With Ronald Acuña Jr. back in the fold, the Atlanta Braves’ outfield finally resembles something a playoff contender would put on the lineup card.
Acuña and Michael Harris II will solidify center and right field for the rest of the season, barring injury. That only leaves left field as a question mark, which it has been for frankly the entire season.
Late-March free-agent signing Alex Verdugo has had an up-and-down start to his Braves career, holding down the left field spot in the absence of Jurickson Profar, who was suspended for 80 games after a positive performance-enhancing drug test.
Now, with Profar likely on his way back before the All-Star break, Eric Cole of FanSided believes the Braves should trade Verdugo before he loses his regular playing time.
“(Verdugo) came up and immediately lit a fire under the offense and he has had some big moments in the early portion of the season. However, there is a very real chance that his playing time is about to be curtailed anyways very soon and it would behoove the Braves to take advantage of the value they have already accrued in Verdugo,” Cole wrote.
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“With Jurickson Profar set to return (probably) in less than 30 games, Atlanta should trade Verdugo at some point in the next couple of months to an offensively-starved team as he is only under contract for a year anyways.”
Profar, of course, will not be eligible to play in the postseason if the Braves get there. One could make the argument, therefore, that if Verdugo still projects to be a starter once he’s out of the picture, he should be kept around.
There’s no guarantee he’ll be that starter, but he might at least factor into some sort of timeshare with names like Eli White, Stuart Fairchild, and Jarred Kelenic if he ever escapes Triple-A.
Moreover, there’s no guarantee the Braves would get anything of value at this point for Verdugo. His .667 OPS isn’t really enticing enough for a contender to take a stab at him, and a rebuilding team would probably rather give his at-bats an unestablished youngster.
For now, Atlanta seems like the only place Verdugo will get a chance to make an impact. Until Profar returns, he’d do well to take advantage of his playing time.
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