MLB Trade Deadline: Joc Pederson Shows Braves Not Raising White Flag Yet

Let’s not waste time with the short-term analysis of this transaction between the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs. For Atlanta, it’s definitely a short-term victory. Joc Pederson will fit in and serve as a good helper for now. If the change of scenery from Chicago to Atlanta gets Pederson to anything near the levels of his best days with the Dodgers, then he’ll easily be the Braves’ best outfielder in their currently dismal outfield situation. It still doesn’t mean much and I don’t have much hope that it will move the needle significantly for the Braves, but it’s certainly a sign that the Braves aren’t just going to turn around and surrender everything. right now .

However, it remains a very, very interesting profession in some ways. As for the market in general, this is an indication that the Cubs are probably on the verge of going into “Everything Must Go” mode and everyone can guess where the remaining big names on their squad are going to end up by the time. where the trade deadline comes and goes. As for the Braves, this is an indication that they are going to be in a provisional position to add for now. If you don’t believe me, here’s Alex Anthopoulos saying it:

While that means the Braves aren’t just going to drop out of the season just yet, that doesn’t mean things can’t change. At first glance, it’s entirely understandable that the Braves continue to persevere when it comes to the 2021 season. Their chances for this season took a major hit (and some would say fatal) when Ronald Acuña Jr. fell, but they did. are also only four games behind. The division-leading Mets haven’t been particularly stunning at the top of the NL East and the rest of the division also looks to be just as disappointing.

I think we’re waiting all the last 89 games now to see if the Braves can finally put things together and run away. The more the Mets continue to float instead of leaving the rest of the division in their wake, the better the Braves’ chances of finding a way to wake up. I’m not exactly excited for Joc Pederson to be the one to load the Braves rocket and launch this thing on the moon, but at this point it wouldn’t hurt to see what could happen – especially considering what it would cost in terms of a single prospect.

This is where Bryce Ball comes in. The Cubs will get a decent prospect in their organization, but he likely won’t be a top first baseman once he gets to the major league level. He might have a decent amount of power in his bat, but I wouldn’t say the Cubs were trying to get Anthony Rizzo’s heir apparent (and likewise, that doesn’t mean that’s a sign that the Braves know they’re keeping Freddie Freeman. Let’s take a step back, here!). That being said, they appear to be in teardown mode at the moment and they could use a decent first base perspective in their system as well, and Bryce Ball does the trick. There was some intrigue here, but I would say the Braves aren’t going to feel bad about sending Ball to the Cubs as they get a solid outfielder with a mutual option in his contract in return.

Photo by Jim McIsaac / Getty Images

The real intriguing part of this trade is the idea of ​​where the Braves might go with Joc Pederson himself, in the future. There are a few deadlines I could see unfold here: Pederson could find his best Dodgers form and start raking, but the Braves could continue to get bitten by a snake and start really falling before the deadline. If that is the case, then the “right now” part of what Alex Anthopoulos said about the addition to the squad could be put to the test and that could cause the Braves to buy Pederson and turn him into a real competitor at the deadline.

There’s also a timeline where the Braves are convinced they can do what the Cubs couldn’t and turn him into a consistent and productive outfielder. If so, then maybe he’ll stick around. Now, of course, this scenario could cause Joc to decide to test free agency so that the “mutual” part of that option died on arrival, but it is a possibility. The bottom line is that the Braves have options here, and this is a trade that allows the Braves to buy without actually buying.

That being said, it’s really interesting that the Braves chose this situation to make a legitimate addition to the squad. In 2020, the Braves had an urgent need to pitch and decided to find that help in the form of Tommy Milone. This business went so “well” that Milone was released a month later, on September 30. Now granted, 2020 has been a very odd season, but it’s odd that last year’s big acquisition for a first-place team with obvious weakness was to add a sleeve-eating companion and this year the team started their business in a worse situation as a third place team by swapping a pretty decent prospect (or at least one that was good enough not to be a ‘player to be named later’) for real help in the game. the outer field. It’s a little confusing, but hey, that’s why I’m here writing about this on the internet and I’m not doing anything about it in a front office somewhere.

Either way, I have to commend the Braves for not just turning around. It would have been understandable after the absolute hell of a half-season that they’ve already had here in 2021, but they’re yet to fold in their hand. That’s all you can really ask for as a fan of the team – maximum effort. We’ll see if that pays off and they’ll have an extremely difficult task ahead of them if they plan to turn the tide, but at least now we know the front office could be active as the transaction deadline approaches – For the best or for the worst !