To say the 2025 season has been a shocker for the Atlanta Braves would be the bare minimum.
At 39-50 entering play on Monday, the Braves are 9 1/2 games out of a potential playoff spot. They're running out of time to make any sort of push up the standings, and they'd have to do so without their two best starting pitchers, Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach.
All signs are pointing toward the Braves selling at the trade deadline at the end of the months. That's obviously a tough pill for fans to swallow, but the least Atlanta could do in that scenario is recoup some value for the expiring veterans they have under contract.
On Tuesday, Braves insider Mark Bowman of MLB.com spelled out a clear goal he felt Atlanta should be looking to accomplish at this year's deadline: replenishing the farm system with position player talent.
"The Braves may not get much in return from trading Marcell Ozuna, Ozzie Albies or Raisel Iglesias, but they can at least add some bats to a farm system barren of quality position players," Bowman wrote.
"The starting rotation looks solid with Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach and Grant Holmes controllable over the next few years. JR Ritchie and Cam Caminiti should also make their way toward the Majors within the next few seasons. But this is an organization that needs to begin finding position players who can at least provide the internal depth that doesn’t currently exist."
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In the current Braves farm system rankings from MLB Pipeline, only two shortstops crack the top 10, and the rest are pitchers. One of those shortstops, Jose Perdomo, is an 18-year-old still playing in rookie ball.
The pipeline has to turn around quickly and start producing hitters, because those on the roster just aren't getting the job done right now. So if the Braves can get a young bat for one of the veterans Bowman names, that's what they'll have to do.
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