To Buy or Sell: My Two Cents on the Atlanta Braves' Lean on the Fence

As July 31 approaches, more and more trade winds are blowing through the thick, muggy air at Turner Field in Atlanta.

From stars like Javier Vazquez possibly blowing out, to sluggers like Jermaine Dye or Nelson Cruz finding their way into a tomahawk decorated uniform, the 41-43 Braves have to decide whether or not to sacrifice the 2009 season in an effort to make 2010 and beyond brighter.

However, the decision to be made between buying, selling, or staying put has become far more difficult with a tightly packed NL East race where one hot stretch could put any team (outside of Washington DC) in first place.

A lackluster offense, as we all know, has virtually wasted what has proved to be one of the best starting staffs in the National League.

A lot of questions still need answering.

How much would a big-time bat help when (no doubt) a big package of prospects will be required to get it?

Would Diaz in right be enough to replace Francoeur in right to eliminate the need for another bat?

Is this team really one piece away (I can't help but think of 2007 and the trade that is not to be spoken of)?

My stances on the issues above: It depends.  50/50.  Yes.

Any trade involving Jason Heyward, Tommy Hanson, or Freddie Freeman as a centerpiece is NOT going to happen, so I'm not referring to that.

I'm talking about a trade with pieces like Kris Medlen, Jordan Schafer, Randall Delgado, Julio Tehran, and Todd Redmond.

These guys hold a lot of promise (granted, less than the three elites mentioned above), and could easily bring back a nice return in the form of a big bat.

However, I'm not completely convinced that a package of two or more of the guys I mentioned would be worth a year or two of a bat.

The future was mortgaged once two years ago, I'm just very afraid of it happening again.Matt Diaz is another issue.

He has proven to be beyond lethal against left-handed pitching and competent when facing righties.

His caveman-like approach with the stick has been effective in run-producing situations.

By effective, I mean better than Mr. Mediocrity, Jeff Francoeur.

With Diaz's bat in Francoeur's six or seven-hole, the Braves' lineup seems to turn over with a lot more efficiency.

Francoeur's toxic attitude (as Joel Barker pointed out in a recent article) does nothing to help the team, and his innate ability to hit into double plays and strikeout with runners on kills rallies with the efficiency that Babe Ruth hit home runs.

I am tempted to give Diaz an everyday job like he had at the start of the '08 season.

He needs more work against right-handed pitching, but an outfield of Anderson, McLouth, and Diaz, to me, is better than what the Braves have now.The answer to the question of "one piece or not?" is pretty obvious to me.

A bat that can hit .280 with 25 homers over Frenchy's .240+ and (potential) 11 homers would be huge.

The question is: Will the solution come from within or from another team?

I really think the Braves will either be buyers or stay put at the deadline.

Trading someone like Vazquez or Yunel when a team is just three games under .500 doesn't make much sense.

In a divisional race where all of the teams have a shot, it probably wouldn't take much to put a team like the Braves (with impeccable pitching) over the top.