The Braves are going to be without Max Fried and Kyle Wright for a while now, so which trade targets should they be eyeing to help the pitching staff?
The Atlanta Braves have the second-best record in baseball through the first month-and-a-half (give or take) of the 2023 MLB season. Ronald Acuña Jr. is perhaps the leading NL MVP candidate, Spencer Strider is a Cy Young threat, and the team is just plain rolling as they eye contending for another World Series.
All of that is the truth, but the fact of the matter is that the Braves have done this despite being completely snake-bitten by injuries this season. The latest update, however, was a doozy with word that ace Max Fried and last year's 20-game winner, Kyle Wright, will be out at least two months after recently going to the IL.
With Ian Anderson also already out for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery, the Braves still have pitching depth in the form of Strider, Charlie Morton, Bryce Elder, Dylan Dodd and Jared Shuster, in addition to a strong overall bullpen. However, with Fried and Wright out for some time, they could be looking for more options on the trade market.
These three pitchers should be Braves trade targets to combat the injury bug, but there's one potential option as well that they should be staying away from.
Braves rumors: 3 trade targets to help with pitching injuries and 1 to avoid
3. Lucas Giolito should be a Braves trade target amid injuries
We're on the precipice of a fire sale involving the Chicago White Sox. Even with some of the talent on the roster, the club has been an unmitigated disaster to start the 2023 season and it seems like upper management is trending toward blowing it up and, in essence, starting from scratch. That presents an opportunity for the Braves, though.
While the pie-in-the-sky option — also the almost surely unbelievably expensive trade option — for Atlanta would be to go after last year's AL Cy Young runner-up, Dylan Cease. However, it would fit the needs of the Bravos much more soundly if they were to look into a trade for veteran Lucas Giolito.
After an up-and-down and, at times, quite rough 2022 season, Giolito has bounced back in a big way this year, even with his team struggling. Amassing five Quality Starts in eight outings, Giolito has posted a nice 3.59 ERA and 1.11 WHIP on the year to this point, already accruing a 1.3 WAR on the season.
Giolito would be an ideal Braves trade target given their needs. He could come in and be a rock while Fried and Wright miss time, but then slot in as an upper-tier mid-rotation piece behind Fried and Strider that could really bolster the pitching staff. Moreover, as he's in the final year under team control with the White Sox, Chicago could be looking to just recoup value instead of losing him for nothing.
Not only would that lower the price of a potential Braves trade for the right-hander, but it would also give Alex Anthopolous the opportunity to explore an extension for the 28-year-old, something the GM has been keen on with other high-end trade acquisitions.
2. Aroldis Chapman should be a Braves trade target amid injuries
Yes, the Braves' injury woes are largely concerning the starting rotation. No, Aroldis Chapman has no business being anywhere near the rotation. And this might be a galaxy-brain approach to solving the problem, but the Royals star reliever could be an option to help the cause while they deal with injuries and beyond.
Admittedly, I recently listed Chapman as a Braves trade target that the club should avoid. That largely has to do with the cost and, more pressingly, was before the severity of the injuries for Fried and Wright came to light with how long they'd be out and how much help Atlanta needs to weather the storm. Put simply, circumstances and, as such, opinions change.
After being a headache in the Yankees bullpen last year, though, Chapman has turned back the clock after signing a one-year deal with Kansas City, posting a 2.84 ERA and 1.11 WHIP over 14 apperances with the Royals this season. He's looked dominant when he's been on the hill.
If Atlanta were to find a deal that only cost a modest amount in a trade for Chapman, it would be advantageous to have the veteran southpaw hurling out of the bullpen to deepen it. It's likely that the Braves look to roll with a number of bullpen games while they deal with injuries to starters, which means that depth, quality depth especially, is crucial. So landing Chapman to join A.J. Minter, Raisel Iglesias and Tyler Matzek (when he returns from the IL) would be huge for that.
So again, Chapman doesn't directly help with the starting pitching injuries but, in a roundabout way, he could set up the Braves to better handle dealing with those injuries while strengthening the bullpen for the long run in the process.
1. Vince Velasquez should be a Braves trade target amid injuries
The Pittsburgh Pirates were one of the best stories in baseball over the first month of the season, jumping out to a hot start and the lead in the NL Central. But after a May 10 loss to the Rockies, they have now lost nine of their last 10 games and are coming way back down to earth — essentially looking more like the team many expected them to be in the 2023 season.
Should that continue, then the Pirates will ultimately end up in a familiar role as sellers at the trade deadline. And given how their pitching has performed this season, even with the recent skid, that's an area where the Braves should be interested, particularly in a veteran option like Vince Velasquez.
Though he's currently on the IL in his own right, the 30-year-old righty is expected to start throwing BP again soon and should return in short order. Meanwhile, he's the perfect type of arm for the Braves to pursue.
Velasquez has been great for the Pirates this season, posting a 3.06 ERA and 1.16 WHIP. More importantly, though, he's on a one-year deal so, if Pittsburgh indeed continues to bottom out, they could easily be compelled to move the veteran to recoup some value for the future. That's something that Atlanta could take advantage of, especially for a pitcher with plenty of NL East experience given his 5.5 seasons with the Phillies.
Even if he regresses, though, he can still be a solid veteran arm, not dissimilar to Morton, who can hold down the fort until the rotation is healthy.
Braves should stay far away from a Jack Flaherty trade
Given how poorly things have gone in St. Louis, it would not remotely be a shock to see the Cardinals end up as sellers at the trade deadline. If that is indeed the case, then someone like Jack Flaherty, who is in the final year of team control with the Cards and has recently been a bit combative in St. Louis, could be on the block.
Frankly, though, the only teams that would be poking around the Cardinals for pitching help would be desperate clubs that have no real answers at all in the rotation.
Considering that the Braves have the best record in the National League, have pitchers returning from injury eventually, and don't need to take whatever they can get on the trade market, so to speak, they decidedly don't fit that bill.
Flaherty has been downright bad this season, posting a 6.18 ERA and 1.73 WHIP over his eight starts, only one of which went down as a Quality Start. Moreover, after dealing with injuries in recent years, his velocity has been way down. And his lack of prowess on the mound has actually been a big reason — among other Cardinals pitchers — for his team's struggles this season.
There will be Braves trade targets worth pursuing who are available to help with pitching amid the slew of injuries. But Flaherty shouldn't be considered a viable option.