The Atlanta Braves added Carlos Santana on a minor-league deal this week, which feels a little like patching a leaky boat with duct tape. It’s fine. It’s something. But it’s not nearly enough if they want to keep the Phillies from rolling past them in the NL East.
Atlanta’s lead was down to 3.5 games heading into Tuesday. The Phillies have found their rhythm. The Braves, meanwhile, have been stumbling around like someone who grabbed the wrong bottle of pills. They need real help, and they need it before the August 3 trade deadline gets here.
Two things are obvious. The Braves need another bat that scares people. And they need another starting pitcher who can go toe-to-toe with the top arms in the league. Here is where they should be looking.
Go Get Byron Buxton, Injury Risk and All
Look, we all know Buxton’s medical file is thicker than a phone book. He is 32 years old and has spent most of his career being evaluated in terms of how many games he can actually play. But here is the thing. He played in 126 games last season. He appeared in 23 of them in September. That is not nothing.
So far this year, Buxton has been in 73 of the Twins’ 86 games. He is on pace to approach his career high of 140 games, which he set back in 2017. And when he is on the field, the numbers are real. He hit 28 homers in 92 games two years ago. Last year he knocked out 35. This season he already has 25, which puts him on track for a career-best 47.
According to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan, the scouting report on Buxton hasn’t changed much since he was drafted second overall in 2012. “Elite runner and defender with loud bat speed,” they wrote. The difference is that the raw power they expected back then actually showed up. He is hitting 30-plus homers now in his early 30s. The only real downside is the durability question, which has always been there.
The Braves rank 11th in homers this season with 103. The Dodgers are sitting at 116. Buxton could help close that gap in a hurry. His WAR last year was 4.9, ranked 36th in baseball. This year he is at 3.0, good for 28th. That kind of production in the middle of Atlanta’s lineup would change how pitchers approach the whole order.
Tar Skubal Would Give the Braves a Real One-Two Punch
Adding Buxton would cost the Braves some prospects. So would adding Tarik Skubal. But the Tigers lefty might be the more important piece, especially if Atlanta wants to hang with the Dodgers, Phillies and Brewers in October.
Skubal is under team control through 2026, which gives the Braves some leverage in negotiations. But he is also still elite. McDaniel and Passan described him the same guy who won back-to-back Cy Young Awards, even after an injury setback earlier this year. He throws a four-seamer at 95 to 98 mph with one of the best changeups in the league. His sinker, slider and slurve are all above average to plus. And his command is plus too. That is the kind of pitcher you want starting a Game 2 or Game 3 in a playoff series.
The Braves have AJ Smith-Shawver and Spencer Schwellenbach coming back from injuries at some point. But counting on both of them to be fully dialed in for the postseason is a gamble. Adding Skubal means Atlanta only needs one of them to find their form. Pairing Skubal with Chris Sale at the top of the rotation would give the Braves a legitimate one-two punch that nobody wants to face in a short series.
Could the Braves make a World Series run without Skubal? Maybe, if everything breaks right. But that is a lot of ifs. The front office has to decide whether the farm system can handle the hit. And they have to decide soon, because the Phillies aren’t waiting around.
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