Former MLB GM says Atlanta needs to add a left fielder at the trade deadline

Jim Bowden of The Athletic isn't impressed with Atlanta's left field options

The Atlanta Braves have had a rough series in Oakland. 

Dropping the first two games of the series, Atlanta fought back and managed to take game three, 4-2, to avoid a series sweep at the hands of the historically bad Athletics, who went from ten wins to twelve wins on the season in this series alone. 

As Atlanta continues their road trip with a series in the desert with the Arizona Diamondbacks, there's already folks looking ahead to the trade deadline and the playoff chase. 

Former MLB GM Jim Bowden, now writing for The Athletic, put out a power ranking piece ($) that included "early trade deadline takes" for all 30 teams. 

Says Bowden, who ranked Atlanta as the 3rd best team in baseball: 

"The Braves are the best team in the National League despite two straight losses to the lowly A’s. They have the apparent frontrunners for the NL MVP (Ronald Acuña Jr.), Cy Young Award (Spencer Strider) and rookie pitcher of the year (Bryce Elder). They have speed, defense, power, starting pitching and the bullpen. There’s no reason they can’t win the NL East by 10 games."

When it comes to the trade deadline, Bowden didn't immediately point to the bullpen and rotation as most have: 

"They could use a better all-around left fielder and a veteran starter to provide more rotation depth."

I'm glad Bowden reads our own Jake Mastroianni.

(READ: Time for Atlanta Braves to Explore Other Options in Left Field)

Let's look at how each of the Braves left fielders are performing on the season (all stats through Tuesday):

Eddie Rosario - 47 games (36 starts in left)

© Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

.238/.268/.406 w/ 5 HRs, 16 XBH, 18 RBIs, 7 BB to 44 Ks, 1/4 SBs

Well, that's ugly. Eddie just hasn't been the same since 2021's magical run to the World Series, where he hit .271/.330/.573 after the trade, winning NLCS MVP. 

He's on the final year of a two-year, $18M extension signed in the offseason after the World Series. The team has a $9M club option for 2024 with no buyout that they'll almost certainly decline, making Rosario a free agent at the age of 32. 

Marcell Ozuna - 41 games (2 starts in left)

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

.219/.301/.473 w/ 11 HRs, 15 XBH, 22 RBIs, 17 BBs to 38 Ks.

The Big Bear hasn't appeared on defense since the first week of the season, even after Michael Harris II had to miss some time due to a back injury. He hasn't graded positively as a defender since 2017, although he was at a 0 Outs Above Average in 2021, where he got 99 defensive attempts for Atlanta in 411 innings played in left. 

But as Jake said on Tuesday: If Rosario's going to continue being this bad, you have to wonder if Atlanta will use Ozuna more in left field so that they can replace Eddie's bat with whichever catcher isn't behind the dish that day. 

Kevin Pillar - 32 total games (18 starts in left)

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

.262/.292/.524 w/ 6 HRs, 10 XBH, 14 RBIs, 4 BB to 21 Ks, 2/2 SBs

Pillar, 34, has provided veteran leadership and pinch-hitting pop, starting double-digit games for Atlanta as an injury replacement and the lefty-hitting side of a platoon with Rosario. He's graded out as a plus defender in left field, albeit with a small sample size of 27 attempts. 

None of them seem to be the all-around outfielder that Bowden's referring to, and we're still too far out to know who might be available at the deadline. 

Is there a particular outfielder you want Atlanta to go out and get at the deadline? Let us know! 

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