Following a surprising injury update, the Braves have made three emergency trades to replace their most experienced superstar.
The Atlanta Braves continue to struggle with injuries. Not only did Ozzie Albies suffer an injury during Sunday’s defeat, which will force him to the IL, but Max Fried also sustained an injury and was placed on the 15-day IL prior to Sunday’s game. He’ll likely be sidelined for more than 15 days.
This is a significant blow to the Braves’ rotation, which already required reinforcement at the trade deadline. Spencer Strider is done for the season. Hurston Waldrep is also out. Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, and Spencer Schwellenbach are all concerned about their innings. Depth players such as Bryce Elder have underperformed. Don’t forget, Charlie Morton is also 40 years old.
With nine days until the trade deadline, Atlanta has time to determine the best move(s) to make. In the interim, any of these may make sense.
3) Braves-Rays deal for Zach Eflin following Max Fried’s injury.
Replacing Fried with a pitcher of Fried’s quality would be ideal, but the Braves are unlikely to be searching for pitchers like Garrett Crochet or Tarik Skubal, so looking at lower-tier options makes sense. With that in mind, Zach Eflin may be a perfect candidate for Atlanta to explore.
Eflin has had a little poor season, as indicated by his 4.14 ERA in 18 appearances, but his 3.65 FIP and 3.38 xERA indicate that he has been unlucky on the mound. With a little more success down the line, he could be an important player to any club if moved. The Tampa Bay Rays are difficult to read, but given how they operate, almost everyone is available at the appropriate price.
Eflin is a quality mid-rotation pitcher with NL East experience dating back to his time with the Phillies. He has another year of club control, which might be beneficial if Fried leaves in free agency after the season. The only catch is that Eflin’s extra year of control may force the Braves to give up a little more than they would want. A box like this can
In exchange for Eflin, the Rays would acquire three prospects, including Drake Baldwin, Atlanta’s top catching prospect and No. 10 overall. Baldwin is expendable now that Sean Murphy has a long-term starting job behind the plate. He’s swung a nice bat since being promoted to Triple-A (.946 OPS in 26 games) and should help a Rays squad that desperately needs an offensive lift from the catcher position late this season or early next year.
In addition, the Rays would toss in two pitching prospects. Darius Vines’ age, at 26 years old, makes him undesirable, but he also has the potential to be a backup starter right away. De Avila has a 3.65 ERA in 16 AA starts this season and might contribute to the Rays in 2025.
The Rays would get three guys who may contribute to their MLB squad sooner rather than later by dealing Eflin while they can still obtain a good return.
2) Following Max Fried’s injury, the Braves and White Sox traded for Erick Fedde.
Speaking of controllable starters, Erick Fedde is also under club control for the 2025 season, with a very team-friendly contract of $7.5 million. Given his modest cost, trading for him would allow the Braves to acquire more pieces
He didn’t accomplish much in his first six seasons with the Nationals, but he crushed the KBO in 2023 and has returned as an entirely different pitcher, with a 2.99 ERA in 19 first-half starts and 111.1 innings. One might easily argue that he was overlooked for the All-Star squad based on how effectively he has pitched.
Given his extra year of control, any team would pay a high price to get him, but the Braves should be willing to pay a high price for him given the value they would receive.
