| 25 March 2010
On Tuesday, Mark Bowman filled space on MLB.com by writing an article that basically says Frank Wren might or might not make a trade between now and Opening Day. Buried at the bottom, however, is this intriguing little nugget: "But there's certainly a chance he could attempt to enhance his organizational depth at the Minor League level if he could find a team willing to trade for either right-handed reliever Manny Acosta or outfielder Gregor Blanco."
This is an interesting insight into the Braves' plans going forward, on a few levels. It tells us that Acosta and Blanco--who are both still in major-league camp--may not figure very prominently into the Braves future plans. Blanco's exclusion comes as no surprise, as there's really no room for him on the major-league roster, but Acosta is at least notionally still competing for a spot in the Braves' bullpen. It also doesn't surprise me that there are two names mentioned, since I think Wren will probably want to clear two 40-man roster spots in the coming weeks: one for Jason Heyward (duh), and one for either utilityman Sloppy Joe Thurston or another assorted reliever not on the 40-man roster.
The ultimate point here, however, is that I highly doubt Wren is going to find a trade partner willing to actually give up anything of value for Acosta or Blanco. Wren isn't thinking big...all he wants is "just some small pieces that would give us depth at Triple-A or wherever." But isn't that exactly what he's got in Acosta and Blanco? Are they really anything more than "Triple-A depth"? And they take up 40-man roster spots, since it's not like a club is going to trade for them just to pass them through waivers right away. Maybe some team would take a chance on Acosta's tantalizing potential, but I'm no believer that he'll ever become reliable enough to hold down a roster spot for longer than a month at a time. Blanco also might entice somebody with his semblance of on-base skills, but the Braves clearly have no place for him other than Gwinnett (heck, they didn't even call him up last year when rosters expanded).
The point is this: these are both guys I'd rather see cut than on the team on Opening Day, especially if they're getting in the way of a non-roster player making the team. Maybe Wren can find a team that'll trade Todd Redmond for Tyler Yates all over again, but my guess is that push will come to shove and we'll see Acosta and/or Blanco designated for assignment in the next couple weeks.
