Buster Olney on Braves’ trade deadline: Starting pitching help is coming
The Braves have a plethora of areas they will be looking to upgrade ahead of the trade deadline, none more so than their starting rotation, which is desperate for a frontline starter to pair with Chris Sale. The good news? ESPN’s Buster Olney is confident that — even with fewer teams looking to sell — […]
The Braves have a plethora of areas they will be looking to upgrade ahead of the trade deadline, none more so than their starting rotation, which is desperate for a frontline starter to pair with Chris Sale.
The good news? ESPN’s Buster Olney is confident that — even with fewer teams looking to sell — starting pitching is the one area where we could see a lot of movement over the next month.
“They’ll both get starting pitchers, I’m pretty convinced of that,” Olney said of the Braves and Phillies, who currently sit atop the narrowly contested NL East.
“This is good news for the Braves and for the Phillies,” he continued. “I think among all the positions in baseball, the one that is going to have the highest volume of available talent is going to be starting pitcher. Right now, teams are starved for right-handed hitters. But with starting pitching — besides Skubal — there actually could be a number of names. Joe Ryan, Robbie Ray is going to be out there, there could be 8-12 guys who are out there.”
Tarik Skubal is undoubtedly the crowned jewel of this year’s trade deadline if the Tigers decide to trade him, and the Braves have already been linked to him by several insiders. This could be the time we finally see Alex Anthopoulos take that big swing, even if history suggests he’s more likely to pivot in another direction.
Like most general managers, Alex Anthopoulos places a high value on his prospects. He’s not going to be eager to part ways with multiple of the organization’s best young players for a rental, but it will be very intriguing to see what the price tags on some of these starting pitchers will be with so many more quality options available than we’ve seen in recent years.
—
(Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire)
What's Your Reaction?
