With so many players on the IL, the trade deadline is already a popular topic among Braves fans. Will this be the year Alex Anthopoulos aggressively chases a frontline starter during the season? It has not happened yet, but losing your ace in early April affects everything.
David Schoenfield has already begun the trade deadline discourse for all 30 clubs, with his first post concentrating on which players are most likely to be traded from each franchise. Owen Murphy is the Braves’ 2022 first-round pick.
Atlanta Braves
Trade candidate: Owen Murphy
The Spencer Strider injury points to one potential trade direction: starting pitching. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel ranked the Braves’ farm system just 28th entering the season, however, so any deal for a decent starter would likely be a 3-for-1 type of transaction. The team’s only top-100 prospect is pitcher Hurston Waldrep, who looked like a potential midseason call-up but allowed 11 hits and seven runs in his first start in Double-A, so maybe not. Murphy was the No. 20 pick in 2022 and will likely have to improve his velocity to become an impact starter, but he came out of the gate with 6⅔ scoreless innings in High-A and was an athletic two-way player in high school.
The issue for the Braves when it comes to the trade deadline is what are they willing to give up to win now. The Braves farm system is one of the worst in baseball due to graduations, trades, and previous international signing restrictions. They’ve all taken their toll. The Braves do have enough prospect capital to pull off pretty much any trade they desire, but I’m not sure they have any interest in trading AJ Smith-Shawver or Hurston Waldrep.
That’s why transferring Owen Murphy might make sense if it resulted in the return of a key contributor, but even that may not appeal to Alex Anthopoulos. As it is, the Braves roster is capable of competing in the World Series, and Murphy, despite his youth, remains a top-five prospect in the organization. The 20-year-old is off to a strong start this season, with a 0.75 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 12 innings for High-A Rome.
The Braves have next to no talent in the lower levels of the minors. Moving Murphy would make it that much worse, but it’s the price of doing business if Alex Anthopoulos wants to give his team the best chance to win right now.
