Andruw Jones, perhaps emboldened by his recent hot streak, is openly campaigning for the Braves to acquire a starting pitcher. Even if John Smoltz comes back strong, one more veteran would fit in nicely behind Tim Hudson and Chuck James.
According to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Braves were in on Mark Buehrle but Kenny Williams wanted Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Yunel Escobar for him. That would have been quite a bounty for a rental.
The names I think we’ll be hearing in trade rumors this month as far as starters: Matt Morris, Kyle Lohse, Jason Jennings, Jon Garland, and Jose Contreras. There should be a few more second or third tier type guys as well (Odalis Perez, Steve Trachsel, Joe Kennedy, Wade Miller, Josh Fogg, Brett Tomko). I would not be surprised to see Oakland become sellers in short order, but they don’t have much starting pitching to trade with Rich Harden and Esteban Loaiza injured.
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