Trading struggling A-ball slugger Bryce Ball to the Cubs for quasi-proven MLB slugger Joc Pederson has baseball media clamoring that the Braves are buyers, much to their surprise after their sputtering first half and the loss of superstar Ronald Acuña, Jr.
As much as I love to preach on Twitter to go with the optimistic hype, I’m here to tell you that simply isn’t the case. Acquiring Pederson was a PR move at best, at least for now. Fans are appeased and we’re given two more weeks before the trade deadline to figure out whether this team has the mettle to meddle with playoff contention, or whether we need to send Charlie Morton and Drew Smyly to teams who can make better use of their services.