It’s been less than two days since a relatively frantic non-waiver trade deadline has past, but left us take a look at some possible trade targets for the Braves in August.
In the rain delay interview with Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos on FoxSportsSouth on Tuesday night, he mentioned that the front office had gone pretty far down the path towards acquiring a left-handed hitter but that they had run out of time and hope to revisit the discussions.
It makes sense that the Braves may be interested in shoring up the bench with a reliable left-handed hitter. The two primary left-handed bench players this season have been outfield Preston Tucker and infielder Ryan Flaherty. Tucker was of course just traded to Cincinnati in the Adam Duvall deal. Ryan Flaherty is only hitting .152/.237/.182 as a pinch hitter.
Thanks to the larger than average number of weather-related postponements this year, the Braves will be playing 57 games in the remaining 59 days of the season, including a brutal 22 games in 20 days straight without a day off starting on Tuesday. Expect the Gwinnett-to-Atlanta pitcher shuttle to be running non-stop to keep fresh arms available, and it will be imperative that the shortened bench be able to contribute. On any given night, the bench right now is either Duvall or Ender Inciarte, Charlie Culberson, Ryan Flaherty, and either Tyler Flowers or Kurt Suzuki. Flaherty is the obvious weak link in that unit.
Here’s some possibilities for the Braves for an upgraded left-handed bench option.
Rio Ruiz
Before looking at trade options, it’s always worthwhile to look at in-house options for improvement. Ruiz has hit .264/.310/.384 while with AAA Gwinnett this season, which hasn’t been a marked improvement over is first two go-rounds with the level. However, he is hitting a solid .274/.320/.431 with 7 home runs against right-handed pitchers, also following his career norms. He’s also been working on making himself a more versatile defensive option, playing all four corners of the field.
That said, while Ruiz may be a marginal improvement over Flaherty, it doesn’t look to me that the organization considers him as more than a depth player at this point. Other Gwinnett options include Carlos Franco and Danny Santana. Of the two, Franco lacks positional flexibility while Santana got a recent try-out in the role and performed poorly.
Derek Dietrich
When I first heard Anthopoulos mention attempting to trade for a left-handed hitter, perhaps it was because Atlanta was playing the Marlins, but I immediately thought of Dietrich. The former Georgia Tech standout has taken advantage of the opportunities Miami’s off-season sell-off has provided and produced one of his best offensive seasons to date, including a career high 13 home runs. For his career he’s a 115 wRC+ hitter against right-handers, and this season he’s elevated that part of his game, hitting to a 124 wRC+. Defensively he’s been a marginal defensive infielder, playing primarily second and third base. This year he’s mostly been forced to left field, and the results have been Kempesque.
Dietrich would be somewhat of a “Cadillac” option. He’s likely one of the top bench options available for trade, and he’s under control for two more seasons under arbitration. After a rough start to their rebuild with the Marcel Ozuna giveaway trade, the new Marlins front office headed by Derek Jeter has mostly done well with being patient for the right deals. Cleveland was the only team publicly linked to him, but they’ve likely addressed their left-handed bat needs with the deadline acquisition of Leonys Martin from Detroit.
Greg Garcia
The 29-year-old Cardinals utilityman is mostly known, if he’s known at all, for his defensive versatility. Garcia can play all three infield skill positions capably. Garcia doesn’t provide much pop but is competent against right-handed batters, and owns a .374 career OBP and a 105 wRC+ against them.
Garcia is controlled for three seasons after this one through the arbitration process, and the Cardinals have better infield bench options in Jedd Gyorko and Yairo Munoz. St. Louis is engaged in a surprise sell-off after clubhouse issues have come into the public consciousness after the mid-season firing of manager Mike Matheny. The price for Garcia should be reasonable.
Jurickson Profar
Profar was the #1 prospect in baseball according to Baseball America in 2012, but his career has been derailed by injuries and poor performance. Still only 25 years old, Profar is having his best season to date while getting playing time on a dilapidated Rangers squad. Profar is a switch-hitter who traditionally has batter better against left-handers, but has held his own against righties this season with a 100 wRC+. Profar can essentially play any position, and has. This season he’s logged the most innings at shortstop in relief of the injured Elvis Andrus, but has also filled in at all four infield positions and left field.
There are two main issues with acquiring Profar. The first is that we are in the waiver-trade period, and as an American League player, he will have to pass through trade waivers though all of the American League teams before being offered to National League teams (in reverse order of the standings). It seems unlikely he would make it all the way to the Braves. The second issue is that even if he does make it through, the Rangers may still be pricing him as a starter with upside rather than the reserve player the Braves would likely employ him as. Profar has two seasons under team control after this one through the arbitration process.
Yangervis Solarte
Solarte was traded by the Padres to the Blue Jays in the offseason, and has played probably more than anyone would have figured due to the persistent injuries to third baseman Josh Donaldson. Solarte has not had a good season at the plate against pitchers throwing with either hand, but historically the switch-hitter has handled right-handers to the tune of a 106 wRC+ against. Solarte can also play anywhere in the infield and not embarrass himself.
As with Profar, Solarte is an American Leaguer with the same potential issues with getting him through waivers to where the Braves could select him. Unlike Profar, Solarte is being paid relatively well, making $1.375M over the final two months of the season which, combined with his poor season to date, could make him more available.
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