Could Adam Eaton be an option for the Braves?

Earlier today, Adam Eaton was DFA’d by the White Sox, making him available for the rest of the league.

Prior to today’s series finale at Minnesota, the Chicago White Sox reinstated outfielder Adam Engel from the 10-day injured list and designated outfielder Adam Eaton for assignment.

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) July 7, 2021

Braves fans should be ultra-familiar with Eaton, who spent his last four seasons with the Washington Nationals. The veteran outfielder was a key piece to their championship run in 2019, but he hasn’t been quite the same player ever since.

During the shortened season in 2020, Eaton played in just 41 games for the Nats, hitting a lackluster .226 to go along with his .669 OPS. Still, he landed a one-year, $7 million contract this offseason to return to the White Sox, where he played from 2014-2016, but the reunion hasn’t gone as planned for either side. Eaton is barely hitting over the Mendoza Line in 2021 (.201) and is currently sporting the worst OPS of his career (.642) over 58 games.

If this were a typical year for the Braves, I wouldn’t have much interest in Eaton. At 32-years-old, it very well looks like he’s on the back-end of his career and will likely never return to the level of play we saw from him in 2019 and before. With that being said, this is far from a typical year.

The Braves are currently relying on the likes of Abraham Almonte, Ehire Adrianza and other who have had very little MLB success over their careers. Marcell Ozuna isn’t walking through those doors anytime soon, and the trade deadline is still a ways away. Right now, the margin between the Braves being buyers or sellers at the deadline is razor thin. They need to string together a strong couple of weeks, but that will be difficult to do with how they are performing offensively. Eaton’s not going to come in and slug 20 homers, but given his experience and familiarity with the division, there’s a good chance he would be a significant upgrade over what the Braves are currently fielding.

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Photo: Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire