Atlanta Braves Trade Partner: Oakland Athletics

The Atlanta Braves have had good fortune lately dealing with the Oakland Athletics, perhaps it's time to hook up again.

The Atlanta Braves have had good fortune lately dealing with the Oakland Athletics, perhaps it's time to hook up again. 

It's truly sad what is going on right now in Oakland with a terrible owner that not trying to win at all and is looking to move the team. 

That being said, this is a business, and the Braves have taken full advantage of their misfortunes by trading for Matt Olson and Sean Murphy in the past two offseason without giving up much in return. 

As this year's trade deadline approaches, could the Braves once again benefit from Oakland's demise? 

The problem is that the team is so bad and so decimated from trading good talent over recent years, there might not be much left to plunder. 

Seth Brown is a solid left-handed hitter with years of control who has solid batted-ball metrics and might benefit greatly by getting out of Oakland. 

But I'm not sure he's much of an upgrade over Sam Hilliard -- assuming he comes back healthy. 

Lucas Erceg is a reliever many Braves fans will remember as he was highly impressive during that series in Oakland. 

He has some really good metrics and throws really hard, but is under team control for a while, which means he either might not be available or would be costly. 

Paul Blackburn might be the player most likely moved by the A's at the deadline, and he could make some sense for the Braves as a veteran starter for the back of the rotation and someone who could slide into a relief role. 

The 29-year-old righty has two more years of control, but I wouldn't give up too much for that control as he's often injured (never thrown more than 111.1 innings in a season) and has never been much more than a fourth or fifth starter with number three upside. 

While the A's have been good to the Braves in the past, there likely isn't much left that would greatly benefit the Braves as this year's trade deadline. 

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