3 Possible New Stations For the "Freight Train"
The Braves' outfield is a mess, a $35.2MM mess to be exact. That is the salaries of Eddie Rosario, who is on the 60-day IL, Alex Dickerson .121/.194/.212, Adam Duval .205/.274/.366 and Marcell Ozuna .227/.277/.409. Combined home runs 21, combined RBIs 54, combined strikeouts 158, combined walks 45. That is just awful. I think it is safe to say they could use an outfield upgrade.
Who Should the Diamondbacks Target?
Left-handed reliever Dylan Lee. I understand in the majors he has a very small, but impressive sample size. In 13.2 innings 1.98 ERA 2 walks and 14 strikeouts with a batting average against in 2022 of .186. But in the minors his numbers were similar. His numbers over 6 minor league seasons are 310.1 innings pitched he has a 2.99 ERA with 83 walks and 282 strikeouts.
The "Freight Train" has been a great player and representative of the Arizona Diamondbacks. But what winning clubs do is trade from their strengths and acquire weaknesses to fill out a winning club. In each of these proposed trades the Diamondbacks trade an aging veteran for a pitching need. As stated earlier in the article the Diamondbacks have 10 outfielders on their 40-man roster, with more outfield talent in the minors. A current need on the big-league club is relief pitching (I am not saying that is the only need) so you trade from strength and get back a piece of need. Plus, if the Diamondbacks don't make the playoffs, we could watch one of our own in the play-offs and give us another reason to watch the MLB playoffs. So, give me one more whistle, and a trip around the tracks, or I mean diamond and send the "Freight Train" to a different station.