Atlanta Braves: Five Moves to Make Before the Deadline
By Kit Anderson
- Trade Jaime Garcia
Acquiring Jaime Garcia was an odd move for a Braves franchise that has been hesitant to trade any prospects. When you consider the deal it is the Braves trading players they didn’t want in their future plans for a one-year rental in Jaime Garcia. One year rentals are only useful for two reasons if they are convinced to return to the team long term or if they are traded for better prospects.
Garcia is not a player that should play into the Braves long term plans. With the stable of young pitching that they have in the minors and the veteran options on their team already Garcia should be traded at the break along with Dickey or Colon.
Adding Colon and Dickey to eat innings was a great move but one that will not help the Braves long term and because of that the Braves should move on from two out of the three veteran players. Colon (if he continues to defy father time) would be a great option to keep past this season and because of that should be kept in the rotation.
Colon has shown what he is capable of doing and enjoys a lot of credit from the Mets for helping them with their young rotation. Having Colon at the bottom of the Braves rotation past this season could be a good decision for the Braves as they mimic the Met’s in strategy of building around and preparing for young pitching.
Return expectations: It is impossible to guess what any of the three veteran pitchers could get on the market. It will all be dependent on the seasons that they have and how many teams will need a veteran pitcher that are still in contention.