The Atlanta Braves have been the hottest team in baseball dating back to June. They won 25 of their last 30 games heading into the All-Star break, including a 6-2 start to July. The Braves' dominant stretch has resulted in the best record in Major League Baseball -- and by more than a handful of games, at that.
Among National League teams, the Braves rank first in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage; first in home runs and runs scored; first in ERA and second in strikeouts. To think they've posted those marks while receiving a combined 10 starts from Max Fried and Kyle Wright.
This Braves team is very good and very well-rounded. Just what might Alex Anthopoulos do at the trade deadline in an attempt to secure Atlanta's second World Series championship in the last three years? Let's take a look.
Needs
As you would guess based on all the above, the Braves don't have many real "needs." They have one regular with an OPS+ beneath 100, and that's center fielder Michael Harris II, who has been on the upswing as of late. Even the reserves are hitting well. Barring an injury between now and Aug. 1, it's hard to see the Braves being too active on the trade front for a new position player.
Where the Braves might be active is on the pitching side. Both Fried and Wright are expected to return sometime in the second half, but it's theoretically possible Atlanta would try to add a veteran starter as an insurance policy. Almost every contender pursues bullpen help at the deadline. The Braves will likely do the same, especially in light of Nick Anderson's placement on the 60-day injured list last week because of a strained shoulder.
Again, though, this is about as complete a roster as you'll find.
Potential targets
This is not going to be the most exciting section, folks. But here are three veteran relievers the Braves might inquire upon over the next few weeks.
Bummer has made a career out of getting batters to hit the ball hard into the ground for outs. He's doing the same old thing this season, except he's getting far worse results for his efforts. This is someone who had a 171 ERA+ over his most recent 161 appearances heading into this season; now, he's sporting an ERA over 7.50 through the All-Star break. We could see the Braves viewing his contract (he has one more guaranteed season and two additional club options) as a positive if they think that he has a salvageable profile.
Perry Minasian used to work in the Braves front office, suggesting he should be on good terms with Anthopoulos; the two previously linked up on the Raisel Iglesias deal. Moore, an impending free agent, has continued his career turnaround from last season, and would give the Braves another left-handed option out of the bullpen.
As we've noted before, the Rockies operate in their own reality. We doubt they'd be open to moving Lawrence -- Brad Hand and the injured Brent Suter would seem more likely to go -- but it doesn't hurt to call. Lawrence is a hard-throwing right-hander with a funky release point. He's already 28 years old and he's struggled to keep his strikeout-to-walk ratio on the right side of 2.00, suggesting that his remaining years of team control could be fool's gold. That said, all it takes is one more good half to solidify a contender's bullpen.
Trade chips
The Braves have done a lot of graduating and trading of prospects in recent years. It shouldn't come as a surprise, then, that they don't have a headline-stealing prospect to shop around. They still have several interesting players, including a bevy of intriguing right-handed pitchers.
There's AJ Smith-Shawver, who debuted in the majors earlier this season, as well as several recent high draft picks, like JR Ritchie, Owen Murphy, and Spencer Schwellenbach. On the position player side, they have catcher Drake Baldwin and infielder Ignacio Alvarez.
The Braves also have several older prospects they could look to move if they feel comfortable with their depth. That includes lefties Dylan Dodd and Jared Shuster, as well as infielder Braden Shewmake. It's at least plausible the Braves would listen to offers on Vaughn Grissom as well if they don't feel that he's a realistic long-term fit for their roster.
