As the Atlanta Braves’ offense struggles and the trade deadline approaches, more ideas are coming about for how the Braves can boost their offense.
On Friday, 680 The Fan’s Chris Dimino took the discussion in a new direction. He suggested moving Austin Riley to left field and making a move for an infielder at the deadline. Dimino’s suggestion was Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman.
The case being made here is to set the Braves up to put more focus on the offense. The Braves would potentially be at risk of disrupting their league-leading defense, but maybe that’s OK.
“If offense is your problem, and you’re playing stellar defense, and that’s what I keep hearing, but you ain’t winning, maybe it’s time to try to go thump people,” Dimino said on the Braves Central Podcast.
Dimino acknowledged the money the Braves could be on the hook for. Bregman has options that would pay him $25 million for the next two years, and he counts as $31,705,000 toward the luxury tax in Boston.
Money would be a bigger sticking point than potentially sacrificing defense. Bregman, a two-time All-Star, is having a bounceback year at the plate and also would provide Gold Glove-caliber defense. He won the AL Gold Glove at third base last season.
In the 51 games he has played, he’s batting .299 with a .938 OPS, 11 home runs and 35 RBIs.
For this season, health is another issue – the total games played probably stood out to you. Bregman hasn’t played in a month due to a right quad strain. According to NESN, he might not be back until mid-July. He’s back before the deadline and would, theoretically, be a contributor for a late-season push. That justifies a potential move, but the risk needs to be acknowledged.
Since he could be more than just a rental, that also helps. Having a longterm All-Star options isn’t too bad either.
That leaves the question of Jurickson Profar, who was signed this offseason to play left field. Dimino pointed out that we don’t know what we’ll get from Profar yet. We have an idea of what we’ll get from Riley and Bregman. He didn’t mention this, but depth never hurts. The injury-plagued Braves certainly know this.
Profar is back next week, so they’ll have a chance to get an idea with time left before the deadline.
The Braves have a precedent for trying this, for what it’s worth. 680 The Fan’s Barrett Sallee recalled Chipper Jones moving to left field to make room for Vinny Castilla at third base. That set up lasted for the 2002 and 2003 seasons before Jones shifted back to third base.
We also know the Braves aren’t afraid to check in on top bats. It’s been confirmed that they inquired about Rafael Devers before he was traded to the Giants. Realistically, they could make another phone call to Boston and check in.
