Kuzul

The Atlanta Braves‘ busy offseason continued Tuesday as they reached an agreement to sign infielder Alberto Callaspo to an undisclosed deal.    

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez confirmed Jim Bowden of ESPN’s initial report to MLB Network Radio:

The 31-year-old Callaspo is a nine-year MLB veteran who has spent time with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics.

He is a versatile player who has filled in at every position except catcher, pitcher and center field at the MLB level. Most of his appearances have come at third base and second base. Robbie Rosenhaus of 92.9 The Game speculates that he will play the latter role in Atlanta:

Callaspo has hit .300 or better in a season twice, but he is coming off his worst MLB campaign after hitting just .223 with four home runs and 39 RBI in 127 games for the A’s in 2014.

With that in mind, Matthew Pouliot of Rotoworld.com believes Callaspo will simply keep the seat warm for prospect Jose Peraza:

Whatever the case, Callaspo figures to be a useful player for the Braves due to his ability to contribute almost everywhere on the diamond.

He certainly won’t be the key factor in terms of whether Atlanta returns to the postseason in 2015, but he could help the cause.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Atlanta Braves made a big splash in free agency Wednesday by signing outfielder Nick Markakis, but their new acquisition comes with some baggage in the form of an injury.

According to Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com, the former Baltimore Orioles star may undergo neck surgery, which could keep him out as long as three months:

While this revelation may come as a surprise to the general public, the Braves did their due diligence before signing the two-time Gold Glove Award winner, per Rosenthal:

If Markakis does undergo surgery and miss 12 weeks, then that would put him on track to return in March, which would still give him time to prepare for the start of the regular season.

The Braves have a lot invested in the 31-year-old right fielder as they inked him to a four-year, $44 million deal, according to David O’Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Markakis is the de facto replacement for Jason Heyward after his trade to the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Braves can’t afford to be without him once the season commences. If initial estimates are accurate, though, Atlanta should be in the clear.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Atlanta Braves have generally focused more on trades and building from within the organization over recent years.

However, with the Braves trading Jason Heyward and actively shopping Justin Upton—as reported by the New York Post’s Joel Sherman—they could open up some payroll to get players in the free-agent market.

Currently, the Braves’ top two targets in free agency are pitcher Jon Lester and Cuban outfielder Yasmany Tomas according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman and Jesse Sanchez.

Lester looks to be a long shot for Atlanta. For the Braves to be serious players, Lester would need to take a serious hometown discount.

The Braves seemed to be pushing for Tomas, but he signed a six-year deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

If the Braves miss out on one or both, they will turn their attention to backup options.

Here’s a look at some of those backup options in free agency.

Begin Slideshow

The latest object of nearly every major league team’s desire is a Cuban baseball player—more specifically, a Cuban slugger. This craze was started by Yoenis Cespedes, then put into high gear by the “Wild Horse,” Yasiel Puig, and capped off by last season’s American League Rookie of the Year, Jose Abreu.

Their calling card is power, but they also bring athleticism and excitement to the field and the lineup. So it makes sense that the next big athletic slugger to come out of Cuba would be heavily sought after.

Outfielder Yasmani Tomas is that kind of player—athletic and powerful. Just about every team has scouted this guy, and there is a large amount of buzz that the Atlanta Braves are one of the teams most interested. But I say Tomas is a poor fit for Atlanta, and here’s why.

Money

The Braves have operated with a tight budget for nearly a decade, and Tomas is reportedly seeking a big monetary commitment, according to Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com:

The slugger is believed to be seeking at least a five to seven year deal with an annual salary near $15 million, but the Tomas’ camp has not ruled out the possibility of signing a short-term, high-value deal that would allow him to return to the market sooner rather than later.

While that dollar figure per year is less than what free-agent-to-be Justin Upton will likely command next offseason, it is still a substantial sum of money to commit to a player who has never taken a swing in professional baseball.

Surely the Braves front office is too gun-shy to spend that wildly on an unknown player when they will be paying B.J. Upton and Dan Uggla each that much next season. And surely they still remember the bad free-agent deals given to Derek Lowe and the (similarly) unknown Kenshin Kawakami several years ago.

Committing that much money, more than 10 percent of the team’s salary, to an unknown player is not something the Braves can afford to do. Some teams can gamble like that, but the Braves should not.

Strikeouts

The last thing the Braves need is another player who strikes out a lot. The 2011 Braves set a franchise record for strikeouts. The 2012 Braves broke that record, and the 2013 team broke it again. This year’s club came just 16 strikeouts short of setting yet another new record.

Though the 2012 and 2013 squads made the playoffs while striking out a ton, those same bad habits led to epic collapses in 2011 and 2014. The Braves need to move away from that “swing for the fences or strike out trying” approach.

One of the big knocks on Tomas has been his propensity to strikeout. Since he hasn’t played against professional talent for any extended period of time, we don’t know how pronounced his whiff problem might be, but scouting reports paint a grim picture.

Here is what Baseball America’s Ben Badler had to say about the swing of Tomas (subscription required):

Tomas can hit towering home runs but it comes from an uppercut swing, which can be fine for a power hitter but also creates a swing plane with holes. That leads to swing-and-miss tendencies even in the strike zone, and Tomas’ penchant for chasing pitches off the plate only exacerbates that problem. The power arms on the U.S. college national team gave Tomas all sorts of trouble with mid-90s velocity, especially high and tight.

He has also shown—against Team USA, in the WBC and in Cuba—that he’s susceptible to swinging through offspeed pitches, both in the zone and off the plate.

If college pitchers are giving Tomas “all sorts of trouble,” imagine how the vaunted pitching staffs of the National League East will carve him up.

While Badler quotes a scout as saying Tomas will probably be a .260 hitter with 25-30 home runs, there is no mention of how much he might strike out.

Unknowns

If the Braves are itching to sign a slugger to a long-term deal, then they need not look any further than their own roster. Justin Upton is a slugger with power (who also happens to strike out a lot), and unlike Tomas, the Braves have the benefit of having seen what kind of player he is for the past two years.  

The unknowns with Yasmani Tomas are too great to take a risk. Much of his power comes from his big body. According to Badler, Tomas is listed at 6’1″, 230 pounds but was as heavy as 250 pounds last year.

While he is said to still possess athleticism in his thick frame, is that the type of player a team should give a huge contract? Badler puts it best when he calls Tomas “arguably the riskiest Cuban player yet to hit the open market.” This is a bad way for the Braves to tie-up a lot of money while they are trying to rebuild their major league team and their minor league system.

While I have focused on the possible negative outcomes, there is also the possibility that Tomas could exceed his projections and become a first-division All-Star for many years. But for my money, and the Braves’ money, I wouldn’t take the risk. This team simply cannot put that much money at stake for a gamble.

All stats used for this article come from Baseball-Reference.com.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

If you think the Atlanta Braves did well in the Jason Heyward trade, just wait until you see how they do in the Justin Upton trade.

Or so they hope, anyway.

Though the Braves no longer have a surplus of outfielders after dealing Heyward to the St. Louis Cardinals, word is they’re shopping Upton anyway. A rival executive even went so far as to tell Joel Sherman of the New York Post: “Justin Upton will be moved.”

This is apparently because they think their 27-year-old left fielder can net an impressive return.

“The Braves are very much shopping Justin Upton and are requesting a higher return than they received earlier this week when they dealt their other corner outfielder, Jason Heyward.”

The key words are “a higher return.” In light of what the Braves got for Heyward, that’s saying something.

For the 25-year-old right fielder and hard-throwing reliever Jordan Walden, the Braves snagged right-handed starter Shelby Miller and pitching prospect Tyrell Jenkins. Like that, the Braves landed a solid mix of talent and controllability.

Though Miller comes to Atlanta with things to work out, he also comes with good stuff, a 3.41 ERA in two seasons as a full-time starter and four years of club control. Factor in the six years of club control Jenkins will have if/when he reaches the majors, and the Braves turned one year of the free-agent-to-be Heyward and two years of Walden into 10 years of pitching.

Of course, we don’t know how the inclusion of Walden altered the deal. But if it’s a fair guess that the trade was Heyward for Miller straight up with Walden and Jenkins as deal-sweeteners, then an Upton deal would have to net a player with more talent and/or more controllability than Miller has.

That, indeed, is asking a lot. So let’s get to the big question: Is Upton worth that much?

One thing that’s convenient is that, like Heyward, Upton also only has one year to go before free agency. We’re not weighing two or three years of his services against one year of Heyward’s.

But we do know that Upton is a couple of years older than Heyward. We also know he’s going to cost more in 2015. Where Heyward is owed $8.3 million, Upton is owed a little over $14.5 million. That’s a $6 million difference, which is not small.

Which makes the big question a simple question: Is Upton that much better than Heyward?

Let’s start with a look at what the two have done over the last two seasons, a sample size that includes only Upton’s time with the Braves and neither his nor Heyward’s best seasons.

All will be explained, but for now just note that this is enough to get a sense of how talented they are as offensive and defensive contributors, courtesy of FanGraphs:

One’s eyes drift to the WAR column, which is convincing that Heyward has been the better player over the last two seasons. This despite the fact he missed a good chunk of action in 2013 with freak injuries—an appendectomy and a beanball to the face—which makes it even more impressive.

The main reason why is easy to spot. The “Def” column is for defensive value, and it’s no surprise to see Heyward way ahead of Upton. He’s probably not that bad, but Heyward really is that good.

But since this defensive component is based off defensive metrics, it can’t be taken as gospel. The question of whether Heyward’s defensive edge makes up for Upton’s clear offensive edge is worth asking.

To this end, Upton’s offensive edge is mainly a power-oriented edge, as he’s slugged more homers and racked up a notably higher slugging percentage than Heyward. But his baserunning has also been a factor, as “BsR” (baserunning runs) favors him, despite Heyward’s lead in stolen bases.

But at the same time, it’s a stretch to say that Upton has a massive offensive edge over Heyward. 

Heyward’s average and OBP say he’s been right there with Upton from a consistency perspective. That’s not a small deal, and one can also get picky and argue that Heyward’s baserunning is better than his 2013-2014 BsR indicates. He’s been easily Atlanta’s top baserunner since 2011, per FanGraphs.

All told, it comes down to this: The one thing Upton really has on Heyward is a power advantage. And while it’s big, it’s not quite big enough to overrule Heyward’s huge advantage as a defensive player.

So I agree with Dave Cameron of FanGraphs that Upton shouldn’t be worth more than Heyward in a trade, as that would mean paying a bigger price for an older, more expensive and not clearly better player.

However, Cameron may be onto something with this:

“If the Braves can turn Justin Upton into another version of the Shelby Miller package, they should be pretty happy about it.”

In other words, maybe the Braves can turn Upton’s seemingly lesser trade value into an equal trade package. It sounds counterintuitive, but it could definitely happen.

Here’s a hint why:

You just witnessed Upton’s raw power. It’s huge. Huger, even, than his power production indicates.

And that it comes from the right side of the plate is the kicker.

The lack of right-handed power in today’s MLB has been referenced so much at this point that it’s not really a dirty little secret anymore. And it’s not overblown, either. The number of righty hitters with at least 25 homers dropped dramatically in 2013 and fell to its lowest point in 20 years in 2014.

Upton’s brand of power is thus a rare brand of power. And while there’s some potential 25-homer right-handed power available on the open market, it comes with strings attached:

• Nelson Cruz: He hit 40 bombs in 2014, but he’s headed for his age-34 season and is an inferior hitter, baserunner and defender next to Upton.
• Hanley Ramirez: He owns a .500 career slugging percentage but is headed for his age-31 season and is a lesser defender and more injury-prone than Upton.
• Yasmany Tomas: Ben Badler of Baseball America says the Cuban slugger has “70 raw power,” but he’s obviously unproven and also comes with hit-tool and defense question marks.

None of these guys are going to come cheap, either. It’s easy to imagine Cruz costing as much as $50 million, and Ramirez and Tomas could go for as much as $100 million.

Point being: If a team is looking for a right-handed power hitter, it makes sense to spring for Upton than for one of the free agents who can offer it.

Another thing worth mentioning as something that could force a team’s hand with Upton: I’ll wager he gives off more of a final-puzzle-piece vibe than Heyward does.

Whereas Heyward can strengthen a defense and deepen a lineup, Upton can complete a lineup without hurting a defense. That may not be as valuable on paper, but it’s something that could push a team from “World Series contender” to “World Series favorite.”

The argument that Upton isn’t as good as Heyward is sound. Take that and combine it with his age and more expensive 2015 salary, and his trade value shouldn’t be as high for the Braves as Heyward’s was.

But if the Braves trade Upton, it would not be surprising if they got a package roughly equivalent to the one they got for Heyward. Though it would technically be an overpay, it would be the rare smart overpay.

Note: Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted/linked.  

If you want to talk baseball, hit me up on Twitter.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Atlanta Braves fired general manager Frank Wren on Monday after seven seasons with the club. MLB.com writer Mark Bowman confirmed the news:

Wren replaced longtime GM John Schuerholz in 2007. During his seven seasons at the helm, Wren’s Braves made the playoffs in three times, including winning the NL East Division Championship in 2013.

The Braves started 2014 much like the club’s division-winning season in 2013, residing in first place at the All-Star break.

The Washington Nationals have since surpassed the Braves and now lead the division by a whopping 15.5 games. The New York Mets have even caught the Braves in the standings. Since July 29, the Braves have gone 18-31.

The Braves are once again at the top of the National League ranks in many pitching categories, including ERA, quality starts and strikeouts. This success on the mound is due in large part to Wren making shrewd signings after preseason injuries to Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy. Veterans Aaron Harang and Ervin Santana have done a fantastic job filling in on reasonable contracts for the Braves this season.

Kevin McAlpin of the Atlanta Braves Radio Network referenced the work of the Braves staff in 2014:

But Wren and the Braves were unable to overcome an inconsistent offense.

The Braves find themselves in the bottom five of the MLB in batting average, strikeouts and runs. After leading the NL in home runs in 2013, Atlanta ranks 24th in the MLB in 2014. During the club’s horrible 4-15 September, the offense has hit .201, scoring only 41 runs in those games.

The biggest gripe of Wren’s roster construction has been the offense’s reliance on the long ball. These roster choices were headlined by two big-money signings—B.J. Upton and Dan Uggla.

Uggla was released this season after hitting just .162 with two home runs and 10 RBI in 48 games. He is still owed $13 million in each of the next two seasons. Meanwhile, Upton has produced another subpar season in Atlanta, hitting .207 with 11 home runs and 34 RBI thus far in 2014. Upton has three more years remaining on his $75.25 million contract. 

The Braves ranked 14th in payroll at the start of the 2014 season, according to numbers compiled by The Associated Press (via Deadspin). A team with a modest payroll cannot afford to get two large contracts so wrong. Uggla and Upton receiving over $100 million combined with little production was the leading factor in Wren’s dismissal. 

Schuerholz, who now serves as team president, former manager Bobby Cox and longtime MLB executive John Hart will form a transitional team in charge of hiring the next GM. 

The Braves may not have to look too far to find Wren’s replacement. Braves assistant GM and director of scouting John Coppolella is considered the favorite to win the job. David Lee of The Augusta Chronicle had this to say about Coppolella‘s reputation throughout the MLB:

If the Braves decide to go in a different direction, Hart’s name has come up during speculation. But the longtime executive seems keen to maintain his current role with the Braves. Kansas City Royals GM Dayton Moore has also been linked to the opening due to past ties with Schuerholz and the Braves. Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star sees Moore as an unlikely candidate, however:

Regardless of who replaces Wren, the next GM will have decisions to make regarding the roster and coaching staff.

The first will be the status of Fredi Gonzalez as manager of the club.

Gonzalez has drawn criticism from the Atlanta faithful, but he has produced winning teams for the Braves up until this season. Gonzalez tinkered with many different lineups but could not come up with the winning combination. He should be allowed another chance in 2015 with a more complete roster. 

The other decisions involve the roster itself.

The young players that make up the core of this team—Freddie Freeman, Andrelton Simmons, Jason Heyward, Julio Teheran and Craig Kimbrel—are not going anywhere. But the next GM needs to introduce different elements to the Braves lineup and shore up weaknesses, the most glaring of which is the lack of a true leadoff hitter. Questions regarding the futures of Upton, Chris Johnson and Evan Gattis will need to be addressed as well.

There needed to be a scapegoat for the Braves’ struggles in 2014. Despite some success throughout his tenure, Frank Wren’s inability to create a consistent offensive threat in 2014 was his undoing. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Watching the Atlanta Braves for the past couple of months has been like watching a train wreck in super-slow motion. Every few games, you can see a few fans jump off in anticipation of the inevitable crash. Every time a runner is left in scoring position, a fan changes the channel.

To the daily TV viewer, the tomahawk-clad team has seemed like a team incapable of scoring runs. But just how offensively inept this team has been cannot be truly “appreciated” unless one looks at the stats.

While the Braves have traditionally been built on pitching, they have also usually had an offense that was league average or better. While their pitching has been solid this season, their offensive woes have been, and will continue to be, their downfall.

I could tell you about this 2014 Braves team, a team drawing fewer walks per game than any Atlanta team since 1990.

I could tell you about this Braves team, a team built around hitting home runs, which has hit fewer home runs per game than any Atlanta team since 1989.

I could tell you about the lowest slugging percentage since 1989. Or the lowest batting average since 1989. All of those awful stats this season have conspired to keep their offense from scoring runs. The Braves’ 3.69 runs per game this year is the lowest in any year since 1989, when they scored 3.63 runs per game.

The futility of Atlanta’s offense has been especially noticeable lately. Entering play on Monday, the Braves’ last nine games were against two sub-.500 teams—the Marlins (six) and Phillies (three). During that span, they were shut out four times, including getting no-hit once, while posting a losing record of 4-5.

The numbers from month to month don’t paint a trend. The Braves offense hasn’t gotten noticeably better or worse as the season has gone on.

The offense is instead prone to extreme streaks, with prolonged stretches of wins and losses. There have been five winning streaks of four or more games and four losing streaks of four or more games.

Last year’s team struck out more than any team in Braves’ franchise history. The 2014 squad may not break that record, but they’ll come mighty close.

Last year’s team got on base more often and hit more home runs, making the strikeouts tolerable. This season’s club has retained the bad habit of the strikeout without the benefit of the additional walks or consistent power.

The power outage might be the most troublesome stat of all. When the Braves signed Dan Uggla and B.J. Upton, they knew they would be adding strikeouts, but they also hoped that the home run power each player brought with him would offset the whiffs.

The struggles of those two players have been well-chronicled, but they also struggled just as much last season. This year, the offensive output from other key members of the lineup is also down, with Chris Johnson and Andrelton Simmons performing well below their numbers from a season ago.

A good way to measure overall offensive output is with weighted runs created plus (wRC+). This is a rate stat that takes into account all facets of offense and adjusts for park and year, with a wRC+ of 100 being league average.

Last year, the Braves had five lineup regulars with wRC+ of over 100 and three key role players over 100. Even guys like Simmons and Uggla had a respectable wRC+ of 91. That 2013 team averaged 4.25 runs per game, which was fourth in the NL, compared to this year’s 3.69, which is second to last.

This season, just four lineup regulars have wRC+ of over 100, with just about everyone else languishing below 90. They have a core of players—Freddie Freeman, Justin Upton, Jason Heyward and Evan Gattis—creating above-average offensive outcomes but virtually no supporting cast around them approaching league average.

Atlanta was 17-8 in April and has been 57-61 since then. The offense has not improved since April, and it wasn’t particularly good that month either. The difference in April was an otherworldly performance from the pitching staff, which posted a 2.59 ERA.

While the pitching has been decent since April, and generally better than league average, it has not been good enough to cover up for the woefully deficient offense.

With shutouts against Atlanta becoming increasingly more familiar, it’s hard to imagine the offense suddenly finding their hitting shoes. The pitching will keep them in games, but until the eight other guys in the lineup start adding another run or two per game, the team’s worst offense in 25 years will prove to be the downfall of the 2014 Atlanta Braves.  

All stats are through the games of September 7 and taken from Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs.com.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

It’s no secret the Atlanta Braves have played their worst baseball of the season the past few weeks.

The Atlanta Braves are 3-9 in August and have lost 17 of 26 games since the All-Star break.

The recent skid has put the Braves six games behind the Washington Nationals in the National League East and three games back for a wild-card spot.

Fans have voiced their displeasure over the recent play of the team and many have given opinions of ways to fix them.

At this stage of the season, you won’t see a major overhaul of the 25-man roster.

However, there are ways to mix things up if you’re manager Fredi Gonzalez in order to spark the ballclub.

Let’s take a look at three of those changes that Gonzalez should make before it’s too late.

Begin Slideshow

The Atlanta Braves acquired Emilio Bonifacio and James Russell from the Chicago Cubs at the July 31 trade deadline to bolster the roster for the stretch run.

In Bonifacio, the Braves strengthened their bench with one of the top utility players in the game. He can play all the outfield positions and infield positions (minus catcher and first base) while adding an element of speed to the Braves.

In Russell, the Braves added a veteran left-handed arm to add some depth in the bullpen.

While both are helpful additions, they won’t significantly impact the team.

What other deals could general manager Frank Wren have explored? Here are a couple of deals that the Braves could have made.

Begin Slideshow

In the thick of the National League East race, the Atlanta Braves would be wise to make a move or two before MLB‘s non-waiver trade deadline passes on Thursday.

There are two glaring holes on this roster—left-handed relief and bench depth. The latest rumors certainly touch on the fact that the bullpen needs help, though there really isn’t too much going on in terms of bench help.

That said, there’s a bit of a surprising rumor that the Braves may be toying with ahead of the deadline that would make the lack of bench depth less apparent.

Read below for the latest buzz surrounding the Braves.

David Price, Jon Lester

Jon Lester and David Price squared off last Friday night, but that wasn’t the only clash going on in the ballpark. Multiple teams had scouts on hand to get a look at both starters ahead of the deadline, according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal:

Both starters have been the subject of trade rumors recently, though it’s unclear which starter the Braves were in attendance for. Maybe it was both. Maybe it was just one of the two. Regardless, it appears that Atlanta isn’t comfortable with its rotation of Julio Teheran, Mike Minor, Ervin Santana, Aaron Harang and Alex Wood.

Both starters would be upgrades to the rotation. That said, the price may simply be too high for the Braves, and not only because of each left-hander’s pedigree. Their numbers this season are also superb:

The Braves have good talent in the farm system to deal, but acquiring starting pitching should not be the priority right now. Sure, it’s hard to argue with bringing in one of the two aforementioned aces, but shoring up other areas instead of masking them is paramount.

Instead of Lester or Price, the Braves need to find some depth.

Andrew Miller

“Atlanta has identified lefty in the pen as its biggest need,” writes CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman, and David O’Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Andrew Miller is one of the team’s top targets to fix the issues in the pen:

Miller has been great for the Boston Red Sox for three straight seasons. Since he began his tenure in Boston, Miller owns an ERA of 3.83 (3.56 FIP), 1.395 WHIP and 214 strikeouts in 176.1 innings pitched. Those numbers are a bit skewed, as he was a starter in his first season with the Sox.

Now strictly a reliever, Miller is a great lefty specialist. He can strike out any of the lefties in the American League, mostly because of his great fastball and decent control.

Miller is arguably the top lefty available. This is exactly the type of move the Braves need to make. Here’s why.

Take a look at the National League East. Powerful lefties like Bryce Harper, Chase Utley, Curtis Granderson and others grace the lineups of the Braves’ biggest rivals.

Currently without a lefty-stopper in the pen, the Braves have put themselves at risk against these hitters. Miller would mitigate the risk and give them a quality option to combat those hitters.

James Russell, Oliver Perez

The Braves are desperate to add a lefty arm. Just how desperate? Well, ESPN’s Jim Bowden (Insider subscription required) reports that the Braves have looked everywhere: “The Braves have touched base with every team that has an available left-handed reliever, with James Russell of the Cubs and Oliver Perez of the Arizona Diamondbacks among possibilities.”

The Chicago Cubs and Diamondbacks should both be in positions to sell. Neither is nearing a playoff push this season. Both Russell and Perez are assets who could net solid returns considering their status as specialists in the bullpen.

Perez has re-invented himself as a reliever over the past three seasons. This year has been his best, as evidenced by his 2.04 ERA (2.50 FIP), 1.160 WHIP and 46 strikeouts in 39.2 innings pitched.

Under contract through 2015, Perez would require slightly more to acquire than a rental would. A top-10 prospect should be enough to entice the D’Backs.

Follow Kenny DeJohn on Twitter: @KennyDeJohn_BR

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com