After Ozuna, More Braves Could Be On the Move This Week

With Ozuna reportedly on the block, here are the other Braves who could be trade chips.

By the time Atlanta returns to Truist Park on August 4 to face the Milwaukee Brewers, there should be some new faces on the roster. Marcell Ozuna is expected to be gone; we broke down the possible destinations yesterday.

But who might be following Ozuna out the door? Here’s a look at who could, and who likely won’t, be on the move before the deadline.

There’s a lock in the bullpen

And his name is Raisel Iglesias.

Atlanta’s closer had one of the best seasons of his career last year, going 6-2 with a 1.95 ERA and 34 saves (in 38 opportunities). He followed that with a nightmare campaign in 2025, going 4-6 with an ERA just a hair under 5.00 and only 11 saves in 15 chances.

The primary issue has been his slider, allowing a .429 average, 1.286 slugging percentage, and six homers this year; it’s the 2nd-worst pitch as measured by Run Value per 100 Pitches. Among pitches thrown 50+ times, only Alexis Diaz’s slider has fared worse. His slider is -12.0 RV/100, barely ahead of Iglesias’ -11.5 RV/100.

But despite the gloom and doom about his slider, he’s been better recently. Atlanta took Igleisas out of the closer role in early June, shifting him to lower-leverage work, and he excelled enough that he was given the ninth inning back by the start of July. Since first appearing in the 8th inning on June 9th against Milwaukee, Iglesias put up 13.2 scoreless innings with only six hits and one walk against eighteen strikeouts.

He briefly stumbled last Saturday against New York, giving up a grand slam and being charged with two hits and two walks in one inning of work, but rebounded for another clean inning on Wednesday versus the Giants with two strikeouts.

While I doubt that he’ll have an opportunity to close for a contender, a setup role might be in store for the pending free agent.

But Iglesias might not be the only reliever on their way out the door.

That’s it for expiring deals, but not trade targets

While the team has said it will only move players without future control, there are two notable caveats here. Reports are that teams have been told that a few other relievers could be available for the right price.

In that situation, I’d be looking at Pierce Johnson and Aaron Bummer.

Johnson technically fits the criteria laid out by Alex Anthopoulos - his guaranteed years are done after this season, but he is controllable via a $7M club option for 2026. He’s having another typically strong year, throwing to a 2.70 ERA in his 36.2 innings, but he’s been used predominantly in lower-leverage situations than last year, when he was one of the team’s top three setup options behind Iglesias.

He also has the unfortunate reality of his high-leverage situations having some very visible failures - as one of the interim closers for Iglesias in June, he blew consecutive saves in San Francisco, with the Braves being walked off twice over a weekend that ended in a sweep by the Giants.

But despite those missteps, Johnson’s been good in clutch situations, with runners hitting only .167 with a .472 OPS with two outs and a runner in scoring position, or .208 in what Baseball Reference calls “late and close” situations. On the strength of his trademark curveball and his two fastballs, a four-seamer and a cutter, he should be of interest to several contenders as a setup man. CBS Sports linked Johnson to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday, with the righthander predicted to step in as the primary setup man behind offseason acquisition Jeff Hoffman.

Aaron Bummer’s another player with one more year of control, similar to Johnson, but Bummer’s is guaranteed for 2026. It’s also at a $6M pay increase, coming in at $9.5M for next season.

Bummer’s long been one of my favorites for just how unique he is - a sidearming lefty that is one of the best in baseball at generating ground balls (56.3%, 94th percentile) and not allowing barrels (just 4.2%, 95th percentile).

Unfortunately, Atlanta’s not been able to fully capitalize on that skill set, with Bummer consistently running a Fielding Independent Pitching mark more than a full run better than his actual ERA for the Braves during the last two seasons.

It’s inexplicable - the Braves have the 2nd best infield defense in baseball¹ per Statcast at +22 Outs Above Average, and yet they can’t seem to convert enough of Bummer’s ground balls into outs to keep him from allowing more than half (15)of his inherited runners (28) to score.

With Bummer’s salary more than doubling for next season, a trade would make a lot of sense. Lefty relievers are always in demand at the deadline, so it’s inevitable that if Atlanta wants to make him available, someone would take him.

Speculating on which teams is tough to do when it comes to relievers, simply because every contender at least looks at acquiring bullpen help at the deadline.

Outside of those two, there isn’t much else Atlanta seems open to entertaining. Here’s the situation for the rest of the current bullpen, where either the player has too much team control for the Braves to let them go or contenders won’t be beating down the door for him:

Dylan Lee: Three more years of control
Rafael Montero: Expiring deal that no one will want
Enyel De Los Santos: Two more years of control; likely not wanted by a contender
Dylan Dodd: Five more years of control; likely not wanted by a contender
Dane Dunning: One more year of control; likely a starter next year
Joe Jiménez: Currently on the injured list and unlikely to be moved
Daysbel Hernández: In Triple-A Gwinnett, but will have four years of team control

That said, there are still other possible moves to be made.

Prospects on the Block?

We already discussed Daysbel Hernández, who is seen as a flamethrowing future high-leverage reliever. He’s not going anywhere.

But there is a group of players in Gwinnett that could potentially be moved if required in a package. While I don’t think any of them would headline the deal, they could enough of a value-add to get a negotiation over the finish line. Let’s briefly look at some of these guys:

INF Nacho Alvarez Jr. - expected to be returned to the minors on Friday after filling in for Austin Riley at third base, he’s shown two things: That he’s significantly more comfortable defensively at third base (where he’s blocked by Riley) and that his bat still isn’t ready for the majors.

After going 3-30 in his time filling in for Ozzie Albies in 2024, he’s 6-30 filling in for Riley this season. It’s not that he’s a bad player - Nacho has a career .286 average in the minors and has hit .305 in 75 career games for Triple-A Gwinnett over two seasons. Still, he looks increasingly unlikely to be an everyday regular in Atlanta.

Brian Snitker alluded to this when discussing the prospect earlier this week, saying his role was likely going to be something other than a starter. “That’s probably going to be his role, to be the Swiss Army knife,” Snitker told reporters when discussing Austin Riley’s expected return today. “If he can play all over the infield, it’s going to help the value he has for a club.”

He might do that, but he might also be moved at the deadline. Blocked prospects can often get moved in deals, something we’ve seen a lot with the Los Angeles Dodgers. They dealt first baseman Michael Busch (blocked by Freddie Freeman) to the Chicago Cubs, as well as former top catching prospect Diego Cartaya (blocked by Will Smith) to the Minnesota Twins. Another catcher, Thayron Liranzo, got packaged in a deal with shortstop Trey Sweeney to the Detroit Tigers last trade deadline, while Sweeney himself had been acquired for infielder Jorbit Vivas just the winter before.

Speaking of winters, they moved infielder Gavin Lux to the Cincinnati Reds this winter and the December prior was when they moved outfielder Jonny DeLuca and pitcher Ryan Pepiot to the Tampa Bay Rays for Tyler Glasnow and Manny Margot. Margot wasn’t a prospect, but he was still flipped last season for former first-round pick Noah Miller, an infielder.

All I’m saying is that, rather than allow Alvarez to continue to sit in Triple-A if there’s no place for Atlanta to play him in the majors and/or he’s not ready to hit big league pitching, they should consider moving him at the deadline or in the offseason, similar to how they moved Vaughn Grissom in one of the team’s biggest heists, getting Chris Sale and his 2024 salary for the former infielder.

OFs Jarred Kelenic and Carlos Rodriguez - While I don’t expect Atlanta to move either of these guys, that’s for different reasons.

Kelenic’s value has never been lower. After hitting just .167 for the Braves to open the season, he was optioned down to Triple-A in late April. He’s not been much better for the Stripers, hitting just .218 with four homers in 68 games.

What also doesn’t help is the reports I’ve heard of bad behavior - showing up late to the field, not wanting to do pregame work, trying to blow off team commitments, etc. You can’t be both bad and an asshole.

The problem is, he’s making $2.3M as a first-time arbitration eligible and as a Super Two player, he has three more seasons of arbitration ahead of him. It’s increasingly unlikely that Atlanta gives him a contract this offseason and instead, he’s non-tendered and enters free agency. The odds of him getting moved are extremely low, because who would want him unless you think the third time’s the charm of getting a productive major leaguer out of a guy with a career .211 average over 406 games.

Carlos Rodriguez, by contrast, likely won’t be available because he might be needed in Atlanta. The offseason free agent spent all year on the 40-man roster but has yet to make his MLB debut. He can play all three outfield positions and profiles as a speed-and-defense type of contributor, hitting .275 with a .349 on-base and 13 stolen bases for Gwinnett.

And there’s the rub - Atlanta has all three outfield positions locked up in Jurickson Profar, Michael Harris II, and Ronald Acuña Jr…for now. While I don’t expect any of the three to get dealt, Harris has been one of the worst-qualified hitters in baseball this year and so Rodriguez is a low-ceiling backup plan at worst.

I imagine he’s invited to spring training next year and could potentially break camp as the 26th man on the roster, especially if Harris can’t figure out what ails him at the plate and Eli White takes over as the primary centerfielder (with Harris going to Gwinnett).

But if a team comes calling and insists on getting Rodriguez as part of the return, I don’t think Atlanta would be too heartbroken to part ways with the 24-year-old Venezuelan.

SP Hurston Waldrep - Atlanta’s first-round pick in 2023 out of the University of Florida, Waldrep’s another guy that’s likely to stay but could be asked for in deals. The Braves have struggled to unlock the best starting caliber version of Waldrep, recently changing his mechanics and getting promising, but inconsistent, results from it.

It feels like there’s a path, even if he ends up not sticking as a starter, to throw him in the backend of the bullpen and let his fastball/splitter combo eat in short stints, but he’s another “if that’s the thing that gets the package over the finish line” guy, make the deal.

Similarly, he’s not a prospect, but Bryce Elder strikes me as a guy that Atlanta might be willing to move on from, but that’s likely an offseason deal versus a trade deadline move. He’s shown enough stretches of consistent performance where someone might want him, thinking that they know more than Atlanta about how to “fix” him and get him locked in as a backend innings eater.

Other potential “throw-in” names to a deal are AAA outfielder Connor Capel and reliever Enoli Paredes, who both have four years of team control remaining but no more options, and Double-A slugger David McCabe, who is Rule 5 eligible this winter.

Guys who reportedly are not moving

Despite rumors from aggregators and wishes for opposing fanbases, here are some of the veterans that have been speculated but are reportedly not available via trade:

Ronald Acuña Jr (per Jim Bowden)
Chris Sale (per Alex Anthopoulos)
Sean Murphy (per Buster Olney)

Add anyone else with multiple years of team control to that list, per Anthopoulos’ long-standing comments, so Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Spencer Schwellenbach, et al - all off limits.

So, what happens this week?

Whether or not Ozuna gets dealt, the Braves have other decisions to make. Veterans on expiring deals, relievers with value, and fringe roster bats could all be part of a quieter - but still meaningful - reshuffling. Atlanta doesn’t have to blow things up to start retooling for 2026, and this deadline might be where that process quietly begins.

1. The St. Louis Cardinals are at +26 Outs Above Average entering play on Thursday, although they’ve been slanted towards preventing runs from righthanded hitters while Atlanta’s virtually equal against both.