Pittsburgh Pirates: Six Potential Joe Musgrove Trade Partners

Atlanta Braves

The fruits of the Atlanta Braves’ rebuild are starting to pay off. Many of the young players they acquired through drafting, signing internationally, and trading for when they were prospects are now core pieces of the Braves’ roster. But their starting rotation could use a bit of a boost.

Their ace, Mike Soroka, suffered an achilles tear in the early weeks of the 2020 season. However, Max Fried helped fill the hole Soroka left behind becoming a dominant lefty with a 2.25 ERA, 3.10 FIP and 1.08 WHIP. The Braves added more reinforcements when they promoted top prospect Ian Anderson who had a 1.95 ERA, 2.54 FIP and 1.08 WHIP in his first 32.1 career innings.

Soroka, Fried and Anderson make a formidable three, but the last two spots are not set in stone. Another one of the Braves’ former elite pitching prospects Kyle Wright had an extremely inconsistent 2020. He got off to an ice cold start, but ended the year on a high note. He’s likely the frontrunner for the number four spot.

The Braves saw four other pitchers make at least five starts, and none of them did well. The lowest ERA out of Touki Toussaint, Robbie Erlin, Huscar Ynoa, and Josh Tomlin was Tomlin’s 4.76 mark. Their 2018 ace Mike Foltywenicz was designated for assignment after giving up six earned runs, including three home runs in 3.1 innings. Former prospect Sean Newcomb also struggled out of the rotation, and was demoted to the club’s alternative site as well.

They’re likely not going to rush a talented arm like Soroka back after missing so much time to such a big injury, and the rest of the options for the last spot in the rotation aren’t the most awe inspiring. Trading for Musgrove not only would provide some stability in their rotation, but also save them some money so they could pursue extensions with MVP candidate Freddie Freeman, catcher Travis d’Arnaud and DH/outfielder Marcell Ozuna.