Sell High: Why The Braves Should Trade Javier Vazquez

The Braves need a bat. I don't think that anyone would disagree with that.  

When Chipper Jones leads the team with nine home runs and only one semi-regular player is hitting slightly over .300, it becomes painfully obvious. The fact that the Braves are around .500 for the season shows just how strong the starting staff has been.  

Sporting a staff ERA of 3.83, which ranks fifth in the majors, is impressive and deserves to be higher than third in the NL East. One big part of this years success on the mound; Javier Vazquez.

Acquired in a trade during the off-season from the White Sox, Vazquez is in the middle of a career year, despite a lack of wins to show for it. His 2.95 ERA ranks him tied for sixth in the NL and he is second in the league with 136 strikeouts.  

As we all agree though, the Braves need a bat. Vasquez seems to be the most attractive and expendable trade chip that Atlanta possesses. Though Vazquez has pitched great so far this year, he will likely regress more towards his average stats in the second half. His career ERA is 4.25, almost 50 percent higher than his current average.  

While many of Vasquez's losses came with low run support, if the Braves can't win when he allows less than three runs a game, how will they win if he starts allowing four to five runs a game? This seems like a perfect time to sell high on Vazquez.

With a rotation of Derek Lowe, Jair Jurrjens, Tommy Hanson, and Kenshin Kawakami, the Braves still have the best starting rotation in the Division. Kris Medlen or James Parr can fill-in the fifth spot in the rotation until Tim Hudson returns sometime in August.  

Assuming the Braves make the playoffs, the team would still have a great rotation. I would be willing to take a top four of Lowe, Jurrjens, Hanson, and Hudson against any other top four in baseball. Besides, Vazquez has a career post-season ERA of 10.34.

Though the rotation would take a hit, I believe the addition of someone like Nelson Cruz to the lineup as the everyday right fielder would more than make up for the loss of Vazquez. Cruz has 21 home runs this season and 13 stolen bases. He would add some much needed power and speed to a line-up that sorely lacks both.  

This would allow the Braves to platoon Diaz and Church in left. Vazquez is only signed through next season and Cruz can't become a free agent until 2014; meaning the outfield of Cruz, Nate McLouth, and Jason Heyward would be in-tact for a while.

I have to applaud Frank Wren for getting Vazquez in the off-season. Vasquez has definitely helped the Braves stay in contention so far this season.  

However, if the Braves want to make a push for the post-season this year, they need to hurry up and trade him for a big bat before the Phillies' lead in the division gets larger.