The MLB Trade Deadline is approaching quickly as the standings begin to take shape. It looks like the Boston Red Sox are set to be sellers at the deadline.
Currently, they are sitting at 29-40 and 13.5 games out of first place in the AL East. They also find themselves ninth in the wild card race, five games back. While they could get back into that race, they have shown no signs of that happening, losing five of their past seven games.
A team that is locked in as buyers is the Atlanta Braves. The Braves have the best record in baseball, but are coming off back-to-back series losses, and sent both Ronald Acuna Jr and Spencer Strider to the IL this weekend. They have a lot of holes to fill for a team that has been so good this season.
Red Sox starting pitcher Sonny Gray is a major trade chip for Boston and could be a major help for Atlanta. This is a deal that we could see getting done.
Atlanta Braves – Boston Red Sox Mock Trade
Atlanta Braves Receive
RHP – Sonny Gray
Boston Red Sox Receive
SS – Alex Lodise (Prospect)
RHP – Lucas Braun (Prospect)
RHP – Luke Sinnard (Prospect)
Fantasy Impact
Gray has been tremendous this season. He’s sitting with an 8-1 win/loss record with a 3.03 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 62.1 innings pitched.
Generally, going to a better team that wins more games is inherently good for a starting pitcher; however, at 8-1, it’s hard to improve much in that area. Nevertheless, while he won’t necessarily improve on what we’ve already seen this season, we do believe going to Atlanta can only help him for what we are projecting for the rest of the season.
For the prospects coming from Atlanta to Boston, they should see a quicker path to the pros with Boston, especially if they continue to trade other players as well. There is a chance that you could even see the pitchers as soon as this season.
Why The Trade Makes Sense For The Atlanta Braves
The Braves’ starting pitchers have been destroyed by injuries this season. It’s incredible that they have done as well as they have so far this season. Still, they will have to improve on that group if they want to make a championship run, especially after placing Spencer Strider on the IL with an elbow injury.
There is no official word on Strider yet, but we can’t rule out that it’s very possible that he won’t be back this season. Atlanta needs another high-end arm that can serve as the No. 2 in their rotation, and Gray can be just that, even if it comes at a steep cost.
Why The Trade Makes Sense For The Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox need to get younger and improve their offense. It would make sense to move on from a 36-year-old pitcher with just a $30 million mutual option left on his contract after this season. Lodise is an impressive young prospect, and adding two young arms to their farm system gives them some of the young talent they need to help get back to the top of the AL East in the next few seasons.
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