If there’s one thing everybody should know good and well by now from Alex Anthopoulos’ tenure with the Braves, it’s that he loves a good reunion. There are countless examples of guys leaving Atlanta only to return down the line, so it makes sense to run through a couple of former Braves who have a strong chance of being traded in the coming weeks.
Kevin Gausman
Even sitting six games under .500 and in last place in the AL East, I’m not convinced the Toronto Blue Jays are going to sell. They came just one game shy of winning the World Series a year ago, still feature a talented roster, and have a very aggressive ownership group. It also doesn’t hurt that the rest of the American League is a dumpster fire, keeping them within striking distance of the final Wild Card spot.
But if they do sell, Kevin Gausman would surely be on his way out the door. He’s in the final year of his contract, and even if he isn’t the Cy Young candidate he once was, he’d instantly become the second-best starting pitcher on the Braves roster and someone they could feel confident handing the ball to in a playoff game. Gausman owns a 4.33 ERA over 112.1 innings this season, but his 3.65 FIP suggests some positive regression could be on the way in the second half.
Interestingly enough, the last time Anthopoulos actually pulled off a mid-season trade for a starting pitcher, it was for Kevin Gausman — all the way back in 2018.
A.J. Minter
The Braves and Mets making trades isn’t something that’s happened often, and it’s not likely to happen many more times going forward. But maybe there’s a world where the two sides could find common ground on a smaller deal for a reliever who has plenty of fond memories of his time in Atlanta.
Minter joined the Mets in free agency a couple of offseasons ago and has been plagued by lat injuries ever since — one of which forced him to miss 13 months. But when he’s been on the mound, he’s been the same dominant reliever he was for most of his career, posting a 1.50 ERA over 32 appearances since joining New York, including a 1.42 mark this season.
The Braves bullpen has been the one area of the team that hasn’t faltered very often, and it’s only going to get stronger when Robert Suarez returns from the Injured List. Still, the need for another high leverage left-handed reliever to pair with Dylan Lee is legitimate. You’d have to imagine Anthopoulos will at least make the call on Minter, even if those conversations don’t get very far.
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(Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire)