The Winds of Change Are Starting to Blow Part 8

The Winds of Change Are Starting to Blow Part 8

 

Welcome back to our final Trade Deadline Preview. Today we will be taking a look at the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Atlanta Braves. Both teams look to be well on their way to a playoff spot, but could use some upgrades to the roster to ensure their winning ways continue.

Angels of Anaheim

Positives- They employ the best baseball player in the galaxy, Mike Trout. Garrett Richards has been great and should be an All-Star. Albert Pujols has been healthy.

Negatives- Bullpen. Bullpen. Bullpen.

The Angels are a very dangerous team and could very well find themselves playing deep into October, if they can fix their bullpen. They’ve added Jason Grilli and Joe Thatcher already but could use one more late inning guy. Whether it’s a setup man or a closer the back end of the bullpen needs some tightening up. The team they need to look to is the San Diego Padres who have both a closer and setup man that could and should be traded. Either Joaquin Benoit or Huston Street should be in an Angels uniform by August 1^st. Adding one of those guys to a team with a great lineup and a rotation headed by Weaver, Wilson, and Richards could catapult this team to a World Series contender.

Atlanta Braves

Positives- Impressive play despite a plethora of injuries and bad play from regulars.

Negatives- Dan Uggla. Bench production. Dan Uggla. Injuries. Dan Uggla. Fredi Gonzalez. Dan Uggla.

The Atlanta Braves have had a lot of things go wrong for them this season. Between injuries to starting pitchers, Dan Uggla not being able to reach the Mendoza Line before being benched, and Fredi Gonzalez’s ineptitude as a manager. Despite all of that, there is still enough talent on this team to overcome all that. The Braves could use some bench help and possibly one more starter. That starter wouldn’t be David Price as he would probably command too much and the Braves farm system is not that deep. If I’m the Braves I concentrate on trying to pick up a starter along the lines of an Ian Kennedy or Kevin Correia. Those guys will not command a large haul and can help bolster an already solid rotation. As far as their bench production if they could snag a guy like Logan Forsythe or Eduardo Nunez they would do very well for themselves.

Well that does it for not only Part 8 but our Trade Deadline Series as a whole. We will be back with All-Star Game coverage of festivities and a running diary of both the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game itself.