West Villages Improvement District: Atlanta Braves: Updated list of potential trade targets

by James Kunkle
Tomahawktake.com/2019/05/17

Since we just arrived at the quarter mark of the season, it’s time to look around the standings and update our list of proposed trade targets the Atlanta Braves could be interested in.
We are going to break it down in three segments based on needs for the Atlanta Braves. Starting pitching, relief pitching, and then bats. Let’s get right into it.

First off, I’m going to exclude Madison Bumgarner from this article. We all know his situation, and we all know how valuable he could be for the Atlanta Braves or any other team.

Starting Targets

1. Mike Minor
An old friend that could be useful in a couple of different ways, Mike Minor has both started games and pitched out of the bullpen in Texas.

This year, however, he is pitching well exclusively as a starter. I think it’s important to keep in mind the Atlanta Braves could look to acquire starting pitching this summer if they want to limit the innings of Mike Soroka and Max Fried later this summer. Besides, its not like Minor wouldn’t be an upgrade over Julio Teheran or, arguably, Kevin Gausman.

2. Marcus Stroman
Marcus Stroman has bounced back from a bad 2018 season to being above average again in 2019. If you examine his 2018 season, you will notice Stroman was the recipient of a lot of bad luck.

Reports are already surfacing that Toronto is starting the rebuild and everyone is available besides Vlad Guerrero Jr.

If the Atlanta Braves were to acquire Stroman, they would also have him under contract for 2020.

3. Robbie Ray
Robbie Ray has electric stuff and can strike out hitters with the best of them. One potential problem here could be the Arizona Diamondbacks early season success.

Many people, including myself, thought they would be around the Giants in the standings after trading many players away this past winter.

One last potential problem could be that Robbie Ray tends to only go 5 or 6 innings at the most due to his frequent high pitch counts.

The Braves might tend to go for a pitcher who goes longer in games due to the bullpen issues.

Relief Targets

I think most would agree that relief pitching is where the Atlanta Braves need the most help. Much like Bumgarner, I’m going to omit Will Smith and Tony Watson from this piece. They are useful pieces we could need, but we have covered them here before. Here are some other options.

4. Ken Giles
So far in 2019, Ken Giles is pitching like he did in his early days in Philadelphia and Houston. He is racking up the strikeouts and allowing less than a runner an inning so far.

Some would worry about his potential attitude issues, but nothing ever seems to come of that in Atlanta.

I think he would slide in nicely into the closing/ninth inning spot in Atlanta and give them a little stability in the back of the pen.

5. Alex Colome
Alex Colome is in much of the same spot as Giles, closing for a team who is going nowhere this year.
I’m sure the White Sox would love to acquire a couple more young players and if they are dangling Colome, the Braves should have a little interest.

Averaging 9k/9 IP in 2019, and he has only allowed 7 hits in 17 IP so far. Colome too would bring stability to the closer role in Atlanta.

6. Amir Garrett
The one-time starter for the Reds, Amir Garrett is now thriving out of the bullpen. The left-hander has a strong fastball and could be used in high leverage late inning situations.

The bad news Braves fans probably don’t want to hear, though is that if there is any downfall to his pitching so far this year, its been the walks. He has 8 through 17 IP.

Still, the Braves should take a chance and see if the Reds would potentially move him.

7. Shane Greene
Detroit should be looking to still trade off any valuable assets they have. Shane Greene is one of those players.

Another option to fill out the back of the bullpen, Greene has been pretty dominant so far in 2019.

Having already accumulated 18 saves and, like the previous two closers mentioned, not allowing many base runners so far.

Bench Targets

8. Howie Kendrick

How odd would it be to see the Nationals and Braves link up for a trade? Anyways, as the season goes on, it’s looking more and more like the Nationals will be sellers come July.

Howie Kendrick is much like our own Johan Camargo except with a longer track record. He can play all over the diamond and has pop in his bat.

9. James McCann

One has to wonder if Tyler Flowers is truly the best option to split time with Brian McCann.

I wouldn’t mind an all McCann catching duo for the Atlanta Braves.

James McCann is off to a roaring start for the White Sox batting .366 over the course of 93 at-bats in 2019 so far.

I think the pairing of the McCanns would give the Braves a lethal catching combo.

10. Domingo Santana

This one is a little more far fetched than any other as Domingo Santana should probably be a starter on most teams.

This past winter, I wrote about how the Braves should try trading for Santana from Milwaukee. That article never got put out because he was traded to Seattle about 20 minutes later.

Again though, this one would probably be only likely if an injury came along. He could give Nick Markakis a day or two off a week if acquired and could replace Ender Inciarte if Ender doesn’t straighten things out.

So these are 10 players we could see the Atlanta Braves having interest in if things stay the same for the next couple of months.

Ali H. Johnston, MBA in Real Estate