to the July 31 trade deadline. The Atlanta Braves have put themselves in good position with a surprising first half but it remains to be seen how far they will go in hopes of filling holes on the current roster.

MLB.com’s Mark Bowman set the stage for the second half and says that Atlanta will be looking for at least one relief pitcher, a bench bat and possibly a starting pitcher. However, they are unlikely to mortgage the future just to fill holes for this season. That boils down essentially to this. Don’t expect the Braves to trade their best prospects for players that would be rental players. They would however consider such a trade if it would help the club for multiple seasons.

Bowman speculates that Atlanta has accumulated enough pitching depth that they would consider offering Kolby Allard, Ian Anderson and Max Fried in a deal that would bring back an above-average return. He says that it would be much more difficult to pry away some of the team’s younger arms like Kyle Wright, Touki Toussaint or Bryse Wilson.

That makes sense when you consider the Braves will be facing a numbers problem with the rotation as soon as next season. There was never a situation where the team would have room for all of these prospects especially now with Fried, Allard and others either at the major league level or knocking on the door. It is a good problem to have.

It should make for an interesting few weeks.