Good morning, and welcome to Trade Deadline Day.
Major League Baseball's trade deadline arrives at 4 p.m. today, and this year, as you've probably heard, it's the only trade deadline.
In the past, players could be dealt after the July 31 deadline if they first cleared revocable trade waivers. But starting this year, trades aren’t permitted after July 31, period. So, yeah, the stakes are high today.
Be advised that this stuff is subject to change minute by minute between now and 4 p.m., but here’s a look at where things stand at the start of Trade Deadline Day in three areas of apparent need to the Braves:
The starting pitching market: The Mets' Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler. The Giants' Madison Bumgarner. The Diamondbacks' Zack Greinke and Robbie Ray. The Tigers' Matthew Boyd. The Rangers' Mike Minor. The Reds' Tanner Roark. The Marlins' Caleb Smith. Those are among the starting pitchers still being bandied about as trade targets.
Not all of them – probably not most of them — will be dealt. And the Braves’ competition will be stiff for any who are. The AL East-leading Yankees appear determined to add a starter if the price is right. The Twins, who lead the AL Central, and the Astros, who lead the AL West, want another starter. The Brewers and Cardinals, both in the thick of the NL Central and wild-card races, are in the market, too.
There was a significant move on the starting pitching market Tuesday night when the Reds acquired Trevor Bauer from the Indians in a three-team trade that also involved the Padres. Interestingly and surprisingly, the top two starting pitchers traded so far this week — Bauer and Marcus Stroman — have gone to sub-.500 teams, the Reds and Mets, respectively.
The relief pitching market: The Braves made a significant bullpen move Tuesday night, Trade Deadline Eve, by acquiring 33-year-old 6-foot-8 right-handed reliever Chris Martin from the Texas Rangers for minor-league pitcher Kolby Allard, a first-round draft pick by the Braves in 2015. Martin has a 3.08 ERA in 38 games this season (1.45 since May 24). Given the Braves bullpen's control problems, it's certainly significant that Martin has issued just four walks while striking out 43 batters in 38 innings.
The best way to sum up the bullpen market is to note that every contending team is looking for relief pitching to one extent or another. The Martin acquisition surely won't complete the Braves' search. The Nationals, Dodgers and Red Sox are just a few of the other teams aggressively seeking relievers.
A couple of elite closers, the Padres’ Kirby Yates and the Pirates’ Felipe Vazquez, have been oft-mentioned as trade targets, although the price would be extreme for either. Mets closer Edwin Diaz may be dealt today if someone wants him badly enough. The Tigers’ Shane Greene is available, as is the White Sox’ Alex Colome. The Reds might be persuaded to trade Amir Garrett and/or Raisel Iglesias. The market for the Blue Jays’ Ken Giles may have diminished with his elbow inflammation. The availability of Will Smith, Tony Watson and Sam Dyson depends on whether the Giants decide to be sellers at the last minute.
The outfield market: Nick Markakis' broken wrist (he's said to be out for six to eight weeks) and Austin Riley's regression (10-for-64 with 30 strikeouts in July) reportedly have led the Braves to explore the outfield market. That makes sense, even though the performances of Adam Duvall and Ender Inciarte have been encouraging in the past few days.
A high-profile outfielder, Yasiel Puig, was involved in Tuesday night's Bauer trade, moving from the Reds to the Indians. Among other available outfielders are the Tigers' Nicholas Castellanos (a right-handed hitter) and the Pirates' Corey Dickerson (left-handed hitter), just to name two.
Stay tuned. Should be an interesting day.
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Leadoff links
> As football season fast approaches, the Falcons still have season tickets available and are planning a new sales campaign to try to move the remaining inventory over the next four to six weeks. See story here.
> Georgia's football program makes sure it can continue to stake claim to "RBU" status. Read Chip Towers' story here.
> As practice begins, Georgia Tech's football team banks on lessons learned at a leadership retreat. Read Ken Sugiura's story here.
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